WHEN PRIDE DISGUISES ITSELF AS HUMILITY

Many are humble in word, but not in heart. They say: “I am worse than all: I deserve a thousand hells.” But when anyone reproves them, or says a word that displeases them, they immediately take umbrage. They are like hedgehogs, which put out their bristles as soon as they are touched. But how is it – you say you are worse than all, and yet you cannot bear a word?  “He who is truly humble,” says St. Bernard,” esteems himself good for nothing, and desires to be considered good for nothing by others as well.” 

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, The Way of Salvation and Perfection

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MODERNISM WILL BE THE RELIGION OF THE ANTICHRIST

• It maintains the outer forms of all religions, but empties them of its content.

"Modernism is the latest evolution of liberal Protestantism and is the most subtle and complex heresy that has existed and can exist, so it will undoubtedly be the religion of the Antichrist; because it reconciles in itself the two antagonistic notes with which St. Paul mysteriously describes the Man of Sin, and that until today seemed incompatible: first, he will be an adversary of all religion and worship; second, he will sit in the temple making himself worship as God. Modernism undoes all existing religion, appropriating their external forms, and emptying them of all content to finally fill them with the idolatry of Man."

Father Leonardo Castellani, Comentarios a la Suma Teológica de Santo Tomás.

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THE DEVOTION TO THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY

Promises of the Blessed Virgin to those who meditate on her sorrows.

THE DEVOTION:

Our Lady has always taught Christians to better love Christ. The devotion to her Seven Sorrows was developed by various private revelations.

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to Saint Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373):

“I look around at all who are on earth, to see if by chance there are any who pity me, and meditate upon my sorrows; and I find that there are very few. Therefore, my daughter, though I am forgotten by many, at least do you not forget me; consider my anguish, and imitate, as far as you can, my grief.”

Our Lady promised that she would grant seven graces to the souls who honor her and accompany her daily, praying seven Hail Marys while meditating on her anguish and sorrows:

1. I will grant peace to their families.

2. They will be enlightened about the Divine mysteries.

3. I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.

4. I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my Divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.

5. I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.

6. I will visibly help them at the moment of their death, they will see the face of their Mother.

7. I have obtained this Grace from my Divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and sorrows, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.

In The Glories of Mary, St. Alphonsus also lists the four promises Jesus made to the devotees of His Mother’s sorrows. Alphonsus recounts the revelation made to St. Elizabeth of Hungary “that after the assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven, St. John the Evangelist desired to see her again. The favor was granted to him; his dear Mother appeared to him, and with her Jesus Christ also appeared; Saint John then heard Mary ask her Son to grant some special grace to all those who are devoted to her sorrow. Jesus promised her four principal ones:

1. Those who before death invoke the Divine Mother in the name of her sorrows should obtain true repentance of all their sins.

2. He will protect all who have this devotion in their tribulations, and especially at the hour of death.

3. He will impress upon their minds the remembrance of His Passion, and they will have their reward for it in heaven.

4. He will commit such devout souls to the hands of Mary, with the power to dispose of them in whatever manner she might please, and to obtain for them all the graces she might desire.”

Meditating on the Seven Sorrows of Our Blessed Mother is a way to share the deepest sufferings of her life on earth.

At the foot of the Cross, where a sword of pain pierced the heart of Mary, Jesus gave us His Mother as our Mother shortly before He died. In response to this supreme demonstration of His love for us, let's repeat every day of our lives: “Yes, She is my Mother. Jesus, I receive her and I ask You to lend Me Your Heart to love Mary as You love her.”

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In Exaltatione Sanctae Crucis

From today's Gradual, Sancta Missa, In Exaltatione Sanctae crucis ~ II. classis:

Dulce lignum, dulces clavos, dúlcia ferens póndera: quæ sola fuísti digna sustinére Regem coelórum et Dóminum. 

Allelúia.

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H.H. PIUS XII WARNED US ABOUT THE INNOVATORS WHO WOULD TRY TO DESTROY THE CHURCH

“I am concerned about the confidences of the Virgin to the little Lucia of Fatima. This persistence of the Good Lady in face of the danger that threatens the Church is a divine warning against the suicide that the alteration of the Faith, in its liturgy, its theology, and its soul, would represent… I hear around me innovators who wish to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject her ornaments, and make her remorseful for her historical past. A day will come when the civilized world will deny its God, when the Church will doubt as Peter doubted. She will be tempted to believe that man has become God, that His Son is only a symbol, a philosophy like so many others. And in churches, Christians will search for the red lamp where Jesus awaits them, like the sinful woman crying out before the empty tomb: ‘Where have they taken Him?’.”

(Pope Pius XII, cited in Bishop Roche, Pius XII Devant l'Histoire, pp. 52-53).

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THE FIFTEEN PROMISES OF THE VIRGIN MARY TO THOSE WHO PRAY THE ROSARY

1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive any grace they ask me (as long as it is convenient for their souls).

2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary.

3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.

4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the heart of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.

5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary shall not perish.

6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered and never overwhelmed by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death (unprepared for heaven). The sinner shall convert. The just shall grow in grace and become worthy of eternal life.

7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.

8. Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have, during their life and at their death, the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.

9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary.

10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in heaven.

11. You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary.

12. All those who propagate the holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities.

13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.

14. All who recite the Rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only son Jesus Christ.

15. Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Tradition attributes to Blessed Alain de la Roche (ca. 1428 - 1475) of the Dominican order the origin of these promises made by the Virgin Mary. He restored the devotion to the Holy Rosary taught by Santo Domingo just a century before and forgotten after his death.

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Happy Feast of The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary