Sunday, March 29, 2020

DON’T BE FEARFUL O MARY by Saint Bernard


You have heard, O Virgin, the announcement of the great mystery. You have heard that you are to conceive and bring forth a Son, and that it will not be through the power of man, but by the virtue of the Holy Ghost. The angel awaits your reply, for it is time that he should return to God, Who sent him. We, too,are waiting, O Lady, for a word of mercy—we, who are groaning under the sentence of condemnation. See, the price of our salvation is offered to you; if you consent, we shall at once be delivered. By the Eternal Word of God we were all created, and behold we die. By your short answer we shall be refreshed and recalled to life.

Hasten, then, O Lady, to give your answer; hasten to speak the word so longed for by all on earth, in limbo, and in heaven. Yea, the King and Lord of all things, Who has greatly desired your beauty, desires as eagerly your word of consent, by which He has purposed to save the world. He whom you have pleased by your silence will now be more gratified by your reply. Hark! He calls to you from heaven: “O most beautiful among women, give me to hear your voice.” If you let Him hear your voice, He will enable you to see our salvation. And is not this what you have sought for, what you have prayed for night and day with sighs and tears?

Open, O Blessed Virgin, your heart to faith, your lips to compliance, your bosom to your Creator. Behold, the desired of all nations stands at the gate and knocks. Oh, suppose He were to pass by while you delay! How would you begin again with sorrow to seek Him whom your soul loveth! Arise—run—open! Arise by faith, run by devotion, open by acceptance.

St Bernard on the Annunciation and the Blessed Virgin's Consent.

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Friday, March 27, 2020

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION


The Immaculate Conception the one Who is the Glory of her people, the one who gives her people Victory. Who is she that comes forth as the moring rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?

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Sunday, March 22, 2020

IN THIS PANDEMIC, AND ALWAYS, WE SHOULD MAKE MANY SPIRITUAL COMMUNIONS


A Spiritual Communion is a pious desire to receive the Holy Eucharist, when for some reason it is not possible to receive Our Lord sacramentally. It has been practiced by all the saints with great spiritual profit.

Warnings

1) Spiritual Communion may be repeated several times a day. It can be made while we are at Church or elsewhere, at any time of day or night, before or after meals.

2) All those who do not receive Communion sacramentally should at least make a Spiritual Communion, when attending Mass. The better time to make a Spiritual Communion is, obviously, when the priest is taking Communion.

3) Those who are in the state of mortal sin must make an act of contrition beforehand, if they wish to receive the fruits of Spiritual Communion. Otherwise, they would not benefit from it at all, and it would be an irreverence, although not a sacrilege, according to Fr. Antonio Royo Marín, OP, “Moral Theology for Lay People”.

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Regarding Spiritual Communion, the Catechism of the Council of Trent, known as Roman Catechism, because it is a compendium of the Roman doctrine, states the following: “It is necessary that the pastors of souls teach that there is not only one way of receiving the admirable fruits of the Sacrament of Eucharist, but two: Sacramental Communion and Spiritual Communion.” The latter is not very well known, and it is practiced by very few people, nonetheless it is an incomparable and special fountain of graces.

Countless souls have attained a high degree of perfection through it.
Saint John Mary Vianney, used to say: "A spiritual communion acts on the soul as a breath of wind does on a fire which is about to burn out. Whenever you feel your love of God growing cold, quickly make a spiritual communion."

The Holy Council of Trent immensely praises Spiritual Communion, and urges the faithful to practice this devotion. Our Lord said to His servant, Sister Paula Maresca, founder of the Monastery of Saint Catherine of Siena, in Napoles, how much Spiritual Communion pleases Him, and the great number of graces that are granted to us through this devotion, by showing her two precious vessels, one made out of gold and the other one made out of silver; then He said to her that He kept His Sacramental Communions in the gold vessel, and the Spiritual Communions in the silver one.

Jesus would like to come every day to our hearts through Sacramental Communion, however this is still not enough for Him: He would like to unite with us continually. This desire of the Divine Savior is fulfilled through Spiritual Communion. Our Lord said to Saint Matilda: “Every time your heart desires Me, you draw Me to you. A desire or a longing is enough to make Me yours.” He also said to Saint Margaret of Alacoque: “My daughter, your desire has pierced My Heart so deeply that if I had not already instituted this Sacrament, I would do so now to become your food.” He also asked to Saint Margaret of Cortona to remind the words of Saint Augustine to a religious: “Believe and you have eaten already”; that is, make an act of Faith and desire towards the Eucharist, and you will be fed by this divine food. During the celebration of a Mass, He said to Blessed Ida of Louvain, who had not been able to receive Him sacramentally: “Call me and I shall come to you!”, the saint exclaimed: “Come, O Jesus!” and she immediately felt filled with happiness as if she had really received Communion. Lastly, after having made a Spiritual Communion, Saint Catherine of Siena heard that Jesus said to her: “In such manner and place as it may please Me I can, want and know how to satisfy the holy ardors of a soul that desires Me.”

This great desire of Jesus to unite with us is infinite and omnipotent: it has no other barrier than our liberty. Jesus has multiplied the miracles to give Himself to us in the Eucharist. Is he not capable of making another miracle? Is he not His own Lord and owner of all His graces and Divinity? If he comes down from Heaven to the Host, between the hands of the priest, would He not come down to our hearts, if we call Him with the ardor of our desire?
The first effect of Spiritual Communion is that of increasing our union with the Humanity and Divinity of the Incarnated Word. This is its main effect, its essential fruit; all the other graces that we receive through this devotion stem from it. Here is a brief summary of the several graces that are granted to us through Spiritual Communion:

Our fervor is rekindled. "A spiritual communion acts on the soul as a breath of wind does on a fire which is about to burn out. Whenever you feel your love of God growing cold, quickly make a spiritual communion”, said Saint John Mary Vianney. Amidst the many trials on our earthly pilgrimage, sadness continuously takes hold of us, and our hearts fill with darkness. Spiritual Communion dispels the gloom, like the morning’s sun; it brings back joy to the heart and peace to the soul.

Spiritual Communion also facilitates and favors interior retirement. It is the most effective means to fight against dissipation, fickleness and digressions of the mind and fantasy. It helps us to keep our sight fixed on God, to live in a sweet and constant intimacy with Him, and in a continuous union of hearts.

Spiritual Communion detaches us from everything that is purely sensitive and earthly; it helps us to despise all vanities and pleasures of the world, which last so little. “It is the bread of the heart,” said Saint Augustine, “The healing of the heart.” It also helps us to detach our hearts from everything that is unclean and faulty; and it transforms them and closely unites them to the Heart of Jesus.

It is also greatly effective for removing venial sins and attaining from God forgiveness of punishment for the sins committed. Spiritual Communion will also give an amazing glory to all the souls that practiced well this devotion, and they will enjoy special joys, sweeter and more delicious, that other souls will never know. One day, Our Lord said to Saint Gertrude that each and every time we devotedly look at the Host, our place in Heaven is raised, and the more we increase these amorous looks and desire for the Eucharist, the more joys we will enjoy in Heaven.

It pushes us towards Sacramental Communion by increasing each day our desire to receive Jesus, it prevents us from willfully ceasing to receive Him sacramentally, and it helps us preparing to better receive Sacramental Communion and to get more fruits out of it.

We can also offer up Spiritual Communions for the intentions of others, whether alive or dead. Saint Margaret of Alacoque highly recommended Spiritual Communion as a suffrage for the souls in purgatory. “You can greatly relieve those poor souls by offering up as much Spiritual Communions as you can to repair the misuse they made of Sacramental Communions.”

Spiritual Communion can be made after prayer, meditation, spiritual reading, before and after praying the Rosary, and at night, before going to sleep. It can be made as many times as one wishes to. Time is not important, but ardor and vehemence of desire, hunger and thirst of the soul, the impulse of the heart!

All saints are unanimous in praising the wonders of Spiritual Communion. Some go as far as saying that “Many times, through this means, God fills us with the same graces we receive with Sacramental Communion”, as Blessed Mary of the Cross used to said; and Saint Gertrude, together with Father Rodríguez, agree that “sometimes He grants even greater graces, because although Sacramental Communion is in itself of greater ffectiveness, the fervor of desire can make up for the difference.”

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Friday, March 20, 2020

SOME PEOPLE ARE TERRIFIED OF THE CORONAVIRUS, BUT THEY DON’T ATTEMPT TO LIVE ALWAYS IN THE STATE OF GRACE TO BE SAVED


LET US GO TO CONFESSION! LET’S MAKE IT A HABIT TO MAKE DAILY ACTS OF CONTRITION! OR DO WE PREFER TO RISK ETERNITY?

“Whoever worries much about their body but little about their soul, end up falling into the arms of the devil”.

Saint John Bosco

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Thursday, March 19, 2020

WHAT A CATHOLIC PRIEST SHOULD WARN THE FAITHFUL


“Faith teaches that the pains of Hell are eternal, and it also warns us that one single mortal sin suffices to condemn a soul forever because of the infinite malice by which it offends an infinite God. With these most positive principles in mind, how can I remain indifferent when I see the ease with which sins are committed, sins that occur as frequently as one takes a glass of water, sins and offenses that are perpetrated out of levity or diversion? How can I rest when so many are to be seen living continually in mortal sin?”

If you were to see a blind man about to fall into a pit or over a precipice, would you not warn him? Behold, I do the same, and do it I must for this is my duty… You may tell me that sinners will insult me, that I should leave them alone… Ah no, I can’t abandon them. They are my dear brothers.

I simply cannot understand how other priests who believe the same truths that I do, and as we all should, do not preach and exhort people to save themselves from falling into hell.

It is still a source of wonder to me how the laity – those men and women blessed with the Faith – do not give warning to those who need it. If a house were to catch fire in the middle of the night, and if the inhabitants of the same house and the other townsfolk were asleep and did not see the danger, would not the one who first noticed it shout and run along the streets, exclaiming: “Fire! Fire! In that house over there!” Then why should there not be a warning of eternal fire to waken those who are drifting in the sleep of sin in such a way that when they open their eyes they will find themselves burning in the eternal flames of Hell?".

Saint Anthony Mary Claret

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Saturday, March 14, 2020

LET US KEEP OUR CATHOLIC FAITH WHOLE AND UNDEFILED


 "Whoever wills to be saved, before all things it is necessary that he holds the Catholic faith. Unless a person keeps this faith whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish eternally." 

 Pope Eugene IV 

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Wednesday, March 11, 2020

PRAYER TO THE HOLY GHOST


 Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of Your Holy Spirit; grant us, in the same Spirit, to know what is right, and ever to rejoice in His consolation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

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Monday, March 9, 2020

BISHOP SCHNEIDER: THE BAN ON COMMUNION IN THE MOUTH… CONSTITUTES AN ABUSE OF AUTHORITY. RELATED TO CORONAVIRUS


Editor’s note: The following article was first published at Rorate Caeli, and is reprinted with Bishop Schneider’s permission.

February 28, 2020 (Rorate Caeli) – Nobody can force us to receive the Body of Christ in a way that constitutes a risk of the loss of the fragments, and a decrease in reverence, as is the way of receiving Communion in the hand…

In these cases, it is better to make a Spiritual Communion, which fills the soul with special graces. In times of persecution, many Catholics were unable to receive Holy Communion in a sacramental way for long periods of time, but they made a Spiritual Communion with much spiritual benefit.

Communion in the hand is no more hygienic than Communion in the mouth. Indeed, it can be dangerous for contagion. From a hygienic point of view, the hand carries a huge amount of bacteria. Many pathogens are transmitted through the hands. Whether by shaking other people's hands or frequently touching objects, such as door handles or handrails and grab bars in public transport, germs can quickly pass from hand to hand; and with these unhygienic hands and fingers people then touch often their nose and mouth.

Also, germs can sometimes survive on the surface of the touched objects for days. According to a 2006 study, published in the journal "BMC Infectious Diseases", influenza viruses and similar viruses can persist on inanimate surfaces, such as e.g. door handles or handrails and handles in transport and public buildings for a few days.

Many people who come to church and then receive Holy Communion in their hands have first touched door handles or handrails and grab bars in public transport or other buildings. Thus, viruses are imprinted on the palm and fingers of their hands. And then during Holy Mass with these hands and fingers they are sometimes touching their nose or mouth. With these hands and fingers they touch the consecrated host, thus impressing the virus also on the host, thus transporting the viruses through the host into their mouth.

Communion in the mouth is certainly less dangerous and more hygienic compared to Communion in the hand. In fact, the palm and the fingers of the hand, without intense washing, undeniably contain an accumulation of viruses. The ban on Communion in the mouth is unfounded compared to the great health risks of Communion in the hand in the time of a pandemic. Such a ban constitutes an abuse of authority. Furthermore it seems, that some Church authorities are using the situation of an epidemic as a pretext. It seems also that some of them have a kind of cynical joy to spread more and more the process of trivialization and de-sacralization of the Most Holy and Divine Body of Christ in the Eucharistic sacrament, exposing the Body of the Lord himself to the real dangers of irreverence (loss of fragments) and sacrileges (theft of consecrated hosts). Then there is also the fact that during the Church's 2,000-year history there were no proven cases of contagion due to the reception of Holy Communion. In the Byzantine Church the priest gives Communion to the faithful even with a spoon, the same spoon for everyone. And then, the priest or deacon drinks the wine and water with which he purified the spoon, which was sometimes even touched with the tongue of a faithful during the reception of Holy Communion. Many faithful of the Eastern churches are scandalized, when they see the lack of faith of bishops and priests of the Latin Rite, as they introduce the ban on receiving Communion in the mouth, a ban made ultimately for lack of faith in the sacred and Divine character of the Body and Blood of the Eucharistic Christ.

Then there is also the fact that during the Church's 2,000-year history there were no proven cases of contagion due to the reception of Holy Communion.

In the Byzantine Church the priest gives Communion to the faithful even with a spoon, the same spoon for everyone. And then, the priest or deacon drinks the wine and water with which he purified the spoon, which was sometimes even touched with the tongue of a faithful during the reception of Holy Communion. Many faithful of the Eastern churches are scandalized, when they see the lack of faith of bishops and priests of the Latin Rite, as they introduce the ban on receiving Communion in the mouth, a ban made ultimately for lack of faith in the sacred and Divine character of the Body and Blood of the Eucharistic Christ.

The following prayer for making a Spiritual Communion is recommended:
At Thy feet, O my Jesus, I prostrate myself, and I offer Thee the repentance of my contrite heart, which is humbled in its nothingness and in Thy holy presence. I adore Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love, the ineffable Eucharist. I desire to receive Thee into the poor dwelling that my heart offers Thee. While waiting for the happiness of sacramental Communion, I wish to possess Thee in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, since I, for my part, am coming to Thee! The love embrace my whole being in life and in death. I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee. Amen

+ Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the archdiocese of St. Mary in Astana

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Friday, March 6, 2020

WE MUST NOT SILENCE THE TRUTH


“But, when necessity compels, not those only who are invested with power of rule are bound to safeguard the integrity of faith, but, as St. Thomas maintains: ‘Each one is under obligation to show forth his faith, either to instruct and encourage others of the faithful, or to repel the attacks of unbelievers.’ To recoil before an enemy, or to keep silence when from all sides such clamors are raised against truth, is the part of a man either devoid of character or who entertains doubt as to the truth of what he professes to believe. In both cases such mode of behaving is base and is insulting to God, and both are incompatible with the salvation of mankind.”

Pope Leo XIII, Sapientiae christianae. January, 1890.

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Tuesday, March 3, 2020

THE DEFINITION OF DOGMS IS PERPETUAL


 “For the doctrine of faith that God has revealed has not been proposed like a philosophical system to be perfected by human ingenuity; rather, it has been committed to the spouse of Christ as a divine trust to be faithfully kept and infallibly declared. Hence also that meaning of the sacred dogmas is perpetually to be retained which Our Holy Mother Church has once declared, and there must never be a deviation from that meaning on the specious ground and title of a more profound understanding.”

 (D, 1800) (VATICAN COUNCIL I).

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Sunday, March 1, 2020

THE OBSERVANCE OF LENT


 “The observance of Lent is the very badge of the Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of the cross of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should mankind grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe.” (Benedict XIV, Constitution Non ambigimus of 10 June 1745).

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