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| Abp. Viganò’s considerations on the feared modification of Summorum Pontificum |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-11-2021, 10:52 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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Abp. Viganò’s considerations on the feared modification of Summorum Pontificum
'Let us pray that the Divine Majesty ... will deign to enlighten the Sacred Pastors so that they desist from their purpose and indeed promote
the Tridentine Mass for the good of Holy Church and for the glory of the Most Holy Trinity.'
June 10, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — On the occasion of the Philosophy Symposium dedicated to the memory of Msgr. Antonio Livi which was held in Venice on May 30 (here), I tried to identify the elements that constantly recur throughout history in the work of deception of the Evil One. In my examination (here), I focused on the fraud of the pandemic, showing how the reasons given to justify illegitimate coercive measures and no less illegitimate limitations of natural freedoms were in reality prophasis, that is, pretexts: ostensible reasons that are actually intended to conceal a malicious intent and a criminal design. The publication of Anthony Fauci’s emails (here) and the impossibility of censoring the ever more numerous voices of dissent with respect to the mainstream narrative have confirmed my analysis and allow us to hope for a blatant defeat of the supporters of the Great Reset.
In that address, you may recall, I dwelt on the fact that the Second Vatican Council was also in a certain way a Great Reset for the ecclesial body, like other historical events planned and designed in order to revolutionize the social body. Also in this case, the excuses given to legitimize liturgical reform, ecumenism, and the parliamentarization of the authority of the Sacred Pastors were not founded on good faith but on deceit and lies, in such a way so as to make us believe that we were renouncing things that were unquestionably good — the Apostolic Mass, the uniqueness of the Church as the means of salvation, the immutability of the Magisterium and the Authority of the Hierarchy — for the sake of a higher good. But as we know, not only did this higher good not come about (nor could it have), but in fact the true intent of the Council manifested itself in all its disruptive subversive value: churches were emptied, seminaries deserted, convents abandoned, authority discredited and perverted into tyranny for the sake of the wicked Pastors or rendered ineffective for the good ones. And we also know that the purpose of this reset, this devastating revolution, was from the very beginning iniquitous and malicious, despite being clothed in noble intentions in order to convince the faithful and the clergy to obey.
In 2007 Benedict XVI restored full citizenship to the venerable Tridentine liturgy, giving back to it the legitimacy that had been abusively denied it for fifty years. In his Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum he declared:
Quote:It is therefore permitted to celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass following the typical edition of the Roman Missal, which was promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated, as an extraordinary form of the Church’s Liturgy. [...] For such a celebration with either Missal, the priest needs no permission from the Apostolic See or from his own Ordinary. (here)
In reality, the letter of the Motu Proprio and the implementing documents associated with it was never completely applied, and the cœtus fidelium who today celebrate in the Apostolic Rite continue to have to go to their Bishop to ask permission, essentially still abiding by the dictate of the Indult of the preceding Motu Proprio of John Paul II, Ecclesia Dei. The just honor in which the traditional liturgy ought to be held was tempered by its being placed on an equal level with the liturgy of the post-conciliar reform, with the former being defined as the “extraordinary form” and the latter as the “ordinary form,” as if the Bride of the Lamb could have two voices — one fully Catholic and another equivocally ecumenical — with which to speak at one moment to the Divine Majesty and at the next to the assembly of the faithful. But there is also no doubt that the liberalization of the Tridentine Mass has done much good, nourishing the spirituality of millions of people and bringing many souls closer to the Faith who, in the sterility of the reformed rite, have not found any incentive either for conversion or even less for spiritual growth.
Last year, displaying the typical behavior of the Innovators, the Holy See sent a questionnaire to the dioceses of the world in which they were asked to provide information about the implementation of Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio (here). The way in which the questions were written betrayed, once again, a second purpose, and the responses that were sent to Rome were supposed to create a basis of apparent legitimacy for imposing limitations on the Motu Proprio, if not its total abrogation. Certainly, if the author of Summorum Pontificum were still seated on the Throne, this questionnaire would have allowed the Pontiff to remind the Bishops that no priest needs to ask for permission to celebrate Mass in the ancient rite, nor may a priest be removed from ministry for doing so. But the real intention of those who wanted to consult the Ordinaries does not seem to reside in the salus animarum so much as in theological hatred against a rite that expresses with adamantine clarity the immutable Faith of the Holy Church, and which for this reason is alien to the conciliar ecclesiology, to its liturgy, and to the doctrine it presupposes and conveys. There is nothing more opposed to the so-called magisterium of Vatican II than the Tridentine liturgy: every prayer, every pericope — as liturgists would say — constitutes an affront to the delicate ears of the Innovators, every ceremony is an offense to their eyes.
Simply tolerating that there are Catholics who want to drink from the sacred sources of that rite sounds like a defeat for them, one that is bearable only if it is limited to little groups of nostalgic elderly people or eccentric aesthetes. But if the “extraordinary form” — which is such in the ordinary sense of the word — becomes the norm for thousands of families, young people, and ordinary people who consciously choose it, then it becomes a stone of scandal and must be relentlessly opposed, limited, and abolished, since there must be no counter to the reformed liturgy, no alternative to the squalor of the conciliar rites — just as there can be no voice of dissent or argued refutation against the mainstream narrative, and just as effective treatments cannot be adopted in the face of the side effects of an experimental vaccine because they would demonstrate the latter’s uselessness.
Nor can we be surprised: Those who do not come from God are intolerant of everything that even remotely recalls an era in which the Catholic Church was governed by Catholic pastors and not by unfaithful pastors who abuse their authority; an era in which the Faith was preached in its integrity to the nations and not adulterated in order to please the world; an era in which those who hungered and thirsted for Truth were nourished and refreshed by a liturgy that was earthly in form but divine in substance. And if all that until yesterday was holy and good is now condemned and made an object of scorn, then allowing any trace of it to remain is inadmissible and constitutes an intolerable affront. Because the Tridentine Mass touches chords of the soul that the Montinian rite does not even begin to approach.
Obviously, those who maneuver behind the scenes in the Vatican to eliminate the Catholic Mass see decades of work compromised in the Motu Proprio, they see a threat against the possession of so many souls whom today they keep subjugated and their tyrannical hold over the ecclesial body weakened. The same priests and bishops who, like me, have rediscovered that inestimable treasure of faith and spirituality — or which by the grace of God they have never abandoned, despite the ferocious persecution of the post-council — are not disposed to renounce it, having found in it the soul of their Priesthood and the nourishment of their supernatural life. And it is disturbing, as well as scandalous, that in the face of the good that the Tridentine Mass brings to the Church, there are those who want to ban it or limit its celebration on the basis of specious reasons.
Yet, if we place ourselves in the shoes of the Innovators, we understand how perfectly consistent this is with their distorted vision of the Church, which for them is not a perfect society instituted by God for the salvation of souls but a human society in which an authority that is corrupt and subservient to the elite it favors steers the needs of the masses for vague spirituality, denying the purpose for which Our Lord willed it, and in which the good Pastors are constrained to inaction by bureaucratic shackles which they alone obey. This impasse, this juridical dead end, means that the abuse of authority can be imposed on subjects precisely in virtue of the fact that they recognize the voice of Christ in it, even in the face of evidence of the intrinsic wickedness of the orders that are given, the motivations that determine them, and the individuals who exercise it. On the other hand, even in the civil sphere, during the pandemic, many people obeyed absurd and harmful rules because they were imposed on them by doctors, virologists, and politicians who should have had the health and well-being of citizens at heart; and many did not want to believe, not even in the face of evidence of the criminal design, that they could directly intend the death or illness of millions of people. It is what social psychologists call cognitive dissonance, which induces individuals to take refuge in a comfortable niche of irrationality rather than recognize that they are victims of a colossal fraud and therefore having to react manfully.
So let us not ask ourselves why — in the face of the multiplication of communities tied to the ancient liturgy, the flowering of vocations almost exclusively in the context of the Motu Proprio, and the increase in the frequent reception of the Sacraments and consistency of Christian life among those who follow it — there is a desire to wickedly trample an inalienable right and hinder the Apostolic Mass: The question is wrong, and the answer would be misleading.
Let us ask ourselves, rather, why notorious heretics and fornicators without morals would tolerate their errors and their deplorable way of life being placed into question by a minority of the faithful and clergy without protectors when they have the power to prevent it. At this point we understand well that this aversion cannot fail to be made explicit precisely by putting an end to the Motu Proprio, abusing a usurped and perverted authority. Even at the time of the Protestant pseudo-Reformation, tolerance towards certain liturgical customs rooted in the people was short-lived, because those devotions to the Virgin Mary, those hymns in Latin, those bells rung at the Elevation — which no longer existed — necessarily had to disappear, since they expressed a Faith that Luther’s followers had denied. And it would be absurd to hope that there could be a peaceful coexistence between the Novus and Vetus Ordo, as well as between the Catholic Mass and the Lutheran Lord’s Supper, given the ontological incompatibility between them. On closer inspection, at least the defeat of the Vetus hoped for by the supporters of the Novus is consistent with their principles, just as the defeat of the Novus by the Vetus should likewise be hoped for. They are mistaken, therefore, who believe that it is possible to hold together two opposing forms of Catholic worship in the name of a plurality of liturgical expression that is the daughter of the conciliar mentality no more and no less than it is the daughter of the hermeneutic of continuity.
The modus operandi of the Innovators emerges once again in this operation against the Motu Proprio: First some of the most fanatical opponents of the traditional liturgy call for the abrogation of Summorum Pontificum as a provocation, calling the ancient Mass “divisive.” Then the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asks the Ordinaries to respond to a questionnaire (here), the answers to which are practically pre-packaged (the Bishop’s career depends on the way he goes along with what he reports to the Holy See, because the content of his responses to the questionnaire will also be made known to the Congregation of Bishops). Then, with a nonchalant air, during a closed-door meeting with the members of the Italian Episcopate, Bergoglio says that he is concerned about seminarians “who seem good, but are rigid” (here) and the spread of the traditional liturgy, always reiterating that the conciliar liturgical reform is irreversible. Furthermore, he appoints a bitter enemy of the Vetus Ordo as Prefect of Divine Worship who will be an ally in the application of any future restrictions. Finally, we learn that Cardinals Parolin and Ouellet are among the first to desire this downsizing of the Motu Proprio (here). This obviously leads “conservative” Prelates to come scurrying in defense of the present system of the co-existence of the two forms, ordinary and extraordinary, giving Francis the opportunity to show that he is the prudent moderator of two opposing currents by moving towards “only” a limitation of Summorum Pontificum rather than its total abrogation: which — as we know — was exactly what he was aiming for from the start of his operation.
Regardless of the final outcome, the deus ex machina of this predictable play is, as always, Bergoglio, who is even ready to take credit for a gesture of clement indulgence towards conservatives as well as unloading the responsibilities for a restrictive application onto the new Prefect, Archbishop Arthur Roche, and his followers. Thus, in the event of a choral protest of the faithful and an unhinged reaction by the Prefect or other Prelates, once again Bergoglio will enjoy the clash between progressives and traditionalists, since he will then have excellent arguments to affirm that the coexistence of the two forms of the Roman Rite causes divisions in the Church and that it is thus more prudent to return to the pax montiniana, that is, the total proscription of the Mass of all time.
I exhort my Brothers in the Episcopate, Priests, and laity to strenuously defend their right to the Catholic liturgy solemnly sanctioned by the Bull Quo Primum of Saint Pius V, and by means of it to defend the Holy Church and the Papacy, which have both been exposed to discredit and ridicule by the Pastors themselves. The question of the Motu Proprio is not in the least negotiable, because it reaffirms the legitimacy of a rite that has never been abrogated nor is able to be abrogated. Furthermore, in addition to the certain damage that airing these novelties will cause to souls and to the certain advantage that will come from them to the Devil and his servants, there is also added the indecorous rudeness displayed to Benedict XVI, who is still living, by Bergoglio, who ought to know that the authority the Roman Pontiff exercises over the Church is vicarious and that the power which he holds comes to him from Our Lord Jesus Christ, the One Head of the Mystical Body. Abusing the Apostolic authority and the power of the Holy Keys for a purpose opposed to that for which they were instituted by the Lord represents an unheard-of offense against the Majesty of God, a dishonor for the Church, and a sin for which he will have to answer to the One whose Vicar he is. And whoever refuses the title of Vicar of Christ knows that by doing so the legitimacy of his authority also fails.
It is not acceptable for the supreme authority of the Church to allow itself to cancel, in a disturbing operation of cancel culture in a religious key, the inheritance it has received from its Fathers; nor is it permissible to consider as being outside of the Church those who are not prepared to accept the privation of the Mass and the Sacraments celebrated in the form that has molded almost two thousand years of Saints. The Church is not an agency in which the marketing office decides to cancel old products from the catalog and propose new ones in their stead according to customer requests. Imposing the liturgical revolution with force on priests and the faithful in the name of obedience to the Council, stripping away from them the very soul of the Christian life and replacing it with a rite that the Freemason Bugnini copied from Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer, was already painful. That abuse, partially healed by Benedict XVI with the Motu Proprio, cannot be repeated in any way now in the presence of elements that are all largely in favor of the liberalization of the ancient liturgy. If one really wanted to help the people of God in this crisis, the reformed liturgy should have been abolished, which in fifty years has caused more damage than Calvinism has done.
We do not know if the feared restrictions that the Holy See intends to make to the Motu Proprio will affect diocesan priests, or if they will also affect the Institutes whose members celebrate the ancient rite exclusively. I fear, however, as I have already had the occasion to say in the past, that it will be precisely on the latter that the demolishing action of the Innovators will be unleashed, who can perhaps tolerate the ceremonial aspects of the Tridentine liturgy but absolutely do not accept adherence to the doctrinal and ecclesiological structure that they imply, which contrasts sharply with the conciliar deviations that the Innovators want to impose without exception. This is why it is to be feared that these Institutes will be asked to make some form of submission to the conciliar liturgy, for example by making the celebration of the Novus Ordo mandatory at least occasionally, as diocesan priests must already do. In this way, whoever makes use of the Motu Proprio will be constrained not only to an implicit acceptance of the reformed liturgy but also to a public acceptance of the new rite and its doctrinal mens. And whoever celebrates the two forms of the rite will find himself ipso facto discredited above all in his consistency, passing off his liturgical choices as a merely aesthetic — I would say almost choreographic — in fact, depriving him of any sort of critical judgment towards the Montinian Mass and the mensthat gives it form: because he will find himself forced to celebrate that Mass. This is a malicious and cunning operation, in which an authority that abuses its power delegitimizes those who oppose it, on the one hand by granting the ancient rite, but on the other hand making it a merely aesthetic question and obligating an insidious bi-ritualism and an even more insidious adherence to two opposing and contrasting doctrinal approaches. But how can a priest be asked to celebrate a venerable and holy rite in which he finds perfect coherence between doctrine, ceremony, and life at one moment, and at the next a falsified rite that winks at heretics and contemptibly keeps silent about what the other proudly proclaims?
Let us pray, therefore: Let us pray that the Divine Majesty, to which we render perfect worship celebrating the venerable ancient rite, will deign to enlighten the Sacred Pastors so that they desist from their purpose and indeed promote the Tridentine Mass for the good of Holy Church and for the glory of the Most Holy Trinity. Let us invoke the Holy Patrons of the Mass — Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Pius V, and Saint Pius X in primis, and all the Saints who over the course of the centuries have celebrated the Holy Sacrifice in the form that has been handed down to us, so that we may faithfully preserve it.May their intercession before the throne of God beg for the preservation of the Mass of all time, thanks to which we are sanctified, strengthened in virtue, and able to resist the attacks of the Evil One. And if ever the sins of the men of the Church should merit for us a punishment so severe as that prophesied by Daniel, let us prepare to descend into the catacombs, offering this trial for the conversion of the Shepherds.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
9 June 2021
Feria IV infra Hebdomadam II post Octavam Pentecostes[/i]
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| June 11th - St. Barnabas, Apostle |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-11-2021, 08:11 AM - Forum: June
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June 11 – St Barnabas, Apostle
![[Image: 1803_17.jpg?resize=752%2C1024&ssl=1]](https://i0.wp.com/sensusfidelium.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1803_17.jpg?resize=752%2C1024&ssl=1)
The promulgation of the new Alliance invited all nations to sit down at the Marriage feast in the kingdom of God; since that day, the sanctifying Spirit is ever producing saints in every age and at moments which correspond most mysteriously to the deep and hidden designs of Eternal Wisdom, over the particular history of a people. Nor must we be astonished hereat: for Christian nations having, as such, their appointed part in the advancing of the kingly sway of the Man-God, this vocation imposes duties upon them and gives them rights, superior to nature’s law; the supernatural order invests them with its inherent greatness; and the Holy Ghost by means of his Elect, fosters not only their birth, but likewise their development. This wondrous working of divine Providence, as presented on history’s page, is indeed admirable; where the hidden influence of sanctity in even the frail and lowly is ever being divinely used to overrule the powerful action of the mighty, who seem, in men’s eyes, to be leading everything their own way. Now, among the saints strikingly appointed as channels of grace to nations, none are so particularly entitled to universal remembrance and gratitude as are the Apostles, for they are laid as foundation stones of the edifice of Christian society, whereof the Gospel is both the strength and the primary law. The Church is ever watchful to prevent her sons falling into a dangerous forgetfulness of this; hence no Liturgical season is without its memory of some one or other of these glorious witnesses to Christ. But from the day that the world was delivered over to become the conquest of their zeal, the mysteries of man’s salvation being all consummated, their names are more closely pressed together on the sacred records; each month of the cycle now borrows its characteristic coloring, from the brilliant triumph of some one of these.
The month of June, all aflame with the fires of Pentecost, sees the Holy Ghost setting upon its predestined foundations, the first layer of stones, in the Church’s construction; to this month, that is, belongs the honor of proclaiming the memorable names of Peter and Paul, wherein are summed up all the services and trophies of the whole Apostolic College. Peter declared the Gentiles admitted to the grace of the Gospel; Paul was named their Apostle; but still, before rendering the homage so justly due to these two leaders of the Christian people, fitting is it that nations should throng, in grateful veneration, around the sainted guide given to Paul himself, in the opening days of his apostolate, that is, around Barnabas, whose name is interpreted, the son of consolation, and by whom the convert of Damascus was presented to the terrified Church, anon so sorely tried by the violence of Saul the persecutor. The 29th of June will derive its chief radiance from the simultaneous confession of the two Princes of the Apostles, united in death, as they had been one in life. Be then honor due, first of all, to him who first knit together this fruitful union, by leading to the Head of the infant Church the future Doctor of the Gentiles. Barnabas presents himself before us, as a herald; the feast which the Church is celebrating in his honor is a prelude to the gladness which awaits us, at the end of this month so rich in light and in fruits of holiness.
Let us read his history, drawn up as it mainly is, from the Acts of the Apostles. Notwithstanding its brevity, there are, on the pages of the sacred Liturgy, few more glorious than this.
Quote:Barnabas, called also Joseph, a Levite, was born in Cyprus, and was the one designated by the apostles, together with Paul, to preach the Gospel of Christ, to the Gentiles. He having land, sold it, and brought the money to the apostles. Being sent to Antioch to preach there, he met with a great number of people already converted to the faith of Christ, the Lord, which thing filled him with much joy, and he multiplied his exhortations, that they might persevere in the faith of Christ. His word had great success, for he was looked upon by all as a good man and one filled with the Holy Ghost.
Travelling thence to Tarsus, there to seek Paul, he came with him as far as Antioch. They here passed one year with the Faithful who formed the Church of this city, laboring to instruct them in the Christian life and in faith; and here also it was, that the worshippers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians. The disciples of Paul and Barnabas aided with alms, the Christians that were in Judea; and sent these subsidies by the hands of Paul and Barnabas. Having performed this work of charity, joining unto them John, surnamed Mark, they returned to Antioch.
While Paul and Barnabas were serving the Lord in the Church of Antioch, fasting and praying with the other prophets and doctors, the Holy Ghost spoke and said: Separate Me Paul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them. Then with fasting and prayer, they imposed hands upon them and let them depart. They went to Seleucia, and thence to Cyprus; besides this, they passed through many towns and countries preaching the gospel everywhere with much fruit, amongst all who heard them. After this Barnabas separated himself from Paul and together with John surnamed Mark, returned to Cyprus. Here, about the seventh year of the reign of Nero, on the third of the Ides of June, he joined the martyr’s crown to the dignity of an Apostle. In the reign of the Emperor Zeno, his body was discovered, in the Island of Cyprus: on his breast lay a copy of the Gospel of Saint Matthew, written by the hand of Barnabas himself.
To thee, O Barnabas, we offer the gratitude of the nations. Thou didst watch, O faithful Levite, beside the figurative sanctuary of the days of expectation, observing the coming of the Lord God, until at last the true ark, the Incarnate Word, having appeared in Sion, thou didst at once take thy place at his side, to defend and serve him, the ark of holiness, that had come to rally all nations, to give unto them the true manna, to establish amongst all a new covenant; this was to require from the sons of the Old Testament, the sacrifice of the privileges that had been theirs, since the first prevarication of the Gentiles. Though a member of the favored tribe of Levi, prompt wast thou to abandon its sacred titles which thou didst recognize to have been but limited, and to be now set aside; yea, outstepping mere precept, thou didst not hesitate to renounce all thy family possessions and give them up, together with thyself, to the Church yet in her infancy and scorned by the Synagogue. Therefore, the Holy Ghost would not be outdone in generosity; to thee he reserved the signal privilege of presenting to the Gentiles, their apostle. Saul was thy friend; blinded by the prejudices of his sect, he scorned to follow thine example; and the Faithful trembled at his very name, seeing in him their most relentless persecutor. But silently thine intercession arose from earth, and blending with that of Stephen, pleaded a strong prayer for the murderer. The hour of grace had sounded; and thou wast the first in Jerusalem, to hear of its victory; on the strength of thy testimony alone, the terrified assembly of believers opened their doors to the recent convert.
Thus appearing before the Church, as guarantee for the future Doctor of the Gentiles, to thee belonged the honor of leading him forth to the scene of his labors. Thine it was not, to be numbered among the Twelve by our Lord, yet thine authority was of a kind that almost equalled theirs. After the baptism of Cornelius, thou wast delegated, by the apostles to Antioch to direct the evangelization of the Gentiles. There Paul, the new laborer, was joined to thee; and then did the word of salvation falling from thy lips, begin to produce conversions so numerous that the Faithful were then called, for the first time, Christians, to distinguish them at once from both pagans and Jews. The emancipation of the nations was thus accomplished and Paul in the eyes of all, as also according to the language of the Holy Ghost himself, was still but thy disciple and thy client. For which reason the Divine Spirit was pleased that thou shouldst share in common with him that solemn ordination whereby he was constituted Apostle of the Gentiles. But very soon after this, the greater good of souls required that thy journeys and labors, hitherto inseparable from his, should be divided. Thine apostolate was then directed more specially to the Island of Cyprus, so abused in pagan times, by the demon of voluptuousness; there hadst thou first seen the light and now thou didst gladly devote thy sweat and even thy blood to diffusing throughout this thy native Isle, the purifying light of the Son of God.
But the Pentecostal fires burning in thy breast, urged thee ever forwards and onwards to more distant missions. Of thee it was written as of Paul: I have set thee to be the light of the Gentiles: that thou mayest be for salvation unto the uttermost part of the earth. Thus, Italy also heard thy sweet voice, redolent of the joy and consolation of the Paraclete; she beheld thy noble countenance, the serene majesty whereof had made the pagans of another land mistake thee for one of their gods, veiled under human features. Bergamo, Brescia, and other places, especially Milan, claim thee as their Father. Then, O Barnabas, from thine exalted throne, look down and ever protect the faith thou didst deposit in these spots, which, more fortunate than the fated cities of Cyprus, have remained faithful. Vouchsafe to protect the Order, so useful to the Church, which claims thy powerful patronage; may its apostolate continue to carry out thine own, and may its members deserve unto the day of doom, the high esteem in which it was held by Saint Charles Borromeo, thy glorious successor in the see of Milan. In one word, O Father of the Gentiles, extend thy solicitude to all nations, for all, without distinction, were confided to thee by the Holy Ghost, suffer them to enter into the way of light so exquisitely described in that precious Epistle which bears thy blessed name: may the Gentile world become the true temple, of which that of Moriah was but a figure.
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| The Feast of the Sacred Heart |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-11-2021, 07:46 AM - Forum: Pentecost
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INSTRUCTION ON THE FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS.
From Fr. Leonard Goffine's Explanations of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays, Holydays, and Festivals throughout the Ecclesiastical Year 36th edition, 1880
ORIGIN OF THIS FESTIVAL
AFTER many devout souls had venerated the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with sincere devotion, in the solitude of quiet life, as is seen in the lives of Sts. Augustine, Bernard, Bonaventura, Thomas of Aquin, Francis de Sales, Ignatius, Clara, Gertrude, Mechtild, Catharine of Sienna, Theresa, and others, our divine Saviour willed that His heart's infinite love should be recognized by all men, and be kindled in cold hearts by a new fire of love. For this
end He made use of a feeble, obscure instrument, that all the world might know that the devotion to His loving heart, previously almost entirely unknown, was His own work.
This instrument, disregarded by the world, was one who shone before God in all the radiance of the most sublime virtues, the nun Margaret Alacoque of the order of the Visitation of Mary, at Paray, in Burgundy. In the year 1675, whilst she was one day in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, our Lord appeared to her, and pointing to His heart which He showed to her, surrounded with flames, surmounted by the cross, encircled with a crown of thorns, and pierced with a gaping wound, He said to her: "Behold this heart, which has loved mankind so much, and which receives from only ingratitude and coldness in return for its love. My desire is that you should make reparation to my heart for this ingratitude, and induce others also to make reparation."
Our Lord then designated the Friday after the Octave of Corpus Christi as the special day for this duty. In several subsequent apparitions our divine Lord repeated this injunction, and made the most unbounded promises in favor of all who would apply themselves to this office of reparation to His Sacred Heart. The following are some of His promises;
1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their pains and trials.
4. I will be their assured refuge in life, and especially in death.
5. I will shed abundant blessings upon all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart an infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Lukewarm souls will be rendered fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall rise rapidly to greater perfection.
9. I will bless those houses where the image of my heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the gift of moving the hardest hearts.
11. Persons who propagate this devotion, shall have their names inscribed on my heart, never to be effaced from it.
Margaret obeyed, but found everywhere the greatest opposition, actual sneers and persecution, even from her Sisters in religion, until finally, with the aid of her divine spouse, she succeeded as mistress of novices, in bringing her young charges to the veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. But this did not content her zeal; although opposition continued, she strove to fulfil the command of Jesus, who assisted her by at last changing the hardened hearts of the nuns and inflaming them with the same love of His Sacred Heart. This devotion soon spread from the convent
throughout the adjoining dioceses, where confraternities in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus arose, and Pope Clement XIII. , after causing the strictest investigation to be made, commanded the Festival of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to be observed throughout the Catholic Church, on the first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi.
ON DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
I. Object of this Devotion
BY the Sacred Heart of Jesus must be understood not the lifeless heart, separated from the body of Christ, but the tender, loving heart of the God-Man, the home of all His emotions, the fountain of all His virtues, and the most touching embodiment of His infinite love for man. The Catholic Church, in like manner, sets apart certain festivals with appropriate Mass and office, in honor of the cross, of our Lord's sacred blood and wounds that our devotion to the Redeemer may be rendered more fervent by the contemplation of these objects, for Jesus has shed His blood for us , has received wounds for us which He retained even after His resurrection, as eternal signs of His immense love for man, has taken them with Him to heaven, and will show them to us on the Judgment Day. How much more should our Saviour's Sacred Heart be the object of our devotion, since all thoughts, sentiments, and emotions of this most loving heart aim only at our salvation, and since it is always ready to receive truly penitent sinners,
to forgive them, again to turn His love to them, and make them sharers in eternal bliss.
Therefore the saints have from the first encouraged a tender devotion to this most Sacred Heart, as already mentioned. "Longinus," says St. Augustine, "opened the side of Jesus with His spear; in it I enter, and securely rest." "O how good," exclaims St. Bernard, "how lovely to take
up my abode in this Heart! In this temple, in this sanctuary, before this ark of the covenant, I will adore and praise the name of the Lord, and say with the prophet: I have found in the heart of Jesus, my king, my brother, my friend." "Believe me, O blinded men," says St. Bonaventura, "if you knew how to enter by His sacred wounds into the interior of Jesus, you would there find not only a wonderful sweetness for your soul, but even sweet repose for your body. And if there even the body finds rest, how great, think you, must be the sweetness which the spirit there enjoys, if through these wounds we become united to the Sacred Heart of Jesus!" And St. Peter Damian says: "In this adorable heart we find the weapons with which to defend ourselves against our enemies, a cure for our ills, powerful help against temptations, the sweetest consolation in suffering, and the. purest joy in this valley of tears."
St. Mechtild and St. Gertrude found themselves transported in an especial manner by the tenderness of this adorable heart, to adore it fervently, and Gertrude, enlightened by the Spirit of God, spoke these prophetic words: "The Lord retained until these late centuries the devotion to His Sacred Heart, as a last effort of His divine love." We have already seen how these words have been verified in the pious Margaret. O would that Jesus' great desire that all men might know and love His Sacred Heart be accomplished!
II. Excellence of this Devotion
It is, says the venerable P. Simon Gourdan:
1) The most sacred devotion, for by it man venerates the holiest sentiments and emotions of the Heart of Jesus, by which He has sanctified the Church, glorified His Heavenly Father, and presented Himself to us as the perfect model of the most exalted sanctity.
2) The oldest devotion of the holy Church, which, instructed by the great St. Paul, has at all times recognized the munificence of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
3) The most approved devotion, for the holy Scriptures everywhere exhort us, to renew our heart by changing our lives, rendering them contrite by true penance, inflaming them with the fire of divine love, and adorning them by the exercise of all virtue. Therefore a new heart is promised on which to remodel our Heart. That Heart can be no other than the Heart of Jesus, which is given us as an example of all virtue, and which we must imitate, if
we wish to be saved.
4) The most perfect devotion, for it is the source of all other devotions; the Heart of Jesus is that inexhaustible treasury, from which the Mother of God and all the saints have drawn their graces, their life, their virtues, and all spiritual blessings. Filled from this treasury, other servants of God have instituted different devotions.
5) The most useful devotion, for in it we have the Fountain of Life itself before our eyes, from which we can draw directly, and increase in all virtue by adoring this divine Heart, meditating on its holy desires, and seeking to imitate it.
6) The devotion most pleasing to Christ, for by it we honor God, as Christ requires, in spirit and in truth, because we adore the interior power of God, seeking to please His heart.
7) Finally; the most necessary devotion, for its object is that we become intimately connected as members with Jesus, our Head, that we live by and according to His spirit, and have only one heart and soul with Christ.
Because this devotion is of such importance, we cannot sufficiently recommend it to all who are anxious for their soul's salvation. Every person may cherish this devotion, and venerate the Heart of Jesus by himself, but there is a greater blessing when pious souls make the devotion in a
confraternity. In the year 1726 there existed more than three hundred such confraternities, and they are now spread throughout all Catholic countries. Do not delay then, O Christian soul, to practise this devotion, uniting with others to honor the divine Heart of Jesus, because in this most
Blessed Heart all men find their reconciliation, the pious their assurance, sinners their hope, the oppressed their comfort, the sick their relief, those who are fighting their strength, the dying their refuge and the elect their joy and bliss.
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The Introit of this day's Mass reads: He will have mercy according to the multitude of his mercies: for he hath not willingly afflicted nor cast off the children of men: the Lord is good to them that hope in him, to the soul that seeketh him. Allel. allel. (Lament. iii. 2. 3 25.) The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever: to generation and generation. (Ps. lxxxviii. 1.) Glory, &c.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we who, glorying in the most Sacred Heart of Thy beloved Son, celebrate the singular benefits of His love toward us, may rejoice equally in their operation and their fruit. Through the same.
LESSON. (Isai. xii. 1 — 6.) I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, for thou wast angry with me; thy wrath is turned away, and thou hast comforted me. Behold God is my Saviour, I will deal confidently, and will not fear: because the Lord is my strength and my praise, and he is become my salvation. You shall draw waters with joy out of the Saviour's fountains: and you shall say in that day: Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make his works known among the people: remember that his name is high. Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath done great things: show this forth in all the earth. Rejoice, and praise, O thou habitation of Sion: for great is he that is in the midst of thee, the Holy One of Israel.
EXPLANATION. This lesson is a hymn of praise for the deliverance of the Jews from the hands of their enemies; and at the same time a prophecy of the coming redemption of mankind from sin and death through Christ. Man will then draw waters with joy, says the prophet, from the Saviour's fountains. These fountains are the graces which Jesus has gained for us on the cross, but especially, as St. Augustine says, the holy Sacraments of Baptism and Communion. We should rejoice on account of these graces, particularly that the Holy One of Israel, Christ, the Son of God, dwells in the midst of Sion, that is, in the Catholic Church, in the Blessed Sacrament, to remain there to the end of the world. — Oh! let us often approach this ever-flowing fountain of all grace, the holy Eucharist, and let us draw with confidence, consolation, help, and strength from this fountain of love.
GOSPEL. (John xix. 31 — 35.) At that time, The Jews (because it was the parasceve), that the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the sabbath-day (for that was a great sabbath-day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. The soldiers, therefore, came, and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him. But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there came out blood and water. And he that saw it hath given testimony: and his testimony is true.
EXPLANATION. According to the Jewish law a criminal could not be put to death, nor could the body of one who had been executed, remain in the place of execution, on the Sabbath day ; it was for this reason that the Jews asked Pilate, the governor, to have the Body of Christ and those of the two thieves buried. Before this could be done, the bones of the crucified, according to the Roman law, had to be broken with iron clubs. The soldiers did so to the two thieves, who were yet alive; when they came to Jesus and found Him dead, they did not break His bones, but one of them, Longinus, opened the Saviour's side with a spear, as was foretold by the prophet.
Jesus permitted His most Sacred Heart to be opened to atone for and efface those sins of men which originate in the heart, as Christ Himself says: (Matt. xv. 19.) From the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies; also to show us the infinite love with which He has loved us from the beginning, so that He even shed the last drop of His heart's blood for our salvation; to make, as it were, a place of refuge in His heart for us, as St. Augustine says: "The Evangelist is very careful in his expression; he does not say, the soldiers pierced or wounded His side, but he opened it, as if to open for us the door of life, from which flow the Sacraments of the Church, without which there can be no access to the true life." As often, then, as a temptation arises, or trouble depresses us, let us take refuge in that abode, and dwell there, until the tempest is over; as says the prophet; (Is. ii. 10.) Enter thou into the rock, and hide thee in the pit. Who is the rock but Christ, and what is the pit but His wound?
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AN ACT OF RESIGNATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
[An indulgence of one hundred days is gained by saying this prayer with true contrition, before a picture of the sacred heart of Jesus , and a plenary
indulgence by saying it every day for a month, and receiving the Sacraments of Penance and Communion, and praying for the Church.]
O Jesus, most worthy of love! I gratefully offer Thee my heart in compensation for my great unfaithfulness, and consecrate myself wholly and forever to Thy service, purposing, with Thy grace, no more to offend Thee. Amen.
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| June 10th - St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-10-2021, 08:34 AM - Forum: June
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June 10 – St Margaret, Queen of Scotland
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One week has elapsed since the day on which we beheld Clotilde arise, and from yonder land of France won over to Christ by her, make known to the whole world, what is the special role of woman beside the cradle of a nation. Until Christianity came, man altogether lowered in his own person and in the social order, by the consequences of sin, was wholly ignorant of the grandeur of the divine intention, in this respect; philosophy and history never dreamed it possible that maternity could be raised to such heights. But since the Holy Ghost has been given to man to instruct him, both theoretically and practically, in all truth, examples have been multiplied whereby the wondrous vastness of the divine plan has been clearly set forth, strength and sweetness herein presiding, as ever, at the counsels of Eternal Wisdom.
Scotland had long been Christian, when Margaret was given to her, not to lead her to the baptismal font, but to establish, amidst a population so diversified and so often at mutual enmity, as was hers, that unity which makes a Nation. Ancient Caledonia defended by her lakes, mountains, and rivers, had, up to the fall of the Roman empire, kept her independence. But while herself inaccessible to invading troops, she had become the refuge of the vanquished of every race, and the proscribed of every epoch. Many an advancing wave that had paused and crouched at the feet of her granite frontiers had swept pitilessly over the Southern provinces of the great British island. Britons, Saxons, and Danes in turn, dispossessed and driven from their homes, fleeing northwards had successively crept in, and settling down, as best they might, had maintained their own customs, in juxtaposition with those of the first inhabitants, adding consequently their own mutual jealousies to the inveterate divisions of the Picts and Scots. But from the very evil itself, the remedy was to come. God, in order to show that he is master of revolutions, just as he is of the surging waves, was about to confide the execution of his merciful designs upon Scotland, to such casual instruments as a storm or a political overthrow may sometimes prove to be.
At the opening of the eleventh century, Danish invasion had driven from the English shore the sons of the Saxon king, Edmund Ironside. The crowned apostle of Hungary, Saint Stephen I, generously received the fugitives at his court, welcoming in these helpless children, the great-nephews of a Saint, namely Edward the Martyr. To the eldest, he gave his own daughter in marriage, and the second he affianced to the niece of St. Henry, Emperor of Germany. Of this last mentioned union, were born three children, Edgar, surnamed Atheling, Christian afterwards a nun, and Margaret whose feast the Church is keeping today. Ere long by the turning tide of fortune, the exile once more returned to their country and Edgar was brought to the very steps of the English throne. For in the meanwhile, the scepter had passed from the Danish princes, back again to the Saxon line, in the person of their uncle, Saint Edward the Confessor, and by very birth-right, seemed destined to pass ultimately to Edgar Atheling. But almost immediately after their return from exile, the death of St. Edward and the Norman conquest, again banished the royal Saxon family. The ship bearing these noble fugitives, bound for the continent, was driven in an opposite direction by a hurricane, and stranded on the Scottish shore. Edgar Atheling, despite the efforts of the Saxon party, was never to raise up the fallen throne of his sires; but his sister, the Saint of this day, made conquest of the land whither the storm, God’s instrument, had carried her.
Having become the wife of Malcolm III, her gentle influence softened the fierce instincts of the son of a Duncan, and triumphed over the barbarism still so dominant in those parts of the country, as to separate them utterly from the rest of the known world. The fierce highlander and haughty lowlander, reconciled at last, now followed their gentle queen along hitherto unknown paths, thrown open by her to the light of the Gospel. The strong now bent him down to meet the weak or the poor; and all alike, casting aside the rigidity of their hardy race, let themselves be captured by the alluring charms of Christian charity. Holy penitence resumed its rights over the gross instincts of mere nature. The frequentation of the sacraments once more brought into esteem, produced seasonable fruits. Everywhere, whether in Church or in state, abuses vanished. The whole kingdom became one family, whereof Margaret was called the Mother; for Scotland was born by her to true civilization. David I (inscribed like his mother in the catalogue of Saints) completed the work begun by her; and another child of Margaret’s, alike worthy of her, Matilda of Scotland, surnamed the “good Queen Maude,” was married to Henry I of England; and thus, an end was put on the English soil, to the persistent rivalries of victors and vanquished, by this admixture of Saxon blood with the Norman race.
The following are the words given in the Liturgy, concerning Saint Margaret:
Quote:Margaret, Queen of Scots, was most noble by birth, uniting in herself, from her father the blood of the kings of England, and from her mother the blood of the Cæsars, but her greatest nobility was in her brave Christian life. She was born in Hungary, where her father was then an exile, and had passed a highly religious childhood, when her uncle Edward the holy King of England, recalled him to the royal prerogatives of her ancestors, and she came to England with him. A few years afterwards, upon the ruin of her family, she was escaping from England by sea, when the violence of the weather, or to speak more truly, the Providence of God, caused the ship to be driven upon the coast of Scotland. There her extraordinary graces of mind and of body so attracted king Malcolm III, that by the wish of his mother, he took her to wife; and of Scotland she deserved exceedingly well, during the thirty years of her reign, by the holiness of her life and the abundance of her works of mercy.
In the midst of regal delicacies, she afflicted her body with hardships and watchings, being used to spend great part of the night in earnest prayer. Besides other fasts which she imposed upon herself, it was her custom to observe one of forty days before Christmas; concerning which fast she was so rigid, that she would not relax it even under sharp suffering. She took great delight in the public worship of God, and founded or renewed a number of churches and convents which she enriched at great cost with sacred furniture. Her healthy example drew the king, her husband, to habits of sobriety and to the imitation of her in her good works. She educated all her children in so holy a manner, and with such happy success, that several of them, like her own mother Agatha and her sister Christina, embraced a most holy course of life. The happiness of the whole kingdom was the object for which she constantly strove, and she successfully rooted out all the vices which had stealthily crept in, and established among the people a standard of living worthy of Christians.
This most remarkable feature of her life was the tenderness of her charity towards her neighbor, especially the needy. Of these she would not only order crowds to be relieved, but was accustomed to give dinner to three hundred of them every day, treating them with the tenderness of a mother, holding it a sacred privilege to wait upon them on her knees, like a handmaid; washing their feet with her own royal hands, and even pressing her lips to their sores, with tender kisses. To meet the expenses of her charity, she sold not only her queenly raiment and her precious jewels, but more than once wholly exhausted her treasury. Purified by grievous suffering which she bore with marvellous patience during an illness of six months, she resigned her soul into the hands of her Creator, upon the fourth of the Ides of June. At the moment of death, the bystanders saw her face, till then pale and worn with long sickness, flush again with a beauty to which it had become disused. After her death, she became illustrious on account of great signs and prodigies. By the authority of Pope Clement X, she was chosen patroness of Scotland, and she is honored most religiously throughout the whole world, with the usual cultus.
We hail thee, O Queen, truly worthy of the praises lavished upon thee by posterity, among the most illustrious of sovereigns! Power, in thy hands, became an instrument of rescue for an entire population. Thine earthly passage marks the meridian of true light for Scotland. Yesterday, holy Church commemorated in her Martyrology, him who was thy precursor in this far-off land, Colum-kille, who leaving Ireland, in the sixth century, had borne the faith thither. But Christianity crippled in its soarings, by diverse combined circumstances, could produce scarcely any of its civilizing effects on the then inhabitants of the land. Only a Mother could perfect the supernatural education of the nation. The Holy Ghost who had chosen thee, O Margaret, for the task, prepared thy maternity in the midst of tribulation and anxiety: thus had he acted in the case of Clotilde; thus does he ever act in the case of mothers. How mysterious and hidden did not the ways of Eternal Wisdom seem, as realized in thy person! Thy birth in exile, far from the land of thy sires; thy return home; then fresh misfortunes; then the tempest at sea; and at last, thy being cast despoiled of everything, upon the crags of an unknown coast; what a list of disasters, and who among the worldly wise would ever have dreamed that herein was the direct course of a merciful Providence, to make the combined violence of men and the elements, serve the sweet purpose of His designs in thy regard! Yet so it was; and this was the very way thou wast moulded into the valiant woman, raised in all thy loftiness above the deceits of this present life, and wholly fixed on God, the one supreme Good, alone untouched by earth’s revolutions.
Far from becoming either soured or dried up by suffering, thy heart firmly anchored, beyond the influence of this world’s ebb and flow, on unshaken and Eternal Love, was ever up to the mark, in foresight and in devotedness, such as was needed to hold thee always at the height of the mission destined for thee. Wherefore, thou wast indeed that treasure worthy of being sought from the uttermost coasts; that merchant ship bringing bread from afar, and all good things to the favored shore on which she is cast. Yea, fortunate indeed were thy land of adoption, had she never forgotten thy teaching and example! Happy thy descendants, had they ever remembered that the blood of saints flowed in their veins! Yet, worthy of thee in death was at least the last Queen of Scots, as she bowed beneath the heads-man’s axe, a brow faithful to her baptism up to her last breath. But, alas, the unworthy son of Mary Stuart, by a policy as false as it was sacrilegious, abandoned at once both the Church and his own mother. Thenceforth heresy blighted the noble stem whence so many kings had sprung; and this at the very moment when England and Scotland were first united under one scepter’s sway! Nor may the treason of a James I, be redeemed by the fidelity of a second James, to the faith of his fathers! O Margaret, thy throne is firmly fixed forever in the eternal kingdom; but abandon not thine own England, the land of thy sires, nor Scotland still more thine own, of which Holy Church has declared thee patroness. The Apostle Andrew shares with thee the rights of patronage: in concert with him, then, preserve those who have been steadfast in fidelity, multiply converts to the ancient faith, and prepare the way for a speedy gathering of the whole flock into the fold of the one Shepherd.
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| Biden, Pope Francis may meet in Rome ahead of US bishops’ debate on Communion for pro-abortion polit |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-09-2021, 12:47 PM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Biden, Pope Francis may meet in Rome ahead of US bishops’ debate on Communion for pro-abortion politicians
The get-together and details about the discussion have yet to be confirmed by the Vatican.
Former Vice President and ardent abortion supporter Joe Biden and Pope Francis during the latter's visit to Washington, D.C. in September 2015.Evy Mages/Getty Images
June 8, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) –President Joe Biden will make his first international trip to Europe for a number of political liaisons starting June 10, according to the White House, and Vatican sources hinted that he may stop in Rome to meet with Pope Francis on June 15.
The meeting would come just one day before American bishops are set to debate the censure of openly pro-abortion politicians like Biden who claim to be Catholic, including the possibility of being denied Holy Communion.
Biden will travel to Europe to attend a host of summits with world leaders throughout June, beginning with the G7 summit on Britain’s picturesque Cornish coast alongside six of the wealthiest nation’s leaders to discuss climate change and coronavirus-related issues. Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a call to his fellow G7 members ahead of the summit to “vaccinate the entire world against coronavirus by the end of 2022,” according to a June 6 press release.
After the summit closes June 13, Biden will make his way to Brussels on June 14 to attend the NATO summit before heading to Geneva on June 16 to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, CNA reported. Before meeting Putin, it is expected that Biden will stop in Rome to be hosted by Pope Francis on June 15. A meeting is not confirmed at this time or have any details been released about what might be discussed.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will meet from June 16 to 18 in their biannual General Assembly, held virtually for only the second time in its history.
Part of the discussion at the assembly will focus on the approval of a document on “Eucharistic coherence,” Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, who also serves as the president of the USCCB, confirmed in a May 22 letter.
The letter outlines the scope of the proposed teaching document as “how best to help people to understand the beauty and mystery of the Eucharist as the center of their Christian lives,” Gomez wrote.
More specifically, the document proposes to address the worthiness of receiving Holy Communion for Catholics in public office. Such politicians, if they openly dissent from Catholic teaching in a grave matter like abortion would face strict ecclesiastical penalties, including exclusion from the reception of Holy Communion, in line with the Catholic Code of Canon Law.
The approval of the document during the assembly would prompt the USCCB’s doctrine committee to develop a formal text. “From there, the Conference’s usual process of consultation, modification, and amendment will take place as the document is presented for consideration at a future Plenary Assembly,” Gomez’s May 22 letter laid out.
Canon 915 states that Catholics who are “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to holy communion.” According to a 2004 memo issued to the U.S. bishops by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith who is now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a Catholic politician who is “consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws” manifests “formal cooperation” with grave sin and must be “denied” the Eucharist.
Gomez explained in his letter that “In light of recent surveys, it is clear that there is a lack of understanding among many Catholics about the nature and meaning of the Eucharist. This teaching document will address the fundamental doctrines concerning the Eucharist that the Church, as a whole, needs to retrieve and revive.”
A section addressing Eucharistic reception, titled “Eucharistic consistency,” will purportedly tackle “the nature of eucharistic communion and the problem of serious sin.” The May 22 letter to the bishops noted that “a person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself (1 Cor 11:28-29).”
Opposing any debate on the exclusion of Catholics like Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving the Eucharist are Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C., and 65 other prelates within the American hierarchy who have attempted to stall proceedings, going so far as to sign a letter urging their brother bishops to disregard any notion of publicly correcting anti-life, anti-family Catholic politicians.
Gomez, however, has insisted that the proposal receives a full discussion, as originally planned.
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| How the Irish, and Many Others, Lost Their Religious Freedom to COVID Restrictions |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-09-2021, 12:27 PM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Spiritual]
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How the Irish, and Many Others, Lost Their Religious Freedom to COVID Restrictions
National Review [secular source] | June 6, 2021
Around the world, religious institutions bore the brunt of coronavirus rules. We can’t let this happen again.
In Ireland, you can face six months behind bars for forging a drug prescription. Or for stealing €20,000 from your employer for luxury holidays. Or, until recently, for attending church.
Even in a year that has turned societal norms on its head, it’s surely a surprise that the Emerald Isle, once a home away from Rome for Europe’s Catholics, got into this state. There are few places more steeped in Church tradition.
Until now.
Last weekend the Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, reflected that it had been “humbling” when COVID-19 had “lifted the veil” off the reality of the Church’s position in Ireland. The importance of being together in worship didn’t figure as one of the “major issues.”
Ireland, of all places, enforced some of the most draconian restrictions on religious freedom in the world during the pandemic. Authorities didn’t just close places of worship; they criminalized anyone who would attend a service or a Mass, regardless of their willingness to mask and distance. When a rural priest from County Cavan tried to hold a service, police set up checkpoints surrounding the building and fined him for daring to bid parishioners to come to a large, airy church. Meanwhile, dry cleaners, supermarkets, and even liquor stores stayed open for business. It was considered safer to pick up a cheap merlot outside a corner off-license than to take bread and wine in a socially distanced Communion service with holy God.
With the internationally solidified right to worship trounced in favor of one’s right to a spruced-up suit, the Irish government’s religious illiteracy in the context of fundamental freedoms has been exposed. And it’s a far-reaching problem across the global West. In Nevada, citizens were left with no choice but to render unto Caesars Palace when casinos stayed open, but churches had to close. Meanwhile, a young doctor serving on a COVID ward became the “David” of Switzerland in May, taking a slingshot to the sweeping, Goliathan ban by getting the Constitutional Chamber of Geneva to recognize it as unnecessary and disproportionate. They could hardly decide otherwise. Professional choirs were allowed to meet for practice, and demonstrations could take place. Why were Christians ever considered more contagious?
Indeed, millions of others across the Continent were affected by severe worship restrictions at some point during the pandemic. For a society built on Judeo-Christian values, it’s been a stark revelation of how little we think of our foundations. Somebody check on Nietzsche — he might be getting his mourning clothes out again to proclaim that God is dead.
Undeniably, churches play an immensely important role in society. At a time of loss and grieving, who can question the benefit of accessing a transcendent touch-point — a place to find hope and comfort amid despair? But the significance of religious freedom in the midst of a global crisis goes beyond even spiritual welfare. It’s a test of which human rights the government truly values under pressure and which it doesn’t. The right to worship is a deeply personal one. When that right is lost and discarded, it puts the very premise of all human-rights protections at risk. And if, in the global shake-up, respect for religious freedom is proven to be nothing more than a cathedral built on sand, it’s not going to be respected tomorrow either.
If you’re hearing a faint solo over the Irish Sea, it might be a “hallelujah” — after almost 12 months of criminalization, churches reopened recently, albeit at a limited capacity. It’s good news for many. However, the Irish government has never acknowledged that the blanket ban was ever wrong. The next time an emergency hits, it will be back to police squadrons and church raids in another bizarre blend of Exodus meets World War Z. And so a Galway businessman, Declan Ganley, has taken up the challenge of persuading the courts of Ireland to join those in Scotland, Switzerland, Chile, and several U.S. states in striking down the disproportionate ban once and for all.
Christians across the country are voicing their support for the principle. Hundreds have already signed an open petition to the government asking for a commitment that the ban will never be imposed again. Court dithering and delaying has left the situation somewhat unclear. But even though the churches can now open, the courts still have an opportunity to tackle the much deeper issue: Is religious freedom really worth protecting? Did the government indeed violate that fundamental right? And do we need to do better to make sure that the rights of religious groups aren’t left vulnerable in the next global emergency?
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| June 9th – Sts. Primus and Felician, Martyrs |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-09-2021, 11:45 AM - Forum: June
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June 9 – Sts. Primus and Felician, Martyrs
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Roses and lilies are exquisitely alternated in the wreath woven by centuries, for the Bride of the Son of God. Though the world be heedless of the fact, it is none the less true that everything here below has but one object, namely to bedeck the Church with the attractive charms of heaven, to adjust her jeweled robes formed of the virtues of her saints, that she may be fitted to take her seat beside her Diving Spouse in the highest heavens for all eternity. The sacred cycle, in its yearly course, presents an image of those ceaseless labors whereby the Holy Ghost continues to form, up to the day of the eternal nuptials, that varied robe of holy Church, by diversifying the merits of God’s servants, her members here below. Today, we have two Martyrs becrimsoned with their own blood, setting off the dazzling whiteness of Norbert’s works, or of William’s innocence; and tomorrow we may contemplate with delighted gaze the softer light beamed upon our earth by Margaret, Scotland’s Pearl.
Primus and Felician, wealthy Romans, had already attained maturity of age when our Lord made his voice heard inviting them to forsake their vain idols. Brothers according to the flesh, they now became more really so, by fidelity to the same call of grace. Together, they proved themselves intrepid helpers of the confessors of Christ amidst the atrocious persecution which raged against the Church during the latter half of the Third Century. In the same combat were they to fall side by side, exchanging this frail life here below for that into which, at one birth, they were to enter forever in heaven. They furthermore were honored by having their precious relics placed in the celebrated sanctuary consecrated to Saint Stephen, the Proto-Martyr, on Monte Cœlio, and there form its richest treasure.
The holy Liturgy relates their triumph in these few lines:
Quote:Primus and Felician were brothers, and being accused of professing the Christian religion, during the persecution of Diocletian and Maximiam, they were thrown into irons, which an Angel broke, and they were delivered. But being soon led again before the prætor, and as they most earnestly clung to the Christian faith, they were separated one from the other. The steadfastness of Felician was the first to be put to the test in diverse ways. As they who strove to persuade him into impiety, found it hopeless to gain aught from him by words, he was fastened hand and foot to a stake and there left to hang three days, without either food or drink. The day after that, the prætor having called Primus before him, thus addressed him: “Seest thou how much wiser is thy brother, than thou art? He hath obeyed the Emperors, and they have made him honorable. Thou hast only to follow his example to be made partaker of his honors and favors.”
Primus replied: “What hath befallen my brother, I know, for an angel hath told me. Would to God, that seeing I have the same will that he hath, I were not divided from him in the same martyrdom.” These words raised the wrath of the prætor, and to the torments which he had already inflicted in Primus, he added this also, that he had boiling lead poured into his mouth, and this, in presence of Felician. After that, he had them both dragged into the amphitheater, and two lions let loose upon them, in presence of about twelve thousand people, who were gathered together to see the show. The lions only fawned upon the knees of the saints, making friends with them, caressingly moving their heads and tails. This spectacle turned five hundred persons of the assembled crowd, together with their households, to the Christian religion. The prætor then, moved beyond all endurance, by what had passed, caused Primus and Felician to be beheaded with the axe.
O ye brave veterans of the Lord’s battles, teach us what energy we must bring to the service of God, whatsoever be our age. Less favored than we are, ye came late in life to the knowledge of the Gospel and of those inestimable treasures promised to the Christian. But in holy Baptism your youth was renewed as that of the eagle, and for thirty years, the Holy Ghost continued to produce rich fruits in you. When, in extreme old age, the hour of final victory at last sounded, your courage was equal to that of the most vigorous warriors. You were nerved up to such heroism and sustained therein, through prayer constantly kept alive within you by the words of the Psalms, as your Acts attest. Revive then amongst us faith in the word of God; His promises will make us despise, as ye did, this present life. Lead our piety back to those true sources which strengthen the soul—the knowledge and daily use of those sacred formulæ, which bind our earth unfailingly to heaven whence they were brought down to us.
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| Cleveland Clinic Refutes Fauci: No Point Vaccinating Those Who’ve Had COVID-19 |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-09-2021, 08:20 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular]
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Cleveland Clinic Refutes Fauci: No Point Vaccinating Those Who’ve Had COVID-19
A new study by scientists at the Cleveland Clinic found that there was no point in vaccinating those who’ve had the COVDID19 already.
This makes logical sense and is in line with what the public was always told about infectious disease.
It was only when the megalomaniac Tony Fauci got involved with COVID-19 that healthy people were wearing masks, the entire economy was shut down, the death counts included people who died from the disease and with the disease, and those who had the disease were ordered to get the vaccine.
This study brings a bit of sanity back into the American medical community.
News-Medical.net reported:
Quote:Scientists from the Cleveland Clinic, USA, have recently evaluated the effectiveness of coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19) vaccination among individuals with or without a history of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.
The study findings reveal that individuals with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection do not get additional benefits from vaccination, indicating that COVID-19 vaccines should be prioritized to individuals without prior infection. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.
In the United States, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, which have shown high efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 disease in clinical trials. However, the ability to vaccinate a large part of the global population is limited by vaccine supply.
In order to ensure fair access to vaccines throughout the world, the COVID-19 vaccines Global Access (COVAX) initiative was launched. In many countries, especially those with low socioeconomic status, there is a serious shortage of vaccines. Thus, in order to get the maximum vaccine benefits, the most vulnerable population should be prioritized for the vaccination.
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| German Study Finds Lockdown ‘Had No Effect’ on Stopping Spread of Coronavirus |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-08-2021, 07:15 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular]
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German Study Finds Lockdown ‘Had No Effect’ on Stopping Spread of Coronavirus
Infection rates already falling before restrictions put in place.
Summit News | 4 June, 2021
A major new study by German scientists at Munich University has found that lockdowns had no effect on reducing the country’s coronavirus infection rate.
Oh.
“Statisticians at Munich University found “no direct connection” between the German lockdown and falling infection rates in the country,” reports the Telegraph.
The study found that, on all three occasions before Germany imposed its lockdowns in November, December and April, infection rates had already begun to fall.
The R rate – the number that indicates how many other people an infected person passes the virus to – was already under 1 before the lockdown restrictions came into force.
As we highlighted last year, a leaked study from inside the German Ministry of the Interior revealed that the impact of the country’s lockdown could end up killing more people than the coronavirus due to victims of other serious illnesses not receiving treatment.
This is by no means the only study to have concluded that lockdowns are completely useless and don’t work.
A peer reviewed study published in January by Stanford researchers found that mandatory lockdowns do not provide more benefits to stopping the spread of COVID-19 than voluntary measures such as social distancing.
Back in March, Stanford medical professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya told Newsweek that COVID-19 lockdowns are “the single worst public health mistake in the last 100 years.”
Earlier this year, academics from Duke, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins concluded that there could be around a million excess deaths over the next two decades as a result of lockdowns.
Other research has concluded lockdowns will conservatively “destroy at least seven times more years of human life” than they save.
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| Canadian health officials baffled by MYSTERY deadly brain disease since at least |
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Posted by: Stone - 06-08-2021, 06:44 AM - Forum: Health
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‘It’s happening & it’s probably spreading’: Canadian health officials baffled by MYSTERY deadly brain disease
A fresh outbreak of a mysterious illness has been making headlines in Canada. A neurological disease dubbed the New Brunswick Syndrome has affected dozens and killed six people in recent months in the region that gave it its name.
At least 48 people aged between 18 and 85, almost equally men and women, have been suffering from an inexplicable illness that has caused their health to swiftly deteriorate. Visual and auditory hallucinations, memory loss, difficulty walking and balance issues are among the symptoms of the mysterious condition, which is reported to have killed six patients thus far.
This week, the government of the mainly affected New Brunswick province, located on the Atlantic coast, stepped up its efforts to deal with the outbreak, which had, until recently, been overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic. An expert committee has been set up to expedite the investigation into what is being referred to as the New Brunswick Cluster of Neurological Syndrome of Unknown Cause.
“The discovery of a potentially new and unknown syndrome is scary,” New Brunswick Health Minister Dorothy Shephard told a news conference on Thursday, adding that locals have been “concerned and confused” about the new disease.
While people in the province have been suffering from alarming symptoms that appear to stem from the same unknown brain-damaging illness for the past few years, no certain cause has yet been identified. Health officials have been looking into potential environmental and animal exposure, but uncertainty prevails.
“At this point in time, we don’t know. Everything is on the table. We’re going to look at every possibility, and, hopefully, we’ll … develop a good understanding,” one of the committee co-chairs, Dr. Edouard Hendriks said. The other, Dr. Natalie Banville, admitted no advice can be given to people as to how – or whether – they can protect themselves from the disease, as the experts haven’t determined its derivation.
“We’re researching. We have no environmental causes, we have no genetic causes, we have no medication causes – we have no cause established,” Banville said.
All possibilities are being studied, including contamination through toxins, bacteria, or a virus.
To try to figure out the mystery, an extensive questionnaire has been drafted by health officials. Aimed at both patients and their families, it can take up to four hours to complete. A special clinic to diagnose and treat suspected patients has also been opened.
“It’s still a big shock,” Luc Leblanc, who has been diagnosed with the unknown syndrome, told Canada’s CTV News. “I never got any answers that I was looking for, or how to cope, or how to extend my life,” the 41-year-old man said. He is suffering from concentration problems and memory loss, and described his condition as “a ticking bomb.” “You don’t know how long you have,” he said.
Another patient’s life has also been upturned by the mysterious brain disorder. Gabrielle Cormier, whose neurological symptoms include vision problems, and sudden walking and standing inabilities, was diagnosed at the age of 20. “I can’t read, which is a shame because I love to read. I can’t move … I was very active before,” she explained to CTV News.
People living in the region have been “frustrated” for months, officials admitted this week. There have been complains of a lack of communication and transparency from health officials, with locals now demanding regular public briefings on the troubling issue.
The disease was first observed in New Brunswick in 2015 by local neurologist Dr. Alier Marrero. Over the years, more patients have emerged, exhibiting similar symptoms of dementia and strange muscle movements, among other disorders. When the number of people affected began to grow, the doctor concluded he was dealing with something that hadn’t been observed before in the medical world and sounded the alarm.
Physicians in New Brunswick have been identifying more patients with common unusual symptoms that they couldn’t diagnose since early 2020. They first linked these to another rare brain disorder, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), but patients tested negative for it. A separate case definition for the perplexing symptoms was drafted in January this year, however, the mysterious illness was publicly exposed only after a senior medical officer’s internal memo about it was leaked in March.
“Every year since 2018, the number of cases has increased. And we don’t know why. We don’t know what is causing this. We know it’s happening and it’s probably spreading,” Marrero told the Toronto Star daily, warning that “we are exposed to something that we have not been exposed [to] before.”
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