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Minneapolis OKs dawn Muslim prayer call

Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 08:06 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Minneapolis OKs dawn Muslim prayer call, 1st for big US city

AP | April 14, 2023

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (AP) — Minneapolis will allow broadcasts of the Muslim call to prayer at all hours, becoming the first major U.S. city to allow the announcement or “adhan” to be heard over speakers five times a day, year-round.

The Minneapolis City Council unanimously agreed Thursday to amend the city’s noise ordinance, which had prevented dawn and late evening calls at certain times of the year due to noise restrictions, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The vote came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“The Constitution doesn’t sleep at night,” said Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, after the vote. He said the action in Minneapolis shows the world that a “nation founded on freedom of religion makes good on its promise.”

Minneapolis has had a flourishing population of East African immigrants since at least the 1990s, and mosques now are common. Three of 13 members of the council identify as Muslim. The decision drew no organized community opposition. Mayor Jacob Frey is expected to sign the measure next week.

“Minneapolis has become a city for all religions,” said Imam Mohammed Dukuly of Masjid An-Nur mosque in Minneapolis, who was among several Muslim leaders who witnessed the vote.

Three years ago, city officials worked with the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque to allow the adhan to be broadcast outdoors five times daily during Ramadan. Prayers are said when light appears at dawn, at noon, at mid- to late afternoon, at sunset and when the night sky appears. In Minnesota, dawn arrives as early as before 5:30 a.m. in summer, while sunset at the solstice happens after 9 p.m.

The city allowed year-round broadcasts last year, but only between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. — typically excluding early morning prayer and sometimes night prayer.

At a recent public hearing, Christian and Jewish leaders expressed support for extending the hours for the adhan.

Bp. de Mallerais: The Origins of the Society of St. Pius X

Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 07:55 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - No Replies

The Angelus - January 2020

THE ORIGINS OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT PIUS X

By Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais

Editor’s Note: This article is based on extracts from the biography of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre by Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais. They attempt to capture the effort and mood of the Society of Saint Pius X’s founder in the face of countless difficulties.

As Superior of the Holy Ghost Fathers until 1968, Archbishop Lefebvre was already at work leading seminarians. Hence, he directed the 20 or so who knocked at his door towards his own Alma Mater, the French Seminary of Santa Chiara in Rome. Soon he realized that this option was not conducive to proper training any longer both at Santa Chiara and the adjacent Gregorian University, so he thought of other universities which could give a Thomistic formation.

In anguish, the seminarians became more insistent: “Your Grace, if you do not intervene, the priesthood will be closed off to us.” The Archbishop would later say: “I could not have imagined where that cry of distress would lead. With great sorrow we had to give in and look for other places, other universities.” Two were still sound in what they taught: the Lateran and Fribourg. In 1967, he sent a group to Fr. Theodosius’s society, sponsored by Cardinal Siri, who followed courses at the Lateran University. The following year, he sent some seminarians to Fribourg University, all the while staying at the Holy Ghost Fathers’ priory. That was the situation until June 1968 when he resigned as Superior General.

I. At the Crossroad

Archbishop Lefebvre found himself at a crossroads, at the retiring age of 63. However, the growing disintegration of the priesthood led him to form a plan to transmit the precious inheritance he had received at Rome from the hands of Frs. Le Floch, Voegtli, Frey, and Le Rohellec. When still an archbishop in Africa, he had a premonition of this work:

“…The dream was to transmit, before the progressive degradation of the priestly ideal, in all of its doctrinal purity and in all of its missionary charity, the Catholic Priesthood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, just as He conferred it on His apostles, just as the Roman Church always transmitted it until the middle of the 20th century.

Archbishop Lefebvre and Bishop Adam of Sion.

“How should I carry out that which appeared then to me as the sole solution to revive the Church and Christianity? It was still a dream, but there appeared to me already the need, not only to confer the authentic priesthood, to teach not only the sana doctrina approved by the Church, but also to transmit the profound and unchanging spirit of the Catholic priesthood and of the Christian spirit essentially bound to the great prayer of Our Lord which His Sacrifice on the Cross expresses eternally.”

Ever since his return to Europe, one desire had gripped him more and more: to found an international seminary according to these principles. While supporting his seminarians of Rome and those of Fribourg, several candidates knocked at his door. By that time, end of 1968, he was virtually out of options for them. Fr. Theodosius said he did not want to take more than 10 seminarians, whom he meant to train as religious. In Fribourg, his seminarians were no longer wanted at the Holy Ghost priory. The Archbishop still said: “I had this conviction which nothing could shake, that to save and continue the Church, one had to train priests: holy priests and true priests.” By this overwhelming thought, he looked for houses in Fribourg whose university was certainly attractive and where the seminarians could really get good training.

II. The Foundation at Fribourg

Fr. Aulagnier witnessed the decisive scene:

“There we were on Grand’rue in the library of our host, Professor Bernard Faÿ, an upstairs room in a grand house overlooking the Sarine. There were Fr. Marie-Dominique, O.P., Dom Bernard Kaul, Abbot of Hauterive, and Jean-François Braillard, who was the father of a young family and headed the Fribourg state education department. We were amazed to see these individuals exchanging reflections on the decline of the priesthood.”

Archbishop Lefebvre recalled:

“They literally took me by the scruff of the neck and said: ‘Something must be done for these seminarians!’ It was useless my saying that I was 65 and retired, or that it was foolish to begin something that I could not continue if I should die within the next few years.… They wouldn’t have it. ‘Okay,’ I said to them, ‘I’ll go and see Bishop Charrière. If he says yes, that will be a sign of Providence.’

“His Excellency Bishop Charrière received me warmly and was enthusiastic about my projects. He willingly gave me permission to open this ‘orphanage’ for seminarians from all countries, especially South America. This happened on June 6, 1969, at 3 p.m. in the bishop’s residence at Fribourg. The seminary was born! Now we had to think about getting down to business.”

The “Saint Pius X Association for Priestly Training” was formed on July 2. The founder secured 12 rooms in the Foyer Don Bosco for the school year 1969-70, financed by generous benefactors. The only thing missing was someone to act as rector of the seminary, but none came forward whom he could trust. Thus, Providence decided that he, Archbishop Lefebvre, and no other, would be the rector of the seminary he was founding. He would be completely involved in the work.

On October 13, 1969, the “new boys” arrived at 106, Route de Marly, most of them in lay clothes. Apart from Pierre Piqué and Paul Aulagnier—both from Santa Chiara—there was the Swiss M. Doyon, the Argentinean E. Eraso, and J. Antier, R. Fillion, G. Monti, B. Pellaboeuf, and B. Tissier de Mallerais, all of whom were French. Archbishop Lefebvre himself welcomed them. Paul Aulagnier was already there, keeping his thoughts to himself: “I felt disappointed and worried. The nine students assembled for this first academic year did not seem reliable to me. It was far from the ideal that I had dreamed of: a breeding ground for young, Traditional Catholic Levites, spiritually pumped up and having no qualms.”

Then, the founder fell ill at Dijon at the end of the year, and was hospitalized in Fribourg, and unbeknownst to the community, he asked for extreme unction. The priest reassured him: “Now is not your time, your Grace!” At last, test results reassured the patient and his spiritual sons: he was suffering from strongyles contracted in Africa and lodged in his liver. He wrote to a friend: “Providence has put me to the test with this illness for the last two and a half months. Doubtless, it is because suffering is essential to the works of God.”

Having been recently tried by illness, he was now beset by doubts: what was the use of carrying on with troops tried and trimmed, and without a reliable collaborator? However, thanks to the Cité Catholique and The Knights of Our Lady, seven solid recruits were acquired. With his customary simplicity, he stated his worries to the five remaining students: “I won’t conceal from you the anxiety that I feel at the thought of taking the decision to accept new seminarians with all the risks that could pose to their future. Will they be accepted in dioceses? Should we form a priestly society? I am putting my whole confidence in the holy providence of God.” He was encouraged at this time by Fr. Jean-Yves Cottard who was living at the French Seminary in Rome but who wanted to come to Fribourg to whom he replied: “No, wait: things are not going very well.”

The loyal support of the Fribourg committee certainly helped the Archbishop to persevere. Professor Faÿ who came to give talks about Freemasonry to the seminarians, District Judge Albert Volanthen and Fr. Philippe encouraged the project. Thus, the Archbishop set out once again to find an independent property for the four remaining Fribourg seminarians for the start of the school year in 1970. A suitable house on Route de la Vignettaz soon went up for auction, and on June 26 while the Archbishop prayed in the cathedral, the architect Antognini won the bidding for him. However, the Archbishop had found another house for the new students who would arrive that year: Écône!

III. Écône

Archbishop Lefebvre was going to launch a project that was dear to his heart: a year of spiritual formation before beginning studies for the priesthood. Well before Fribourg in fact, Providence and Our Lady were preparing Écône for him on this blessed plot of land in a corner of Valais.

In the autumn of 1967, Fr. Pierre Epiney had just accepted from his bishop the post of Riddes parish priest that had been refused by four other priests. He began by visiting his parish. He rang the doorbell at Écône, owned by the Canons of the Great St. Bernard, but there was no answer. He went into the deserted courtyard: on the left was the barn and on the right the kennels. In a flash, he saw in his mind’s eye the courtyard of a large seminary full of seminarians. Very quickly he chased away the meaningless image and found himself again in the deserted courtyard. Canon Roserens who still maintained the property came down to greet him: “Here, it’s all over, there’s nothing left to do.” Was that certain?

Everything began on Holy Thursday, 1968. Alphonse Pedroni, a daily Mass communicant from Valais, heard during a conversation in a cafe that the house of Écône was to be sold by the Great St. Bernard Canons. He opened his heart to Gratien Rausis: “There are several buyers who have lots of money and one of them is a Communist group who want to blow up the chapel!”

“Alphonse,” Gratien replied, “if it’s only a question of money, we have to do something. But we cannot do that alone.” He suggested that his brother Marcel join them, while Rausis put forward the names of Roger Lovey and Guy Genoud. On April 18, Roger Lovey wrote to the Provost: “Because of Écône’s past, it means a lot to us. We could say that it has a religious vocation which we refuse to see abandoned without greater scrutiny.”

Écône aerial view.

On May 31, 1968, the feast of the Queenship of Mary, contracts were exchanged by the five friends and Canon Bernard Rausis. The Provost of St. Bernard, Monsignor Angelin Lovey, had said: “We will do you no favors.” How were they to pay? They would borrow from the bank. The manager sought information: “But have you assets?”

“No,” replied Pedroni, “we don’t have any. You only need give us the loan: it’s for a religious work. You only have to lend us everything!”

Amazed, the bank manager gave them a loan for the entire sum.

Almost a year passed from May 1968 to Holy Week 1969 when Archbishop Lefebvre made his first visit to Écône. “I didn’t really think it was a good spot for a seminary since it was so far away from any major town, but it was very suitable for a novitiate.” On May 24, 1970 with Paul Aulagnier he returned to Écône for another visit and was welcomed with open arms by the five friends and Fr. Epiney. At the end of the meal, Alphonse Pedroni, who until then had remained mysteriously silent, opened his mouth to speak these words which proved to be prophetic: “Well, Monseigneur, I tell you: they’ll talk about this seminary of Écône throughout the world.”

The final decision to begin the renovations needed before the house could lodge seminarians was taken on June 24. The Archbishop promised to pay them a substantial sum by way of rent. By that time, he had secured the Bishop of Sion’s approval for a preparatory year at Écône.

IV. The Priestly Society of Saint Pius X

How could priests, who were trained to fight for Christ the King, subsequently maintain the doctrinal purity and missionary charity of their calling if not by some rule of life? How could they be protected against the growing liberal corruption of the clergy if they returned to the diocese? Implicitly, if not explicitly, the “dream of Dakar” was in fact a plan for that society. He shared his idea in October 1969 with his seminarians:

“Let me offer you some considerations for the future: [we could] form a society, not of religious like Fr. Theodosius, but a society of seculars. Should we be scattered throughout dioceses or existing congregations? Or should we remain together, at least living in small groups?”

The seminarians were quite uncomfortable with this proposal. Those who had been sent by their bishops or even already incardinated in their home dioceses considered that they were destined for those dioceses. The new students had no clear ideas on a topic that went beyond their present concern of becoming good priests. The Archbishop expected more of a response, if not more enthusiasm. After a few days of doubt—as we have related—he took heart again. On July 1, he went to Bishop Charrière’s residence in Fribourg and gave him a draft of the statutes of the Priestly Society: “I have been asked by some young priests and seminarians to found a society for secular priests. I have written these draft statutes in accordance with Canon Law.”

“I see nothing to object to in such a useful and timely initiative,” replied François Charrière.

“If you agree to the foundation, the year of spirituality will take place in Écône; Bishop Adam has already given his permission. During this year, candidates can prepare to join the Society—it is a novitiate by another name—although the seminarians will not be obliged to join. The Society will have its headquarters at Fribourg on Rue de la Vignettaz.”

After another meeting on August 18, trying again—as only he knew how—Marcel Lefebvre wrote to his colleague again on October 13, 1970, reminding him of their meetings and the statutes under consideration. Finally, on November 7, still awaiting a reply, Archbishop Lefebvre telephoned the bishop’s residence; he was worried since he knew that the auxiliary bishop, Pierre Mamie, was opposed to the foundation. Nevertheless, Bishop Charrière said eagerly: “Yes, Your Grace, come over straightaway.” After a brief conversation at the bishop’s residence, he said: “There’s no point in waiting any longer.” There was just time to go and say a prayer in the chapel while the document was being prepared. Then Bishop Charrière signed it. He was at the end of his episcopal career. Three months later he resigned. Archbishop Lefebvre had certainly put a little pressure on the bishop. However, he declared: “I’m absolutely delighted to see my wish so quickly fulfilled!” The document ruled that:

“The International Priestly Society of Saint Pius X is erected in our diocese as a ‘Pia Unio’ (pious union).…We approve and confirm the Statutes, here joined, of the Society for a period of six years ad experimentum, which will be able to be renewed for a similar period by tacit approval; after which, the Society can be erected definitely in our diocese by the competent Roman Congregation.…Done at Fribourg, in our palace, November 1, 1970, on the Feast of All Saints, François Charrière.”

The decree was deliberately predated by six days. Returning to Rue de la Vignettaz, Archbishop Lefebvre, who was obviously delighted, showed the letter to the seminarians, who passed it from one to another: they could not resist re-reading it, looking at the signature and checking the seal. Everything was in order. The Archbishop later said: “Was it not providential? That date of November 1, 1970, is to my mind an event of great importance in our history: it was the day that saw the official birth of the Society. It was the Church which brought it into the world that day. The Society is a work of the Church. For me, I would have been horrified at the thought of founding anything without the bishop’s approval. It had to be of the Church.”

As for the seminary whose legal existence was suggested by the statutes, in light of its preparatory year in Valais, its house in Fribourg, and the studies at the University, it could be considered as an appropriate training center needed by the institute even at its embryonic stage of clerical pious union.

V. The Seminary of Saint Pius X moved to Écône

Archbishop Lefebvre commented:

“From November 1970 I had to think about the new school year in October 1971 and work out where we would lodge those who had finished the year of spirituality, which was to be at Fribourg in principle. Meanwhile, the university courses were no longer satisfactory; the students were becoming agitated, and Fr. Philippe said: ‘One day soon you will have to give the courses yourself.’

“Now, when I went to Écône, it was good to see how the young men benefited from a true and simple curriculum and from being in an atmosphere of peace rather than dissent. They were also out in the Valais countryside where the people were still deeply religious. So, I thought to myself: why not put the seminary here?

“Then I consulted with His Eminence Cardinal Journet. He was categorical: ‘The university does not suit the majority of seminarians and does not encourage seminary discipline; if you have the choice, you must not hesitate. Send only a few students to the university to get degrees.’ Bishop Mamie understood what good could come from an independent seminary but thought that it would be difficult to set up.…Lastly, my colleagues were unanimous: if it was going to provide training that was sound and solid in all respects, the seminary should be in Écône.”

The Diary of Écône notes on November 16 that at the end of a novena to St. Joseph, and “after a visit to the chapel,” the Archbishop decided to build the seminary at Écône. Bishop Adam’s permission was still needed… On December 26, 1970, Maître Lovey drove the Archbishop to the bishop’s residence in Sion, and stayed in the car while they went in. “Getting permission was a little more difficult” than for the year of spirituality,” said the Archbishop. At last, the Bishop of Sion gave in: “The last time, you asked me if you could use Écône for your pre-seminary, I accepted; but when you asked permission for a seminary, I objected that we already had three in the diocese. Now, this year, my seminary is at Fribourg and the Capuchins have closed theirs. So, I no longer have any objection.”

Archbishop Lefebvre was satisfied with his answer and got on with the work. Henceforth, things went very quickly. On February 3, the architect Ami Delaloye was commissioned. On February 15, 1971, he came to present his plans for the future St. Pius X wing, a first building providing accommodation, and his quotation: 1,500,000 Swiss francs. The Archbishop listened, saying nothing but thinking: “I need at least a third of that to begin without getting into debt; I don’t have it; I can’t go ahead.” Now, at that very moment, a telephone call from Fribourg informed him that a benefactor—Bishop Adrien Bressolles had just credited his account with a large amount of money. Providentially, it was just enough to get the project started!

Excerpt from Archbishop Lefebvre's The Mass of All Time

Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 07:44 AM - Forum: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre - No Replies

The Angelus - November 2014

A Pledge of Eternal Life
by Archbishop Lefebvre, taken from The Mass of All Time

Why will you offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass, my dear friends? “That they may have life, and may have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). This is also what Our Lord wanted: “That they may have life, and may have it more abundantly,” because the sacrifice of the Mass has no other purpose than to give life. And what life? Not the life of this world, not the life of our bodies, but supernatural life, the divine life we had lost. Our Lord wanted to give us His own life, His divine life, to make us enter into the Blessed Trinity, every one of us, however little, however weak we may be. Our Lord wanted us to share in His divine life, and that is why He died on the Cross. Thus you will offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass to give life, and the fruit of the sacrifice of the Mass is the Eucharist, in which are present the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. How sublime all that is!1

The Eucharist is the mystery of our hope. It was Our Lord Himself who said: “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day” (Jn. 6:55). He will be our resurrection. The body of Our Lord Jesus Christ present in our poor bodies is a gage of our resurrection. We already possess within ourselves everlasting life; this eternal life will not leave us. Even at the hour of our death, this germ of the resurrection of our bodies for eternity will be in our souls because we have received Holy Communion, because we have been united to Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. It is Our Lord Himself who said it, and this Gospel was expressly chosen by the Church for the Mass of the dead.

The Eucharist is like a seed within us, a seed of our bodily resurrection, because in our Communion we partake of Our Lord Jesus Christ risen. He is in us with His risen body, His glorious body. Thus He is for us like a seed of resurrection. All these thoughts are so beautiful and consoling that we will never thank the good God enough for our being able to receive Holy Communion every day.2

Bond of Perfection

Communion is also the efficacious sign of the charity that should animate the Mystical Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for we are all members of this Mystical Body....It would be unacceptable that souls who partook of the same Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ should be divided. Charity should reign in the members of Our Lord Jesus Christ more than anywhere else. How can those who have partaken of the same Body and Blood, and of the same victim, Our Lord Jesus Christ, be divided; how can they not love one another? Certainly, the Sacrament of the Eucharist is the paramount cause of unity.3

I would like to emphasize the efficacy of the charity produced by the sacrament of the Eucharist. We too need this charity, we who believe, who have the Faith, who want to stay Catholic and Roman until the last moment of our lives. So we must remain in charity. This Sacrament is the sign and symbol of the love that emanates from Our Lord’s charity. Yet how painful it is sometimes to think that people who nourish themselves daily with the Eucharist never manage to be completely dominated by the virtue of charity! They need to criticize, to form factions, to make rash judgments, to display antipathy towards persons to whom they should show sympathy.

Well, then, let us who want to keep Tradition, this holy faith in the Blessed Eucharist, make the resolution today to also keep the fruit of the Holy Eucharist. It does not suffice to believe in it; it does not suffice to say that we are attached to the tradition of faith and hope in the Eucharist without having within us all its fruits. The fruits of charity are so good, they show so clearly the presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in our souls!4

Medicinal Effect

The Eucharist has a medicinal effect. Catholic doctrine is a doctrine that enlightens souls and compels them to banish sin. It leads them to tell themselves: “I must get rid of my shortcomings and defects and my sins so that my soul will be ready to receive graces from Our Lord and be transformed in Him.” This is what the Church has always taught. For this reason she asks missionaries to preach the gospel to the whole world and to carry the grace of Our Lord to souls, and to transform souls in Our Lord. Whence the importance of the holy sacrifice of the Mass, which is the continuation of the sacrifice of the Cross and the application to souls of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s Blood, which renews them, which transforms them by the manducation of the Eucharist. “May the partaking of Thy body be to me a remedy.” This we pray to Our Lord in the prayer before receiving Holy Communion: Give me your remedy. It is the propitiatory act of Our Lord renewed every day. We must be convinced of our need of a remedy.5

Heavenly Antidote

The Eucharist lessens lust. The Eucharist has for effect to keep us pure and unsullied from all sin. It is a heavenly antidote that prevents us from being poisoned and corrupted by the deadly venom of evil passions, especially lust. It is the bread of virgins. That is why it is necessary to highly recommend Communion to people today, and also to couples, who have so many difficulties staying faithful to God’s law in the conjugal domain....The Eucharist is the remedy. People used to receive Holy Communion frequently in olden days. Christians nourished themselves with the Eucharist because it is a specific remedy for reducing our concupiscence. In the Eucharist, we receive the Author of every grace in us, the One who is precisely the opposite of sin, who is the contrary of concupiscence: Our Lord Jesus Christ.6 Insofar as one receives Our Lord Jesus Christ with the necessary dispositions, the fire of concupiscence abates and souls rest in peace; they are not always tormented by these problems. “The Eucharist restrains and represses the lusts of the flesh, for while it inflames the soul more ardently with the fire of charity, it of necessity extinguishes the ardor of concupiscence.”7, 8

Divine Life

The Eucharist is heaven. What is the grace you receive in the Sacrament of the Eucharist? It is no more or less than the communication of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s divine life to you. Our Lord Jesus Christ came down upon the earth; He took a body like ours in order to communicate to us His Divine life. If today we could see souls as they are, the souls of those in a state of mortal sin would appear to us as leprous, or ulcerous, or afflicted by a dreadful malady. If today the good God revealed what souls in a state of grace look like, we would be amazed; we would think it is impossible for a soul in the state of grace to be so beautiful, so divine, so luminous, so full of charity! Grace is the good God in our souls; it is Jesus in our souls. And Jesus is nothing else than heaven.9

God is heaven; Jesus Christ is God; consequently, when we receive God in our hearts, we can truthfully say, “I have heaven in my soul; I have Paradise in my soul.” It would behoove us to be united to this Paradise in such a way that we would be prepared for the lasting Paradise, which will consist in being in the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ for eternity. Only the true religion can possess such treasures. Only God could have invented such grand and beautiful expressions of His love and His charity for us.10

Our Consolation

The Eucharist is our consolation. Imagine a Christian life without the Eucharist! What would we be without Our Lord Jesus Christ, without this extraordinary gift God gave us? What orphans we would be; how alone we would feel, a little abandoned by the good God. But with the Eucharist, when we need to speak to Him, to see Him, to tell Him that we love Him, or when we need special help we can go to our sanctuaries and kneel before Our Lord Jesus Christ, alone perhaps before the Blessed Sacrament. Surely it has happened to you to say to the good God before the Blessed Sacrament: “Come to my help; help me, I have worries and trials. Help my family; help my children.”

And when you departed, you left the church comforted. And that is what you have felt, I am sure, after every Sunday Mass. How many times it has happened to us as priests to assist the dying. How many times we have had to bring Communion to the sick. What a joy it was for these suffering souls to receive God from the hand of the priest. What a consolation! What a source of courage it was for them. By this Sacrament, Our Lord Jesus Christ worked an extraordinary miracle of His love. Consequently, we too must show Him our love.11

Source of Civilization

Communion is the source of civilization. Understand, my dear faithful, that in Holy Communion we unite ourselves to God, to Our Lord Jesus Christ: that is the source of Christian civilization. In Holy Communion, Jesus manifests Himself as our Savior and also as our King: the King of our intellects by giving us the truth; the King of our hearts and wills by giving us His commandments to help us act in accordance with His holy will. Then, going back home, the Christians who nourished themselves with the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ understand better what their duty is, how they must conduct themselves in daily life at home and in society. Conversely, to the extent that priests no longer celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass, our Christian civilization is reduced to nothing.12

1 Homily, ordinations, Ecône, June 29, 1975.
2 Easter retreat, Ecône, April 6, 1980.
3 Homily, Mantes-la-Jolie, July 2, 1977.
4 Homily, Ecône, June 17, 1976.
5 Priests’ recollection, Paris, December 13, 1984.
6 Priests’ retreat, Ecône, September 1980.
7 Catechism of the Council of Trent, p. 244. St. Thomas teaches us that the Eucharist remits our venial sins, a part of the punishment due to sin, and preserves us from future sins (Summa Theologica, III, Q. 79, Art. 4-6).
8 Easter retreat, April 1, 1980.
9 Homily, Doué-la-Fontaine, May 19, 1977.
10 Homily, Unieux, July 1, 1979.
11 Homily, Ecône, June 17, 1976.
12 Homily, First Mass, Besançon, September 5, 1976.

Rumor: Bp. Williamson consecrated Fr. Paul Morgan

Posted by: Stone - 04-15-2023, 06:02 AM - Forum: True vs. False Resistance - Replies (1)

There has been nothing official as of this date, just another forum announcing the consecration.

If this rumor is true, what an odd 'announcement'!!

From the Suscipe Domine forum: Fr. Paul Morgan consecrated a bishop by Bp. Williamson

Fr. Paul Morgan resigned from the SSPX (rather late in the SSPX crisis) in 2018.

Prior to that, a letter from Fr. Morgan, defending the SSPX can be found in this issue of The Recusant from 2013.

The Recusant #60 - Easter 2023

Posted by: Stone - 04-14-2023, 05:43 AM - Forum: The Recusant - Replies (1)

The Recusant #60 - Easter 2023

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Contents

• Sermon at Martigny, Switzerland, 1984 (Abp. Lefebvre)

• “Sorrowful Heart of Mary SSPX-MC” Newsletter (Fr Hewko)

• ‘How the Novus Ordo Mass was Made’ (thecatacombs.org)

• SSPX Moves Closer to Accepting the New Mass:

Denying Quo Primum’s in order to legitimise the New Mass
Rehabilitating Pius Parsch
Freestanding Altars emerging
Accepting the ‘Hybrid Mass’

• How to Spiritually assist at Mass

Vatican Newspaper: Judas' Kiss Was "Sign Of Friendship"

Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 06:18 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - No Replies

Sarcastic Vatican Newspaper: Judas' Kiss Was "Sign Of Friendship"

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gloria.tv | April 11, 2023

OsservatoreRomano.va (March 29) doubts Judas’ condemnation in an article entitled “Our brother Judas” by Father Simone Caleffi.

Contrary to the Gospel, Caleffi claims, that Judas’ kiss to Christ in Gethsemane was a “sign of friendship” with no sinister meaning. The Gospel says that Judas kissed Jesus to identify him.

Inadvertently, Caleffi questions his own interpretation when he says, "It's hard to get inside someone's mind, let alone understand the motives and behaviour of others, when sometimes we can't even understand ourselves!" He rhapsodises about Judas, “What could have gone through his mind in the end, what final thought, what cry?"

For Caleffi it is "certain" that Jesus, "who is infinite Mercy, gave his life for everyone, even for the most unfortunate, desperate, and guilty of his friends" - a fact that no one disputes.

Judas romanticism has been propagated several times by Francis, who pretends he doesn't know where Judas ended up.

Sticking to the facts: Christ calls Judas the son of perdition who is “lost” (John 17) and for whom it would be “better not to be born” (Mark 14).

Since the Vatican is presently full of traitors, it is understandable that they are interested in "rehabilitating" Judas.

International CBDC Launched: Universal Monetary Unit

Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 05:52 AM - Forum: General Commentary - Replies (1)

The Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) Launches an International Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

[Image: Digital_Currency_Monetary_Authority_1.jpg?w=600]

[Image: Digital_Currency_Monetary_Authority_1.jpg?w=600]

International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings 2023

PRNewswire [Emphasis mine] | Apr 10, 2023

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings 2023, the Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) announced their official launch of an international central bank digital currency (CBDC) that strengthens the monetary sovereignty of participating central banks and complies with the recent crypto assets policy recommendations proposed by the IMF.

Universal Monetary Unit (UMU), symbolized as ANSI Character, Ü, is legally a money commodity, can transact in any legal tender settlement currency, and functions like a CBDC to enforce banking regulations and to protect the financial integrity of the international banking system.

Banks can attach SWIFT Codes and bank accounts to a UMU digital currency wallet and transaction SWIFT-like cross-border payments over digital currency rails completely bypassing the correspondent banking system at best-priced wholesale FX rates and with instantaneous real-time settlement.

In an IMF interview with Tobias Adrian, Financial Counsellor at the International Monetary Fund, he states "Cross-border payments can be slow, expensive, and risky. In today's world of payments, counterparties in different jurisdictions rely on costly trusted relationships to offset the lack of a common settlement asset together with common rules and governance. But imagine if a multilateral platform existed that could improve cross-border payments—at the same time transforming foreign exchange transactions, risk sharing, and more generally, financial contracting."

According to Darrell Hubbard, the Executive Director of the DCMA, and the chief architect of UMU, "This vision expressed by the IMF is the exact solution the DCMA is delivering to central banks worldwide."

Adopting a global localization public monetary system architecture, UMU can be configured to operate according to the central banking regulations of each participating jurisdiction.

George Walker, a Partner at Practus, LLP, specializing in international law, facilitated meetings between the DMCA and the IMF, states "Although the IMF has not officially endorsed Universal Monetary Unit, in reviewing the DCMA's Whitepaper and in weekly team discussions, the IMF has yet to state any objections to UMU's FX premium rates and its monetary sovereignty approach."

According to Darrell, "UMU is not attempting to disrupt the international monetary system. If fact, it strengthens it by helping the IMF achieve its stated mandate to provide economic and financial stability to its member states. UMU is a game-changer in how cross-border payments are transacted and mitigates against seasonal and systemic local currency depreciation."

Universal Monetary Unit Model Law legislation has been drafted in collaboration with several sovereign states. In this proposed legislation, UMU should not be enacted as legal tender for negotiating domestic prices or international trade agreements. Instead, the legislation proposes UMU to be enacted as a complementary money commodity for the store of value, mitigating against potential seasonal and systemic local currency depreciation, and tendered as a payment currency at the time of settlement.

Merchants and trading partners could accept UMU for the equivalent market value for their good and services priced in any national legal tender. UMU has premium exchange rates built into its wallet and can convert any settlement currency amount to the equivalent UMU amount.

Universal Monetary Unit is cryptocurrency reimagined from the ground up to support central banking and regulated financial institutions. It features a trusted consensus protocol, Staked Proof of Trust (SPOT) Protocol, and a multi-dimensional DLT (mDLT) capable of supporting any asset or liability ledger enabling full-service digital banking and international trade payments.

The DCMA introduces Universal Monetary Unit as Crypto 2.0 because it innovates a new wave of cryptographic technologies for realizing a digital currency public monetary system with a widespread adoption framework encompassing use cases for all constituencies in a global economy.

About the Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) –
The DCMA is a world leader in the advocacy of digital currency and monetary policy innovations for governments and central banks. Membership within the DCMA consists of sovereign states, central banks, commercial and retail banks, and other financial institutions.
https://dcma.io

About Universal Monetary Unit (UMU) –
Universal Monetary Unit (UMU), also known as Unicoin, is an innovation in store of value cryptography powered by artificial intelligence (AI). It adopts a central banking monetary policy framework to ensure it has continuous purchasing demand, minimal price volatility, and annual asset pricing targets.
A copy of the UMU Whitepaper is available on its website.
https://umu.cash

Organizations Participating in the FedNow Pilot Program

Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 05:36 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Announcing the FedNowSM Pilot Program participants
Taken from here: https://www.frbservices.org/financial-se...pants.html

Quote:On January 25, 2021, the Federal Reserve announced that more than 110 organizations from the FedNow Community will participate in the FedNow Pilot Program. The program will support development, testing and adoption of the FedNow Service, as well as encourage development of services and use cases that leverage FedNow functionality.

See also: https://www.frbservices.org/financial-services/fednow

1st Source Bank
ACI Worldwide Corp.
Alacriti Payments LLC
Alloya Corporate Federal Credit Union
American Bank
American Express National Bank
American Savings Bank
American State Bank
Aptys Solutions
Arvest Bank
Atlantic Community Bankers Bank
Bank of Hawaii
Bankers' Bank
Bankers' Bank of Kansas
Bankers' Bank of the West
BMO Harris Bank
BNY Mellon
BOC Bank
Bridge Community Bank
Bryant Bank
C&N
Capital One Financial
Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union
CGI Technologies and Solutions, Inc.
Citi
Citizens Bank of Las Cruces
Citizens National Bank
Clear Mountain Bank
Commerce Bank
Community Bankers' Bank
Computer Services Inc.
ConnectOne bank
Corporate America Credit Union
Corporate Central Credit Union
Corporate One Federal Credit Union
Cross River Bank

DHI Computing Service Inc. DBA FPS GOLD
Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union
ECS Fin Inc.
Exchange Bank
Excite Credit Union
F&M Bank
Fairwinds Credit Union
Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union
FIS
Finastra
Finxact
Finzly
First Bank
First Citizens State Bank
First Foundation Bank
First Hawaiian Bank
First Internet Bank of Indiana
First National Bankers Bank
First Republic Bank
FirstBank
Fiserv Solutions, LLC
Form3
Freedom Bank
Goldman Sachs
Green Dot Bank
HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union
Heritage Bank
High Plains Bank
Horicon Bank
INB, N.A.
Independent Community Bankers’ Bank

Jack Henry & Associates
JP Morgan Chase
Juniper Payments
Lakeview Bank
Mediapolis Savings Bank
Mercantile Bank of Michigan
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union
Midwest Independent Bankers Bank
Millennium Corporate Credit Union
ModusBox, Inc.
North American Banking Company
North Salem State Bank
NorthCountry Federal Credit Union
Oakworth Capital Bank
Open Payment Network
Pacific Coast Bankers' Bank
Peoples National Bank, N.A.
Premier Bank
Q2 Software, Inc.
Quad City Bank & Trust
Regions Bank
Salem Five Bank
Service One Credit Union
SHAZAM, Inc.
Silicon Valley Bank
Square Financial Services, Inc.
Star One Credit Union

TD AMCB
Temenos Headquarters S.A.
Texas Brand Bank
Texas First Bank
The Bankers Bank
The Callaway Bank
The Citizens Bank of Edmond
TIB The Independent BankersBank, NA
Tri Counties Bank
U.S. Bank
U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service
UMB Bank, n.a.
United Bankers' Bank
University Bank
University of Michigan Credit Union
Vantage Bank Texas
Veridian Credit Union
Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union
Volante Technologies, Inc.
Volunteer Corporate CU
VSoft Corporation
Waldo State Bank
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Westside State Bank

See also: Fed Announces Launch Of 'FedNow' Real-Time Payment System, Sparking Debate

NYPD adds 'Robot Dog' to its Force

Posted by: Stone - 04-12-2023, 05:19 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Terminates Catholic Pastoral Contract

Posted by: Stone - 04-11-2023, 05:34 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Terminates Catholic Pastoral Care Contract During Holy Week

Move violates First Amendment Right to Free Exercise of Religion

milarch.org [slightly adapted] | APRIL 7, 2023

WASHINGTON, DC – Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has issued a “cease and desist order” to Holy Name College, a community of Franciscan Catholic priests and brothers, who have provided pastoral care to service members and veterans at Walter Reed for nearly two decades.

The government’s cease and desist order directed the Catholic priests to cease any religious services at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This order was issued as Catholics entered Holy Week, the most sacred of days in the Christian faith, in which they participate in liturgies remembering Jesus’ passion, and leading the Church to celebrate the Resurrection on Easter morning.

The Franciscans’ contract for Catholic Pastoral Care was terminated on March 31, 2023, and awarded to a secular defense contracting firm that cannot fulfill the statement of work in the contract. As a result, adequate pastoral care is not available for service members and veterans in the United States’ largest Defense Health Agency medical center either during Holy Week or beyond. There is one Catholic Army chaplain assigned to Walter Reed Medical Center, but he is in the process of separating from the Army.

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, condemned the move as an encroachment on the First Amendment guarantee of the Free Exercise of Religion. Archbishop Broglio said: “It is incomprehensible that essential pastoral care is taken away from the sick and the aged when it was so readily available. This is a classic case where the adage ‘if it is not broken, do not fix it’ applies. I fear that giving a contract to the lowest bidder overlooked the fact that the bidder cannot provide the necessary service. I earnestly hope that this disdain for the sick will be remedied at once and their First Amendment rights will be respected.”

Ms. Elizabeth A. Tomlin, Esq., General Counsel of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), has reached out to the contracting officers at Walter Reed numerous times throughout Holy Week asking for the Franciscans’ Catholic ministry to be reinstated at least through Easter. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has not responded to these requests from the Archdiocese.

While Walter Reed’s chaplain office claims Catholic care is being provided during Holy Week, the AMS maintains that without Catholic priests present at the medical center, service members and veterans are being denied the constitutional right to practice their religion.

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is one of many medical centers within the Department of Defense and Defense Health Agency whose pastoral care lies within AMS jurisdiction. The refusal to provide adequate pastoral care while awarding a contract for Catholic ministry to a for-profit company that has no way of providing Catholic priests to the medical center is a glaring violation of service members’ and veterans’ Right to the Free Exercise of Religion. Especially, during Holy Week, the lack of adequate Catholic pastoral care causes untold and irreparable harm to Catholics who are hospitalized and therefore a captive population whose religious rights the government has a constitutional duty to provide for and protect.

FBI sought to develop sources in Catholic churches to combat domestic terrorism, docs show

Posted by: Stone - 04-11-2023, 04:29 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

FBI sought to develop sources in Catholic churches to combat domestic terrorism, docs show
FBI hit with subpoena for records by House Judiciary Committee

Fox News [slightly adapted] | April 10, 2023

The FBI recently sought to develop sources inside Christian churches and Catholic dioceses as part of an effort to combat domestic terrorism, according to internal documents released by House Judiciary Committee on Monday.

The internal documents — obtained last month by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., who are also members of the so-called Weaponization Subcommittee — showed the FBI planned to use churches as "new avenues for tripwire and source development." The federal law enforcement agency also aimed to specifically target "mainline Catholic parishes" as part of its efforts.

In addition, according to Jordan, the FBI expressed interest in "leverag[ing] existing sources and/or initiat[ing] Type 5 Assessments to develop new sources with the placement and access." And, in another example, the agency cited a desire to to sensitize religious congregations "to the warning signs of radicalization and enlist their assistance to serve as suspicious activity tripwires."

PURPORTED FBI DOCUMENT SUGGESTS AGENCY MAY BE TARGETING CATHOLICS WHO ATTEND LATIN MASS

"Based on the limited information produced by the FBI to the Committee, we now know that the FBI relied on at least one undercover agent to produce its analysis, and that the FBI proposed that its agents engage in outreach to Catholic parishes to develop sources among the clergy and church leadership to inform on Americans practicing their faith," Jordan wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday.

Jordan also issued a subpoena for a series of related documents the committee previously requested from the FBI, but which the FBI has failed to provide.

"This information is outrageous and only reinforces the Committee’s need for all FBI material responsive to our request," Jordan wrote to Wray. "The documents produced to date show how the FBI sought to enlist Catholic houses of worship as potential sources to monitor and report on their parishioners."

"Americans attend church to worship and congregate for their spiritual and personal betterment," the letter continued. "They must be free to exercise their fundamental First Amendment rights without worrying that the FBI may have planted so-called "tripwire" sources or other informants in their houses of worship."

Jordan and Johnson first requested related documents from the FBI on Feb. 16, days after former FBI agent and whistleblower Kyle Seraphin published an internal document originating from the FBI's Richmond Field Office that appeared to outline a plan to "mitigate the threat of Radical-Traditionalist Catholics."

The leaked document generated widespread condemnation from Republican lawmakers who said the FBI's efforts may violate the Constitution.

However, the original letter from Jordan and Johnson went unanswered prompting a follow-up request on March 20. Three days later, the FBI produced the 18-page document Jordan announced on Monday.

"The FBI received the subpoena," the FBI told Fox News Digital in a statement. "The FBI recognizes the importance of congressional oversight and remains fully committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests consistent with its constitutional and statutory responsibilities. The FBI is actively working to respond to congressional requests for information –including voluntary production of documents."

The agency also referred Fox News Digital to recent comments Wray made during congressional testimony in which he said he was "aghast" when he saw reports about the FBI targeting Catholics.

"We took steps immediately to withdraw it and remove it from FBI systems. It does not reflect FBI standards," Wray added. "We do not conduct investigations based on religious affiliation or practices, full stop. We have also now ordered our inspection division to take a look at how this happened and try to figure out how we can make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

U.S. ends "national emergency" over COVID

Posted by: Stone - 04-11-2023, 04:24 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular] - No Replies

Biden's digital strategy: an army of influencers

Posted by: Stone - 04-10-2023, 05:20 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

St. Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Posted by: Stone - 04-10-2023, 05:03 AM - Forum: Fathers of the Church - Replies (18)

St. Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Taken from here.

Exposition on Psalm 1

1. Blessed is the man that has not gone away in the counsel of the ungodly Psalm 1:1. This is to be understood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Man. Blessed is the man that has not gone away in the counsel of the ungodly, as the man of earth did, 1 Corinthians 15:47 who consented to his wife deceived by the serpent, to the transgressing the commandment of God. Nor stood in the way of sinners. For He came indeed in the way of sinners, by being born as sinners are; but He stood not therein, for that the enticements of the world held Him not. And has not sat in the seat of pestilence. He willed not an earthly kingdom, with pride, which is well taken for the seat of pestilence; for that there is hardly any one who is free from the love of rule, and craves not human glory. For a pestilence is disease widely spread, and involving all or nearly all. Yet the seat of pestilence may be more appropriately understood of hurtful doctrine; whose word spreads as a canker. 2 Timothy 2:17 The order too of the words must be considered: went away, stood, sat. For he went away, when he drew back from God. He stood, when he took pleasure in sin. He sat, when, confirmed in his pride, he could not go back, unless set free by Him, who neither has gone away in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of pestilence.

2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law will he meditate by day and by night Psalm 1:2. The law is not made for a righteous man, 1 Timothy 1:9 says the Apostle. But it is one thing to be in the law, another under the law. Whoever is in the law, acts according to the law; whoever is under the law, is acted upon according to the law: the one therefore is free, the other a slave. Again, the law, which is written and imposed upon the servant, is one thing; the law, which is mentally discerned by him who needs not its letter, is another thing. He will meditate by day and by night, is to be understood either as without ceasing; or by day in joy, by night in tribulations. For it is said, Abraham saw my day, and was glad: John 8:5-6 and of tribulation it is said, my reins also have instructed me, even unto the night.

3. And he shall be like a tree planted hard by the running streams of waters Psalm 1:3; that is either Very Wisdom, Proverbs viii which vouchsafed to assume man's nature for our salvation; that as man He might be the tree planted hard by the running streams of waters; for in this sense can that too be taken which is said in another Psalm, the river of God is full of water. Or by the Holy Ghost, of whom it is said, He shall baptize you in the Holy Ghost; Matthew 3:11 and again, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink; John 7:37 and again, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that asks water of you, you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water, of which whoever drinks shall never thirst, but it shall be made in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Or, by the running streams of waters may be by the sins of the people, because first the waters are called peoples in the Apocalypse; Revelation 17:15 and again, by running stream is not unreasonably understood fall, which has relation to sin. That tree then, that is, our Lord, from the running streams of water, that is, from the sinful people's drawing them by the way into the roots of His discipline, will bring forth fruit, that is, will establish Churches; in His season, that is, after He has been glorified by His Resurrection and Ascension into heaven. For then, by the sending of the Holy Ghost to the Apostles, and by the confirming of their faith in Him, and their mission to the world, He made the Churches to bring forth fruit. His leaf also shall not fall, that is, His Word shall not be in vain. For, all flesh is grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass; the grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord abides forever. Isaiah 40:6-8 And whatsoever He does shall prosper that is, whatsoever that tree shall bear; which all must be taken of fruit and leaves, that is, deeds and words.

4. The ungodly are not so, they are not so, but are like the dust which the wind casts forth from the face of the earth Psalm 1:4. The earth is here to be taken as that steadfastness in God, with a view to which it is said, The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance, yea, I have a goodly heritage. With a view to this it is said, Wait on the Lord and keep His ways, and He shall exalt you to inherit the earth. With a view to this it is said, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 A comparison too is derived hence, for as this visible earth supports and contains the outer man, so that earth invisible the inner man. From the face of which earth the wind casts forth the ungodly, that is, pride, in that it puffs him up. On his guard against which he, who was inebriated by the richness of the house of the Lord, and drunken of the torrent stream of its pleasures, says, Let not the foot of pride come against me. From this earth pride cast forth him who said, I will place my seat in the north, and I will be like the Most High. Isaiah 14:13-14 From the face of the earth it cast forth him also who, after that he had consented and tasted of the forbidden tree that he might be as God, hid himself from the Face of God. Genesis 3:8 That his earth has reference to the inner man, and that man is cast forth thence by pride, may be particularly seen in that which is written, Why is earth and ashes proud? Because, in his life, he cast forth his bowels. Sirach 10:9 For, whence he has been cast forth, he is not unreasonably said to have cast forth himself.

5. Therefore the ungodly rise not in the judgment Psalm 1:5: therefore, namely, because as dust they are cast forth from the face of the earth. And well did he say that this should be taken away from them, which in their pride they court, namely, that they may judge; so that this same idea is more clearly expressed in the following sentence, nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous. For it is usual for what goes before, to be thus repeated more clearly. So that by sinners should be understood the ungodly; what is before in the judgment, should be here in the counsel of the righteous. Or if indeed the ungodly are one thing, and sinners another, so that although every ungodly man is a sinner, yet every sinner is not ungodly; The ungodly rise not in the judgment, that is, they shall rise indeed, but not that they should be judged, for they are already appointed to most certain punishment. But sinners do not rise in counsel of the just, that is, that they may judge, but perhaps that they may be judged; so as of these it were said, The fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall then suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

6. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous Psalm 1:6. As it is said, medicine knows health, but knows not disease, and yet disease is recognised by the art of medicine. In like manner can it be said that the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly He knows not. Not that the Lord is ignorant of anything, and yet He says to sinners, I never knew you. Matthew 7:23 But the way of the ungodly shall perish; is the same as if it were said, the way of the ungodly the Lord knows not. But it is expressed more plainly that this should be not to be known of the Lord, namely, to perish; and this to be known of the Lord, namely, to abide; so as that to be should appertain to the knowledge of God, but to His not knowing not to be. For the Lord says, I Am that I Am, and, I Am has sent me."

Dom Guéranger: The History & Mystery of Paschaltide

Posted by: Stone - 04-09-2023, 04:25 AM - Forum: Easter - Replies (2)

THE HISTORY OF PASCHAL TIME
by Dom Guéranger

We give the name of Paschal Time to the period between Easter Sunday and the Saturday following Whit Sunday. It is the most sacred portion of the Liturgical Year, and the one towards which the whole Cycle converges. We shall easily understand how this is, if we reflect upon the greatness of the Easter Feast, which is called the Feast of Feasts, and the Solemnity of Solemnities, in the same manner, says St. Gregory, [Homilia, xxii.] as the most sacred part of the Temple was called the Holy of Holies; and the Book of Sacred Scripture, wherein are described the espousals between Christ and the Church, is called the Canticle of Canticles. It is on this day, that the mission of the Word Incarnate attains the object towards which it has hitherto been unceasingly tending: mankind is raised up from his fall, and regains what he had lost by Adam’s sin.

Christmas gave us a Man-God; three days have scarcely passed, since we witnessed His infinitely precious Blood shed for our ransom; but now, on the day of Easter, our Jesus is no longer the Victim of death: He is a Conqueror, that destroys death, the child of sin, and proclaims life, that undying life which He has purchased for us. The humiliation of His swathing-bands, the sufferings of His Agony and Cross, these are passed; all is now glory,- glory for Himself, and glory also for us. On the day of Easter, God regains, by the Resurrection of the Man-God, His creation such as He made it at the beginning; the only vestige now left of death, is that likeness to sin which the Lamb of God deigned to take upon Himself. Neither is it Jesus alone that returns to eternal life; the whole human race also has risen to immortality together with our Jesus. ‘By a man came death,’ says the Apostle; ‘and by a Man the Resurrection of the dead: and as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive.' [1 Cor. xv. 21,22].

The anniversary of this Resurrection is, therefore, the great Day, the day of joy, the day par excellence; the day to which the whole year looks forward in expectation, and on which its whole economy is formed. But as it is the holiest of days,- since it opens to us the gate of Heaven, into which we shall enter because we have risen together with Christ,- the Church would have us come to it well prepared by bodily mortification and by compunction of heart. It was for this that she instituted the Fast of Lent, and that she bade us, during Septuagesima, look forward to the joy of her Easter, and be filled with sentiments suitable to the approach of so grand a solemnity. We obeyed; we have gone through the period of our preparation; and now the Easter sun has risen upon us!

But it was not enough to solemnize the great Day when Jesus, our Light, rose from the darkness of the tomb: there was another anniversary which claimed our grateful celebration. The Incarnate Word rose on the first day of the week,- that same day, where on, four thousand years before, He, the Uncreated Word of the Father, had begun the work of the Creation, by calling forth light, and separating it from darkness. The first day was thus ennobled by the creation of light. It received a second consecration by the Resurrection of Jesus; and from that time forward Sunday, and not Saturday, was to be the Lord’s Day. Yes, our Resurrection in Jesus which took place on the Sunday, gave this first day a pre-eminence above the others of the week: the divine precept of the Sabbath was abrogated together with the other ordinances of the Mosaic Law, and the Apostles instructed the faithful to keep holy the first day of the week, which God had dignified with that twofold glory, the creation and the regeneration of the world. Sunday, then, being the day of Jesus’ Resurrection, the Church chose that day, in preference to every other, for its yearly commemoration. The Pasch of the Jews, in consequence of its being fixed on the fourteenth of the moon of March, (the anniversary of the going out of Egypt,) fell by turns on each day of the week. The Jewish Pasch was but a figure; ours is the reality, and puts an end to the figure. The Church, therefore, broke this her last tie with the Synagogue; and proclaimed her emancipation, by fixing the most solemn of her Feasts on a day, which should never agree with that on which the Jews keep their now unmeaning Pasch. The Apostles decreed, that the Christian Pasch should never be celebrated on the fourteenth of the moon of March, even were that day to be a Sunday; but that it should be everywhere kept on the Sunday following the day on which the obsolete calendar of the Synagogue still marks it.

Nevertheless, out of consideration for the many Jews who had received Baptism, and who formed the nucleus of the early Christian Church, it was resolved that the law regarding the day for keeping the new Pasch, should be applied prudently and gradually. Jerusalem was soon to be destroyed by the Romans, according to our Saviour’s prediction; and the new City, which was to rise up from its ruins and receive the Christian colony, would also have its Church, but a Church totally free from the Jewish element, which God had so visibly rejected. In preaching the Gospel and founding Churches, even far beyond the limits of the Roman Empire, the majority of the Apostles had not to contend with Jewish customs; most of their converts were from among the Gentiles. Saint Peter, who in the Council of Jerusalem had proclaimed the cessation of the Jewish Law, set up the standard of emancipation in the City of Rome; so that the Church, which through him was made the Mother and Mistress of all Churches, never had any other discipline regarding the observance of Easter, than that laid down by the Apostles, namely, that it should be kept on a Sunday.

There was, however, one province of the Church, which for a long time stood out against the universal practice: it was Asia Minor. The Apostle St. John, who lived for many years at Ephesus,- where indeed he died,- had thought it prudent to tolerate, in those parts, the Jewish custom of celebrating the Pasch; for many of the converts had been members of the Synagogue. But the Gentiles themselves, who, later on, formed the mass of the faithful, were strenuous upholders of this custom, which dated from the very foundation of the Church of Asia Minor. In the course of time, however, this anomaly became a source of scandal: it savoured of Judaism, and it prevented unity of religious observance, which is always desirable, but particularly so in what regards Lent and Easter.

Pope St. Victor, who governed the Church from the year 193, endeavoured to put a stop to this abuse; he thought the time had come for establishing unity in so essential a point of Christian worship. Already, that is in the year 160, under Pope St. Anicetus, the Apostolic See had sought, by friendly negotiations, to induce the Churches of Asia Minor to conform to the universal practice; but it was difficult to triumph over a prejudice, which rested on a tradition held sacred in that country. St. Victor, however, resolved to make another attempt. He would put before them the unanimous agreement which reigned throughout the rest of the Church. Accordingly, he gave orders, that Councils should be convened in the several countries where the Gospel had been preached, and that the question of Easter should be examined. Everywhere there was perfect uniformity of practice; and the historian Eusebius, who lived a hundred and fifty years later, assures us, that the people of his day used to quote the decisions of the Councils of Rome, of Gaul, of Achaia, of Pontus, of Palestine, and of Osrhoene in Mesopotamia. The Council of Ephesus, at which Polycrates, the Bishop of that city, presided, was the only one that opposed the Pontiff, and disregarded the practice of the universal Church.

Deeming it unwise to give further toleration to the opposition, Victor separated from communion with the Holy See the refractory Churches of Asia Minor. This severe penalty, which was not inflicted until Rome had exhausted every other means of removing the evil, excited the commiseration of several Bishops. St. Irenaeus, who was then governing tile See of Lyons, pleaded for these Churches, which, so it seemed to him, had sinned only through a want of light; and he obtained from the Pope the revocation of a measure which seemed too severe. This indulgence produced the desired effect. In the following century, St. Anatolius, Bishop of Laodicea, in his Book on the Pasch, written in 276, tells us that the Churches of Asia Minor had then, for some time past, conformed to the Roman practice.

About the same time, and by a strange co-incidence, the Churches of Syria, Cilicia. and Mesopotamia, gave scandal by again leaving the Christian and Apostolic observance of Easter, and returning to the Jewish rite of the fourteenth of the March moon. This Schism in the Liturgy grieved the Church; and one of the ponts to which the Council of Nicaea directed its first attention, was the promulgation of the universal obligation to celebrate Easter on the Sunday. The Decree was unanimously passed, and the Fathers of the Council ordained, that ‘all controversy being laid aside, the Brethren in the East should solemnize the Pasch on the same day as the Romans, the Alexandrians, and the rest of the faithful.' [Spicilegium Solesmense.] So important seemed this question, inasmuch as it affected the very essence of the Christian Liturgy, that St. Athanasius, assigning the reasons which had led to the calling of the Council of Nicaea, mentions these two: the condemnation of the Arian heresy, and the establishment of uniformity in the observance of Easter.’ [Epist. ad Afros Episcopos.]

The Bishop of Alexandria was commissioned by the Council to see to the drawing up of astronomical tables, whereby the precise day of Easter might be fixed for each future year. The reason of this choice was, that the astronomers of Alexandria were looked upon as the most exact in their calculations. These tables were to be sent to the Pope, and he would address letters to the several Churches, instructing them as to the uniform celebration of the great Festival of Christendom. Thus was the unity of the Church made manifest by the unity of the holy Liturgy; and the Apostolic See, which is the foundation of the first, was likewise the source of the second. But, even previous to the Council of Nicaea, the Roman Pontiff had addressed to all the Churches, every year, a Paschal Encyclical, instructing them as to the day on which the solemnity of the Resurrection was to be kept. This we learn from the synodical Letter of the Fathers of the great Council held at Arles, in 314. The Letter is addressed to Pope St. Sylvester, and contains the following passage: ‘In the first place, we beg that the observance of the Pasch of the Lord may be uniform, both as to time and day, in the whole world, and that You would, according to the custom, address Letters to all concerning this matter.’ [Concil. Galilae. t. 1].

This custom, however, was not kept up for any length of time, after the Council of Nicaea. The want of precision in astronomical calculations occasioned confusion in the method of fixing the day of Easter. It is true, this great Festival was always kept on a Sunday; nor did any Church think of celebrating it on the same day as the Jews; but, since there was no uniform understanding as to the exact time of the Vernal Equinox, it happened sane years, that the Feast of Easter was not kept., in all places, on the same day. By degrees, there crept in a deviation from the rule laid down by the Council, of taking the 21st of March as the day of the Equinox. There was needed a reform in the Calendar, and no one seemed competent to bring it about. Cycles were drawn up contradictory to one another; Rome and Alexandria had each its own system of calculation; so that, some years, Easter was not kept with that perfect uniformity which the Nicene Fathers had so strenuously laboured for: and yet, this variation was not the result of anything like party-spirit.

The West followed Rome. The Churches of Ireland and Scotland, which had been misled by faulty Cycles, were, at length, brought into uniformity. Finally, science was sufficiently advanced in the 16th century, for Pope Gregory XIII. to undertake a reform of the Calendar. The Equinox had to be restored to the 21st of March, as the Council of Nicaea had prescribed. The Pope effected this by publishing a Bull, dated February 24, 1581, in which be ordered that ten days of the following year, namely from the 4th to the 15th of October, should be suppressed. He thus restored the work of Julius Caesar, who had, in his day, turned his attention to the rectification of the Year. Easter was the great object of the reform, or, as it is called, the New Style, achieved by Gregory XIII. The principles and regulations of the Nicene Council were again brought to bear on this the capital question of the Liturgical Year; and the Roman Pontiff thus gave to the whole world the intimation of Easter, not for one year only, but for centuries. Heretical nations were forced to acknowledge the divine power of the Church in this solemn act, which interested both religion and society. They protested against the Calendar, as they had protested against the Rule of Faith. England and the Lutheran States of Germany preferred following, for many years, a Calendar which was evidently at fault, rather then accept the New Style, which they acknowledged to be indispensable; but it was the work of a Pope! [Great Britain adopted the New Style, by Act of Parliament, in the year 1732. - Tr.] The only nation in Europe that keeps up the Old Style is Russia, whose antipathy to Rome obliges her to be thus ten or twelve days behind the rest of the civilized world.

All this shows us how important it was to fix the precise day of’ Easter; and God has several times shown by miracles, that the date of so sacred a Feast was not a matter of indifference. During the ages when the confusion of the Cycles and the want of correct astronomical computations occasioned great uncertainty as to the Vernal Equinox, miraculous events more than once supplied the deficiencies of science and authority. In a letter to St. Leo the Great, in the year 444, Paschasinus, Bishop of Lilybea [The modern Marsala] in Sicily, relates that under the Pontificate of St. Zozinius,- Honorius being Consul for the eleventh, and Constantius for the second time,- the real day of Easter was miraculously revealed to the people of one of the churches there. In the midst of a mountainous and thickly wooded district of the Island was a village called Meltinas. Its church was of the poorest, but it was dear to God. Every year, on the night preceding Easter Sunday, as the Priest went to the Baptistery to bless the Font, it was found to be miraculously filled with water, for there were no human means wherewith it could be supplied. As soon as Baptism was administered, the water disappeared of itself, and left the Font perfectly dry. In the year just mentioned, the people, misled by a wrong calculation, assembled for the ceremonies of Easter Eve. The Prophecies having been read, the Priest and his flock repaired to the Baptistery,- but the Font was empty. They waited, expecting the miraculous flowing of the water, wherewith the Catechumens were to receive the grace of regeneration: but they waited in vain, and no Baptism was ad ministered. On the following 22nd of April, the Font was found to be filled to the brim, and thereby the people understood that that was the true Easter for that year. [Sti. Leonis Opera, Epist. iii.]

Cassiodorus, writing in the name of king Athalaric to a certain Severus, relates a similar miracle, which happened every year on Easter Eve, in Lucania, near the small Island of Leucothea, at a place called Marcilianum. There was a large fountain there, whose water was so clear, that the air itself was not more transparent. It was used as the Font for the administration of Baptism on Easter Night. As soon as the Priest, standing under the rock where with nature had canopied the fountain, began the prayers of the Blessing, the water, as though taking part in the transports of the Easter joy, arose in the Font; so that, if previously it was to the level of the fifth step, it was seen to rise up to the seventh, impatient, as it were, to effect those wonders of grace whereof it was the chosen instrument. God would show by this, that even inanimate creatures can share, when He so wills it, in the holy gladness of the greatest of all days. [Cassiodorus, Variarum, lib. vii. epist. xxxiii.]

St. Gregory of Tours tells us of a Font, which existed even then, in a church of Andalusia, in a place called Osen, and whereby God miraculously certified to His people the true day of Easter. On the Maundy Thursday of each year, the Bishop, accompanied by the faithful, repaired to this church. The bed of the Font was built in the form of a cross, and was paved with mosaics. It was carefully examined, to see that it was perfectly dry; and after several prayers had been recited, every one left the church, and the Bishop sealed the door with his seal. On Holy Saturday the Pontiff returned, accompanied by his flock; the seal was examined, and the door was opened. The Font was found to be filled, even above the level of the floor, and yet the water did not overflow. The Bishop pronounced the exorcisms over the miraculous water, and poured the Chrism into it. The Catechumens were then baptized; and as soon as the sacrament had been administered, the water immediately disappeared, and no one could tell what became of it. [De Gloria Martyrum, lib. i. Cap. xxiv.] Similar miracles were witnessed in several churches in the East. John Moschus, a writer in the 7th century, speaks of a Baptismal Font in Lycia, which was thus filled every Easter Eve; hut the water remained in the Font during the whole fifty days, and suddenly disappeared after the Festival of Pentecost. [Pratum spirituale, cap. ccxv.]

We alluded, in our History of Passiontide, to the decrees passed by the Christian Emperors, which forbade all law proceedings during the fortnight of Easter, that is, from Palm Sunday to the Octave day of the Resurrection. St. Augustine, in a sermon he preached on this Octave, exhorts the faithful to extend to the whole year this suspension of law-suits, disputes, and enmities, which the civil law interdicted during these fifteen days.

The Church puts upon all her children the obligation of receiving Holy Communion at Easter. This precept is based upon the words of our Redeemer, who left it to His Church to determine the time of the year, when Christians should receive the Blessed Sacrament. In the early ages, Communion was frequent, and, in some places, even daily. By degrees, the fervour of the faithful grew cold towards this august Mystery, as we gather from a decree of the Council of Agatha (Agde), held in 506, where it is defined, that those of the laity who shall not approach Communion at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, are to be considered as having ceased to be Catholics. [Concil. Agath. Canon xviii.] This Decree of the Council of Agatha was accepted as the law of almost the entire Western Church. We find it quoted among the regulations drawn up by Egbert, Archbishop of York, as also in the third Council of’ Tours. In many places, however, Communion was obligatory for the Sundays of Lent, and for the last three days of Holy Week, independently of that which was to be made on the Easter Festival.

It was in the year 1215, in the 4th General Council of Lateran, that the Church, seeing the ever growing indifference of her children, decreed with regret that Christians should be strictly bound to Communion only once in the year, and that that Communion of obligation should be made at Easter. In order to show the faithful that this is the uttermost limit of her condescension to lukewarmness, she declares, in the same Council, that he that shall presume to break this law, may be forbidden to enter a church during life, and he deprived of Christian burial after death, as he would be if he had, of his own accord, separated himself from the exterior link of Catholic unity. [Two centuries after this, Pope Eugenius the Fourth, in the Constitution Digna Fide, given in the year 1440, allowed this annual Communion to be made on any day between Palm Sunday and Low Sunday inclusively. - In England, by permission of the Holy See, the time for making the Easter Communion extends from Ash Wednesday to Low Sunday. Tr.]] These regulations of a General Council show how important is the duty of the Easter Communion; but, at the same time, they make us shudder at the thought of the millions, throughout the Catholic world, who brave each year the threats of the Church, by refusing to comply with a duty, which would both bring life to their souls, and serve as a profession of their faith. And when we again reflect upon how many even of those who make their Easter Communion, have paid no more attention to the Lenten Penance than if there were no such obligation in existence, we cannot help feeling sad, and we wonder within ourselves, how long God will bear with such infringements of the Christian Law?

The fifty days between Easter and Pentecost have ever been considered by the Church as most holy. The first week, which is more expressly devoted to celebrating our Lord’s Resurrection, is kept up as one continued Feast; but the remainder of the fifty days is also marked with special honours. To say nothing of the joy, which is the characteristic of this period of the year, and of which the Alleluia is the expression,- Christian tradition has assigned to Eastertide two practices, which distinguish it from every other Season. The first is, that fasting is not permitted during the entire interval: it is an extension of the ancient precept of never fasting on a Sunday, and the whole of Eastertide is considered as one long Sunday. This practice, which would seem to have come down from the time of the Apostles, was accepted by the Religious Rules of both East and West, even by the severest. The second consists in not kneeling at the Divine Office, from Easter to Pentecost. The Eastern Churches have faithfully kept up the practice, even to this day. It was observed for many ages by the Western Churches also; but now, it is little more than a remnant. The Latin Church has long since admitted genuflexions in the Mass during Easter time. The few vestiges of the ancient discipline in this regard, which still exist, are not noticed by the faithful, inasmuch as they seldom assist at the Canonical Hours.

Eastertide, then, is like one continued Feast. It is the remark made by Tertullian, in the 3rd century. He is reproaching those Christians who regretted having renounced, by their Baptism, the festivities of the pagan year; and he thus addresses them: "If you love Feasts, you will find plenty among us Christians; not merely Feasts that last only for a day, but such as continue for several days together. The Pagans keep each of their Feasts once in the year; but you have to keep each of yours many times over, for you have the eight days of its celebration. Put all the Feasts of the Gentiles together, and they do not amount to our fifty days of Pentecost." [De Idolatria, cap. xiv.] St. Ambrose speaking on the same subject, says: "If the Jews are not satisfied with the Sabbath of each week, but keep also one which lasts a whole month, and another which lasts a whole year;- how much more ought not we to honour our Lord’s Resurrection? Hence our ancestors have taught us to celebrate the fifty days of Pentecost as a continuation of Easter. They are seven weeks, and the Feast of Pentecost commences the eighth. ... During these fifty days, the Church observes no fast, as neither does she on any Sunday, for it is the day on which our Lord rose: and all these fifty days are like so many Sundays." [In Lucam, lib. viii. cap. xxv.]

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