THE SCAPULAR AND THE DAY OF OUR LADY OF CARMEN (JULY 16)

THE SCAPULAR OF CARMEN

A. HISTORY AND PRIVILEGES

1. Promise of Salvation:

Whoever dies with the scapular will be saved.

Saint Simon Stock was the sixth Superior General of the Carmelite Order during the years 1245-1265. Faced with serious difficulties in the Order, Saint Simon daily implored Mary's protection. His prayer was answered, and "the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, accompanied by a multitude of Angels, holding in her blessed hands the scapular of the Order and saying these words: This will be a privilege for you and all Carmelites; whoever dies with it will not suffer eternal fire, that is, whoever dies with it will be saved."  (Catalog of Saints of the Order

Another very old version reads as follows: "Saint Simon, an Englishman, a man of great holiness and devotion, in his prayer continually begged the Virgin to favor his Order with some singular privilege. The Virgin appeared to him holding the Scapular, saying: This is the privilege for you and yours; whoever dies wearing it will be saved" (Brussels Saints' Calendar). That is, he will avoid hell. He will go to heaven after a stay in purgatory.

The date and place of the apparition are not known with certainty. London is mentioned, on July 16, 1251. This was still within the generalate of Saint Simon and before 1252, since on January 13 of that year, Pope Innocent IV issued the Bull "Ex parte dilectorum" in which he defended the Carmelites on this issue.

2. Sabbath Privilege: And the first one will be freed from purgatory.  Saturday.

Sixty-two years later (1314), Our Lady appeared to Pope John XXII, who recorded her words in the Bull "Sacratissimo uti culmine," also called the Saturday Bull (3.3.1322): "If among the religious or confraternities of this order there are any who, upon dying, must purge their sins in the prison of purgatory, I, who am the Mother of mercy, will descend into purgatory on the first Saturday after their death, and I will free them to lead them to the Holy Mountain of Eternal Life."

3. Plenary Indulgences. - Those who wear the Scapular of Carmel join the Carmelite family and can gain a plenary indulgence on the day the scapular is imposed and on the following days (fulfilling the usual conditions, that is, receiving Communion—naturally without mortal sin—on that date and praying for papal intentions, usually a Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, and Gloria).  as well as confessing eight days before or after the date):

May 16 (Saint Simon Stock).

July 16 (Our Lady of Mount Carmel).

July 20 (Saint Elijah the Prophet).

October 1 (Saint Therese of Lisieux).

October 15 (Saint Teresa of Jesus).

November 14 (All Saints' Day of the Carmelites).

December 14 (Saint John of the Cross).

B. CONDITIONS

1. For the promise of salvation, the following are required:

Having the scapular imposed. (It is enough to do so once.)

Wearing it. It can be replaced with a medal. (We will discuss this.) Both the medal and the scapular must be blessed upon imposition.

Devotion to Mary; seeking to imitate her; desiring to be good children of hers. The scapular is two small pieces of cloth that symbolize a garment. And whoever wears Mary's habit must live like her, practicing the virtues.  Christians. So that the habit-dress is united to the habit-virtue.

2. For the Sabbath privilege. In addition to the above, the following are required:

Maintain the chastity proper to one's state. (Confession restores the lost status.)

Pray the Little Office of Our Lady. This prayer can be substituted for abstinence from meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Other possible substitutions are also mentioned, provided they are authorized by a priest: the recitation of the Divine Office or the Rosary. For indulgences. The requirements proper to indulgences are required, plus the conditions of the scapular in the promise of salvation.

4. The medal. - Saint Pius X (Holy Office, 16.12.1910) decreed that the scapular, after its imposition, can be replaced by a metal medal bearing on one side an image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and on the other an image of the Blessed Virgin (usually Our Lady of Mount Carmel).

C.  BLESSING AND IMPOSITION

There are several formulas for the blessing and imposition of the scapular. Some are approved for the different branches of Carmel, others are more general.

𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗗𝗼 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹

Almighty God, Creator and Sustainer of all, I come before You in humble adoration. Your wisdom surpasses all understanding, and Your love knows no bounds.

I praise You for Your infinite wisdom and boundless love. Thank You for Your constant presence in my life.

Lord, I surrender myself completely to You. Take my thoughts, my words, my actions, and my desires. Purify them, sanctify them, and align them with Your divine plan. May every breath I take be for Your greater glory.

Grant me the courage to say “yes” to Your will, as Mary did at the Annunciation. Like her, may I be Your humble servant, ready to accept whatever You ask of me.

In times of challenge, be my support. When I am weak, be my strength. When I am doubtful, be my certainty. When I am fearful, be my courage. When I am prideful, teach me humility. Grant me patience in times of waiting. Perseverance in times of trial. And gratitude in times of blessing.

Guide me in my daily walk with You. Help me to see Your hand in all things, to trust in Your infinite wisdom and love. May I find joy in serving You and others, knowing that in doing so, I fulfill Your holy will.

Guide me in my vocation and daily duties. May I be a faithful steward of the gifts You’ve given me, using them to build Your Kingdom on earth.

Lord, in my human frailty, when I stray from Your path, gently call me back. Forgive me for the times I’ve placed my will before Yours, and grant me the grace to begin anew each day.

In moments of decision, big or small, may I always ask, “What would You have me do?” Give me the wisdom to choose rightly, and the strength to follow through.

I pray not only for myself but for all Your children. May Your love and peace reign in every heart.

I offer this prayer to You, O God, through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

THE FIRST DUTY

“The first duty that Christ has assigned to those who, like us, have been entrusted from on high with the task of shepherding the Lord’s flock is to guard with the greatest vigilance the deposit of the holy faith that has been entrusted to us; and this, both by rejecting profane novelties of language and the contradictions of a so-called science. And certainly there has never been a time in which this vigilance of the Supreme Shepherd has not been necessary, for there has never been a lack, at the instigation of the enemy of the human race, of men teaching perverse doctrines (1), charlatans of novelties and seducers (2), immersed in error and leading us astray (3). But it must be acknowledged that, in recent times, the number of enemies of the cross of Christ has increased enormously; all of them, with absolutely new and cunning techniques, strive to exhaust the vital energies of the Church and would even want to destroy the kingdom of Christ, if this were possible. Therefore, we cannot remain silent any longer.”  "Let us not give the impression of failing in the most sacred of our duties, and the understanding we have shown until now, hoping to see a rectification, be interpreted as a dereliction of our duty."

Saint Pius X, Encyclical Letter Pascendi, Introduction.

(1). Acts 20:30.
(2). Titus 1:10.
(3). 2 Tim 3:13.

LOSS OF THE SENSE OF SALVATION

 

DO YOU THINK YOU'VE LOST YOUR FAITH? READ THIS ARTICLE

Poor unbelievers! How sorry I am for them! Not all are equally guilty. I clearly distinguish two completely different kinds of unbelievers. There are tormented souls who feel they have lost their faith. They don't feel it, they don't savor it as before. They feel they have lost it completely. This very afternoon I received an anonymous letter; no one signs it. Through his words, however, a person of more than average culture shines through. He writes admirably well. And after telling me that he is listening to my lectures on Spanish National Radio, he tells me his story. He tells me that he has almost completely lost his faith, although he desires it with all his soul, because with it he felt happy, and now he feels a terrible emptiness in his spirit. And he begs me, if I know of any practical and effective means to return to his lost faith, to shout it out to him, to show him that goal of peace and happiness he longs for.

My poor friend! I'm going to open a parenthesis in my lecture to send you a few words of comfort. I will tell you with Christ: "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." From the moment you seek faith, you already have it. Saint Augustine says it beautifully: "You would not seek God if you did not already have him." From the moment you desire faith with all your soul, you already have it. God, in His inscrutable designs, has chosen to subject you to a test. He has withdrawn the feeling of faith from you, to see how you react in the darkness. If, despite all the darkness, you remain faithful, a day will come—I don't know if sooner or later, these are God's judgments—when He will restore the feeling of faith to you with a strength and intensity incomparably greater than before. What do you have to do in the meantime? Humble yourself before God. Humble yourself a little, which is the indispensable condition for receiving God's gifts.  Joy, enjoyment, and the savoring of faith are often the rewards of humility. God never resists humble tears. If you kneel before Him and say: “Lord, I have faith, but I wish I had more. Help my little faith.” If you fall on your knees and ask God to give you the innermost feeling of faith, He will give it to you infallibly, do not doubt it; and in the meantime, my poor brother, live in peace, because not only are you not far from the Kingdom of God, but, in reality, you are already within it.

Ah! But your case is completely different from that of true unbelievers. You are not an unbeliever, even if for the moment you lack the sweet and savory feeling of faith. True unbelievers are those who, without any foundation, without any argument to prevent them from believing, burst into foolish laughter and utterly disregard the truths of faith.  You have no argument against it, you cannot have one, gentlemen. The Catholic faith resists all kinds of arguments that may be put against it. There is not, and cannot be, a valid argument against it. It infinitely surpasses reason, but it never contradicts it. There can be no conflict between reason and faith, because both proceed from the same and only source of truth, which is the first Truth by essence, which is God himself, in whom there can be no contradiction. It is impossible to find a valid argument against the Catholic faith. It is impossible for there to be unbelievers in the head—as I told you the other day—but there are abundant ones at heart. He who leads an immoral conduct, he who has acquired a fortune through unjust means, he who has four or five girlfriends, he who is up to his neck in mire and mud—how can he calmly accept the Catholic faith that speaks to him of an eternal hell! It is more convenient for him to dispense with faith or to hurl at it the laughter of unbelief.  Fool! As if that laughter could alter the tremendous reality of things in any way! Laugh now! The laughter of a dwarf on a night in Chinatown. Laugh now! God's time will come! Things will change. Listen to Holy Scripture: "You rejected all my advice and did not obey my requests. I, too, will laugh at your ruin and mock when terror comes upon you." (Prov 1:25-26). Christ himself warns in the Gospel, quite clearly: "Woe to you who laugh now, for you will groan and weep!" (Lk 6:25). Are you mocking all this? Well, go on enjoying yourself and laughing peacefully. You are dancing with incredible madness on the edge of an abyss: it is the time of your laughter! The time of God's laughter will come for all eternity.

“THE MYSTERY OF THE BEYOND”

Antonio Royo Marín. O.P.

Father Pio dixit

 

How many souls will spend years and years in purgatory because of those ideas!

And we hear phrases like:

"Finally, he's resting with God."

"We now have a little angel in heaven."

"He was very good, he's at peace now."

No, my friends, only God knows in what state that soul arrived in His presence, but good wishes are not enough to save a soul, no matter how beloved it may be.

Therefore, let us not stop offering prayers, Masses, and sacrifices for the souls in purgatory; they may still need us greatly.

LET US NOT FORGET THEM.

THE VIRGIN OF REMEDIES AND THE HILL OF OTOMCAPULCO IN TOTOLTEPEC

Evening of June 30: 505nd Anniversary of the arrival of the Image of Our Lady of Remedies to Naucalpan, amidst the tragic flight of "The Sad Night."

After the chaos caused during Cortés' absence from the Great Tenochtitlan, the natives became very angry with Emperor Moctezuma II for various reasons, one of them being for having allowed the Spanish to place the Image of Our Lady of Remedies atop the Templo Mayor.

Following the death of Moctezuma II and the growing hatred of the natives toward the Spanish, on the night of June 30 to July 1, 1520, the Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés fled the city of Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire.  But not before collecting the image that presided over the Templo Mayor, the patron saint of the Conquest, which had remained intact despite the attacks of the Mexica seeking its destruction.

Many of the Spaniards only attempted to flee, because the indigenous warriors caught up with them and offered their blood to their false gods. Bernal Díaz del Castillo, author of the "True History of the Conquest of New Spain," a soldier present at that event, estimates that around 600 of his comrades died.

Cortés and his men fled at midnight on June 30, 1520. Cortés gave the signal to depart, and under orders of silence, they marched across a canoe bridge toward Tlacopan (Tacuba). Before reaching the causeways leading out of the Aztec city, they were observed by Aztec warriors, who sounded the alarm warning of the Spanish escape.  As the Spanish and their allies reached the causeways, hundreds of canoes appeared in the waters alongside the Aztec warriors.

The Spanish and their native allies fought their way out in the rain against countless arrows, using portable bridges to bridge the gaps.  It is said that during the battle, the natives suddenly saw a bearded man mounted on a white steed flashing with a distinctive light, shielding the Spaniards from fleeing (some say it was the apostle Saint James, known as "Santiago Matindios"); but they also saw a Lady with a Child in her arms, both with delicate faces, who threw dirt in the eyes of the natives so they would lose track of the Spaniards (here it is believed that it was the Virgin of Remedies).

Upon reaching the territory of Tacuba, they entered the area of ​​Totoltepec, where the Otomi Indians, tired of being dominated and enslaved by the Mexica empire, supported Cortés and his men, providing them with provisions and treating their wounds so they could later resume their journey.

Tradition tells us that upon arriving at Totoltepec, Cortés sat at the foot of an ahuehuete tree to mourn his defeat.  The image of the Virgin of Remedies, and feeling helpless over his failure, Cortés, fearing that the Blessed Image would be desecrated, ordered Captain Juan Rodríguez de Villafuerte (the soldier who brought the Virgin) to hide her at the top of a grove on Otomcapulco Hill. There was no safer place than the hollow of a maguey tree at the top of Otomcapulco Hill (today Los Remedios), where the indigenous chief of Totoltepec, Don Juan Ce Cuautli, found her in 1540.

It seems strange to think that after the battle of the "Noche Triste," the Spanish Conquistador and General Hernán Cortés stayed to mourn his defeat in the tree located in Popotla (for let us remember that the Aztec dominions extended even beyond those lands), as most people think. Therefore, it is more likely that this resting place took place in Totoltepec, since  It was an Otomi domain.

It is worth noting that the aforementioned Ahuehuete de Totoltepec is still standing, making it one of the oldest trees preserved in the town.

Author: Eduardo Baltazar Martínez.

CATHOLIC: ALWAYS REMAIN UNITED TO THE CROSS OF CHRIST

Catholics must unite themselves to the cross, in the depths of their souls, uniting the sufferings of our time with the Passion of Our Lord.

We must not only unite against modern errors, but we must provide our families with an alternative to this godless world in Christian civilization. Therefore, our unity is first for the Truth and then against error.

The Truth we promote is Catholic Tradition in all its fullness: the doctrine revealed by Christ and guarded by the Catholic Church: faith and morals, as well as the sacred traditional liturgy and also the customs, pious beliefs, and the great monuments of art, architecture, and music.

We unite according to the binding force of Tradition; this is what was handed down to us by our grandparents and parents, to be passed on to our children and grandchildren.

WHAT THE PRIEST SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT

 

“Look, my priest, stop worrying about the suggestion of numbers and focus more on quality. Rather than filling my churches with people, focus on filling them with the sweet aroma of fervent Communions, of heartfelt adoration, of sighs of love, of aspirations of hope, of inspirations of faith, of well-praised prayers, of sinners' tears, of effective resolutions of amendment, of an intensely Eucharistic life.” Author: Monsignor Manuel González (1877-1940), the Apostle of the Abandoned Tabernacles.

SOUL KILLERS

 

WHICH PATH DO YOU FOLLOW?

 

CORPUS THURSDAY OBLIGES MASS, AT LEAST IN MEX

 

Corpus Christi is the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, of the presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. Although it falls on Thursday, it is a holy day of obligation (at least in Mexico; other countries ask about their place of origin) and therefore requires—gravely—attendance at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in order to fulfill the third commandment of the Law of God. On this day, we remember the institution of the Eucharist, which took place on Holy Thursday during the Last Supper, when Jesus converted the bread and wine into His Body and Blood. That is, Christ is truly present in the host and chalice, after the consecration, with His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. This truth is a dogma of faith for every Catholic. It is a very important feast because the Eucharist is the greatest gift that God has given us, moved by His desire to remain with us after the Ascension. Origin of the feast: God used Saint Juliana of Mont Cornillon to bring about this feast. From a young age, Juliana had a great veneration for the Blessed Sacrament. She always longed for a special feast in her honor. This desire is said to have been intensified by a vision she had of the Church under the appearance of a full moon with a black spot, which signified the absence of this solemnity. When she grew up, she made her religious profession and later became superior of her community. He died on April 5, 1258. The Council of Trent The Council of Trent declared that the custom was very piously and religiously introduced into the Church of God that every year on a certain feast day this most exalted and venerable sacrament be celebrated with singular veneration and solemnity, and that it be reverently and honorably carried in procession through the streets and public places. In this, Christians attest their gratitude and remembrance for such an ineffable and truly divine benefit. Let us remember that during the Mass, the holy Sacrifice of Calvary is renewed in an unbloody manner.

THERE IS NO HIGHER WORSHIP

 

"What an incomparable honor we have in participating in the Holy Mass! If we were to combine all the merits and virtues of all the saints who have ever existed and will ever exist, with all the love of the blessed, including the angels and the Blessed Virgin Mary herself, all of them together could not give God as much honor, praise, or satisfaction as He receives in a single Holy Mass." Father Pedro Vignes

THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

 

What should we do on the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity? – On the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, we must do five things: 1. adore the mystery of the Triune God; 2. give thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for all the temporal and spiritual benefits we receive from Her; 3. consecrate ourselves totally to God and surrender ourselves completely to His divine Providence; 4. remember that through Baptism we entered the Church and were made members of Jesus Christ by the invocation and virtue of the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; 5. determine to always devoutly make the Sign of the Cross, which expresses this mystery, and to pray with lively faith and the intention of glorifying the Most Holy Trinity those words that the Church so often repeats: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. (Catechism of St. Pius X, Instruction I, c. XII).

THE FRUITS OF SIX DECADES OF "POST-CONCILIAR SPRING" WITHOUT CORRECTING THE CAUSES. THE ONLY SOLUTION: A RETURN TO THE TRADITION OF THE CHURCH, WHICH WILL ALWAYS BE LIFE-GIVING AND YOUTHFUL.

 

Don Rodrigo Ruiz Velasco y Barba recently published this very interesting article:

"The Debacle of the Religious." I take the essential data from historian Francisco José Fernández de la Cigoña, who in turn takes them from the Pontifical Yearbook (2025):

Jesuits: In 1965 there were 36,038; in 2024 there were 13,995.

Salesians: In 1967 there were 22,810; in 2024 there were 13,605.

Franciscans: In 1963 there were 27,136; in 2024 there were 11,984.

Benedictines: In 1963 there were 12,131 monks; in 2024 there were 6,382.

Capuchins: In 1963 there were 15,849 friars; in 2024 there were  9,794.

Dominicans: In 1963, there were 10,150; in 2024, there were 5,369.

Lazarists: In 1969, there were 6,284; in 2024, there were 3,033.

Augustinians: In 1967, there were 4,548; in 2024, there were 2,340.

Augustinians of the Assumption (Assumptionists): from 1,967 in 1966; in 2024, there were 962.

Carthusians: In 1967, there were 602; in 2024, there were 272.

Clerics of St. Viator: There were 1,968 in 1967; in 2024, there were 374.

Somascans: In 1959, there were 360; in 2024, there were  533.

Theatines: There were 164 in 1973; in 2024 there will be 171.

Claretians: There were 4,128 in 1966; in 2024 there will be 2,966.

Oblates of Mary Immaculate: There were 7,890 in 1966; in 2024 there will be 3,478.

Jerome Friars: There were 35 in 1974; in 2024 there will be 7.

Augustinian Recollects: There were 1,580 friars in 1967; in 2024 there will be only 929.

Overall, from 153,640 who were once friars, we have dropped to 76,194 in recent times. The reduction is around 50%, in a much more populated world (more than double the population in 1967). Calles will be  Congratulations (perhaps in hell*), but he was wrong: the way to achieve that goal was not open persecution."

*NOTE ON CATHOLICITY: There are those who claim that Plutarco Elías Calles died repentant and confessed.

TO KEEP IN MIND

“Life is your ship, not your home,” said Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, inviting us to reflect on the transitory nature of our earthly existence. Life, according to this metaphor, is like a ship we sail on, a journey full of experiences, lessons, and challenges. We should not become too attached to this world, since our true home, the final destination to which we are called, is heaven.

This thought encourages us to live with hope and purpose, reminding us that our ultimate goal is union with God in eternity, and that all our actions and decisions should be oriented toward that transcendental end.

TIME IS NOT OURS

As soon as we open our eyes in this life, time has already overtaken us.

It wakes us up without permission, drags us without pause, educates us with blows, and dismisses us without farewell.

No one chooses it. No one can stop it. No one ever sees the same time twice.

And yet, we treat it as if it were ours. As if it were a resource, a calendar, a number to be accumulated or managed, but not a mystery to be received.

And so, by dint of measuring it, dividing it, chasing it, we have forgotten that time does not belong to us.

⸻

There are those who believe that time is the neutral framework of life. Others imagine it as an invisible god who rules all things without a face.

But the truth is much simpler, and more solemn: time is a creature.

As real as the sun, as fragile as the soul, as obedient as a servant awaiting orders from the Eternal.

It did not arise out of necessity. It is not self-sufficient. It has no end in itself.

It was created by God, not for man to dwell on, but to transform it into eternity.

⸻

The human soul was made for eternity, but it can only choose within time.

And that is why time is not an empty succession, but the space of drama.

The drama of freedom, of sin, of grace, of forgiveness, of glory or perdition.

Every second is a battlefield.

Every moment can be an altar or an abyss.

Every day can incline the soul toward Heaven or toward judgment.

⸻

But here is the secret that cannot be taught in academies: time is not understood with concepts, but with worship.

It is not mastered with clocks, but with knees.

It is not won by doing more things, but by uniting everything to God.

Therefore, he who multiplies his agenda but does not love wastes his time.

And he who appears ineffective in the eyes of the world, but unites his day to the Cross, is saving hours for eternity.

⸻

The eternal Word, by becoming incarnate, entered into time.

God, who does not need minutes, agreed to live each one, so that not one of our minutes would be left out of his Redemption.

And thus, time was sanctified.

Not because its substance changed, but because it was assumed by the Word and transfigured among men.

From then on, every moment can be united to the Mystery,

every hour can be grace,

every day can be an oblation...

if it is lived in Christ.

⸻

Time does not wait.

But it does obey.

It obeys the One who created it.

And therefore, he who unites himself to the will of God does not fear the passing of days.  Because he knows that each day doesn't distance him from fulfillment, but brings him closer.

There is a higher freedom than that of one who controls his agenda: that of one who allows himself to be possessed by God's plan in time.

That freedom knows how to lose in order to win, to remain silent in order to conquer, to wait in order to burn.

⸻

The soul that loves God doesn't waste time.

Not because it fears it, but because it sees it as a gift.

A fleeting, fragile, precious gift, whose value is measured not by its duration, but by its destiny.

The saints, who understood time more than all the watchmakers in the world, lived each day as if it were the first... and the last.

They knew that every moment could be the hour of their death or their eternity.

And so, they didn't rush: they worshipped.

They didn't plan for ten years: they prepared for ten centuries of glory.

⸻

Time is not a tyrant.  The tyrant is the man who wants it without God.

Time does not kill: it is we who kill it when we use it without love.

Time does not age: it is the soul that withers if it does not await eternity.

Time, lived in grace, rejuvenates hope.

Time, united with sacrifice, transfigures history.

And time, offered with faith, conquers death.

⸻

Time is not ours.

It was given to us… to give back.

And in that act—free, humble, silent—everything is at stake.

We will not be asked how much we did, but how much we offered.

Not how many hours our work lasted, but how much of God each one contained.

Because time will not be judged by its progress, but by its worship.

And only those who love the eternal Word discover that time is not a prison… but a path.

And that every minute is a possibility of eternity.

OMO

VIRTUE IN WOMEN

"The first fundamental virtue of the Christian woman is piety; but an educated, solid, and exemplary piety.

Her piety must be educated by an exact and reasoned knowledge of Christian doctrine. She needs, above all, a clear knowledge of our religion, to be prepared to solidly instruct, whether at home or outside of it, all those who vegetate in ignorance. Happy are the children who, from the earliest age, have learned the rudiments of the faith from the pious lips of their good mother or virtuous sister!

Religious knowledge must be elevated to the level of scientific knowledge: that is, they must understand the foundations of certainty on which the truths of our holy faith rest.

This reasoned knowledge of our holy faith is, especially in our days, indispensable for the Christian woman; because in our century of unbelief, she must be prepared and must prepare those who are  his own defenses against the pestilent contagion of skepticism; and it must also, many times, confound the ignorance of the wicked.

Their piety must be not only instructed, but also solid; and it will be so if it is based on the unshakeable convictions of faith, and on a will firmly resolved to serve God above all things. From this solid piety, well grounded on the convictions of the intellect and the firmness of the will, there spontaneously springs constancy in the well-regulated practice of devotion; the exercises of which will never be omitted, even if they cost some sacrifice.

Finally, piety must be exemplary; that is, it must be accompanied by good example, by the practice of Christian virtues, especially those born of charity, such as gentleness and affability in dealings, which make piety lovable.  ✨ Fr. Francisco J. Schouppe, S.J.

📖 The Christian Woman: Her Mission, Her Formation, and Her Defense.

SLOW AGONY

 The soul of our homeland, which enlivened that empire where the sun never set, in slow agony approaches its twilight. Impiety has seized our homeland, destroying the family. Divorce legalizes impiety, and in a chain of events, house upon house falls, and so do all our peoples; what surrounds us is a field of ruins and desolation. Abortion is the weapon with which the wicked dry up the source of life, of hope, and of a future, and they try to sully the innocence of those who are born. With petty selfishness, all parenthood is sterilized; homes are not homes, they are a barren wasteland invaded by beasts large and small. Poor old people! We remove their venerable presence from our existence and mercilessly forget them, along with their treasures of history and experience. Once they are euthanized, we cremate their remains because we have no mercy, not even for the dead.  

They no longer teach the truth in schools with a system they call secular that is actually atheist, justice is not served in the courts because they have banished the moral teachings preached by Christianity from the laws, nothing helps the people live in peace. Rosy parties oppress the broken, degraded people, depraved by vices, subjugated by the tyranny of multinationals. Partisanships that abhor even the concept of the common good and Natural Law. Pornography is impiety. It is the same impiety that inspires the arts. The spirit of this modern world, with its impious cruelty, erases from yesterday the support for tomorrow, and thus denigrates the traditions that allow Catholics to be the salt of this world.

ANGEL OF GOD

 Angel of God, my Guardian dear, to whom His love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and to guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

THE BATTLE OF THE SIGNS

 What the soul accepts without knowing and hell celebrates in silence

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I. THE SIGN DOESN'T ASK PERMISSION

The human soul was not made for neutrality. It either adores or falls. And yet, today, modern man—so practical, so enlightened—has grown accustomed to wearing signs he doesn't understand, to repeating gestures he didn't choose, to singing words that deny what he pretends not to believe.

He wears inverted crosses as if they were ornaments. He wraps himself in festive skulls. He decorates his house with oriental idols. And he does all this while saying that "it means nothing," while his soul is soaked—drop by drop—in the content that this "nothing" truly contains.

The sign acts. Even if the conscience sleeps. Because the symbol is not just a drawing: it is a seed. It is not an accessory: it is a silent language that forms the soul, as the climate forms a landscape.

And in this civilization that claims to have transcended forms, the most subtle—and most decisive—battle is no longer fought in treaties: it is fought in signs.

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II. THE LANGUAGE OF GOD: WHEN THE INVISIBLE BECOMES VISIBLE

God speaks. But he does not do so like men. His pedagogy is ancient, but alive: He teaches with fire, with water, with bread, with blood. He does not explain: He reveals. He does not theorize: He shows Himself. And that is why His truth is not only heard, but touched, smelled, and tasted.

Christianity is the only religion where truth became flesh. And a flesh needs gestures, forms, time, and color. That is why the Church—wise mother—did not allow her faith to dissolve into abstractions, but wove it with signs: the cross, the altar, genuflection, incense, fasting, and silence.  Everything that modernity calls “superfluous” is, in reality, the alphabet of the redeemed soul.

The sacraments—effective signs instituted by Christ—contain and cause grace. Sacramentals, blessed by the Church, dispose the soul, elevate the mind, protect the body. And beyond them, there is a universe of holy signs that, without causing anything in themselves, teach, prepare, and protect.

Saint Thomas teaches it bluntly:

“Man needs the sensible to rise to the spiritual.”

And Saint Gregory the Great adds:

“What Scripture teaches with words, the liturgy proclaims with signs.”

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III. VISIBLE SHIELDS, INVISIBLE BONDS

A crucifix is ​​not a figure: it is a proclamation. The Rosary is not routine: it is resistance. The scapular is not a cloth: it is belonging. Holy water is not an ornament: it is an invisible trench.

Holy signs, when blessed and used with faith, do not contain God like the Sacrament, but they make His memory present, dispose the soul, and exercise true protection. They are moral shields. They are silent pedagogy. They are calls to conversion.

That is why the saints used them as weapons. Saint Benedict traced the cross over poison and defeated it. Saint Teresa of Jesus humbled the devil with a drop of holy water. The Curé of Ars slept among signs that the devil hated. Saint Pio of Pietrelcina discerned the blessed from the profaned like one recognizes the perfume of heaven.

Nothing was secondary to them. Because they knew that God also speaks through forms, and that whoever guards His signs guards His Kingdom.

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IV. THE SIGNS OF COUNTERRELIGION

The devil cannot create, but he knows how to imitate. And when he does, he inverts.

This is how the enemy's liturgy has infiltrated T-shirts, music videos, festivals, tattoos, fashions, and jewelry. Pentagrams, skulls, inverted crosses, occult eyes, ritual greetings, invocations disguised as design, lyrics laden with blasphemy, desecrated images. All presented as art. All consumed as entertainment. But all sown with precision.

Just look around: Santeria symbols sold as culture; band t-shirts that glorify suicide; posters that mix paganism and politics; candles with counterfeit saints; chants that repeat heresies with a party beat.

And even more subtle: Eastern idols turned into decoration; mandalas as therapy; mudras as elegant gestures; Buddha statues presiding over Catholic dining rooms; yoga postures—born as offerings to pagan deities—turned into spiritual gymnastics for souls who no longer know who redeemed them.

No, they are not neutral.  Because every sign has an owner.

And the soul that accepts a sign, even if it ignores it, enters the sphere of influence of that which that sign proclaims.

Saint Augustine, who knew the deceptions of hell, summed it up lucidly:

“The devil cannot create, but he imitates and perverts everything God made.”

And the saints acted accordingly: Saint Patrick destroyed the Druidic signs. Saint Boniface cut down Thor's tree. Saint Cyprian, who had once been a magician, confessed that the impious signs he used were real instruments of the devil. And when he came to know the cross, everything that had come before was shattered.

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V. DEMONIC INFLUENCE AND OPEN DOORS

The devil doesn't need to possess to reign. It's enough for the soul to lower its guard.

Possession is extraordinary. Influence, on the other hand, is everyday. It creeps in through gestures, habits, objects, music, symbols. It manifests itself as resistance to prayer, unfounded confusion, an allergy to silence, a repulsion toward the sacred. And often, it all began with a symbol accepted without thinking.

Because the symbol, even unintentionally, educates the soul. And when the soul grows accustomed to darkness, it ends up believing that darkness is just another form of light.

Father Amorth said it bluntly:

“The devil enters through the doors that are opened to him. And a symbol can be one of those doors.”

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VI. LIVING WRAPPED IN LIGHT

Therefore, the Catholic soul must surround itself with holy signs like one who builds a fortress.

Not out of superstition, but out of fidelity.  Not out of fear, but out of identity.

A visible crucifix. A blessed scapular. Holy water in the home. True images. Music that uplifts. Words that don't wound the sacred. Clothing that doesn't contradict the faith one professes.

It's not rigidity. It's coherence.

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, preparing the catechumens of the fourth century, said it without poetry:

"Every Christian gesture is a shield for the soul."

And the Church has always taught it: Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi. The way we pray teaches faith. And faith shapes life.

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VII. THE WAR OF SILENCE AND SIGNS

We are not in a debate: we are in a war.

And this war is no longer fought only in books, but in symbols.

It doesn't just happen in parliaments, but in closets, on bodies, in profiles, at parties, in songs.

Today the crucifix is ​​expelled and the skull is venerated. Incense is laughed at and blasphemy is applauded. The cassock is censored and nudity is celebrated.

And whoever does not consciously choose the signs of the Kingdom will end up unwittingly wearing the mark of the enemy.

Saint John Damascene said it with theological precision and fire in his blood:

“I do not worship matter, but the Creator of matter, who became matter for me.”

We say it today, in the face of the advancing shadows:

We do not worship signs. But we do not despise them.

Because whoever loses the language of holy signs will soon speak—unknowingly—the language of hell.

OMO

TAKE THIS INTO ACCOUNT

 

WHERE IS YOUR PARTNER OF SALVATION?

Personal Judgment and the Eternal Weight of Marital Love

“In the end, love will be heavy.
And only the love that saves will have the weight of eternity.”

I. THE THRESHOLD WHERE ALL MIRRORS WILL FALL

The time will come.

We know it. Even if we fill the days with words, laughter, or silence, we know it.

The time will come when everything that was appearance will fall.

When every smile, every indifference, every act and every omission will be called by its true name.

Personal Judgment.

It will not be a cold interrogation or a bureaucratic list of errors.

It will be the total revelation of who we were, of what we did with the love God entrusted to us.

And then, for the husband—and also for the wife—there will be a question that will resonate with a gravity impossible to imagine now:

"Where is your companion in salvation?"

Not:

"Where is your companion in affection?"

Nor:

"Where is your accomplice in joy?"

But:

"Where is the soul I placed in your keeping?

Where is the woman whose eternal destiny I entrusted to you?"

Because marriage, which for the world is only a contract or a story of feelings, for God is a covenant of redemption.

II. MARRIAGE: NOT COMPANIONSHIP, BUT CUSTODY OF THE SOUL

The day a man and a woman say "yes"—before the altar and under the heavens that also bear witness—they seal a covenant that knows no fashions or fleeting emotions.

They promise fidelity.

But that fidelity is not only physical companionship or emotional constancy.

It is a fidelity to the soul of the other.

“I receive you as my wife…” does not mean: “I will accompany you as long as it is easy.”

It means: “I will take custody of your soul even when love becomes a cross.”

Saint John Chrysostom said it with the strength of those who see beyond the earth:

The husband must love his wife as Christ loved the Church: to the point of sacrifice, to sanctification, to total surrender.

Saint Francis de Sales, with the gentleness possessed only by the strong, added:

True conjugal love does not seek only to make life more pleasant. It seeks to lead the other to God.

And Saint Thomas Aquinas did not speak of fleeting affections, but of mutuum adiutorium: mutual help not only in earthly matters, but in what weighs eternally: the destiny of the soul.

The great moralist Antonio Royo Marín summed it up with resounding clarity:

Seeking the salvation of one's spouse is not pious advice. It is a grave obligation.  Ignoring it is a sin of omission.

III. THE FALSE MEASURE OF LOVE: THE ELEGANT POISON OF MEDIOCRITY

Today, the world has invented false measures of love:

“I made her happy.”

“I let her be free.”

“I didn't judge her.”

These are phrases that sound mature and reasonable.

But they are often masks of fear or laziness disguised as virtue.

Love that never corrects, never exhorts, never inconveniences, never suffers… is not love. It is indifference disguised as respect.

Saint Francis de Sales warned:

There is no neutrality in marriage. Either husband and wife help each other to save themselves, or they drag each other down into lukewarmness, which is the prelude to spiritual ruin.

IV. OMISSIONS WILL WEIGH MORE THAN SINS

In that personal judgment, it will not be sins that weigh the most.

These will be the omissions:

— The times you remained silent when your wife abandoned prayer.

— The times you didn't correct her for fear of displeasing her.

— The times you preferred your comfort to the sacrifice of guiding her.

— The times you didn't pray for her because you thought “she wouldn't listen anymore.”

— The times you didn't set an example because you believed “it was too late.”

Every silence will have its weight.

Every cowardice will have its name.

Every omission will be called to the center of the tribunal.

Cardinal Robert Sarah expressed it with the gravity of one who contemplates many lost souls and some redeemed ones:

God will entrust us with the soul of the other. And he will ask us what we did with it.

V. THE GREAT QUESTION AND THE HOPE OF THOSE WHO STRUGGLE

“Where is your companion in salvation?”

It won't be a metaphor.

It will be the summary of your entire married life.

And there will be no room to say:

“Lord, I did not mean to impose.”

“Lord, I respected their freedom.”

“Lord, each one had his own path.”

Because marriage is not the coexistence of individual freedoms under the same roof.

It is a unity of destiny and mutual co-responsibility on the path to Heaven.

Pius XI firmly proclaimed this in Casti Connubii:

“God has instituted marriage not only for the propagation and education of children, but also so that spouses may help one another to attain eternal life.”

VI. WHEN THE QUESTION BECOMES MORE INTIMATE:

“DID YOU LOVE YOUR WIFE AS I LOVED MY CHURCH?”

On Judgment Day, that great question will not only be:

“Where is your companion in salvation?”

But, in the depths of the soul, another, even more fearful and luminous question will resonate:

“Did you love your wife as I loved my Church?”

It will not be a reproach.

It will be the measure by which the Christian husband is weighed.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25).

We will not be asked to have loved “as best we could.”

We will not be asked if we were kind or patient at times.

We will be measured by the crucified love of Christ:

— A love that was patient in the face of infidelity.

— Who corrected with charity and taught with truth.

— Who sacrificed himself without expecting a reward.

— Who forgave even when wounded.

— And who gave his life to save.

The husband who loves like this, even with human imperfection, becomes a living image of redeeming love.

VII. THE FACE THAT QUESTIONS WILL ALSO BE THE FACE THAT SMILES

But that judgment will not be only burden and fear.

The same God who will question is the one who gave sufficient grace to fulfill the mission.

And if you can say—with humility and tears—:

“Lord, here is the companion You gave me.

I wasn't perfect.

I fell many times.

But I prayed for her.

I corrected her with love when I could.

I held her in her weaknesses.

I sacrificed myself for her spiritual good.

And when I didn't know what to do, I entrusted her to You, in my prayers and in my weariness.”

Then—as Fulton Sheen taught—judgment will not be a condemnation, but a glorification.

The face that asks will also be the face that smiles.

Because the love that saves, however imperfect and struggled with, is the only love that counts when time is over.

VIII. ETERNITY IS NOT SHARED AS SPOUSES, BUT AS SOULS WHO HELPED EACH OTHER ACHIEVE IT

Christian marriage does not remain in heaven.

“In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage.”  (Mt 22:30).

The sacramental bond, like all sacraments, is a journey, not a destination.

Once its mission is accomplished, it ceases.

But the spouses who fought for each other's salvation will eternally recognize each other as the souls who collaborated with grace to bring each other to glory.

"They will not share eternity as spouses,

but they will contemplate each other in beatitude as instruments of the redemptive love that led them to God."

And that will be their supreme joy:

not having shared just one life, but having collaborated in the salvation that made them eternal.

"Where is your companion in salvation?"

May we respond with truth and hope:

"Lord, here she is.

And though the journey was difficult and I was imperfect,

I never stopped fighting for her soul."

Then we will understand that marriage was—as Christian tradition teaches—the highest form in which natural human love can participate in Christ's redemptive work.

The priesthood and consecrated virginity, which are higher in the order of grace, will have already shone forth in their heavenly fullness.

But the conjugal love that contributed to the salvation of the other will be crowned by God with a glory of its own:

having been, on this earth, an imperfect but true image of the Love that does not abandon and does not fear sacrifice.

OMO