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  PA House Legislator Introduces Forced Sterilization – Three-Child Limit Legislation
Posted by: Stone - 10-05-2021, 06:18 AM - Forum: General Commentary - No Replies

Pennsylvania House Democrat Introduces Forced Sterilization – Three-Child Limit Legislation


GP  [emphasis mine]|  October 4, 2021

Pennsylvania Democrat Christopher M. Rabb sent out a memorandum to all House members regarding his legislation that will enforce reproductive responsibility among men.  The bill will force men to undergo vasectomies within 6 weeks from having their third child or their 40th birthday, whichever comes first.

This legislation includes a $10,000 reward to whoever snitches to the proper authority on those who have failed to submit to forced sterilization within the allotted time.

This bill will also include legal actions for unwanted pregnancies against inseminators who wrongfully conceive a child with them.

“As long as state legislatures continue to restrict the reproductive rights of cis women, trans men, and non-binary people, there should be laws that address the responsibility of men who impregnate them. Thus, my bill will also codify “wrongful conception” to include when a person has demonstrated negligence toward preventing conception during intercourse,” Rabb stated in his memorandum.

PA State Rep. David Rowe posted on his Facebook account regarding this horrendous bill:

Quote:If there was any doubt that today’s progressive left have utterly and completely disregarded your personal medical freedom, then let this be the nail in the coffin.

A legislator from Philadelphia has just introduced legislation that would limit how many children your family could have, dictate what age you could have a family, and would issue a TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR FINE for refusing to submit to forced sterilization after having three children. As a fourth-born child myself, I would have never existed under this law and neither would so many others.

This bill will never see the light of day as long as Republicans control the House, but I wanted you all to be aware how quickly policies that belong in Communist China would become the norm here if Democrats seized total control of State Government.

The left is pushing to make America a godless, communist country like their big boss China.  This is utterly sickening population control and they do this while illegal immigrants and refugees are flooding across the open borders.



You can read the memorandum here: House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda – PA House of Representatives by Jim Hoft on Scribd

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  Project Veritas: Covid Vaccine Exposed - Part 4
Posted by: Stone - 10-05-2021, 06:11 AM - Forum: COVID Vaccines - No Replies

Pfizer Scientist: ‘Your Antibodies are Probably Better than the Vaccination’
Project Veritas | October 4, 2021

  • Nick Karl, Pfizer Scientist: “When somebody is naturally immune -- like they got COVID -- they probably have more antibodies against the virus…When you actually get the virus, you’re going to start producing antibodies against multiple pieces of the virus…So, your antibodies are probably better at that point than the [COVID] vaccination.”
  • Chris Croce, Pfizer Senior Associate Scientist: “You’re protected for longer” if you have natural COVID antibodies compared to the COVID vaccine.
  • Croce: “I work for an evil corporation…Our organization is run on COVID money.”
  • Rahul Khandke, Pfizer Scientist: “If you have [COVID] antibodies built up, you should be able to prove that you have those built up.”

[NEW YORK – Oct. 4, 2021] Project Veritas released the fourth video in its COVID vaccine investigative series today which exposed three Pfizer officials saying that antibodies lead to equal, if not better, protection against the virus compared to the vaccine.


Nick Karl, a scientist who is directly involved in the production of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine, said that natural immunity is more effective than the very vaccine he works on, and Pfizer produces.

Quote:“When somebody is naturally immune -- like they got COVID -- they probably have more antibodies against the virus…When you actually get the virus, you’re going to start producing antibodies against multiple pieces of the virus…So, your antibodies are probably better at that point than the [COVID] vaccination,” Karl said. Notwithstanding, Karl still believes that vaccine mandates are positive for society.

“The city [of New York] needs like vax cards and everything. It’s just about making it so inconvenient for unvaccinated people to the point where they're just like, ‘F*** it. I’ll get it.’ You know?”

A second Pfizer official, Senior Associate Scientist, Chris Croce, corroborated Karl’s assertion about COVID immunity derivative of antibodies:

Quote:Veritas Journalist: “So, I am well-protected [with antibodies]?”

Chris Croce, Pfizer Senior Associate Scientist: “Yeah.”

Veritas Journalist: “Like as much as the vaccine?”

Croce: “Probably more.”

Veritas Journalist: “How so? Like, how much more?”

Croce: “You're protected most likely for longer since there was a natural response.”


Croce expressed dismay with his company’s direction and moral compass:

Veritas Journalist: “So, what happened to the monoclonal antibody treatments?”

Croce: “[It got] pushed to the side.”

Veritas Journalist: “Why?”

Croce: “Money. It's disgusting.”



Croce: “I still feel like I work for an evil corporation because it comes down to profits in the end. I mean, I'm there to help people, not to make millions and millions of dollars. So, I mean, that's the moral dilemma.”

Veritas Journalist: “Isn’t it billions and billions?”

Croce: “I’m trying to be nice.”

Veritas Journalist: “No, I hear you. I hear you. I do. I mean, I’ll still give you a hard time about it.”

Croce: “Basically, our organization is run on COVID money now.”

The third Pfizer scientist, Rahul Khandke, admitted his company demands that its employees keep information from the public.

Quote:“We're bred and taught to be like, ‘vaccine is safer than actually getting COVID.’ Honestly, we had to do so many seminars on this. You have no idea. Like, we have to sit there for hours and hours and listen to like -- be like, ‘you cannot talk about this in public,’” Khandke said.

Khandke also signaled that proof of antibodies is on par with proof of vaccination.

Quote:“If you have [COVID] antibodies built up, you should be able to prove that you have those built up,” he said.

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  Pope’s Swiss Guards Resign Over Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination
Posted by: Stone - 10-04-2021, 02:31 PM - Forum: COVID Passports - No Replies

Pope’s Swiss Guards Resign Over Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination
Three others suspended for not taking the jab.

[Image: 041021guards1.jpg]

Summit News[emphasis mine] |  4 October, 2021

Three Swiss Guards have resigned and three others have been suspended after refusing to comply with a Vatican mandate that they get the COVID-19 vaccination.

The Swiss Guards, colloquially known as the Pope’s bodyguards, had previously been ordered “to protect their health and that of the others they come into contact with as part of their service” by getting the jab.

The mandate was part of a broader instruction to all Vatican employees to get the COVID shot or face losing their jobs.

“Besides the three guardsmen sent back to Switzerland, at least three others were suspended from active duty after they agreed to vaccinate but have yet to receive their jabs,” reports RT.

The fact that there is no religious exemption against taking the vaccine within the Vatican tells you everything you need to know about the Vatican and the Pope.

Pope Francis has repeatedly amplified pro-vaccination narratives and refused to extend any understanding to Catholics who are hesitant to take the jab.

The Pontifical Academy for Life, the official bioethics academy of the Catholic Church, has also insisted that it is a “moral responsibility” for Catholics to take the vaccine.

“The Vatican has said that it considers it acceptable for Catholics to use vaccines, even those that use stem cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research,” reported the Mail.

The Italian government has also passed a decree applying to both the private and public sector ordering companies to withhold pay from workers who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

Those found working without the pass face fines of up to €1,500 euros after it was extended as a condition of entry for museums, stadiums, pubs, restaurants, and schools.

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  Channeling Pachamama Two Years Later: Pope, Faith Leaders urge Nations to Care for Creation
Posted by: Stone - 10-04-2021, 10:44 AM - Forum: Pope Francis - No Replies

It was two years ago today that the Pachamama was 'honored' at the Vatican grounds. It appears that Pope Francis is channeling that infamous event by promoting veneration for the Earth at a meeting today at the Vatican, supposedly in anticipation of a November U.N. Climate Summit:



Pope, faith leaders urge nations at climate summit to care for creation

[Image: Capture.png]

October 4, 2021 

VATICAN CITY (CNS [click on link to see all 25 pictures from this event) -- High-level representatives of the world's religions came together with Pope Francis at the Vatican to show their joint commitment to caring for the Earth and to appeal to world leaders to deepen their commitments to mitigating climate change.

To the strains of Antonio Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" and surrounded by potted greenery and the colorful frescoes of the Hall of Benedictions, nearly 40 faith leaders signed a joint appeal that Pope Francis then blessed and gave to Alok Sharma, president-designate of COP26, and to Luigi Di Maio, Italy's foreign affairs minister.

"Future generations will never forgive us if we miss the opportunity to protect our common home. We have inherited a garden: We must not leave a desert to our children," said the written appeal, signed Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology.

The appeal urged world leaders, who will meet at the 26th U.N. Climate Change Conference of Parties -- COP26 -- in Glasgow Nov. 1-12, "to take speedy, responsible and shared action to safeguard, restore and heal our wounded humanity and the home entrusted to our stewardship."

Participants included top scientists and major religious leaders including: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople; Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury, England; Russian Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, representing Patriarch Kirill of Moscow; Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar; Rabbi Noam Marans of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations; and top representatives of other Christian denominations, Sunni and Shi'a Muslim communities, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism and Jainism.

The appeal called on nations to: increase their levels of commitment and international cooperation; meet net-zero carbon emissions as soon as possible as part of efforts to mitigate rising global average temperatures; step up climate action at home and financially assist more vulnerable countries in adapting to and addressing climate change; increase their transition to cleaner energy and sustainable land use practices; and promote environmentally friendly food systems and the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.

The religious leaders also pledged that they themselves would promote ecological education; advocate for a "change of heart" in their own communities concerning caring for all of creation; encourage sustainable lifestyles; take part in public debates on environmental issues; and support "greening" their institutions, properties and investments.

They symbolically marked their personal commitment by pouring a cup of soil onto a potted olive tree that will be planted in the Vatican Gardens.

The representatives took to the floor with a brief speech, commentary or declaration, with many detailing what their faith tradition teaches about the moral imperative of caring for humanity's common home. At the end of the ceremony, recorded messages and appeals were played from those religious leaders that could not attend the event due to pandemic restrictions.

Saying he wanted to leave more time to hear from everyone, Pope Francis chose to skip reading his speech aloud since everyone had a written copy.

In the full text, the pope said COP26 "represents an urgent summons to provide effective responses to the unprecedented ecological crisis and the crisis of values that we are presently experiencing, and in this way to offer concrete hope to future generations."

He proposed "three concepts" to guide their joint efforts: "openness to interdependence and sharing; the dynamism of love; and the call to respect."

"Recognizing that the world is interconnected means not only realizing the harmful effects of our actions, but also identifying behaviors and solutions to be adopted, in an attitude of openness to interdependence" and sharing the responsibility and ways to care for others and the environment, he wrote.

Religious and spiritual traditions can help promote love, which "creates bonds and expands existence, for it draws people out of themselves and toward others," especially the poor, he wrote.

Faith traditions, he said, can help break down "barriers of selfishness," counter today's "throwaway culture" and combat the "seeds of conflict: greed, indifference, ignorance, fear, injustice, insecurity and violence," which harm people and the planet.

"We can face this challenge" with personal examples, action and education, the pope wrote.

Finally, the pope wrote, there must be respect for creation, respect for others, "for ourselves and for the creator, but also mutual respect between faith and science."

Respect, he wrote, is "an empathetic and active experience of desiring to know others and to enter into dialogue with them, in order to walk together on a common journey."

The meeting, "Faith and Science: Toward COP26," was organized by the embassies of the United Kingdom and Italy to the Holy See, together with the Vatican. The U.K. and Italy were co-chairing the summit in Glasgow, where parties from 197 nations are meant to find agreement on how to tackle the threat of climate change.

The appeal of religious leaders and scientists came after months of dialogue and agreement that there is a common moral duty to tackle climate change.

The COP26 co-chairs wanted to include the voices of religious leaders given the moral and ethical imperative of environmental protection, but also because of their global reach and authority as they represent an estimated 84% of the world's population who identify with a faith.

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  Archbishop Viganò: Statement on the Recent Imposition of Compulsory Vaccinations
Posted by: Stone - 10-04-2021, 09:54 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò - No Replies

God willing, one day Archbishop Viganò will recognize the 'original canceled priests' of the 1970's and then of the [true] SSPX-Resistance since 2012!



Statement Regarding the Recent Imposition of Compulsory Vaccinations in Some American Dioceses


We have learned that in some dioceses in the United States of America, and in particular in the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Ecclesiastical Authority is imposing on its clerics and pastoral workers the vaccination requirement as a condition for attending celebrations, liturgical and pastoral activities and even for the mere fact of being priests with a ministry. Similar despotic measures are also imposed in Italy and other countries.

Priests who do not comply with the Ordinary's orders will be deprived of their priestly faculties and means of subsistence. As a result, many churches will be closed to the great detriment of the Salus animarum, due to the lack of clerics which makes it impossible to replace those who do not allow themselves to be injected with the experimental gene serum. From what we know, there are quite a few pastors of souls who will display, as is their full right as citizens and Catholics, a clear refusal to sacrilegious and illegitimate provisions, which are null and void and expose those concerned to the real danger of serious side effects, including the risk of death. Not to mention the moral implications of accepting the inoculation of a drug for the production of which foetal cell lines from abortions are used.

The subservience of the Bergoglian Hierarchy to the pandemic farce and the imposition of so-called vaccination has turned the Ministers of God into pandemic gurus, the bishops into experimental serum peddlers and the entire Church body into the victims of mass experimentation. This constitutes an unprecedented betrayal of the divine mission of Christ's Church, the power of the Pastors and the mandate of the priests, in a process of replacing revealed Religion with a pseudo-scientific cult bordering on idolatry. If these abuses are already serious when they come from civil authority - whose corruption and conflicts of interest are now universally known and denounced - even more serious is the cooperation in this global crime by ecclesiastical authority.

In the face of such violations of law, the deliberate complicity of the Hierarchy in the diabolical globalist plan of the Great Reset must be denounced without hesitation, and this abuse of power ratified by the Holy See must be resisted firmly and courageously.

I strongly renew the appeal I made at the recent event in Dubuque (Iowa) in favour of the Coalition for Canceled Priests, inviting the laity to support their priests with coordinated initiatives. An International Foundation needs to be set up to collect offerings and donations from the faithful, diverting them from parishes and dioceses that are conniving with the current Bergoglian regime. When the Bishops see their bank accounts touched, they will probably be induced to moderate their ostracism of good priests. Initiatives like Coalition for Canceled Priests and other similar projects are an urgent necessity in this hour of persecution. Each of us, according to our means, can make a concrete contribution - not necessarily only financial - by simply directing our donations to those who deserve them and not to those who use them to harass good clerics.

The Catholic faithful should open their homes to the priests persecuted by the tyranny of the bishops allied to globalism, making them available for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Gathered around these domestic altars, the refractory communities will thus be able to continue to render due worship to the Most Holy Trinity and benefit from the spiritual assistance of their Ministers. And may fraternal charity, nourished by the sharing of the one Faith and prayer, mark the beginning of a rebirth of the Holy Church, today obscured by mercenaries and traitors.

+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop, former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States

3 October 2021

Dominica XIX Post Pentecostem

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  The Life of St. Francis of Assisi by St. Bonaventure
Posted by: Stone - 10-04-2021, 06:45 AM - Forum: Resources Online - Replies (16)

THE LIFE OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI
by Saint Bonaventure
Translated by E. Gurney Salter 1904 by E.P. Dutton, New York, US.

[Image: ?u=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F_VDo...f=1&nofb=1]


INDEX

TABLE OF CONTENTS

THE LIFE OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

ILLUSTRATIONS



THE LIFE OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI


PROLOGUE

1. The grace of God our Saviour hath in these latter days appeared in His servant Francis unto all such as be truly humble, and lovers of holy Poverty, who, adoring the overflowing mercy of God seen in him, are taught by his ensample to utterly deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live after the manner of Christ, thirsting with unwearied desire for the blessed hope. For God Most High regarded him, as one that truly was poor and of a contrite spirit, with so great condescension of His favour as that not only did He raise him up in his need from the dust of his worldly way of life, but also made him a true professor, leader, and herald of Gospel perfection. Thus He gave him for a light unto believers, that by bearing witness of the light he might prepare for the Lord the way of light and peace in the hearts of the faithful. For Francis, even as the morning star in the midst of a cloud, shining with the bright beams of his life and teaching, by his dazzling radiance led into the light them that sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, and, like unto the rainbow giving light in the bright clouds, set forth in himself the seal of the Lord’s covenant. He preached the gospel of peace and salvation unto men, himself an Angel of the true peace, ordained of God to follow in the likeness of the Forerunner, that, preparing in the desert the way of sublimest Poverty, he might preach repentance by his ensample and words alike. For, firstly, he was endowed with the gifts of heavenly grace; next, enriched by the merits of triumphant virtue; filled with the spirit of prophecy and appointed unto angelic ministries; thereafter, wholly set on fire by the kindling of the Seraph, and, like the prophet, borne aloft in a chariot of fire; wherefore it is reasonably proven, and clearly apparent from the witness of his whole life, that he came in the spirit and power of Elias.

In like wise, he is thought to be not unmeetly set forth in the true prophecy of that other friend of the Bridegroom, the Apostle and Evangelist John, under the similitude of the Angel ascending from the sunrising and bearing the seal of the Living God. For at the opening of the sixth seal, I saw, saith John in the Apocalypse, another Angel ascending from the sunrising and bearing the seal of the Living God.

2. Now that this Angel was indeed that messenger of God, beloved of Christ, our ensample and the world’s wonder, Francis, the servant of God, we may with full assurance conclude, when we consider the heights of lofty saintliness whereunto he attained, and whereby, living among men, he was an imitator of the purity of the Angels, and was also set as an ensample unto them that do perfectly follow after Christ. That this belief should be faithfully and devoutly held we are convinced by the vocation that he shewed to call to weeping and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth, and to set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry, by the sign of his penitent’s Cross and habit fashioned like unto a Cross. Moreover, it is further confirmed, with unanswerable witness unto its truth, by the seal of the likeness of the Living God, to wit, of Christ Crucified, the which was imprinted on his body, not by the power of nature or the skill of art, but rather by the marvellous might of the Spirit of the Living God.

3. Feeling myself unworthy and insufficient to relate the life most worthy of all imitation of this most venerable man, I should have in no wise attempted it, had not the glowing love of the Brethren moved me thereunto, and the unanimous importunity of the Chapter General incited me, and that devotion compelled me, which I am bound to feel for our holy Father. For I, who remember as though it happened but yesterday how I was snatched from the jaws of death, while yet a child, by his invocation and merits, should fear to be convicted of the sin of ingratitude did I refrain from publishing his praises. And this was with me the chief motive for undertaking this task, to wit, that I, who own my life of body and mind to have been preserved unto me by God through his means, and have proved his power in mine own person, and knew the virtues of his life, might collect as best I could, albeit I could not fully, his deeds and words,—fragments, as it were, overlooked in part, in part scattered,—that they might not be utterly lost on the death of those that lived with the servant of God.

4. Accordingly, that the true story of his life might be handed down unto posterity by me the more assuredly and clearly, I betook me unto the place of his birth, and there did hold diligent converse with his familiar friends that were yet living, touching the manner of life of the holy man and his passing away; and with those in especial that were well acquainted with his holiness, and were his chief followers, who may be implicitly believed by reason of their well-known truthfulness and approved uprightness. But in relating the things that through His servant God vouchsafed to work, I deemed it best to shun all fantastic ornaments of style, forasmuch as that the devotion of the reader increaseth more by a simple than by an ornate speech. Nor have I always woven together the history according unto chronology, that I might avoid confusion, but I rather endeavoured to preserve a more coherent order, setting down sometimes facts of divers kinds that belong unto the same period, sometimes facts of the same kind that belong unto divers periods, as they seemed best to fit in together.

5. Now the beginning of the life of Francis, its course, and its consummation, are divided into fifteen chapters, as set down below, and thuswise described.

The first treateth of his manner of life in the secular state.

The second, of his perfect conversion unto God, and of the repairing of the three churches.

The third, of the founding of his Religion, and sanction of the Rule.

The fourth, of the advancement of the Order under his hand, and of the confirmation of the Rule already sanctioned.

The fifth of the austerity of his life, and of how all created things afforded him comfort.

The sixth of his humility and obedience, and of the divine condescensions shewn unto him at will.

The seventh, of his love for Poverty, and of the wondrous supplying of his needs.

The eighth, of the kindly impulses of his piety, and of how the creatures lacking understanding seemed to be made subject unto him.

The ninth, of his ardent love, and yearning for martyrdom.

The tenth, of his zeal and efficacy in prayer.

The eleventh, of his understanding of the Scriptures, and of his spirit of prophecy.

The twelfth, of the efficacy of his preaching, and of his gift of healing.

The thirteenth, of the sacred stigmata.

The fourteenth, of his sufferings and death.

The fifteenth, of his canonisation, and the translation of his body.

Thereafter is added some account of the miracles shewn after his blessed departure.

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  October 4th - St. Francis of Assisi
Posted by: Stone - 10-04-2021, 06:35 AM - Forum: October - Replies (2)

October 4 – St Francis, Confessor
Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Guéranger  (1841-1875)

[Image: 8-kleine-afbeeldingen-16_-Franciscus-med...1013&ssl=1]

And I saw another Angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the sign of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four Angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying: Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we sign the servants of our God in their foreheads.

The sixth seal of the Book of destinies had just been opened before the eyes of the prophet of Patmos. It was a time of anguish, the hour for the wicked to cry to the mountains: Fall upon us. The sun was darkened: an image of the Sun of Justice eclipsed by the night of iniquity; the moon, the figure of the Church, appeared red as blood, through the evils that defiled the sanctuary; the stars fell from heaven, as the fig-tree casteth its green figs when it is shaken by a great wind. Who would appease the Lamb, and retard the day of wrath? At the invitation of the Saints and of the Apostolic See, let us recognize the Angel who won for the world a delay of the judgment; the Angel with the impress of God upon a mortal body; the Seraph with his sacred stigmata, the sight of which once more disarmed the justice of God. Dante thus sings of the elect of God, under whose leadership took place on earth as it were a repetition of the first and only Redemption:

“Between Tupino, and the wave that falls
From blest Ubaldo’s chosen hill, there hangs
Rich slope of mountain high, whence heat and cold
Are wafted thro’ Perugia’s eastern gate:
And Nocera with Gualdo, in its rear,
Mourn for their heavy yoke. Upon that side,
Where it doth break its steepness most, arose
A sun upon the world, as duly this
From Ganges doth: therefore let none who speak
Of that place say Ascesi; for its name
Were lamely so delivered; but the East,
To call things rightly, be it henceforth styled.
He was not yet much distant from his rising,
When his good influence ‘gan to bless the earth.
A dame to hwom none openeth pleasure’s gate
More than to death, was, ‘gainst his father’s will,
His stripling choice: and he did make her his,
Before the spiritual court, by nuptial bonds
And in his father’s sight: from day to day
Then loved her more devoutly. She bereaved
Of her first husband, slighted and obscure,
Thousand and hundred years and more, remain’d
Without a single suitor, till he came.

“The lovers’ titles—Poverty and Francis.
Their concord and glad looks, wonder and love,
And sweet regard gave birth to holy thoughts,
So much, that venerable Bernard* first
Did bare his feet, and, in pursuit of peace
So heavenly, ran, yet deem’d his footing slow.
O hidden riches! O prolific good!
Egidius bares him next, and next Sylvester,
And follow, both, the Bridegroom: so the Bride
Can please them. Thenceforth goes he on his way
The father and the master, with his spouse,
And with that family, whom now the cord
Girt humbly: nor did abjectness of heart
Weigh down his eyelids, for that he was son
Of Pietro Bernadone, and by men
In wondrous sort despised. But royally
His hard intention he to Innocent**
Set forth; and from him first received the seal
Of his religion.

“And when
He had, thro’ thirst of martyrdom, stood up
In the proud Soldan’s presence, and there preached
Christ and his folowers, but found the race
Unripen’d for conversion; back once more
He hasted, (not to intermit his toil,)
And reap’d Ausonian lands. On the hard rock,
Twixt Arno and the Tiber, he from Christ
Took the last signet, which his limbs two years
Did carry. Then, the season come that he,
Who to such good had destined him, was pleased
To advance him to the meed, which he had earned
By his self-humbling; to his brotherhood,
As their just heritage, he gave in charge
His dearest lady: and enjoined their love
And faith to her; and, from her bosom, will’d
His goodly spirit should move forth, returning
To its appointed kingdom; nor would have
His body laid upon another bier.”***

*Bernard of Quintaval, the saint’s first disciple.
**Innocent III
***Dante, Paradiso, canto XI

Francis took his flight, for his work was done; innumerable souls were now treading the paths of penance; the Cross of Christ was set before the eyes of the whole world as the treasure of the Church, now that she was beginning her ascent of Calvary. How admirably had the sanctifying Spirit conducted this work!

At the age of four and twenty, Francis, who was destined not to see his forty-sixth year, was the head of a party of gay youths who filled Assisi day and night with their songs. Full of the poetry of France (from which country he borrowed his name), he dreamed of nothing but worldly renown and knightly prowess. One night he beheld in a prophetic dream a large assortment of arms and weapons. “For whom are all these?” he inquired; and on hearing the answer: “For thee and thy soldiers,” he hastened to join Gauthier de Brienne, who was at war with the Germans in the South of Italy. But God arrested him: in a series of manifestations, to which the young man corresponded with all the generous ardor of his pure heart, our Lord revealed to him the object of his life’s labor, the standard he was to carry through the world, and the Lady in whose service he was to win his spurs.

The Church, ever under attack, yet hitherto ever victorious, seemed about to succumb, so undermined were her walls by heresy, so broken by the battering ram of the secular power; while within the citadel, the ancient faith was sinking under prolonged scandals, leaving the field open to the enterprises of traitors, and multiplying defections in a society already beginning to feel the torpor of death. Nevertheless, it is written that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church. “Francis, seest thou not that my house is falling to decay? Go, then, and repair it for me.”

There was need of a sudden surprise to disconcert the enemy; and of an energetic appeal, to rouse the sleepy garrison, and rally them around the too forgotten ensign of Christians, the Cross of Christ. Francis was to be, in his very flesh, the standard of the Crucified. The sacred wounds already pierced his soul, and made his eyes two ceaseless fountains of tears: “I weep for the Passion of Jesus Christ my Master; nor shall I blush to go weeping all over the world.”

Avarice was the crying sin of the age; the hearts of men, too preoccupied with earthly affairs to have a desire of heaven, must be delivered from a slavery which crushed out all noble thoughts, all love, all devotedness. Holy Poverty, the mother of that true liberty which disarms hell and laughs at tyrants, could alone achieve such a deliverance. Francis was taken with the beauty of poverty, in spite of the jeers and insults of the vulgar, and of his rejection by his own family; but his sublime folly was the salvation of his people, and he was blessed by our heavenly Father, as a true brother of his eternal Son.

As by nature the consubstantial Word receives his unbeginning Being from him who begets him eternally; so within the Holy Trinity, he has nothing appropriated to himself but the title of Son, to the glory of the Father, in the Holy Spirit who is their love. Such is God’s destitution of all things, whereof nothing created could give an idea, but which is reflected in the Incarnate Word’s sublime disappropriation in presence of that Father form whom he derived his all. Would it, then, be far wrong to consider the Poverty chosen by St. Francis as no other than Eternal Wisdom, offering herself, even under the old Law, to the human race, as bride, and as sister? Once espoused in Mary’s womb at the Incarnation, how great has been her fidelity! But whoever loves her must become in Jesus like unto her.

Quote:“Lord Jesus,” said Francis, “show me the paths of thy well-beloved Poverty. ‘Tis she that accompanied thee from thy Mother’s womb to the crib in the stable, and, on the waysides of the world, took care thou shouldst not have where to lay thy head. In the combat which concluded the war of our Redemption, Poverty, adorned with all the privations which form her bridal attire, mounted with thee upon the Cross, which even Mary could not ascend. She followed thee to thy borrowed tomb; and, as thou didst yield up thy soul in her embrace, so in her arms thou didst take it again in the glorious nakedness of the Resurrection; and together with her didst enter heaven, leaving to the earth all that was earthly. Oh! who would not love this queen of the world which she tramples under her feet, my lady and my love? Most poor Jesus, my sweet Master, have pity on me; without her I can taste no peace, and I die of desire.” (Franc. Opusc. t. i. Oratio B. Patris pro obtinen da paupertate)

God cannot turn a deaf ear to such entreaties. If he contends, it is in order to add fresh wounds of love, until the old man being destroyed, the new rises form the ruins, in all things conformed to the image of the heavenly Adam. Eighteen years later, after the prodigy on Mount Alvernia, Francis, impressed with the divine seal of Christ’s wounds, sang in heavenly language (In foco l’amor mi mise) the sublime combat which had made up his life:

Quote:“Love has cast me into a furnace, love has cast me into a furnace, I am cast into a furnace of love.

“My new Bridegroom, the loving Lamb, gave me the nuptial ring; then having cast me into prison, he cleft my heart, and my body fell to the ground.

“Those arrows, propelled by love, struck me and set me on fire. From peace he made war, and I am dying of sweetness.

“The darts rained so thick and fast, that I was all in an agony. Then I took a buckler, but the shafts were so swift that it shielded me no more; they mangled my whole body, so strong was the arm that shot them.

“He shot them so powerfully, that I despaired of parrying them; and to escape death, I cried with all my might: ‘Thou transgressest the laws of the camp.’ But he only set up a new instrument of war, which overwhelmed me with fresh blows.

“So true was his aim, that he never missed. I was lying on the ground, unable to move my limbs. My whole body was broken, and I had no more sense than a man deceased;

“Deceased, not by a true death, but through excess of joy. Then regaining possession of my body, I felt so strong, that I could follow the guides who led me to the court of heaven.

“Returning to myself, I took up arms, and I made war upon Christ; I rode into his territory, and meeting him, I engaged him at once, and took my revenge on him.

“Having had my revenge, I made a treaty with him; for from the beginning Christ had loved me with a true love. And now my heart has become capable of the consolations of Christ.”

Around the standard-bearer of Christ were already gathered those whom he called his knights of the Round Table. However captivating he may have been when his fellow-citizens proclaimed him the flower of their youth, and he presided at their feasts and games; Francis was much more attractive now in his life of self-renunciation. Scarcely ten years after his espousals with holy Poverty, he had so well avenged her for having been so long despised, that she held full court in the midst of five thousand Friars Minor encamped under the walls of Assisi; while Clare and her companions formed for her such a suite of honor as no empress could ever boast of. The enthusiasm soon became so general that Francis, in order to satisfy it without depopulating the State and the Church, gave to the world his Third Order, into which, led by Louis IX of France and Elizabeth of Hungary, entered countless multitudes of every nation and tribe and tongue. Thanks to the three Seraphic Orders, as well as to the triple militia founded at the same time by Dominic de Gusman, devotedness to the Roman Church, and the spirit of penance and prayer, everywhere triumphed for a time over the anticipated rationalism, the luxury, and all the other evils which had been threatening the speedy ruin of the world.

The influence of the Saints springs from their sanctity, as rays from the focus. No rich man ever possessed the earth to such a degree as this poor man who, seeking God and depending absolutely upon his Providence, had regained the condition of Adam in Eden. Thus, as he passed along, the flocks would welcome him; the fishes would follow his boat in the water; the birds would gather round him and joyfully obey him. And why? Francis drew all things to himself because all things drew him to God.

With him there was no such thing as analyzing love, and making distinctions among those things which come from God and lead to God. To raise himself up to God, to compassionate with Christ, to be of service to his neighbor, to be in harmony with the whole universe like Adam when innocent, was for the seraphic father, says St. Bonaventure, one and the same impulse of that true piety which ruled his whole being. The divine fire within him found fuel in everything. No touch of the Holy Spirit, whencesoever it came, did Francis let pass; so much he feared to frustrate the effect of a single grace. He did not despise the stream for not being the ocean; and it was with an unheard of tenderness of devotion, says his son and historian Bonaventure, that Francis relished God’s goodness in creation, contemplated his supreme beauty in every created beauty, and heard the echo of heaven’s harmonies in the concert of beings sprung like man himself from the only source of existence. Hence it was by the sweet name of brothers and sisters that he invited all creatures to praise with him that well-beloved Lord, whose every trace on earth was the dear object of his love and contemplation.

Neither the progress nor the consummation of his holiness alteres, in this respect, what would now be called his method of prayer. On hearing that his death was approaching, and again a few minutes before he passed away, he sang, and would have others sing to him, his favorite canticle: “Praised be God my Lord, for all creatures, and especially for our brother the sun, which gives us light, and is an image of thee, my God! Praised be my Lord for our sister the moon; and for all the stars which he has created bright and beautiful in the heavens! Praised be my Lord for our brother the wind; and for the air, and the clouds, and the fine weather, and all the seasons; for our sister the water, which is very useful, humble, precious and pure; for our brother the fire, which is bright and strong; for our mother the earth, which bears us, and produces the fruits and the flowers! Be thou praised, O my God, for those who pardon and who suffer for love of thee! Be thou praised for our sister the death of the body, which no living man can escape; unhappy is he who dies in mortal sin; but happy is he whom death finds conformed to thy holy will! Praise and bless my Lord, give him thanks, and serve him in great humility.”

After having received the stigmata, Francis’ life was an unspeakable martyrdom; in spite of which he continued to travel through towns and villages, riding, like Jesus of whom he was so touching an image, upon a poor little ass; and everywhere he preached the Cross, working miracles and wonders of grace. Assisi cherishes the memory of the blessing bequeathed to it by its glorious son, when, gazing upon it for the last time from the beautiful plain that stretches at its feet, he exclaimed with tears: “Be thou blessed of the Lord, O city faithful to God, for in thee and by thee shall many souls be saved!”

The humble Portiuncula, the cradle of the Order, where Clare too had exchanged the vain ornaments of the world for the poverty of the Cross: St. Mary of the Angels, which awakens in the pilgrim a feeling of the nearness of heaven; and where the Great Pardon of the 2nd of August proves the pleasure our Lord still takes in it: this was the appointed place of Francis’ death. He passed away on the 3rd of October, towards eight o’clock in the evening; and although darkness had already set in, a flight of larks descended, singing and rising in heaven of the new sun, which was mounting towards the Seraphim.

Francis had chosen to be buried in the place of public execution, called the Colle d’Inferno, near the West wall of his native city. But within two years, Gregory IX enrolled him among the Saints, and changed the name of the hill into Colle del Paradiso. James the German built over the bare rock, where lies the Poor Man of Assisi, a two-storied church, which the genius of Giotto has made to outshine in glory all the princely palaces on earth.

The church’s narrative, though short, will complete these somewhat lengthy pages.

Quote:Francis was born at Assisi in Umbria, and, after his father’s example, followed from his youth a mercantile career. One day, contrary to his custom, he repulsed a poor man who begged an alms of him for Christ’s sake; but, immediately repenting of what he had done, he bestowed a large bounty upon the beggar, and at the same time made a promise to God, never to refuse an alms to any one that asked him. After this he fell into a serious illness; and on his recovery, devoted himself more eagerly than ever to works of charity, making such rapid progress in this virtue that, desirous of attaining evangelical perfection, he gave all he had to the poor. His father, angered at his proceedings, brought Francis before the Bishop of Assisi, that, in his presence, he might formally renounce all claim to his patrimony. The Saint gave up all to his father, even stripping off his garments, that he might, he said, for the future have more right to say: Our Father who art in heaven.

After hearing one day this passage of the Gospel: Do not possess gold nor silver, nor money in your purses; nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, he took it for his rule of life, laid aside his shoes and kept but one tunic. He gathered together twelve disciples and founded the Order of the Minors. In the year of our salvation 1209 he went to Rome, to obtain the confirmation of his rule and Order from the Apostolic See. Pope Innocent III at first refused to see him; but having in sleep beheld the man he had repulsed supporting with his shoulders the Lateran basilica which was threatening to fall, he had him sought out and brought to him; and receiving him kindly confirmed the whole system of his institute. Francis then sent his brethren into every part of the world to preach the Gospel. He himself, desirous of an opportunity of martyrdom sailed into Syria; but the Soldan treated him most kindly; so that, unable to gain his end, he returned into Italy.

He built many convents of his Order; and then retired into solitude on Mount Alvernia; where he fasted forty days in honor of the Archangel St. Michael. On the Feast of the Exaltation of the holy Cross, he had a vision of a seraph bearing between his wings the figure of the Crucified, who impressed the sacred stigmata on his hands and feet and side. St. Bonaventure says he heard Pope Alexander IV, while preaching, relate how he had himself seen these wounds. These signs of Christ’s exceeding love for his servant excited universal wonder and admiration. Two years later, Francis grew very ill, and was carried, at his own request, into the church of St. Mary of the Angels; that he might give up his mortal life to God, in the very place where he had commenced his life of grace. There, after exhorting the brethren to poverty and patience, and the preservation of the faith of the holy, Roman Church, he said the Psalm: I cried to the Lord with my voice. When he reached the verse: The just wait for me, until thou reward me, he breathed forth his soul, on the fourth of the Nones of October. He was renowned for miracles; and Pope Gregory IX enrolled him among the Saints.

Mayst thou be blessed by every living soul, O thou whom our Savior associated so closely with himself in the work of Redemption. The world, created by God for himself, subsists through the Saints; for it is in them he finds his glory. At the time of thy birth, the Saints were few; the enemy of God and man was daily extending his darksome reign; and when society has entirely lost faith and charity, light and heat, the human race must perish. Thou didst come to bring warmth to the wintry world, till the thirteenth century became like a spring time, rich in beautiful flowers; but alas! no summer was to follow in its wake. By thee the Cross was forced upon men’s notice; not indeed, as heretofore, to be exalted in a permanent triumph, but to rally the elect in face of the enemy, who would too soon afterwards regain the advantage. The Church lays aside the robe of glory, which beseemed her in the days of our Lord’s undisputed royalty; together with thee, she treads barefoot the path of trials, which liken her to her divine Spouse suffering and dying for his Father’s honor. Do thou thyself, and by thy sons, ever hold aloft before her the sacred ensign.

It is by identifying ourselves with Christ on the Cross that we shall find him again in the splendors of his glory; for men, and God in man, cannot be separated; and both, thou didst say, must be contemplated by every soul. Yet no otherwise than by effective compassion with our suffering Head can we find the way of divine union and the sweet fruits of love. If the soul suffers herself to be led by the good pleasure of the Holy Ghost, this Master of masters will conduct her by no other way than that set forth by our Lord in the books of his humility, patience, and suffering.

O Francis, cause the lessons of thy amiable and heroic simplicity to fructify in us. May thy children, to the great profit of the Church, increase in number and still more in sanctity; and never spare themselves in teaching both by word and example, knowing, however, that the latter is of greater avail than the former. Raise them up again, with their former popularity in that country of France, which thou didst love on account of its generous aspirations, now stifled by the sordid vulgarity of money-makers. The whole Religious state looks upon thee as one of its most illustrious Fathers; come to its assistance in the trials of the present time. Friend of Dominic, and his companion under our Lady’s mantle, keep up between your two families the fraternal love which delights the Angels. May the Benedictine Order never lose the affection which causes it to rejoice always on this day; and by thy benefits to it, strengthen the bonds knit once for all by the gift of the Portiuncula!

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  Abp. Viganò defends traditional nuns against ‘bullying’ by Vatican
Posted by: Stone - 10-04-2021, 06:18 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò - No Replies

Abp. Viganò defends traditional nuns against ‘bullying’ by Vatican
'I assure the persecuted Religious Sisters of my constant prayer, inviting them to resist firmly and to offer their suffering for the conversion of their persecutors.

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Fri Oct 1, 2021 -
(LifeSiteNews) — With profound sorrow and strong indignation, I follow the events related to the Apostolic Visitations that the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life is carrying out in various Convents of contemplative women religious in the United States.

The manner in which these Apostolic Visitations are conducted, in violation of the canonical norms and the most elementary principles of the law; the intimidation and threats that characterize the interrogations to which the Nuns are subjected; and the psychological violence exercised over the members of these Convents, against the principles of charity and justice that ought to inspire the action of officials of a papal Dicastery — all of these reveal in all of its disturbing evidence the prejudice of the persecutory intentions of the Visitators, who are cynical executors of the orders already given by the Prefect Cardinal João Braz de Aviz and by the Secretary Archbishop José Rodriguez Carballo, following Bergoglio’s precise instructions. No matter which community is targeted, the mobbing or group bullying by the Visitators, with the purpose of dividing the sisters is always the same, as is the attempt to create strong psychological pressure, even to the point of violating their private conscience, and serious disturbance to individuals who are accustomed to living in silence, prayerful recollection, and penance.

Behind this purging operation, like everything that distinguishes the work of the Bergoglian church, there is a hatred and an iconoclastic fury towards the Communities of Contemplative Life, and in a particular way against those tied to Tradition and the Ancient Rite. This hatred has become commonplace with the infamous Instruction Cor Orans and its cruel and merciless application. What also stands out is an insane interest in the finances and donations that these communities receive, which the Vatican tries to grab for itself using any pretext it can.

This hatred has no juridical or disciplinary justification, since these Convents targeted by the Vatican limit themselves to living according to the charism of their Order, in fidelity to their Holy Founders and in a spirit of sincere communion with the Church. The number of their vocations is increasing, as is happening for all the Institutes in which the Rule of the Founders is put into practice and the Tridentine Liturgy is celebrated. The “fault” of these Religious Sisters is that they want to remain faithful to the immutable Magisterium of the Church and her two-thousand-year Tradition, to her venerable Liturgy. In the end, this is the only “fault” of all of the secular and religious communities, both of men and of women, in the face of the ruthless destructive action of Bergoglio.

I consider it my precise duty as a Pastor to denounce in no uncertain terms the systematic work of demolition being carried out by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life, whose leaders make no secret of their aversion to any form of consecrated life, in perfect harmony with the one who has given them their mandate, and accompanied by the most disconcerting, inert silence of the Ordinaries, who are incapable of defending and protecting the most precious and vulnerable part of the Mystical Body.

We cannot forget that the merciless persecution of the Vatican has already struck other flourishing communities of religious women, which are now totally destroyed: I am thinking of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate (Italy), the Little Sisters of Mary of Saint-Aignan-sur-Roe (France), the Sisters of Auerbach (Germany), and the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Spirit (France) — to name only a few.

I also mention that the ones responsible for this action are the first ones against whom a disciplinary action should have been undertaken, following the very serious financial scandals that involved Carballo when he was Minister-General of the Franciscan Friars Minor. His position is so compromised that he had to reside inside the Vatican, even though the Secretaries of the Congregation usually reside outside the Leonine Walls. Cardinal Braz de Aviz, a notorious follower of liberation theology, was appointed by Bergoglio as head of the Congregation for Religious precisely in order to “re-educate” the members of institutes of consecrated life, following the Stalinist methods that distinguish the government of the Bergoglian deep church. It is a purge worthy of the worst dictatorial regimes, in line with the climate of terror that has reigned in the Vatican since 2013.

I urge my brother Bishops, priests, and above all the faithful laity to raise their voices against the destruction of Convents of contemplative life and traditional religious Communities. It is necessary to give not only spiritual and moral support, but also material and media support to the victims of an attack that has been getting worse in recent weeks after the promulgation of the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes, so that the persecuted religious sisters may be defended and those who are responsible for this persecution that is hateful in the eyes of God and the entire ecclesial community may be exposed.

I understand well how difficult it is, in the face of the perversion of ecclesiastical authority, to combine one’s solemn Vow of Obedience to one’s Superiors with the evidence of the evil purposes they pursue, and how painful it is to have to resist those who should be exercising authority in the name of Our Lord. Nonetheless, any collaboration with them would constitute a form of complicity and culpable connivance. Obedience to God and fidelity to the Church cannot be linked to blind servility towards those who show themselves to be enemies of both: “We must obey God rather than men,” according to the words of Saint Peter (Acts 5:29). And this applies to Religious as well as to secular clergy, whose silence in the face of the dissolution of the ecclesial body cannot last any longer.

In consideration of this grave dilemma of conscience that troubles the Religious Sisters, I address a particular appeal to the faithful laity and to the benefactors of Convents, so that they actively work, also through adequate legal means, to assure and protect the independence of these Convents and their property.

I assure the persecuted Religious Sisters of my constant prayer, inviting them to resist firmly and to offer their suffering for the conversion of their persecutors. May these silent Brides of Christ unite themselves spiritually to the painful Calvary of the Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne, the sixteen nuns who were guillotined during the Terror because they did not want to abandon their Carmel or renounce their religious vows. May the heroic resistance of these consecrated women, persecuted in odium fidei by bloodthirsty revolutionaries, be an example to them in these times of apostasy, in which anti-Catholic persecution and ideological fury are put in motion by those who ought to be protecting the communities of Contemplative Life as the most precious treasure of the Church and the most effective barrier against the assaults of the enemy. If the constant prayer of these blessed souls fails, the ecclesial body will be even more disarmed at the very moment in which this epochal battle rages most fiercely.

Like the prudent virgins of the Gospel parable (Mt 25:1-13), may Religious Women remain faithful to their Divine Spouse and await Him with lighted lamps. These dark times will pass, and along with them the renegades who rage against them.

The highest levels of the Vatican, and in particular Jorge Mario Bergoglio, will have to answer to God for these very grave sins of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which are not devoid of disturbing ideological connotations, as well as for the abuse of their authority against the good of the Church and the salvation of souls. May the Lord open the eyes of many who still do not want to recognize the apostasy that afflicts the Catholic Hierarchy.


+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
Former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States
October 1, 2021

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  Autobiography of St. Therese of the Child Jesus: The Story of a Soul
Posted by: Stone - 10-03-2021, 03:26 PM - Forum: Resources Online - No Replies

The Story of a Soul - Autobiography of St. Therese of the Child Jesus


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  Prayer of St Therese to the Holy Face of Jesus
Posted by: Stone - 10-03-2021, 03:14 PM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lord - Replies (1)

Prayer of St Therese to the Holy Face of Jesus

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“O Jesus, who, in Thy cruel Passion didst become the ‘reproach of men and the Man of Sorrows,’ I worship Thy divine Face. Once it shone with the beauty and sweetness of the Divinity; but now, for my sake, it is become as ‘the face of a leper.’

Yet, in that disfigured Countenance, I recognize Thy infinite love, and I am consumed with the desire of making Thee loved by all mankind.

The tears that flowed so abundantly from Thy Eyes are to me as precious pearls that I delight to gather, that with their worth I may ransom the souls of poor sinners.

O Jesus, whose Face is the sole beauty that ravishes my heart, I may not see here below the sweetness of Thy glance, nor feel the ineffable tenderness of Thy kiss, I bow to Thy Will—but I pray Thee to imprint in me Thy divine likeness, and I implore Thee so to inflame me with Thy love, that it may quickly consume me, and that I may soon reach the vision of Thy glorious Face in heaven.”

Amen.

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  October 3rd – St Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin
Posted by: Stone - 10-03-2021, 03:07 PM - Forum: October - Replies (1)

October 3 – St Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin
Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Guéranger  (1841-1875)

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Wonder-worker as is the saint of today, fulfilling her dying prophecy, “After my death I will let fall a shower of roses,” she is her own greatest miracle. Her world-wide popularity, to which is united in most cases a devotion which has reorientated many a life, and in all has been a stimulus and an encouragement, is recognized to be phenomenal. It has been said with respect to doctrinal definitions that the faithful have a passive “infallibility,” whereby their need answers exactly to the definition; the same would seem to be true in the case of devotions and saints; they are given to us when and as they are needed.

In an age which worships visible efficiency which, even in the spiritual sphere, too often demands substantial material results before it will revere and believe, the saint who has won hearts—and souls—as few indeed have done, is no great religious and social reformer nor, in her lifetime, an apostle carrying the truth to the ends of the earth; nor even a preacher upon whose words crowds have hung spellbound, nor a scholar gathering around his rostrum all that was best in the intellectual world of his day; but a girl who was unknown beyond a small circle of relatives and friends. She had received no special educational advantages; she lived her life in a quiet little Norman town to which few travellers found their way. Still a child in years, but mature already in the things of God, she entered the Carmel in the same town, an obscure convent of recent foundation, barren of the historical associations which cluster around many French Carmels. For ten years she lived a life made up for the most part of religious exercises and simple domestic duties; a life, to the average man or woman of the world, colorless and monotonous, in which of necessity talents were wasted and all chance of doing good service to the world forever forfeited. At twenty-four she died of consumption, but over the simple grave accorded to such as she were placed the mysterious words: “I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth.”

Shortly before her death, she, Therese of the Child Jesus, always so humble and simple, had declared, among other startling prophetic sayings, that: All the world would love her. During the last two years of her life, in obedience to her Superiors, she had written in her scanty free time, on poor scraps of paper, an account of her life, and for this, likewise, she foretold a strange success. Today “The Story of a Soul” has been translated into every civilized tongue; the literature which has gathered round the book and its writer would form a library, and Lisieux is one of the great pilgrimage centers of the world.

In her book the young Carmelite explained the theory and practice of her own spiritual life: her “little Way;” the “Way of Spiritual Childhood;” and, when dying, she spoke with a strange solemnity and certainty of the mission awaiting her in the eternal future—to teach her “Way” to souls. Too often described as something new, it is, as tow Sovereign Pontiffs have pointed out, but a return to the way of the Gospels. Others have walked the same path to heaven before St. Therese of Lisieux, but to her it has been given to show it once more to a self-sufficient, sophisticated world, and that in such wise that, to men of good will, it may be a sure and safe highway wherein even the foolish cannot err.

The Way of Spiritual Childhood stresses again that “love,” and not great outward achievement, is the fulfilling of the law; that it is character, not career, which counts; that since for most souls sanctity, if achieved at all, must be achieved in a restricted sphere, the daily round of little duties, little sacrifices, common tasks and trials, all fulfilled and accepted perfectly and for love, generous doing and suffering of the will of God, will provide all that is needful for the highest heroism. Beneath her childlike phrasing the saint has portrayed a life which calls for an unflagging generosity and courage which, united with the humility and confidence of a little child, is heroic indeed. Benedict XV has called her way “the secret of sanctity.”

And because she lived “a little one” she was “pleasing to the Most High.” All the world had loved her; popular acclamation had soon declared her a saint, but the voice which alone can pronounce thereon was not long silent. Her cause was exempted form the years of delay normally required; Pope Benedict XV pronounced the Decree of Heroicity (.pdf; p. 453) of her virtues, and by Pius XI, now happily reigning, she was both beatified and canonized at an interval of but two years, the first beatification and the first canonization of his pontificate. Two years later the Pope declared her the special patroness of all Catholic Foreign Missions in the same rank as St. Francis Xavier.

The following lessons are assigned to the second Nocturn of her office. By special privilege of His Holiness Pius XI her feast is kept in her own convent on September 30, the anniversary of her death. In the Carmelite Order it is celebrated on October 1, and everywhere is transferred to October 3.

Quote:Theresa of the Child Jesus was born in Alençon in France. Her parents were estimable people, well known for their piety and their love of God. From her earliest childhood, endowed by a special grace of the Holy Ghost, she yearned to enter the religious life. She promised God with the utmost sincerity that she would deny him nothing he might ask of her. She kept this promise faithfully to the end of her life, although she had to suffer a great deal to keep it. Her mother died when Theresa was but five years old. From then on the child committed herself to the providence of God, under the vigilant care of a most tender father and her elder sisters. Under their teaching Theresa raced as gayly strong as a young giant along the way of perfection. At the age of nine she was sent to school at Lisieux to the Benedictine nuns, where she made remarkable progress in her knowledge of divine things. In her tenth year she was ill for a long time of a serious and mysterious malady. From this, as she herself relateth, she was delivered only by the power of God himself, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who appeared to her with a smiling countenance, and to whom under the title of our Lady of Victories, she was constantly making novenas. Filled with angelic fervor she prepared herself at this time with the utmost care to receive Christ in the sacred banquet of her first Holy Communion.

After being refreshed for the first time with the Eucharistic Bread Theresa seemed to develop an insatiable hunger for the celestial food. Then, as if by inspiration, she asked Jesus to turn all her earthly consolation into bitterness. After that she burned with a most tender love for Christ the Lord and for his Church. More than anything in the world she wanted to enter the Discalced Carmelites, where by self-sacrifice she might assist priests, missionaries and the whole Church, and so gain innumerable souls for Christ Jesus. All this, she promised God would do for her, even when apparently she lay at the point of death. Her extreme youth was an obstacle which hindered her entrance upon the religious life. Even this she overcame by her incredible courage of soul. She entered Carmel at Lisieux happily at the age of fifteen. There God fashioned the heart of Theresa in a marvellous way, teaching her to ascend to him step by step. Imitating the hidden life of the Virgin Mary like a well-watered garden she bore flowers of every virtue, especially an abiding love of God and neighbor.

That she might please the most high God to greater degree, when she read in Sacred Scriptures the warning, Whoever is a little one, let him come unto me, she determine to be a little one in spirit. As such she consecrated herself forever with childlike confidence to God, her most loving Father. The way of spiritual childhood, following the teachings of the Gospel, she taught to others, especially to the novices who, training in the pursuit of religious virtues, she undertook in obedience to her superiors. Overflowing with apostolic zeal she pointed out to a world filled with pride and a love of vanities, the simple way of the Gospels. Meanwhile Jesus, her spouse, inflamed her with a desire to suffer both in soul and in body. Moreover, perceiving that the love of God was everywhere rejected, she became filled with a grief and two years before her death, offered herself as a victim of love to the merciful God. She writeth that she was then wounded by a flame of fire from heaven, whereupon she became consumed by love, rapt as it were in ecstasy. Repeating over and over again the fervent words, My God, I love thee, she passed on to her Spouse on the 30th day of September in the year 1897, at the age of twenty-four years. As she was dying she promised that she would let fall upon earth a ceaseless shower of roses. This promise she hath indeed fulfilled in heaven, and her shower of roses hath continued to this very day. The Sovereign Pontiff Pius XI added her name to the Virgins declared Blessed and two years later, at the time of the great Jubilee, listed her among the Saints. He also appointed and declared her Patroness of all the missions.

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  Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Posted by: Stone - 10-03-2021, 05:14 AM - Forum: Pentecost - Replies (6)

INSTRUCTION ON THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
From Fr. Leonard Goffine's Explanations of the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays, Holydays, and Festivals throughout the Ecclesiastical Year 36th edition, 1880

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THE Introit of the Mass is: I am the salvation of the people, saith the Lord: in whatever tribulation they shall cry to me, I will hear them: and I will be their Lord for ever. Attend, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. (Ps. lxxvii.) Glory, &c.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. Almighty and merciful God, graciously keep us from all things that are hurtful ; that we, being set free both in mind and body, may with ready minds accomplish whatever is Thine. Thro'.

EPISTLE. (Ephes. iv. 23—28.) Brethren, Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth. Wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry, and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger. Give not place to the devil. He that stole, let him now steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have something to give to him that suffereth need.

Quote:EXPLANATION. St. Paul admonishes the Ephesians to lay aside the old man, like a worn out garment, and put on the new man, that is, to renew their internal and external life. This renewal according to his teaching takes place, when we by a true repentance put away our vices, shun all lies, anger, injustice, &c, and adorn our soul with virtues, and zealously seek after Christian justice and perfection. We have, perhaps, already sought to change our manner of living, for which a jubilee or some other particular solemnity of the Church gave us occasion, and at that time, perhaps, purified our soul by a general confession, making the firm resolution to live for God, and work out our salvation, we appeared converted, and to have become other men: but how long did this conversion last? Ah, how soon did we fallback into the old, sinful ways. And why? Because we lived in too great, deceitful security. We thought everything accomplished by the general confession; we were satisfied, and omitted to employ the means of remaining in the state of grace. We did not thank God for the grace of conversion; we did not ask Him for the grace of perseverance; we frequented evil company, and did not avoid dangerous occasions; we indulged in idleness and pleasures as before. How can it appear strange, if such a conversion is fruitless? Ah, we should remain in wholesome fear even after the remission of our sins. (Ecclus. v. 5.) Even if we could say that we have done everything, nevertheless we cannot be certain, whether we be worthy of hatred or love. (Ecclus. ix. 1.) We should, therefore, work out our salvation according to the advice of St. Paul (Philipp. ii. 12.) in fear and trembling, and thus not fall into the old life of sin, losing the hope of a new conversion.


GOSPEL. (Matt. xxii. 1 — 14.) At that time, Jesus spoke to the chief priests and the Pharisees in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son. And he sent his servants, to call them that were invited to the marriage, and they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were invited, Behold I have prepared my dinner; my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come ye to the marriage. But they neglected: and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise: and the rest laid hands on his servants, and having treated them contumeliously, put them to death. But when the king had heard of it, he was angry: and sending his armies, he destroyed those murderers, and burnt their city. Then he saith to his servants: The marriage indeed is ready; but they that were invited were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, call to the marriage. And his servants going forth into the ways, gathered together all that they found, both bad and good; and the marriage was filled with guests. And the king went in to see the guests; and he saw there
a man who had not on a wedding garment: and he saith to him: Friend, how earnest thou in hither, not having on a wedding garment? But he was silent. Then the king said to the waiters: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.

Quote:REMARK. This parable, agrees in many respects with that for the second Sunday after Pentecost, and has the same meaning. See, therefore, the explanation of that gospel, as also of the feast of St. Catherine, to which may be added the following:

EXPLANATION. In this parable the king is our Heavenly Father who has espoused His only-begotten Son to the Church, and on this occasion prepares the most sumptuous marriage-feast by giving the evangelical doctrine, the holy Sacraments, and the heavenly joys. The servants sent to invite the guests are the prophets, apostles and disciples of Christ. Those invited are the Jews who despised the honor and grace of the divine King, destined for them, abused and killed His servants, and were, therefore, cast aside and with their city Jerusalem, destroyed by the armies of their enemies, as a just punishment; in their stead the heathens and all those nations were called, who were on the broad road to destruction, and who now occupy the places of the unfortunate Jews at the marriage-feast of the Church, and shall also occupy them in heaven. In the Jews to whom Christ addressed this parable, is verified that many of them, nay, all are called, but few chosen, because they would not heed the invitation.

APPLICATION. "We have the honor not only to be invited to this marriage-feast , but are in reality guests at it, because we are members of the Church of Christ by faith." But the Christian," says St. Gregory, "who is a member of the Church by faith, but has not charity, is like to a man who comes to the marriage-feast without the wedding garment." With this garment which is charity, Christ was vested, when He came to celebrate the nuptials with His spouse, the Church, and by the bond of charity the Son of God also unites Himself with His elect. He clearly lets us know that charity is the wedding garment which should vest us. Those, therefore, who believe and are in the communion of the Church, but who do not preserve the grace of charity, are indeed in the wedding-chamber, but they are not adorned with the wedding garment. They are dead members of the Church, and shall not be admitted without this garment into the celestial marriage-feast in the triumphant Church, but rather be cast like that unfortunate guest into exterior darkness. This guest was silent, when asked by the king, why he had not the wedding garment. By this we see, that no one can excuse himself to God for not having charity, because every one can have it, if he asks it from God, and, as St. Augustine says, our heart is the workshop of charity, and every one who has a heart can practice it.

PRAYER. I thank Thee, O Jesus, that Thou didst call me to the marriage-feast in Thy Church, give me the wedding garment of charity that I may be present at the celestial marriage-feast, and not be cast into exterior darkness.



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INSTRUCTION CONCERNING HELL

Cast him into the exterior darkness. (Matt. xxii. 13.)



What is hell?

HELL is that place where the damned must suffer eternal punishment.


Is there a hell?

Yes, reason, holy Scripture, and the Church teach us that there is a hell. Reason tells us that there is a just God who will punish sin. It is evident that all sins are not punished in this world; there must, therefore, be a place, where every mortal sin, not atoned for by sorrow and penance, will be punished, and this place is — hell. All nations from the beginning of the world, even those who had not the light of revelation, believed this.

But clearer still is the existence of hell shown by holy Scripture. The pious Job (x. 22.) speaks of a region of misery and darkness, where the shadows of death and no order, but where eternal terror dwells. The Prophet Isaias (xxx. S3-) says that hell is deep and wide, and that the fire burning in it, is like a stream of sulphur, ignited by the breath of the Lord. Our Saviour expressly says that those who have done evil, shall go to everlasting torment, (Matt. xxv. 46.) that they shall be tortured by everlasting fire. (Matt. xxv. 41.) He makes mention of hell, and says that an inextinguishable fire burns there, and a worm which never dies, plagues the wicked. (Mark ix. 42. 43; Matt. x. 28.) All the Fathers of the Church teach and testify to the same doctrine. St. Augustine, among many others, says: "The infinite wisdom of God tells us, that there is a hell, and the illimitable power of God it is that punishes the damned in a wonderful, but real manner."


Wherein do the pains of hell consist?

Sacred Scripture and the Church teach concerning the pains of the reprobate in hell, that the damned burn there in an inextinguishable fire. (Mark ix. 45.) The holy doctors of the Church say, that this fire is never extinguished, and its smoke ascends or rises from century to century. "I see this fire," says St. Gregory, "as if it were gifted with reason; it makes a distinction between the guilty, and tortures the damned according to the nature of their sins."

This fire burns, but never consumes its victims; it communicates, as Cassiodorus says, immortality to the reprobate and lets them suffer pain, which preserves them, like salt which penetrates the flesh and keeps it from corruption, as Jesus says: Every one shall be salted with fire. (Mark ix. 48.) This fire does not shine, it leaves the reprobate in darkness, (Matt. viii. 12.) and with this fire a never dying worm continually torments the damned. This worm is not only a bad conscience, say the holy Fathers, but particularly the privation of the Beatific Vision. Eternally will the thought torment the damned: I have lost God, the only true and highest Good, I have lost Him through my fault, I have lost Him for a brief pleasure , I have lost Him forever. In hell eternity devours all time; and if after millions and millions of years a damned soul wailingly asks his companion in misery: What time is it? he receives the answer: Eternity.

Who would not fear hell, and avoid sin which incurs eternal punishment, when he reflects upon this! And yet there are many, upon whom the truth of the existence of a hell makes no impression, who even deny that there is such a place, and who say: "God is love, He can have no pleasure in the torments of His creatures, He cannot eternally punish a sin which was committed in so short a time as is the life of man." But those who speak thus, forget that God is just, that His love and mercy are indeed always ready to forgive the contrite and penitent, but that His justice must also be satisfied, when the sinner continually rejects the merciful love of God; they forget, that every grievous sin which man commits voluntarily and knowingly is an infinite, eternal insult, offered to God, which can only be atoned for by an eternal punishment. For the perverted and malicious will of a man, who dies in mortal sin, remains perverted and malicious forever, therefore he must also be punished eternally.

O my dear Christian, do not listen to such deceivers; for just on account of their sinful life, they fear hell and therefore they endeavor to free themselves from this fear by denying the existence of hell; but they cannot succeed; for Jesus, the Truth, has told us, that there is a hell, and
His word remains for all eternity. Endeavor rather by a pious life to escape hell, descend there in spirit frequently according to the advice of a saint, contemplate the torments of the damned, and let this reflection urge you to imitate Christ, who has promised the joys of heaven to all His faithful followers.



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CONSOLING DOCTRINE ON THE JOYS OF HEAVEN

The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a marriage for his son. (Matt, xxii. 2.)


HEAVEN is compared by Christ to a marriage-feast, because we will there enjoy all imaginable pleasures in the most perfect union with God. In what these joys consist, St. Paul could not describe, although he was wrapt into the third heaven and tasted these pleasures; he only said: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him. (i Cor. ii. 9.) Holy Writ, indeed, gives us many descriptions of the celestial joys, by comparing heaven to a paradise of bliss, sometimes to a precious pearl, or a treasure which neither rust nor moth consumes, nor thieves steal; again it represents heaven under the picture of a kingdom, a throne, a crown, whereby we are raised to the highest honor; at another time to the picture of a city which is built of gold, precious stones and pearls, lighted by the splendor of God, filled with magnificence and glory, and where the inhabitants enjoy undisturbed peace and security. These are only images or similitudes, which are taken from the most beautiful, most precious, and magnificent things of the earth, to teach us that heaven is as beautiful and pleasant a place, as we can wish and represent to ourselves, and that all possible beauty, agreeableness and joy may be found there in the highest and most perfect manner, free from evil, anxiety, disgust and fear of losing them. In heaven we will possess God Himself, the source of all joy and bliss, and will enjoy His own happiness for all eternity. More is not needed to give us the highest conception of heaven. Who would not willingly despise the vain, short and imperfect pleasures of this earth, whilst contemplating this indescribable bliss? Who would not willingly bear all the misfortunes and misery of this world, when considering that the more miserable we have been in this life the happier will we be hereafter. What would it avail us to have enjoyed all the pleasures of this world, if deprived of the pleasures of heaven in eternity!

ASPIRATION. How lovely are Thy tabernacles, Lord of hosts! my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh have
rejoiced in the living God. (Ps. lxxxiii. 2 — 3.) How do I loathe the world , when I contemplate heaven. (St. Ignatius Loyola.)

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  Sen. Ron Johnson: There is not an FDA approved COVID vaccine in the US
Posted by: Stone - 10-02-2021, 02:25 PM - Forum: COVID Vaccines - No Replies

Sen. Ron Johnson: There is not an FDA approved COVID vaccine in the US
Johnson explains the FDA approved the Comirnaty version that’s not available in the US

Fox News | October 1, 2021


Senator Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., claimed that the U.S. still doesn't have an FDA-approved vaccine as he exposed what was really approved by the government agency on "Fox News Primetime."

SEN. RON JOHNSON:
Quote:We do not have an FDA-approved vaccine being administered in the U.S. The FDA played a bait and switch. They approved the Comirnaty version of Pfizer drugs. It’s not available in the U.S. They even admit it. I sent them a letter three days later going "What are you doing?" What they did is they extended the emergency use authorization for the Pfizer drug vaccine that’s available in the U.S., here that’s more than 30 days later, they haven’t asked that very simple question. If you’re saying that the Pfizer drug is the same as the Comirnaty, why didn’t you provide FDA approval on that? So, there’s not an FDA-approved drug and, of course, they announced it so they could push through these mandates so that people actually think, "Oh, OK now these things are FDA approved." They are not and again, maybe they should be, but the FDA isn’t telling me why.

Entire interview can be viewed at the link above.

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  October 2nd – The Holy Guardian Angels
Posted by: Stone - 10-02-2021, 02:15 PM - Forum: October - Replies (1)

October 2 – The Holy Guardian Angels
Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Guéranger  (1841-1875)

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Although the solemnity of the 27th of September celebrates the praises of all the nine glorious choirs, yet the piety of the faithful, in the latter ages, desired to have a special day consecrated to the Guardian Angels. Several churches having taken the initiative, and kept the Feast under various rites and on different days, Paul V (1608) authorized its celebration ad libitum. Clement X (1670) established it by precept as a Feast of double rite on the 2nd of October, the first free day after Michaelmas, on which it thus remains in some way dependent.

It is of faith, on the testimony of the Scriptures and of unanimous tradition, that God commits to his Angels the guardianship of men, who are called to contemplate him together with these blessed spirits in their common fatherland. Catholic theology teaches that this protection is extended to every member of the human race, without any distinction of just and sinners, infidels and baptized. To ward off dangers; to uphold man in his struggle against the demons; to awaken in him holy thoughts; to prevent him from sinning, and even, at times, to chastise him; to pray for him, and present his prayers to God; such is the office of the Guardian Angel. So special is his mission that one Angel does not undertake the guardianship of several persons simultaneously; so diligent is his care that he follows his ward from the first day to the last of his mortal existence, receiving the soul as it quits this life, and bearing it from the feet of the sovereign Judge to the place it has merited in heaven, or to its temporary sojourn in the place of expiation and purification.

It is from the lowest of the nine choirs, the nearest to ourselves, that the Guardian Angels are for the most part selected. God reserves to the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones the honor of forming his own immediate court. The Dominations, from the steps of his throne, preside over the government of the universe; the Virtues watch over the course of nature’s laws, the preservation of species, and the movements of the heavens; the Powers hold the spirits of wickedness in subjection. The human race in its entirety, as also its great social bodies, the nations and the churches, are confided to the Principalities; while the Archangels, who preside over smaller communities, seem also to have the office of transmitting to the Angels the commands of God, together with the love and light which come down even to us from the first and highest hierarchy. O the depths of the wisdom of God! Thus, then, the admirable distribution of offices among the choirs of heavenly spirits terminates in the function committed to the lowest rank, the guardianship of man, for whom the universe subsists. Such is the teaching of the School; and the Apostle, in like manner, says: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?

But God, magnificent as he is towards the whole human race, honors in a special manner the princes of his people, those who are most favored by his grace, or who rule the earth in his name; the Saints testify that a supereminent perfection, or a higher mission in Church or State, ensures to the individual the assistance of a superior spirit, without the Angels, that was first deputed, being necessarily removed from his charge. Moreover, with regard to the work of salvation, the Guardian Angel has no fear of being left alone at his post; at his request, and at God’s command, the troops of his blessed companions who fill heaven and earth are ever ready to lend him their aid. These noble spirits, acting under the eye of God, whose love they desire to second by all possible means, have secret alliances between them, which sometimes induce between their clients even on earth, unions the mystery whereof will be revealed in the light of eternity.

“How profound a mystery,” says Origen, “is the apportioning of souls to the Angels destined for their guardians! It is a divine secret, part of the universal economy centered in the Man-God. Nor is it without ineffable order that the ministries of earth, the many departments of nature, are allotted to the heavenly Virtues; fountains and rivers, winds and forests, plants, living creatures of land and sea, whose various functions harmonize together, by the Angels directing them all to a common end.”

Again, on these words of Jeremias: How long shall the land mourn? Origen, supported by the authority of his translator St. Jerome, continues. “It is through each one of us that the earth rejoices or mourns; and not only the earth, but water, fire, air, all the elements; by which name we must here understand not insensible matter, but the Angels who are set over all things on earth. There is an Angel of the land who, with his companions, mourns over our crimes. There is an Angel of the waters to whom are applied the words of the Psalm: The waters saw thee, and they were afraid, and the depths were troubled; great was the noise of the waters; the clouds sent out a sound, for thy arrows pass.”

How grand is nature, viewed in this light! It is thus the ancients, more truthful as well as more poetical than our generation, always considered the universe. Their error lay in adoring these mysterious powers, to the detriment of the only God, under whom they stoop that bear up the world.

“Air and earth and ocean, everything is full of Angels,” says St. Ambrose. “Eliseus, besieged by a whole army, felt no fear; for he beheld invisible cohorts assisting him. May the prophet open thine eyes also, may the enemy, be he legion, not terrify thee; thou thinkest thyself hemmed in, and thou art free: there are more with us than with them.”

But let us return to our own specially-deputed Angel, and meditate on this other testimony: “The noble guardian of each one of us sleeps not, nor can he be deceived. Close thy door, and make the darkness of night; but remember, thou art never alone; he has no need of daylight in order to see thy actions.” And who is it that speaks thus? Not a Father of the Church, but a pagan, the slave-philosopher Epictetus.

In conclusion, let us listen to the Abbot of Clairvaux, who here gives free reign to his eloquence: “In every place show respect to thy Angel. Let gratitude for his benefits incite thee to honor his greatness. Love this thy future coheir, the guardian appointed for thee by the Father during thy childhood. For though we are sons of God, we are as yet but children, and long and dangerous is our journey. But God hath given his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk; and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon. Yes; where the road is smooth enough for a child, they will content themselves with guiding thee, and sustaining thy footsteps, as one does for children. But if trials threaten to surpass thy strength, they will bear thee up in their hands. Oh! those hands of Angels! Thanks to them, what fearful straits we have passed through, as it were without thinking, and with no other impression left upon us than that of a nightmare suddenly dispelled!”

And in his commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, St. Bernard thus describes the triumph of the Angel: “One of the companions of the Spouse, sent from heaven to the chosen soul as mediator; on witnessing the mystery accomplished, how he exults, and says: I give thee thanks, O God of majesty, for having granted the desire of her heart! Now it was he that, as a persevering friend, had not ceased, on the way, to murmur into the soul’s ear: Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy heart; and again: Expect the Lord, and keep his way; and then: If he make any delay, wait for him, for he will surely come and will not tarry. Meanwhile he represented to our Lord the soul’s desire, saying: As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so this soul panteth after thee, O God; have pity on her, hear her cries, and visit her in her desolation. And now the faithful paranymph, the confidant of ineffable secrets, is not jealous. He goes from the Spouse to the bride, offering desires, bringing back gifts; he incites the one, he appeases the other. Sometimes, even in this world, he brings them into each other’s presence, either by raising up the Bride in ecstasy, or by bringing down the Bridegroom; for he is one of the household, and well known in the palace; and he fears no rebuff, for every day he beholds the face of the Father.”

Blessed be ye, O holy Angels, for that your charity is not wearied out by the crimes of men; among so many other benefits, we thank you for keeping the earth habitable, by deigning to dwell always therein. Solitude often weighs heavily upon the hearts of God’s children; in the great towns, and in the paths of the world, where one meets only strangers or enemies; but if the number of the just grows less, yours never diminishes. In the midst of the excited multitude, as well as in the desert, not a human being that has not beside him an Angel, the representative of universal Providence over wicked and good alike. O blessed spirits! you and we have the same fatherland, the same thought, the same love; why should the confused noises of a frivolous crowd disturb the heavenly life we may lead even now with you? Does the tumult of public places hinder you from holding your choirs there, or prevent the Most High from hearing your harmonies? We also, beholding by faith the face of our heavenly Father, which you ever delightedly contemplate, we wish to sing in every place the praises of our Lord and to unite at all times our adorations with yours. Thus, when our manners have become altogether angelic, the present life will be full of peace, and we shall be well prepared for eternity.

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  California Becomes First State To Require Students Be Vaccinated To Attend School
Posted by: Stone - 10-01-2021, 02:58 PM - Forum: COVID Vaccines - No Replies

California Becomes First State To Require Students Be Vaccinated To Attend School

ZH | OCT 01, 2021

Fresh of his victory in the gubernatorial runoff, California Gov. Gavin Newsom just announced that California's schools will soon require all eligible public and private school students in 7th grade and higher in the Golden State to be vaccinated against COVID, a first-in-the-nation policy that Newsom says will impact millions of students by fall 2022, or possibly sooner.

The mandate would impact students in grades 7 through 12 and will be imposed during the next semester after (and assuming) the FDA gives full approval for vaccines for children ages 12 and older.

"This is just another vaccine," Newsom said during a news conference after he announced the "state-wide" mandate, claiming the COVID jab would join "a well-established list that currently includes 10 vaccines and well-established rules and regulations that have been advanced by the Legislature for decades."

Readers can watch the clip below:


Once the vaccines are approved for use in younger students, they will likely be phased in. Apparently, it doesn't matter whether COVID is still a problem by then or not.

The mandate could take effect for students 12 and older as early as January 2022, if full federal approval comes along by then, the governor said during live remarks at a San Francisco school.

Presently, the vaccine is only approved for patients aged 16 or older, though Pfizer has published trial results and submitted them to the FDA, suggesting approval for students aged 12 o 15 could likely come before the end of the year. If this happens, all students in 7th grade and above will be required to get the vaccine, or attend online school - or home school - permanently.

Medical and religious exemptions will be offered, Newsom said.


What's more, vaccines for students aged 5 to 11 are not that far off, which means the state could soon extend its requirements to all children in Kindergarten or older. Pfizer is expected to apply for authorization imminently with evidence that shows its vaccine is safe for children in that age range.

California was famously the first state to lock down, minting the "two weeks to stop the spread" slogan that's remembered

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