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

⸻

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.

⸻

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.”

⸻

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.

⸻

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.

_____

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.”

⸻

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.

⸻

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

PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

O Jesus, eternal High Priest, good Shepherd, Source of life! By the singular magnificence of Your most sweet Heart, You gave us our Priests to fulfill in us those designs of sanctification that Your grace inspires in our hearts. We beseech You to assist them with Your merciful help.

May faith, O Jesus, vivify their works; may hope be indestructible in their trials; may charity be ardent in their resolutions. May Your word, ray of eternal Wisdom, be, through continual meditation, the perennial nourishment of their interior life; may the examples of Your Life and Passion be renewed in their conduct and in their sufferings for our instruction, for light and encouragement in our hearts.

O Lord, grant that our priests, detached from all human interest and zealous only for your glory, may remain faithful to their duty, with a pure conscience, until their last breath.

And when, through the death of their bodies, they place their well-fulfilled task in your hands, may they find in you, Lord Jesus, who were their Master on earth, the eternal reward of the crown of justice in the splendor of the saints. Amen.

SCIENCE REVEALS THE TRUE FACE OF SAINT TERESA OF AVILA

Ávila, May 20, 2025. An international team of experts has reconstructed the face of Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) using cutting-edge digital technologies and historical data. This initiative, presented on March 28, 2025, the 510th anniversary of her birth, accurately recreated the original face of Saint Teresa of Avila when she was around fifty years old, according to the Spanish website Religión Digital.

The team, led by Italian anthropologist Luigi Capasso of the Gabriele d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, worked with Professor Jennifer Mann of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine at Monash University in Australia.

The Italian professor was in charge of the exhumation and study of the relics of Saint Teresa of Ávila, preserved in the Monastery of the Annunciation of Our Lady in Alba de Tormes, Spain.

The facial reconstruction process was based on an exhaustive study of the saint's remains, preserved in various locations: her body, left arm, and heart in Alba de Tormes (Salamanca); her left hand in Ronda (Málaga); and her right foot in Rome.

Professor Jennifer Mann modeled "the most accurate representation" of Saint Teresa's appearance, based on data obtained in Alba de Tormes during the opening of the tomb. Researchers used advanced forensic techniques, such as X-rays, anthropomorphic measurements, and 3D facial reconstruction software.

They also drew on historical sources from the portrait painted by Friar Juan de la Miseria (1526-1616) and detailed descriptions from contemporaries, including Mother María de San José: "In her youth, she was reputed to be very beautiful, and until her later years, she remained so; her face was by no means ordinary, but extraordinary, and of a type that cannot be called round or aquiline, with equal thirds, a broad and even forehead, and very beautiful."

The resulting image shows Saint Teresa of Jesus at the age of 50, at the beginning of her reform of Carmel. Her features reveal a woman of short stature but great strength. The three moles that adorned her face have been faithfully incorporated into the reconstruction.

The study not only revealed Saint Teresa's appearance but also revealed her health and physical condition. The analyses indicate that the saint suffered from various conditions, including osteoporosis, a spinal deformity, osteoarthritis in both knees, and inflammation of the arch of the foot.  These conditions would explain her stooped posture and the mobility difficulties she suffered in the last years of her life, as reported by herself and her contemporaries. Despite these physical difficulties, Saint Teresa demonstrated an unwavering strength that allowed her to carry out her reforming work.

Sources: cath.ch/religion digital/DICI n°455 – Fsspx.Actualités. Image: DR y OM

PADRE PIO DIXIT

 

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PARENTS REGARDING THE PURITY OF THEIR CHILDREN

Parents must watch over and foster the purity of their children from a very early age, so that they acquire modesty and integrity, so that they are modest in speech, manners, and dress. It is up to parents to prevent their children from acquiring bad habits in this area, even if the children do not understand the evil of what they are doing, because later they will not be able to free themselves from the addiction.

Beware, parents, beware of children. Let's see what His Holiness says.  Pius XII: “Unfortunately, it sometimes happens that Christian parents, who are so concerned about raising a son or daughter that they are always away from dangerous pleasures and bad company, suddenly see their children, at 18 or 20 years old, victims of miserable and scandalous falls: the good seed they sowed was ruined by weeds.

Who was the enemy of man who did so much evil? What happened, the Pope continues, was that into the home itself, into that little paradise, the tempter, the cunning enemy, crept in and found there the corrupting fruit to offer it to innocent hands. A book accidentally left on the father's desk is what destroyed the son's baptismal faith; a novel abandoned on the sofa or in the bedroom by the mother is what eclipsed the purity of her first communion in the daughter.”

Weeds can enter by leafing through news magazines or newspapers found in the home;  on television, or from a TV news clip the child happened to see. Be vigilant, parents, watch over your children's souls. Keep them away from the internet, tablets, and iPads, where they can really access anything. They already see so much evil outside the home. Let them at least find purity and virtue there, following the example of their parents.

What good is it to gain the whole world if we lose our soul? What is the value of an instant, fleeting gratification that makes us lose heaven, deserve hell, and offends our Lord? Trusting in God, distrusting ourselves, with a very firm determination, let us be chaste and pure according to our state of life. Let us be an example and watch over the purity and salvation of our children's souls. Example, good advice, and care are essential for them to remain pure.

Pius XII noted that the Secret of Fatima warned of apostasy in the Church, but was ignored by his successors

A notable, though indirectly relevant, testimony is that of Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli—before becoming Pope Pius XII—when he was Secretary of State of the Vatican during the reign of Pius XI.

The future Pius XII made an astonishing prophecy about a future upheaval in the Church:

"I am troubled by the messages of the Blessed Virgin to Lucy of Fatima. This persistence of Mary in the face of the dangers that threaten the Church is a warning from Heaven against the suicide of altering the Faith in its liturgy, its theology, and its soul. (...) I hear around me innovators who want to dismantle the sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject its ornaments, and make it feel remorse for its historical past."[1]

Pope Pius XII's biographer, Monsignor Roche, noted that at this point in the conversation, Pius XII then said, in response to an objection:

"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. In our churches, Christians will search in vain for the red lamp [of the Tabernacle] where God awaits them. Like Mary Magdalene, weeping before the empty tomb, they will ask: 'Where have they taken him?'"[2]

It is truly astonishing to note that the future Pope linked this seemingly supernatural intuition of the Church's impending devastation specifically to "the messages of the Blessed Virgin to Lucy of Fatima," and to "this persistence of Mary in the face of the dangers that threaten the Church." Such a prediction would be meaningless if it were based on the first two parts of the Great Secret, which do not mention things like "the suicide of altering the Faith in its  liturgy, its theology, and its soul," or "innovators who want to dismantle the sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject its ornaments, and make it feel remorse for its historical past." Nor is there any indication in the first two parts that "In our churches, Christians will search in vain for the red lamp where God awaits them."

How did the future Pope Pius XII know these things? It is evident that he was granted a supernatural vision, or else that he had direct knowledge that a part of the "messages of the Blessed Virgin to Lucy of Fatima," which until then had not been revealed, predicted these future events in the Church. In short, all the testimonies about the content of the Third Secret, from 1944 to at least 1984 (the date of the famous Ratzinger interview), confirm that it refers to a catastrophic loss of Faith and discipline in the Church, opening a breach for the forces long aligned against Her: the "innovators" whom  The future Pope Pius XII listened to those around him, calling for the dismantling of the sacred chapel and changes in Catholic liturgy and theology.

As we have seen, this breach began to develop in 1960, the very year in which, as Sister Lucy had insisted, the third part of the Secret was to be revealed.

[1] Roche, Pius XII Before History, pp. 52-53.

[2] Ibid.

MAY, MONTH OF MARY

 

This is the traditional name for this month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, in which we offer our Heavenly Mother our best spiritual and material "flowers." A very simple method is to greet her with the following prayers:

My most loving Mother, in every moment of my life, remember me, a miserable sinner. Hail Mary

Aqueduct of divine graces, grant me an abundance of tears to mourn my sins. Hail Mary

Queen of heaven and earth, be my refuge and defense in the temptations of my enemies. Hail Mary

Immaculate daughter of Joachim and Anne, obtain for me from your most holy Son the graces I need for my eternal salvation. Hail Mary

Advocate and refuge of sinners, assist me in the trance of my death, and open the gates of Heaven to me. Hail Mary.

WHAT SHOULD A POPE DO, ACCORDING TO SAINT APHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI?

When the conclave of 1774 was about to meet, Cardinal Castelli asked Monsignor Alphonsus Maria de Liguori to write a letter on the measures the new Pope should take to reform the Church, which was afflicted by a general laxity. The main passages from Saint Alphonsus's letter are quoted.

"My friend and Lord, regarding the sentiment you desire from me regarding the current affairs of the Church and the election of the Pope, what sentiment do I, a miserable ignorant and of such little spirit, wish to express?

"I only say that prayer is needed, but much prayer; considering that, to rescue the Church from the state of laxity and confusion in which all social classes universally find themselves, not all human science and prudence can remedy it, but the almighty arm of God is necessary."

Among bishops, few have true zeal for souls.

Practically all religious communities are lax; for in religious life, in the current confusion of things, observance is lacking and obedience is lost.

In the secular clergy, the situation is even worse: a general reform is clearly necessary for all ecclesiastics, in order to remedy the great moral corruption that exists among the secularists.

It is necessary, therefore, to ask Jesus Christ to give us a Head of the Church who, more than doctrine and human prudence, is endowed with spirit and zeal for the honor of God, and is totally detached from all human parties and respect. For if ever, to our misfortune, a Pope should arise who does not have before his eyes only the glory of God, the Lord will help him little, and things, as they are in the present circumstances, will go from bad to worse.

Therefore, prayers can remedy many evils, obtaining from God that He lay His hand upon them and grant them a remedy.

[…] I would wish, above all, that the future Pope (since there are many cardinals to be provided) would choose, among those proposed to him, the most learned and zealous for the good of the Church, and would warn the Princes in advance, in the first letter in which he informs them of his exaltation, that, when they ask him for the cardinalate for some of his favorites, they should propose only subjects of proven piety and doctrine; because otherwise he cannot admit them in good conscience.

Furthermore, I would wish that he would be strong enough to deny further benefits to those who are already provided with the goods of the Church, to the extent sufficient for their maintenance, according to their status. And in this he must employ all his strength against any compromises that arise.

Furthermore, I would like luxury among prelates to be avoided, and therefore that the number of servants be determined for all (otherwise nothing would be remedied), according to what corresponds to each class of prelates: a certain number of servants and no more; a certain number of horses and no more; so that heretics can no longer speak.

Furthermore, greater diligence be exercised in conferring benefices only on those who have served the Church, and not on particular individuals.

Furthermore, every diligence should be used in the election of bishops (on whom divine worship and the salvation of souls primarily depend), and information should be obtained from various quarters about their good lives and the doctrine necessary for governing dioceses; and that even those who sit in their churches, metropolitans and others, be secretly asked to inquire about those bishops who care little for the good of their flocks.

I would also like it to be made clear everywhere that bishops who are negligent and deficient in the housing and luxury of the people in their service, or in the excessive expenditure of furniture, banquets, and similar things, will be punished by suspension or by the sending of apostolic vicars to correct their faults; and that they will set an example from time to time, as necessary.

Any example of this kind would cause all other negligent prelates to take care to moderate themselves.

[…] Above all, I wish that the Pope would universally reduce all religious to the observance of their first Institute, at least in the most important matters.

Now, I do not wish to trouble you further. We can do nothing but ask the Lord to give us a Pastor filled with His Spirit, who knows how to establish these things I have so briefly described, according to what best suits the glory of Jesus Christ.

With this, I pay you the most humble reverence, while protesting with all obsequiousness.

For Your Excellency, devoted, humble, and true servant.

Alfonso María, Bishop of Santa Águeda de los Godos.

HOW POOR UNDERSTANDING IS THAT OF THOSE WHO WANT A POPE WHO ADAPTS TO THE WINDS OF THE WORLD. LETTER FROM SAINT TERESA OF AVILA TO A PRIEST, ON THE CONCLAVE

The grace of the Holy Spirit be with you, my son in the Lord:

I read yours with tears, not of sadness, but of love and compassion, because I see how much your heart aches for the Holy Church, and how eager you are to please Her Majesty in this time that seems so dark. And if the See of Saint Peter is empty and the world seems out of control, believe, my son, that the hand of God has not been lost, even though men do not see it.

You ask me what to do in this hour when the boat seems rudderless, and everyone talks and few pray.  For I tell you in truth that the best service you can now render to the Church is to become a living prayer, a wall of supplication, a sentinel of hope.

This is not a time for much talk, but for much suffering. Not for agitation, but for recollection. And if the whole world is shaken and even the good are troubled, what shall we who love Jesus Christ do? Stand firm beside the cross, like the Most Holy Virgin and Saint John, and not move from there.

Pray, my son. Offer the Holy Sacrifice with all your soul, for with each of your Masses Heaven bows to earth. Offer every hour of your day for those who will elect the new Shepherd. And do not ask that it be according to your own taste, but according to the Heart of Christ.

You tell me that many want a Pope who adapts to the winds of the world. Oh, how weak is that understanding!  We must not love the one who pleases, but the one who guides, even if it hurts. The one who teaches, even if he rebukes. The one who is all for God, even if it costs him his blood.

And you, what must you do? Keep the faith, live in charity, do not give in on small things, do not stop praying even for a single day, even if your soul is as dry as a log. For it is in these dry times that true love is tested.

Do not be alarmed if only a few of you persevere. You know that the Lord does not look at numbers, but at faithfulness. And if the whole boat seems about to capsize, be assured that Christ is asleep in the hold, and in due time he will awaken.

Let your prayer be tireless. Let your silence be full of faith. Let your life be so holy that it can sustain many who are faltering.

And do not cease to love the Church, even if you see her wounded.  What a mother she is, and a holy mother, even though her hands are bruised by the sins of her children.

Take courage, my son, and pray.

May you, when the new Peter takes the helm, be vigilant, with your lamp lit.

May Her Majesty guard you and make you all Hers,

Teresa of Jesus, Discalced Nun of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, unworthy daughter of the Church and servant of Your Paternity.

HOW POOR UNDERSTANDING IS THAT OF THOSE WHO WANT A POPE WHO ADAPTS TO THE WINDS OF THE WORLD. LETTER FROM SAINT TERESA OF AVILA TO A PRIEST, ON THE CONCLAVE

The grace of the Holy Spirit be with you, my son in the Lord:

I read yours with tears, not of sadness, but of love and compassion, because I see how much your heart aches for the Holy Church, and how eager you are to please Her Majesty in this time that seems so dark. And if the See of Saint Peter is empty and the world seems out of control, believe, my son, that the hand of God has not been lost, even though men do not see it.

You ask me what to do in this hour when the boat seems rudderless, and everyone talks and few pray.  For I tell you in truth that the best service you can now render to the Church is to become a living prayer, a wall of supplication, a sentinel of hope.

This is not a time for much talk, but for much suffering. Not for agitation, but for recollection. And if the whole world is shaken and even the good are troubled, what shall we who love Jesus Christ do? Stand firm beside the cross, like the Most Holy Virgin and Saint John, and not move from there.

Pray, my son. Offer the Holy Sacrifice with all your soul, for with each of your Masses Heaven bows to earth. Offer every hour of your day for those who will elect the new Shepherd. And do not ask that it be according to your own taste, but according to the Heart of Christ.

You tell me that many want a Pope who adapts to the winds of the world. Oh, how weak is that understanding!  We must not love the one who pleases, but the one who guides, even if it hurts. The one who teaches, even if he rebukes. The one who is all for God, even if it costs him his blood.

And you, what must you do? Keep the faith, live in charity, do not give in on small things, do not stop praying even for a single day, even if your soul is as dry as a log. For it is in these dry times that true love is tested.

Do not be alarmed if only a few of you persevere. You know that the Lord does not look at numbers, but at faithfulness. And if the whole boat seems about to capsize, be assured that Christ is asleep in the hold, and in due time he will awaken.

Let your prayer be tireless. Let your silence be full of faith. Let your life be so holy that it can sustain many who are faltering.

And do not cease to love the Church, even if you see her wounded.  What a mother she is, and a holy mother, even though her hands are bruised by the sins of her children.

Take courage, my son, and pray.

May you, when the new Peter takes the helm, be vigilant, with your lamp lit.

May Her Majesty guard you and make you all Hers,

Teresa of Jesus, Discalced Nun of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, unworthy daughter of the Church and servant of Your Paternity.