Hoped for Healing with SSPX Slows in Pace

By Deacon Keith Fournier
4/22/2008

Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

SSPX Bishop Bernard Fellay wrote a letter saying "the time for an agreement has not yet come."

LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) - At the end of a week long apostolic visit to the United States by Pope Benedict XVI, word has sadly emerged that the Society of Saint Pius X (the SSPX),the traditionalist followers of deceased Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, have decided not to pursue full communion with the Catholic Church.

At least not now.

Pope Benedict’s apostolic letter earlier this year which expanded the use of the celebration of what was the Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council, the Mass of Blessed John XXIII, was received favorably by many, including the Society. They celebrate that form of the Holy Mass exclusively. It is often referred to as the “Tridentine Mass”.

Since the full availability of that Rite was one of the conditions of the ongoing dialogue toward reconciliation, many observers had hoped that there would be a healing of the division occasioned by the deceased Archbishop.

Since the issuance of the letter, many former participants in the SSPX have returned to the full communion of the Catholic Church. In fact, new religious communities, using the older Liturgy as their norm of celebration, have been formed and are flourishing, in full communion with Rome and with the approbation of the Holy See.

The deceased Archbishop Lefebvre was an early participant in the Second Vatican Council. His disagreements with the Magisterium came concerning his perception of much of its application.

He particularly objected to the opening of the Church to ecumenism and to his perception of the application of the “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World”, the seminal document on mission, as it pertained to the Church and its relationship to culture.

Archbishop Lefebvre ordained four bishops against Rome's directives in 1988. The rift has deepened since.

Some of the group’s leaders had indicated that they were pleased with the direction of discussions being held with representatives of the Holy See. They welcomed the wide opening to the use of the older rite Latin Mass.

However, these recent indications from the leadership indicate that there are teachings of the Council which the group simply will not accept.

SSPX Bishop Bernard Fellay wrote a letter published this weekend by the SSPX information service DICI in which he stated: "The time for an agreement has not yet come.”

He further announced his opinion that opening to the older form of the Latin Mass was "not accompanied by logically co-related measures in the other areas of the life of the Church."

Finally he declared that "...nothing has changed in Rome's determination to follow the council's orientation, despite 40 years of crisis, despite the deserted convents, abandoned rectories and empty churches."

The Society is headquartered in Switzerland and claims 1 million supporters.

Catechism for Adults Lessons 3 & 4

Passion Sunday

St. Frances of Rome - Widow
J.M.J.


Taken from "A BRIEF CATECHISM FOR ADULTS"
(www.olrl.org/Lessons/)


LESSON 3: GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How
incomprehensible are His judgments and how unsearchable His ways! For who
hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counsellor? Or who
hath first given to Him, and recompense shall be made Him? For of Him and
by Him and in Him, are all things; to Him be glory forever. Amen." (Romans
11:33-36)

1. Who is God?
God is the Supreme Being, the Creator, "who made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all things that are in them." (Psalm 145:5)

2. What does "Creator" mean?
It means that God made all things out of nothing.

"I beseech thee, my son, look upon Heaven and earth, and all that is in
them: and consider that God made them out of nothing, and mankind also."
(2 Machabees 7:28)

3. What is a creature?
A creature is anything made by God.

4. How do you know there is a God?
If you just examine the things in this world, you have to admit that
someone had to make them.

"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the birds of the
air, and they shall tell thee. Speak to the earth, and it shall answer
thee: and the fishes of the sea shall tell. Who is ignorant that the hand
of the Lord hath made all these things?" (Job 12:7-9)

"The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God." (Psalm 13:1)

5. Why can you not see God?
Because He has no body.

"God is a spirit." (John 4:24)

6. Where is God?
God is everywhere.

"Whither shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy face?
If I ascend into heaven, Thou are there: if I descend into hell, Thou art
present." (Psalm 138:7-8)

7. Can God see all things?
Yes, because He is everywhere.

"The eyes of the Lord in every place behold the good and the evil."
(Proverbs 18:3)

8. How old is God?
God is ageless, eternal, which means that He had no beginning and will
have no end and will never change.

"Before the mountains were made, or the earth and the world was formed: from
eternity and to eternity thou art God." (Psalm 89:2)

9. Can God do all things?
Yes, "With God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

10. Is God alive?
Yes, He is alive and is the source of life. Over 30 Bible references
call Him "the living God."

"All things were made by Him: and without Him was made nothing that was
made. In Him is life." (John 1:3-4)

11. Is God independent and unlimited?
Yes, He depends on nothing and is unlimited (infinite) in every way.

"Neither is He served with men's hands, as though he needed any thing;
seeing it is He who giveth to all life, and breath, and all things." (Acts
17:25)

12. Is God interested in you?
Yes, and He loves you with an unlimited love.

"Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her
womb? and if she should forget, yet I will not forget thee." (Isaias
49:15)

13. Will God forgive you your sins?
Yes, if you are truly sorry for them.

"For the Lord your God is merciful, and will not turn away His face from
you, if you return to Him." (2 Paralipomenon 30:9)

14. What is the Holy Trinity?
This means that there are three persons in One God.

"Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 28:19)

15. Who are the three persons in God?
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.

"And there are three who give testimony in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Ghost. And these three are one." (I John 5:7)

16. Are the three persons of the Holy Trinity equal?
Yes, they are equal to One Another, but each One is a separate and
distinct Person, and each One is God.

17. How can there be three persons in only one God?
This is a mystery that no human mind can completely understand.

PRACTICAL POINTS

1. There are many things in this world which the human mind cannot
understand, such as growth, sight, hearing, electricity. Therefore, we
should not be surprised to find that we cannot completely understand the God
who made the world.
2. Faith is accepting something on the word of another. God says that there
are three Persons in One God. If you accept that statement as being true
because He said so, then you have faith.
3. Faith is not unreasonable if what you are told is possible and if the
person telling you is usually truthful and has nothing to gain by telling
you a lie.
4. Human beings can tell lies, but God cannot because He is Truth Itself.
Therefore, believing anything God says is the highest kind of faith. This
kind of faith, however, is a gift that you must pray for.


LESSON 4: PRAYER

"Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it
shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that
seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Or what
man is there among you, of whom if his son shall ask bread, will he reach
him a stone? Or if he shall ask him a fish, will he reach him a serpent?
If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how
much more will your Father who is in Heaven, give good things to them that
ask Him?" (Matthew 7:7-11)

1. What is prayer?
Prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God.

2. Why should you pray?
You should pray--
i. To adore God, to tell Him that He made you and that you depend upon Him
for absolutely everything.
ii. To thank God for the blessings He has given you.
"What hast thou not received? And if thou hast received, why dost thou
glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1 Corinthians 4:7)
iii. To ask God pardon for your sins.
"O God, be merciful to me a sinner." (Luke 18:13)
iv. To ask God's help in all things.

"Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it
shall be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7).

3. When should you pray?
Every day, especially--
i. In the morning -- to offer the day to God and to ask for His help in the
temptations of the day
ii. During the day, especially during temptations.
iii. At night -- to thank God for the blessings of the day and to ask Him to
forgive you for the sins committed that day.
iv. Before and after meals.

4. To whom should you pray?
i. To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
ii. You may also pray to the Blessed Virgin, the Angels and the Saints.

"And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up
before God from the hand of the angel." (Apocalypse 8:4).

5. Why may you pray to the Blessed Virgin (Mary, Mother of God), the Angels
and the Saints?
Because they are God's best friends; God will listen to them more than
to us who are still sinners.

"Go to my servant Job, and offer yourselves a holocaust: and my servant Job
shall pray for you: his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to
you: for you have not spoken right things before me, as my servant Job
hath." (Job 42:8)

6. For whom should you pray?
i. For everyone still on earth, even your enemies.
"But I say to you, love your enemies: do good to them who hate you: and
pray for them that persecute and calumniate you." (Matthew 5:44)
ii. For the souls in Purgatory (See Lesson 12).

7. What should you pray for?
Everyday pray to get into Heaven; when praying for anything else, always
say, "Grant this request, Lord, if it is Your will."

"For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom
of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you."
(Matthew 6:32-33).

8. Does God always hear your prayers?
Yes, but He does not always give what you ask for, because you sometimes
ask for things that are bad for you, or you do not ask God properly.
9. Does God hear or answer the prayers of sinners who are living in mortal
sin (someone who has committed one or more bad sins, such as taking birth
control or rejecting God's Church, without confessing them, thus becoming an
enemy of God)?
He hears their prayers for the grace of true repentance (the grace to
feel sorry for your sins and confess them to a priest), but He does not hear
their prayers for other favors, unless they are willing to give up their
sins and do penance.

"Now we know that God doth not hear sinners: but if a man be a server of
God, and doth His will, him He heareth." (John 9:31)

10. Should only good people pray?
No, everyone should pray. Especially should mortal sinners pray to be
delivered from their sins.

"I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn
from his way, and live." (Ezechiel 33:11).
"For every one that asketh, receiveth." (Matthew 7:8)

11. How should you pray?
i. With attention, keeping your mind on your prayer.
ii. With humility, realizing that you are powerless without God.
iii. With confidence, realizing that God can do all things.
iv. With perseverance, without giving up hope.

"And this is the confidence which we have Towards Him: That, whatsoever we
shall ask according to His will, He heareth us." (I John 5:14).

12. Why is public prayer necessary?
Because, as members of human society, we owe God public recognition of
Him as Supreme Master of society.

13. How does public prayer help the world?
We thereby call down God's mercy upon our country and world.
We also obtain the divine help which is necessary for virtue and peace in
society.

14. Why should a family pray together?
i. To obtain the graces they need, especially the grace to keep the Catholic
Faith.
ii. To ask God to bless them as a family.
iii. To imitate the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph).
iv. To give good example to the children.
v. To keep the family together.

"For where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I
in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20).

15. How often should a family pray together?
At least once a day, preferably after the evening meal, when all the
members of the family are together.

"A family that prays together stays together." (Father Peyton).

16. Why do Catholics have statues and pictures of Our Lord (Jesus), the
Blessed Virgin (Mary) and the Saints?
i. Because they wish to honor them, just as we honor public heroes.
ii. Because it is easier to pray to them when looking at a picture or a
statue of them.
iii. Because it helps Catholics raise their minds frequently to God during
the day.

PRACTICAL POINTS

1. There are two main kinds of prayer, vocal and mental. Vocal prayer uses
specific words, such as the Our Father and the Hail Mary. Mental prayer is
praying without words, which is also called meditation.
2. It is good to pray during the day with short prayers, such as, "Jesus, I
love You"; "My God, I offer this hour of work for my sins"; "My Jesus,
mercy."
3. It is not necessary to kneel while praying, but it certainly is much
easier to pray when you are on your knees.

("A Brief Catechism for Adults" is available from www.tanbooks.com)

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

Some Excellent Prayers and Devotions:
A Devotional Prayer Booklet (online in English -
olrl.org/pray/devotionbk/ and
Spanish - www.olrl.org/pray/devotionbk_s/) - 50 cents ea. and
Catholic Prayers (olrl.org/books/catholicprayers.shtml) - $1 ea. ;
available in our "Store" (olrl.org/mm5/merchant.mvc - now
"printer friendly" for mail in orders).
Also available again - "The Passion and The Death of Jesus Christ" by St.
Alphonsus - 497 pgs.; only $2 (Limit of One).

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

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

Tridentine Latin Mass in the Twin Cities (U.S.)

Missa solemnis

By JEFF STRICKLER, Star Tribune

February 15, 2008

As he prepared to celebrate the traditional Latin mass at Holy Trinity church in South St. Paul, the Rev. John Echert predicted that it would last 35 minutes. Not "about" 35 minutes; 35 minutes. And it did. Exactly.

He wasn't just guessing. Every genuflection, every wave of incense, every ringing of the signal bells is spelled out in intricate detail in the instructions for the mass. Except for a half-stifled sneeze (Echert was trying to ward off a cold), the parishioners knew that the mass that day was going to be exactly the same as every other day's, down to the smallest detail.

"The people who come to this mass like that it is so fixed," he said. "They like the ritual, the stability and the predictability. There are no surprises."

Echert, whose parish also includes St. Augustine church, is waging virtually a one-man campaign in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to revive what many Roman Catholics had considered nearly a lost rite: the Tridentine, or the traditional Latin mass.

When Pope Benedict issued a decree in July clearing a way for a revival of the mass, which had not been practiced regularly for 40 years, many church insiders predicted that it would appeal only to nostalgic senior citizens. But Echert has seen evidence to the contrary.

"I have more crying babies at the Tridentine mass than the English one," he said.

Indeed, among the worshippers on a recent Friday was Ann Swanson, 28, who was there with her children. "I've noticed a lot of people my age here," she said, going on to explain that the mass "appeals to me because it is so centered on God. Some elements of the modern mass distract from that, but this is entirely focused on the Eucharist, which is the center of our faith."

A few pews away from her sat Henry Jandrich, 30. "This mass celebrates more reverently than many other liturgies I've attended," he said. "It's a transcendent liturgy that brings me closer to prayer."

Echert, 50, has been fascinated with the mass since he was a youngster. "That mass is the reason I became a priest," he said. "I was inspired by its beauty and intricacy."

In addition to leading a daily Latin mass, which alternates between his two churches, he has become the archdiocese's tutor on it, working with a half dozen priests and seminarians who want to learn it. "I guess, by default, we sort of became the mother church for the Tridentine mass," he said. Two priests, the Rev. Randall Kasel of St. Charles in Bayport and the Rev. John Gallas of St. Joseph's in West St. Paul, are about ready to "solo."

Ancient language, modern times

The term Tridentine comes from the Latin tridentinus, a reference to the 1570 Council of Trent, which convinced Pope Pius V to make the mass mandatory throughout the church. It fell out of favor in the 1970s following the Vatican II directive allowing mass in the local languages.

A splinter group that refused to make the change, the Society of St. Pius V, split from the Vatican and has several churches in Minnesota. They are not considered Roman Catholic, although there have been tentative discussions about them rejoining. The major stumbling block is the Vatican's insistence that they also offer rites in English, which they refuse to do.

There also are Roman Catholic churches that offer Latin translations of the contemporary mass, but that's not the Tridentine mass.

There is a contemplative aspect to the mass.

"It's very quiet, Echert said. "And it's very ritualistic. For instance, I genuflect more. A lot more, like 30 times compared with three" in a contemporary mass.

Even though it's shorter than many other masses, it can be mentally exhausting for the priest because it requires an intense focus.

"It's very detailed," he said. "Everything is very specific and demanding. Every step has to be done exactly the same way every time. There is very little in the way of options."

When the pope issued the decree about the Latin mass, church insiders predicted that, at most, it would generate only a ripple of interest among rank-and-file Catholics. And, so far at least, that has turned out to be the case.

"There's a whole generation of people who are used to the English mass," said Dennis McGrath, director of communications for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. "I doubt that a lot of them have ever even heard a Latin mass. Yes, the language [of the Tridentine mass] is beautiful, but most people don't want to go to a mass in a language they've never heard before."

And they might not be hearing a lot about it now. The initiative for the Latin mass must start with the parishioners, who have to petition the priest to offer the Latin mass. This has created something of a Catch-22: Priests can't offer the mass until their congregations hear it, decide that they like it and then ask for it. But that means they would have to ask for it before they've heard it.

"The pope set it up to be a grass-roots movement led by the faithful," Echert said.

In 1984 the Vatican opened the door to periodic celebrations of the mass. Echert was teaching at the University of St. Thomas at the time, but when he made the transition to parish priest six years ago, he volunteered to revive the mass. Having majored in Latin in college, it seemed like a natural fit.

"When I was in college, I used to ask myself, 'What am I going to do with a degree in Latin?'" he said with a laugh.

A lost cause?

Monsignor Kevin Irwin, dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., said that Echert might be swimming upstream in his attempt to build widespread support for the Latin mass.

"For those who are fundamentally disposed toward the Tridentine mass, the pope's decree is very encouraging," Irwin said. "But for the 99.9 percent of the rest of us, I don't see wholesale changes."

While Echert isn't predicting that the Latin mass will replace the contemporary one, he is confident that it will find its fans.

"It's only been a few months [since the pope's edict]. Give it time," he said. "I think that a year from now, there will be half a dozen parishes in the archdiocese offering it. Two years from now, there will be twice that many."

The Vatican established the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter specifically to train priests in the Latin mass. The North American school is in Nebraska, but so far its crash courses haven't generated widespread interest among Twin Cities priests. Echert has had better luck with a more measured approach that stretches the training over several months.

"We watch a lot of videotapes" of the mass, he said. "And we do a lot of practicing."

Echert sees interest in the Tridentine mass as more than just nostalgia. After several years of growth in more-relaxed worship styles, he thinks that the pendulum is starting to swing back toward so-called "high" church with more emphasis on rituals, decorum and formality.

There's a sense of propriety among those at the mass, he said, starting with the way people dress. "I've never seen any cut-offs. And many of the women wear veils, although that's not a requirement," Echert said.

The way mass has been celebrated over the past 40 years doesn't fully resonate with the worshippers who are drawn to the Tridentine mass.

"I think the mass is filling a void that people feel."

Jeff Strickler • 612-673-7392

© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

--  Instaurare Omnia in Christo,  ROMEO K. ESCUYOS JR. http://romeoescuyos.multiply.com efax: 1-916-415-2239  Home based business for free http://romeoescuyos.cognigen.org  Excellent PC Tech Support Plus Products To Improve Your Life http://romeoescuyos.juvio.com  High quality health and beauty care products at competitive prices Visit - http://takeoff.to/juvio   --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

No Contentment for the Jews

Several articles have appeared over the course of a couple of weeks over the Vatican's decision to modify the Good Friday prayer according to the 1962 Tridentine Latin Rite that referred to the Jews as blinded and in darkness. The new unofficial modification shall be as follows:

"Let us also pray for the Jews, that God our Lord should illuminate their hearts, so that they will recognize Jesus Christ, the Savior of all men.

"Let us pray. Let us genuflect. Rise.

"All-powerful and eternal God, you who wish that all men be saved and come to the recognition of truth, graciously grant that when the fullness of peoples enters your Church all of Israel will be saved.

"Through Christ Our Lord, Amen."

The change has caused disappointment and frustration among the Jews saying that this move has dramatically set back the efforts of Pope John Paul II and other previous popes on reaching reconciliation with the Jewish faith.

The Vatican fired back by saying that the changes were 'minor' and should not offend anyone. Non -Catholics should respect the freedom of the Church to formulate their own prayers. Of course, the resulting response is more of unjustified anger.

An article from The Jewish Daily Forward gives us the confirmation why the Church's inter religious dialogue is on a wrong footnote:

The dialogue arguably reached its high point in April 1986, when Pope John Paul II visited the Great Synagogue of Rome, the first pope ever to do so. Addressing the congregation, he declared that God’s covenant with the Jews was “irrevocable.” By that, church officials explained, he meant that God’s choosing of the Jews, giving them the Law and promising eternal life was, regardless of past church teaching, intact and unbreakable. Judaism was a living religion, not just a precursor to Christianity.

The pope went on to say that belief in Jesus “can never be the object of exterior pressure.” He said that in future Catholic-Jewish relations, “we shall each be faithful to our own sacred commitments.” That, church officials said, meant that the age-old Catholic mission to “save” the Jews by converting them was ended. The Jews had their own path to redemption.

Even in August 2000, when the church’s chief theologian, the German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, called for renewed Catholic efforts to missionize other faiths, church officials continued to say that Jews were exempt. The cardinal’s declaration, “Dominus Jesus,” argued at length that the Catholic Church was the only vehicle to divine salvation. Apologists explained that Judaism was, of course, an exception to the rule.

Now that same cardinal, newly renamed Pope Benedict XVI, has revived the conversion doctrine that has been the source of so much Jewish pain and fear through the centuries. He has done so, moreover, by resurrecting the prayer most identified with that fear. No, he has not made the prayer mandatory in churches, but neither do priests need permission to recite it. It is now a duly sanctioned alternative.

The prayer no longer speaks of Jewish “blindness” or “darkness,” much less “perfidy.” But it still asks that “all Israel be saved through Christ our Lord.” It was that missionizing ambition, not the phrasing of it, that troubled Jews through the ages. That was the doctrine that Pope John Paul II promised to annul.

Considering that our Good Friday Prayer is offensive to the Jews what about the Talmud?

The Talmud (Hebrew: תַּלְמוּד) according to Wikipedia is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history.

What does it say regarding Jesus , Mary and the Christians in general?

• "Jesus was a bastard born of adultery." (Yebamoth 49b, p.324).
• "Mary was a whore: Jesus (Balaam) was an evil man." (Sanhedrin 106a &b, p.725).
• "Jesus was a magician and a fool. Mary was an adulteress". (Shabbath 104b, p.504).
• "Christians are allied with Hell, and Christianity is worse than incest". (Abodah Zarah 17a, p.85).
• "WHEN MESSIAH COMES HE WILL DESTROY THE CHRISTIANS". (Sanhedrin 99a,p.668).
• "Those who read the Gospels are doomed to Hell". (Sanhedrin 90a, 100b, pp.601-602, 680).

So who is more offensive? Off with the baloney! We ought to pray for the Jews and pray hard that they be converted to the True Faith. The Catholic Faith.

• 16.
• For I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth: to the Jew first and to the Greek.

• 17.
• For the justice of God is revealed therein, from faith unto faith, as it is written: The just man liveth by faith.

• 18.
• For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of those men that detain the truth of God in injustice:

• 19.
• Because that which is known of God is manifest in them. For God hath manifested it unto them.

• 20.
• For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. His eternal power also and divinity: so that they are inexcusable.

• 21.
• Because that, when they knew God, they have not glorified him as God or given thanks: but became vain in their thoughts. And their foolish heart was darkened.

• 22.
• For, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.

• 23.
• And they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man and of birds, and of fourfooted beasts and of creeping things.

• 24.
• Wherefore, God gave them up to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness: to dishonour their own bodies among themselves.

• 25.
• Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. - St. Paul (Romans 1:16-25)

Viva Cristo Rey!

Fasting Well

First Sunday of Lent
St. Scholastica - Virgin
J.M.J.


FASTING

From "The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales for Lent"
Chapter 1- Fasting, abridged.

To treat of fasting and of what is required to fast well, we must, at the
start, understand that of itself fasting is not a virtue. The good and the
bad, as well as Christians and pagans, observe it. The ancient philosophers
observed it and recommended it. They were not virtuous for that reason, nor
did they practice virtue in fasting. Oh, no, fasting is a virtue only when
it is accompanied by conditions which render it pleasing to God. Thus it
happens that it profits some and not others, because it is not undertaken by
all in the same manner.

We find some people who think that to fast well during the holy season of
Lent it is enough to abstain from eating some prohibited food. But this
thought is too gross to enter into the hearts of religious, for it is to you
I speak, as well as persons dedicated to Our Lord. We know very well that it
is not enough to fast exteriorly if we do not also fast interiorly and if we
do not accompany the fast of the body with that of the spirit.

It will be very helpful to state clearly what must be done to fast well
these forty days. For although everyone is bound to know it and to practice
it, religious and persons dedicated to Our Lord are more particularly
obliged to it. Now, among all the conditions required for fasting well, I
will select three principal ones and speak familiarly about them.

The FIRST condition is that we must fast with our whole heart, that is to
say, willingly, whole-heartedly, universally and entirely. If I recount to
you St. Bernard's words regarding fasting, you will know not only why it is
instituted but also how it ought to be kept.

He says that fasting was instituted by Our Lord as a remedy for our
mouth, for our gourmandizing and for our gluttony. Since sin entered the
world through the mouth, the mouth must do penance by being deprived of
foods prohibited and forbidden by the Church, abstaining from them for the
space of forty days. But this glorious saint adds that, as it is not our
mouth alone which has sinned, but also all our other senses, our fast must
be general and entire, that is, all the members of our body must fast.

The SECOND condition is never to fast through vanity but always through
humility. If our fast is not performed with humility, it will not be
pleasing to God. Prepare yourselves to fast with charity, for if your fast
is performed without it, it will be vain and useless, since fasting, like
all other good works, is not pleasing to God unless it is done in charity
and through charity. When you discipline yourself, when you say long
prayers, if you have not charity, all that is nothing.

The THIRD condition necessary for fasting well is to look to God and to
do everything to please Him, withdrawing within ourselves in imitation of a
great saint, St. Gregory the Great, who withdrew into a secret and
out-of-the-way place where he remained for some time without anyone knowing
where he was, being content that the Lord and His angels knew it.

("The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales for Lent" is available from
www.tanbooks.com)

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

--  Instaurare Omnia in Christo,  ROMEO K. ESCUYOS JR. http://romeoescuyos.multiply.com efax: 1-916-415-2239  Home based business for free http://romeoescuyos.cognigen.org  Excellent PC Tech Support Plus Products To Improve Your Life http://romeoescuyos.juvio.com  High quality health and beauty care products at competitive prices Visit - http://takeoff.to/juvio   --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lift Up Your Hearts

Second Sunday of Advent
J.M.J.

"The Rector's Letter"

SURSUM CORDA

We are temples of the Holy Ghost, and the Trinity lives in our souls as in
its sanctuary. Our Christian vocation is noble, calling us to adore God in
spirit and truth, to aim well above transitory things, and to refuse to be
satisfied by the momentary pleasures that the world promises to those who
submit to its yoke.

Our hope is in eternity, our inalienable happiness. The world parades its
attractions, but we know that all they are nothing and we are able to
distinguish, behind the fire of the passions, the inanity of such things.
The world is rich in promises and - in the same manner as a seasoned
politician - keeps none of them. It leaves behind, victims of their naivety,
those who believed it. Or perhaps they become its accomplices, because a man
whose hopes have been crushed often becomes cruel and enjoys dragging others
into a loss similar to his own, out of a desire for revenge.

The call to baptized souls that resounded from the Cross still resonates in
our souls. The "sitio" of the dying Christ cannot leave us indifferent. And
the Christian who walks away from it, in order to drink from the bitter cup
of this world, will be punished.

Soon a cloud of sadness falls upon him. As the drunkard who immerses himself
in his vice to forget, the Christian, wounded by the frenzy of the world,
seeks in ruinous pleasures a consolation for his disappointments.

Dyed with the royal purple of the Blood of Christ, the soul that
unrestrainedly seeks the pleasures of this world, takes with it - as macabre
partners for its journey - not only a mortal sadness, but also the
excruciating memory of its rejection of Calvary. The Christian soul that
takes pleasure in the call of this world cannot stifle the remorse that
brings back to its memory the happy days when it remained faithful to the
terrible demands of God offering his Only-Begotten Son as propitiatory
Victim.

On the other hand, the soul that follows the hard path of fidelity keeps in
its heart the joy of a righteous soul fixed upon God by its trials, as the
nails fixed Christ to the cross. For the Christian soul, these trials, far
from bringing it down or astonishing or scandalizing it, are friends
ardently wished for, because behind the hardness of their blows, the soul
can discern the presence of Christ Who wants to assimilate it to Himself,
making it worthy to share in His sorrow for love of His Father.

Joy is the prerogative of the Christian soul. Its source is the pierced
heart of Christ. This joy will keep our hearts well above the seductive
disorders of a vulgar world, whose acknowledged goal is our degradation and
which makes itself the instrument of Satan for the perdition of souls.

Christian joy consists in keeping our souls under the mild yoke of our
Savior, giving us strength and balance for our conquest of Heaven and
sheltering us from diabolical attacks.

It has a price, however. And this price makes us back away from it. We
prefer coarse and immediate pleasures to the chalice of the Cross - a
disastrous error that destroys and blinds our souls. Christian joy, daughter
of the Cross, is a powerful weapon that obliges the Devil to back off and
then to retreat! Christian joy has the brilliance of crystal and its pure,
clear beauty prevents the Devil from injecting his hidden venom into our
souls, because he can only infect those sad souls obligingly turned in upon
themselves.

Lift up your souls! The fire that burns in our souls is more luminous and
more certain than error, and the foul air that we breathe by no means
prevents us from living joyously - quite the contrary. Victory belongs to
the joyous souls that radiate, in everyday life, the Divine Presence
impressed in the depth of their being.

Wishing you a good and holy Advent, in the joy and hope of the coming of the
Child-God!

Fr. Yves le Roux

NEWS FROM THE SEMINARY

For two years, we have been unsuccessfully searching for a religious house
ample enough to accommodate the increasingly numerous vocations that, thanks
be to God, come to us. The buildings that we looked at were either
inadequate, overpriced or still occupied! For financial reasons, we have to
abandon the project of building a new seminary. Thus, we must consider how
to prepare our existing buildings to receive the young men who will come
knocking at our doors in the fall of 2008. We will let you know more about
our expansion project when it becomes a bit more concrete!

For the time being, we are enlarging our recreation room. The seminarians
like to meet there in the evenings after dining or when polar temperatures
prevent them from walking outside during recreation time, but it had become
already too small to accommodate everyone. This work, which is for the most
part done by the seminarians themselves, is costing us however money and...
scares! During a Wednesday afternoon welding session, sparks burnt part of
the insulation of a heating pipe. Our good seminarian, not realizing
anything, went away satisfied with his work... The other seminarians,
returning from their recreation, were delighted to perceive a pleasing
wood-smoke smell - for them a sure sign that the Seminary rector, becoming
suddenly human, had turned on the heating! But after three hours of waiting,
the continued freezing temperature of the building forced them to admit that
the rector had not changed. Our young philosophers, certain that their
senses could not deceive them, began to use their logic (see how the cold
not only preserves, but stimulates also!) and applied the good old law of
causality that says that there cannot be smoke without fire!

But we could not find where the fire was, as it was quietly following the
sheath of insulation and was spreading slowly and surreptitiously inside the
wall. Thus, we called the firemen, who located and easily put out the fire.
We ask you now to pray that our seminarians abandon their far too literal
interpretation of the Gospel and understand that the fire that Our Lord
wants them to propagate is that of His divine charity!

-----------------------------
From "The Rector's Letter" - December 1, 2007
(www.stas.org/publications/letter/)


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

--  Instaurare Omnia in Christo,  ROMEO K. ESCUYOS JR. http://romeoescuyos.multiply.com efax: 1-916-415-2239  Home based business for free http://romeoescuyos.cognigen.org  Excellent PC Tech Support Plus Products To Improve Your Life http://romeoescuyos.juvio.com  High quality health and beauty care products at competitive prices Visit - http://takeoff.to/juvio   --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crowded as usual

Thousands of Catholic pilgrims celebrate Lourdes' 150th anniversary

Last updated at 16:23pm on 11th February 2008
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=513686&in_page_id=1811

Comments

More than 50,000 Lourdes prilgrims celebrated the shrine's 150th anniversary today with a mass said by 800 priests.

It was in the French town on February 11, 1858, that 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous claimed to see the first of 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

Since then there have been 67 recognised miracles attributed to the site in the foothills of the Pyrénées

Scroll down for more...

Anniversary: 800 priests gather around the shrine at Lourdes 150 years after the first vision

Today a special mass was said to the gathering faithful by 30 bishops and 800 priests in several languages, including German, Polish and English.

As a result of Saint Bernadette's reported visions, Lourdes has become one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in the world.

An average of 5 million visitors a year, many of them coming in the hopes of being cured of a variety of ailments.

Although it has a population of only about 15,000, the town contains the second-largest number of hotels of any French city, behind only Paris.

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Crowded: 50,000 people attanded the mass said in honour of the celebrations

Some 8 million visitors are expected to stream into Lourdes this year to take part in the celebrations commemorating the anniversary of Saint Bernadette's visions.

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to travel to Lourdes later in the year, probably in September.

However, concerns are regularly expressed that such commercialism is at odds with Lourdes's religious significance, with some dubbing it "God's Disneyland".

But Philippe Bianco, head of the Lourdes souvenir sellers' union, believes this commercialism is extremely important to the town.

"Everything needs to be paid for in the modern world and Lourdes is no exception," he said.

"This does not make it any less of a holy place, as the number of pilgrims due this year shows."

--  Instaurare Omnia in Christo,  ROMEO K. ESCUYOS JR. http://romeoescuyos.multiply.com efax: 1-916-415-2239  Home based business for free http://romeoescuyos.cognigen.org  Excellent PC Tech Support Plus Products To Improve Your Life http://romeoescuyos.juvio.com  High quality health and beauty care products at competitive prices Visit - http://takeoff.to/juvio   --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

First Sunday of Lent

First Sunday of Lent, called "Invocabit"

    This Sunday is called Invocabit from the first word of the Introit. All the Sundays of Lent and those from Easter to Pentecost take their names from the Introits of the Mass. In the Introit of this day we are told: "He shall cry to Me, and I will hear him; I will deliver him and glorify him; I will fill him with length of days. He that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High shall abide under the protection of the God of Heaven" (Ps. xc. 15, 16, 1).

he Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, vi. 1-10.

Brethren: We do exhort you, that you receive not the grace of God in vain: for he saith: In an accepted time have I heard thee: and in the day of salvation have I helped thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time: behold, now is the day of salvation; giving no offence to any man, that our ministry be not blamed: but in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, iIn chastity, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armour of justice on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true: as unknown, and yet known: as dying, and behold we live: as chastised, and not killed: as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing: as needy, yet enriching many: as having nothing, and possessing all things.

    By this epistle the Church admonishes us to profit by Lent as a season of grace, to spend it in earnestly combating sin and in the diligent performance of good works.

he Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ, According to St. Matthew, iv. 1-11.

At that time: Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards He was hungry. And the tempter coming said to Him: If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Who answered and said: It is written, Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, and set Him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him: If thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down; for it is written: That he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said to him: It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain: and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said to Him: All these will I give Thee, if falling down Thou wilt adore me. Then Jesus saith to him: Begone, Satan: for it is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil left Him: and behold angels came and ministered to Him.

    Our Saviour was lead by the Holy Ghost into the desert there to prepare by fasting forty days and nights for His holy ministry. Here the tempter approaches and seeks to betray Him. After He had overcome the Evil One angels came and ministered to Him: by which we learn that they who overcome temptations enjoy the consolation and assistance of the angels. This should encourage us to combat joyfully to the end.

    What is temptation?
    Temptation is an inducement to transgress the commandments of God. temptation comes from our own concupiscence (James i. 14); "for the flesh lusteth against the spirit" (Gal. v. 17.)

    How does the devil tempt us?
    He moves the natural concupiscence to such sins as he sees men particularly inclined to, and then deceives and confuses the man's mind, that he may not see clearly either the temporal loss, or the dishonor and danger of sin. He can, however, do nothing but what God permits. St. Augustine therefore compares him to a chained dog that can hurt only those who put themselves within his reach.

    Does God also tempt us?
    St. James says (i. 13), "Let no man, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God; for God is not a tempter of evils, and He tempteth no man." But He allows us to be tempted, sending us manifold trials.

    Does God permit us to be tempted beyond our strength?
    No; for He combats with us, and gives us always as much strength as is required to conquer temptations, and even to fain advantage from them (I. Cor. x. 13).

    When do we consent to temptation?
    When we decide of our own free will to do the evil proposed; as long as we resist, however little, we do not consent.

    What are the best means to overcome temptation?
    1. Humility and prayer. 2. The consideration of the suffering which follows sin, and of the happiness which awaits those who resist temptation. 3. Invoking the aid of the Blessed Virgin, our guardian angel, and all the saints. 4. Praying devoutly, "Lead us not into temptation," and calling on the holy name of Jesus.

 Goffine's Devout Instructions on the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and Holy Days, 1896

--  Instaurare Omnia in Christo,  ROMEO K. ESCUYOS JR. http://romeoescuyos.multiply.com efax: 1-916-415-2239  Home based business for free http://romeoescuyos.cognigen.org  Excellent PC Tech Support Plus Products To Improve Your Life http://romeoescuyos.juvio.com  High quality health and beauty care products at competitive prices Visit - http://takeoff.to/juvio   --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message, which arise as a result of e-mail transmission. If verification is required please request a hard-copy version. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Plenary Indulgence - Our Lady of Lourdes

Thursday after Ash Wednesday
St. Romuald - Abbot
J.M.J.


February 11 - Feast of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes.

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the apparition of our Blessed
Mother to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, France. From February 11 to July 16,
1858, our Blessed Mother asked Bernadette to come to the grotto at
Massabielle. In the apparitions Mary asked that prayers and penance be done
for the atonement of sins. In the ninth apparition, the miraculous spring
was revealed that has brought thousands of cures [see below - "Miracles of
Lourdes" from www.olrl.org/stories/lourdes.shtml]. It was on March
25, that "the Lady" told St. Bernadette her name, "I am the Immaculate
Conception".

------

OUR LADY OF LOURDES PLENARY INDULGENCE

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Blessed Virgin Mary's appearances
to Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France, Pope Benedict XVI authorized a
plenary indulgence for Catholics taking part in public or private devotions
to Our Lady of Lourdes.

The faithful may gain the indulgence by making a devout visit Feb. 2-11 to
"a blessed image of the Holy Virgin Mary of Lourdes in any church, chapel,
grotto or other suitable place in which it is solemnly displayed," according
to the Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican office dealing with indulgences and
matters of conscience. In the presence of the image of Our Lady of Lourdes,
the faithful "should perform some pious act of Marian devotion, or at least
pause to reflect for an appropriate length of time, concluding with the
Lord's
Prayer, some legitimate form of the profession of faith, and the jubilee
prayer or some other Marian invocation."

The elderly, sick and all those unable to leave home for a just cause may
also gain the plenary indulgence if from Feb. 2 to 11 they complete
"spiritual visits" to a blessed image of Our Lady of Lourdes, recite the
prayers indicated above, and trustingly offer the pains and discomforts of
their own lives to God through Mary, according to the Apostolic
Penitentiary. They must consciously reject all sin and have the intention to
fulfill the abovementioned conditions as soon as possible.


Norms for Indulgences - An indulgence is the remission before God of the
temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is
concerned. This remission the faithful with the proper dispositions and
under
certain determined conditions acquire through the intervention of the Church
which, as minister of the Redemption, authoritatively dispenses and applies
the treasury of the satisfaction won by Christ and the Saints.

An indulgence is partial or plenary, according as it removes either part or
all of the temporal punishment due for sin.

Catholic faithful must also meet the church's conditions for gaining
indulgences. According to the Apostolic Penitentiary:

- It is necessary that the faithful be in the state of grace at least at the
time the indulgenced work is completed.

- A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day. In order to obtain it,
the faithful must have the interior disposition of complete detachment from
sin, even venial sin; have sacramentally confessed their sins; receive the
holy Eucharist; and pray for the intentions of the pope.

- It is appropriate, but not necessary, that the sacramental confession and
especially holy Communion and the prayer for the pope's intentions take
place on the same day that the indulgenced work is performed. But it is
sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several
days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act. Prayer for the pope's
intentions is left to the choice of the faithful, but an Our Father and a
Hail Mary are suggested. One sacramental confession suffices for several
plenary indulgences, but a separate holy Communion and a separate prayer for
the Holy Father's intentions are required for each plenary indulgence.

- For the sake of those legitimately impeded, confessors can commute both
the work prescribed and the conditions required (except, obviously,
detachment from even venial sin).

- Indulgences can always be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the
deceased, but they cannot be applied to other persons living on earth.

Catholic faithful making a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, through Dec. 8,
the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, can also
receive the plenary indulgence. They must visit the following sites,
preferably in this order: the parish baptismal font used for the baptism of
Bernadette; the house of the Soubirous family, called the "cachet"; the
Grotto of Massabielle; the chapel of the hospice where Bernadette made her
first Communion. At each location, the faithful should meditate and pray the
Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the jubilee prayer or a prayer to Mary.

(Above information from various sources including
www.thefloridacatholic.org/ven/2008_ven/2008_venarticles/20080125_ven_plenary_indulgence.php)

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

MIRACLES OF LOURDES
a 4 page article - 8 cents ea.
taken from www.lord.org/stories/Lourdes.shim

INTRODUCTION TO LOURDES

In 1858 in the grotto of Massabielle, near Lourdes, France, the Blessed
Virgin Mary appeared 18 times to Bernadette Soubirous, a 14 year old peasant
girl. She identified herself as The Immaculate Conception. She gave
Bernadette a message for all: "Pray and do penance for the conversion of the
world." The Church investigated Bernadette's claims for four years before
approving devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes. Lourdes has since become one of
the most famous shrines, attracting more than a million pilgrims each year.
There have been thousands of miraculous cures at this shrine.

A Medical Bureau was established in 1882 to test the authenticity of the
cures. The doctors include unbelievers as well as believers and any doctor
is welcome to take part in the examination of the alleged cures. As many as
500 medical men of all faiths or no faith have taken advantage of the
invitation each year. Many books and movies tell the story of Lourdes. Even
Hollywood made a movie of this remarkable event in the 1940's entitled "The
Song of Bernadette" which won six academy awards.

No one leaves Lourdes without a gain in faith. Moral and spiritual cures are
more marvelous than physical cures. Some go to Lourdes with lifetime
prejudices, yet their minds are cleared in a sudden manner. Frequently
skepticism gives way to faith; coldness and antagonism become whole hearted
love of God. Again and again those who are not cured of bodily pain receive
an increase of faith and resignation - true peace of soul. The story of two
outstanding miracles that occurred at Lourdes are told below.

THE STORY OF GABRIEL GARGAM

The case of Gabriel Gargam is probably one of the best known of all the
thousands of cures at Lourdes, partly because he was so well known at the
Shrine for half a century, partly because it was a twofold healing,
spiritual and physical. Born in 1870 of good Catholic parents, he gave early
promise of being a clever student and a fervent Catholic. The promise was
not fulfilled in the most important respect for, at 15 years of age, he had
already lost his faith. He obtained a position in the postal service and was
carrying out his duties as a sorter in December of 1899, when the train on
which he was traveling from Bordeaux to Paris collided with another train,
running at 50 miles per hour. Gargam was thrown fifty two feet from the
train. He lay in the snow, badly injured and unconscious for seven hours. He
was paralyzed from the waist down. He was barely alive when lifted onto a
stretcher. Taken to a hospital, his existence for some time was a living
death. After eight months he had wasted away to a mere skeleton, weighing
but seventy-eight pounds, although normally a big man. His feet became
gangrenous. He could take no solid food and was obliged to take nourishment
by a tube. Only once in twenty-four hours could he be fed even that way. He
brought suit for damages against the railroad. The Appellate Court confirmed
the verdict of the former courts and granted him 6,000 francs annually, and
besides, an indemnity of 60,000 francs.

Gargam's condition was pitiable in the extreme. He could not help himself
even in the most trifling needs. Two trained nurses were needed day and
night to assist him. That was Gabriel Gargam as he was after the accident,
and as he would continue to be until death relieved him. About his desperate
condition there could be no doubt. The railroad fought the case on every
point. There was no room for deception or hearsay. Two courts attested to
his condition, and the final payment of the railroad left the case a matter
of record. Doctors testified that the man was a hopeless cripple for life,
and their testimony was not disputed.

Previous to the accident Gargam had not been to Church for fifteen years.
His aunt, who was a nun of the Order of the Sacred Heart, begged him to go
to Lourdes. He refused. She continued her appeals to him to place himself in
the hands of Our Lady of Lourdes. He was deaf to all her prayers. After
continuous pleading of his mother he consented to go to Lourdes. It was now
two years since the accident, and not for a moment had he left his bed all
that time. He was carried on a stretcher to the train. The exertion caused
him to faint, and for a full hour he was unconscious. They were on the point
of abandoning the pilgrimage, as it looked as if he would die on the way,
but the mother insisted, and the journey was made.

Arrived at Lourdes, he went to confession and received Holy Communion. There
was no change in his condition. Later he was carried to the miraculous pool
and tenderly placed in its waters - no effect. Rather a bad effect resulted,
for the exertion threw him into a swoon and he lay apparently dead. After a
time, as he did not revive, they thought him dead. Sorrowfully they wheeled
the carriage back to the hotel. On the way back they saw the procession of
the Blessed Sacrament approaching. They stood aside to let it pass, having
placed a cloth over the face of the man whom they supposed to be dead.

As the priest passed carrying the Sacred Host, he pronounced Benediction
over the sorrowful group around the covered body. Soon there was a movement
from under the covering. To the amazement of the bystanders, the body raised
itself to a sitting posture. While the family were looking on dumbfounded
and the spectators gazed in amazement, Gargam said in a full, strong voice
that he wanted to get up. They thought that it was a delirium before death,
and tried to soothe him, but he was not to be restrained. He got up and
stood erect, walked a few paces and said that he was cured. The multitude
looked in wonder, and than fell on their knees and thanked God for this new
sign of His power at the Shrine of His Blessed Mother. As Gargam had on him
only invalid's clothes, he returned to the carriage and was wheeled back to
the hotel. There he was soon dressed, and proceeded to walk about as if
nothing had ever ailed him. For two years hardly any food had passed his
lips but now he sat down to the table and ate a hearty meal.

On August 20th, 1901, sixty prominent doctors examined Gargam. Without
stating the nature of the cure, they pronounced him entirely cured. Gargam,
out of gratitude to God in the Holy Eucharist and His Blessed Mother,
consecrated himself to the service of the invalids at Lourdes.

He sat up a small business and married a pious lady who aided him in his
apostolate for the greater knowledge of Mary Immaculate. For over fifty
years he returned annually to Lourdes and worked as a brancardier. The
Golden Jubilee of his cure was the occasion of a remarkable celebration
during the French National Pilgrimage in 1951. M. Gargam sat in a chair in
the Rosary Square, surrounded by 1,500 sick and 50,000 other pilgrims while
a description of his twofold healing was given by the celebrated apologist,
Canon Baloney. His last visit to the Shrine was in August 1952: he died the
following March, at the age of eighty-three years.

THE STORY OF JOHN TRAYNOR

In some respects the story of John Traynor is similar to that of Gabriel
Gargam. Yet in many ways it is different. After their cures, the two men
were brancardiers at Lourdes at the same time and may have discussed their
cases with each other.

John Traynor was a native of Liverpool, England. His Irish mother died when
he was quite young, but the faith which she instilled in her son remained
with him the rest of his life. His injuries dated from World War I, when he
was a soldier in the Naval Brigade of the Royal British Marines. He took
part in the unsuccessful Antwerp expedition of October, 1914, and was hit in
the head by shrapnel. He remained unconscious for five weeks. Later, in
Egypt, he received a bullet wound in the leg. In the Dardanelles, he
distinguished himself in battle but was finally brought down when he was
sprayed with machine gun bullets while taking part in a bayonet charge. He
was wounded in the head and chest, and one bullet went through his upper
right arm and lodged under his collarbone.

As a result of these wounds, Traynor's right arm was paralyzed and the
muscles atrophied. His legs were partially paralyzed, and he was epileptic.
Sometimes he had as many as three fits a day. By 1916, Traynor had undergone
four operations in an attempt to connect the severed muscles of this right
arm. All four operations ended in failure. By this time he had been
discharged from the service. He was given a one hundred percent pension
because he was completely and permanently disabled. He spent much time in
various hospitals as an epileptic patient. In April, 1920, his skull was
operated on in an attempt to remove some of the shrapnel. This operation did
not help his epilepsy, and it left a hole about an inch wide in his skull.
The pulsating of his brain could be seen through this hole. A silver plate
was inserted in order to shield the brain.

He lived on Grafton Street in Liverpool with his wife and children. He was
utterly helpless. He had to be lifted from his bed to his wheelchair in the
morning and back into bed at night. Arrangements had been made to have him
admitted to the Mosley Hill Hospital for Incurables.

In July, 1923, Traynor heard that the Liverpool diocese was organizing a
pilgrimage to Lourdes. He had always had a great devotion to the Blessed
Virgin and determined to join the pilgrimage. He took a gold sovereign which
he had been saving for an emergency and used it as the first payment on a
ticket. At first his wife was very much disturbed by the idea of her husband
making such a difficult trip. His friends tried to talk him out of it. His
doctor told him the trip would be suicide. The government ministry of
pensions protested against the idea. One of the priests in charge of the
pilgrimage begged him to cancel his booking. All of this was to no avail.
Traynor had made up his mind, and there was no changing it. When his wife
saw how much he wanted to make the trip, she decided to help him. In order
to raise the money for the pilgrimage, the Trainers sold some of their
furniture; Mrs. Traynor pawned some of her jewelry.

There was much excitement at the railroad station the day the pilgrimage was
to leave. In addition to the noise and confusion that accompanies the
departure of every large pilgrimage, there was the additional hubbub caused
by the curious who had come to see Traynor. His trip had aroused much
interest, and at the station a great number of people crowded about his
wheel chair. Newspaper reporters and photographers were on hand to cover the
event. As a result of all this, Traynor reached the station platform too
late to get on the first train. The second train was crowded, and once more
an attempt was made to talk him out of taking the trip. Traynor, however,
said that he was determined to go if he had to ride in the coal tender.

The trip was extremely trying, and Traynor was very sick. Three times,
during the journey across France, the directors of the pilgrimage wished to
take him off the train and put him in a hospital. Each time there was no
hospital where they stopped, and so they had to keep him on board. He was
more dead than alive when he reached Lourdes on July 22 and was taken to the
Aisle. Two Protestant girls from Liverpool, who were serving as volunteer
nurses in the Aisle, recognized Traynor and offered to take care of him. He
gladly accepted the offer. He had several hemorrhages during his six days
there and a number of epileptic fits. So bad was his condition that one
woman took it upon herself to write to his wife and tell her that there was
no hope for him and that he would be buried in Lourdes.

Traynor managed to bathe in the water from the grotto nine times, and he
attended all the ceremonies to which the sick are taken. It was only by
sheer force of will that he was able to do this. Not only were his own
infirmities a serious obstacle but the brancardiers and others in attendance
were reluctant to take him out for fear he would die on the way. Once he had
an epileptic fit as he was going to the piscine. When he recovered, the
brancardiers turned his chair to take him back to the Aisle. He protested,
but they insisted. They were forced to give in when he seized the wheel with
his good hand and would not let the chair budge until it went in the
direction of the baths.

On the afternoon of July 25 when he was in the bath, his paralyzed legs
became suddenly agitated. He tried to get to his feet, but the brancardiers
prevented him. They dressed him, put him back in his wheel chair, and
hurried him to Rosary Square for the Blessing of the Sick. Most of the other
sick were already lined up. He was the third last on the outside as one
faces the church.

Let us hear in Traynor's own words what happened after that. This is the
story as he told it to Father Patrick O'Connor.

"The procession came winding its way back, as usual, to the church and at
the end walked the Archbishop of Rheims, carrying the Blessed Sacrament. He
blessed the two ahead of me, came to me, made the Sign of the Cross with the
monstrance and moved on to the next. He had just passed by, when I realized
that a great change had taken place in me. My right arm, which had been dead
since 1915, was violently agitated. I burst its bandages and blessed
myself - for the first time in years.

"I had no sudden pain that I can recall and certainly had no vision. I
simply realized that something momentous had happened. I attempted to rise
from my stretcher, but the brancardiers were watching me. I suppose I had a
bad name for my obstinacy. They held me down, and a doctor or a nurse gave
me a hypo. Apparently they thought that I was hysterical and about to create
a scene. Immediately after the final Benediction, they rushed me back to the
Aisle. I told them that I could walk and proved it by taking seven steps. I
was very tired and in pain. They put me back in bed and gave me another hypo
after a while.

"They had me in a small ward on the ground floor. As I was such a
troublesome case, they stationed brancardiers in relays to watch me and keep
me from doing anything foolish. Late that night, they placed a brancardier
on guard outside the door of the ward. There were two other sick men in the
room, including one who was blind.

"The effect of the hypos began to wear off during the night, but I had no
full realization that I was cured. I was awake for most of the night. No
lights were on.

"The chimes of the big Basilica rang the hours and half hours as usual
through the night, playing the air of the Lourdes Ave Maria. Early in the
morning, I heard them ringing, and it seemed to me that I fell asleep at the
beginning of the Ave. It could have been a matter of only a few seconds, but
at the last stroke I opened my eyes and jumped out of bed. First, I knelt on
the floor to finish the rosary I had been saying. Then I dashed for the
door, pushed aside the two brancardiers and ran out into the passage and the
open air. Previously, I had been watching the brancardiers and planning to
evade them. I may say here that I had not walked since 1915, and my weight
was down to 112 pounds.

"Dr. Marley was outside the door. When he saw the man over whom he had been
watching during the pilgrimage, and whose death he had expected, push two
brancardiers aside and run out of the ward, he fell back in amazement. Out
in the open now, I ran toward the Grotto, which is about two or three
hundred yards from the Aisle. This stretch of ground was graveled then, not
paved, and I was barefoot. I ran the whole way to the grotto without getting
the least mark or cut on my bare feet. The brancardiers were running after
me, but they could not catch up with me. When they reached the grotto, there
I was on my knees, still in my night clothes, praying to our Lady and
thanking her. All I knew was that I should thank her and the grotto was the
place to do it. The brancardiers stood back, afraid to touch me."

A strange feature of Traynor's case was that he did not completely realize
what had happened to him. He knew that a great favor had been bestowed upon
him and that he should be thankful, but he had no idea of the magnitude of
the favor. He was completely dazed. It did not seem strange to him that he
was walking, and he could not figure out why everyone was staring at him. He
did not remember how gravely ill he had been for many years.

A crowd of people gathered about Traynor while he was praying at the grotto.
After about twenty minutes, he arose from his knees, surprised and rather
annoyed by the audience he had attracted. The people fell back to allow him
to pass. At the crowned statute of our Lady, he stopped and knelt again. His
mother had taught him that he should always make some sacrifice when he
wished to venerate the Virgin. He had no money to give. The few shillings he
had left after buying a railroad ticket, he had spent to buy rosaries and
medals for his wife and children. He therefore made the only sacrifice he
could think of: he promised our Lady that he would give up cigarettes.

The news of his cure had spread rapidly, and a great crowd was waiting at
the Asile. Traynor could not understand what they were doing there. He went
in and got dressed. Then he went into the washroom. A number of men were
there ahead of him.

"Good morning, gentlemen!" said Traynor cheerily.

But there was no answer. The men just looked at him; they were too overcome
to speak.

Traynor was puzzled. Why was everyone acting so strangely this morning?

When he got back to his ward, a priest who was visiting at Lourdes came in
and said, "Is there anyone who can serve Mass?"

"Yes, I can," Traynor volunteered.

The priest who knew nothing yet about the cure accepted the offer, and
Traynor served Mass in the chapel of the Asile. It did not seem a bit out of
the ordinary to be doing so.

In the dining room of the Asile where Traynor went to eat his breakfast, the
other patients stared at him in amazement. Later when he strolled outdoors,
the crowd that had gathered there made a rush at him. Surprised and
disconcerted he made a quick retreat into the enclosure.

A Mr. Cunningham, who was also on the pilgrimage, came to talk to him. The
visitor spoke casually, but it was evident that he was making a great effort
to control his excitement.

"Good morning, John. Are you feeling all right?"

"Yes, Mr. Cunningham, quite all right. Are you feeling all right?" Then he
came to the matter that was puzzling him. "What are all those people doing
outside?"

"They're there, Jack, because they are glad to see you.

"Well, it's nice of them, and I'm glad to see them, but I wish they'd leave
me alone."

Mr. Cunningham told him that one of the priests of the pilgrimage - the one
who had opposed his coming - wished to see him. There was much difficulty
getting through the crowd, but they finally got to the hotel where the
priest was waiting. The priest asked him if he was all right. All this
solicitude was most bewildering.

"Yes, I'm quite well," Traynor answered, "and I hope you feel well, too."

The priest broke down and began to cry.

Traynor traveled home in a first-class compartment despite all his protests.
As they were going across France, Archbishop Keating of Liverpool came into
his compartment. Traynor knelt to receive his blessing. The Archbishop bade
him rise.

"John, I think I should be getting your blessing," he said.

Traynor did not know what the Archbishop meant.

The Archbishop led him over to the bed, and they both sat down. Looking at
Traynor closely, His Excellency said, "John, do you realize how ill you have
been and that you have been miraculously cured by the Blessed Virgin?"

"Suddenly," Traynor later told Father O'Connor, "everything came back to me,
the memory of my years of illness and the sufferings of the journey to
Lourdes and how ill I had been in Lourdes itself. I began to cry, and the
Archbishop began to cry, and we both sat there, crying like two children.
After a little talk with him, I felt composed. Now I realized fully what had
happened."

Someone suggested to Traynor that he telegraph his wife. Instead of telling
her that he had been completely cured he merely said, "Am better - Jack."
His wife was very much pleased to receive this message. She had been very
much upset when the woman in the pilgrimage had told her that he was dying.
But she was not prepared for the glorious news that was to come! She was the
only one who was not, for the story had been in the Liverpool papers. Since
she had not happened to see the story, those about her decided not to tell
her. They thought it would be nicer to surprise her.

It seemed that all Liverpool was at the station to greet the cured man upon
his return. When Mrs. Traynor reached the platform, she told who she was and
asked to be allowed through the crowd.

"Well," said the official in charge, "all I can say is that Mr. Traynor must
be a Mohammedan, because there are seventy or eighty Mrs. Traynors on the
platform now."

In an attempt to save Traynor from being crushed by the crowd which was
growing every minute, the railway company stopped the train before it got to
the station. The Archbishop walked toward the crowd. He asked the people to
restrain their enthusiasm when they saw Traynor and to disperse peacefully
after they had had a look at him. They promised that they would do so.

Despite this promise there was a stampede when Traynor appeared on the
platform. The police had to clear a passage for him to pass through.

The joy of Traynor's family upon his return and their deep gratitude to Our
Lady of Lourdes could never be put into words. The cured man went into the
coal and hauling business and had no trouble lifting 200-pound sacks of
coal. He went back to Lourdes every summer to act as a brancardier. He died
on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1943. The cause of
his death was in no way related to the wounds which had been cured at
Lourdes.

The two non-Catholic girls who looked after Traynor at Lourdes came into the
Church as a result of the cure. Their family followed their example, and so
did the Anglican minister of the church they had been attending. A great
number of conversions in Liverpool resulted from the miracle.

Although the cure took place in 1923, the Medical Bureau waited till 1926 to
issue its report. Traynor was examined again, and it was found that his cure
was permanent. "His right arm which was like a skeleton has recovered all
its muscles. The hole near his temple has completely disappeared. He had a
certificate from Dr. McConnell of Liverpool attesting that he had not had an
epileptic attack since 1923. . . .

"It is known that when the important nerves have been severed, if their
regeneration has not been effected (after the most successful operations
this would take at least a year) they contract rapidly and become dried up
as it were, and certain parts mortify and disappear. In Mr. Traynor's case,
for the cure of his paralyzed arm, new parts had to be created and seamed
together. All these things were done simultaneously and instantaneously. At
the same time occurred the instant repair of the brain injuries as is proved
by the sudden and definite disappearance of the paralysis of both legs and
of the epileptic attacks. Finally, a third work was effected which closed
the orifice in the brain box. It is a real resurrection which the
beneficiary attributes to the power of God and the merciful intercession of
Our Lady of Lourdes. The mode of production of this prodigious cure is
absolutely outside and beyond the forces of nature."

As is usual in such cures, John Traynor retained souvenirs of his former
afflictions. The right hand did not hang quite normally, and the right
forearm was a little less thick than the left. A slight depression was the
only trace that was left of the hole in the skull.

If John Traynor and Gabriel Gargam ever discussed their cases and compared
notes while both were serving as brancardiers, they must have been amused by
one point. Gargam succeeded in having his pension from the railway company
discontinued. The British War Pension Ministry, however, insisted upon
paying Traynor's pension till the end of his life. They had examined him
thoroughly and found him incurable. They did not care what the Lourdes
Medical Bureau said or what any of the doctors who examined Traynor after
his return from Lourdes reported. It did not matter that he was engaged in
the most strenuous kind of work. They had pronounced him incurable, and
incurable he was. This decision was never revoked.

The gift of miracles has never ceased to show its presence in the Catholic
Church. "If you would not believe Me" said Our Lord to the Jews, "believe
the works I do."
------
"The Catholic Faith alone produces miracles, which are never seen among
heretics. Plants of this sort cannot grow in a soil cursed by God; they can
take root only in that Church where the True Faith is professed . . . God
cannot sanction the performance of a miracle except in favor of the true
religion; were He to permit it in support of error, He would deceive us."

St. Alphonsus Marie de Liguori - Bishop & Doctor of the Church


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

February is dedicated to the Passion of Jesus Christ

February, the month dedicated to the Passion
Quinquagesima Sunday
St. Blaise - Bishop, Martyr
J.M.J.


THE PASSION AND THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST

Louis Blosius relates that our Lord revealed to several holy women - to
St. Gertrude, St. Bridget, St. Mechtilde, and St. Catharine of Sienna - that
they who meditate on his Passion are very dear to him. According to St.
Francis de Sales, the Passion of our Redeemer should be the ordinary subject
of the meditation of every Christian. Oh, what an excellent book is the
Passion of Jesus! There we understand, better than in any other book, the
malice of sin, and also the mercy and love of God for man. To me it appears
that Jesus Christ has suffered so many different pains - the scourging, the
crowning with thorns, the crucifixion, etc. - that having before our eyes so
many painful mysteries, we might have a variety of different subjects for
meditating on his Passion, by which we might excite sentiments of gratitude
and love. St. Augustine writes that "there is no more profitable occupation
for the soul than to meditate daily on the Passion of Our Lord."


St. Alphonsus de Liguori

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

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books, articles, prayers and devotions some of which include:

The Passion and The Death of Jesus Christ
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Seven Offerings of the Precious Blood
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Devotion to the Drops of Blood Lost by Our Lord
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Ash Wednesday is this week, February 6th. Place your order now!

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


Pray to the Lord that if He give you any virtue or gift of any
kind, He may give you with it grace to keep it hidden, that you
may always live in holy humility.
--St. Phillip Neri

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