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| Steps of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by St. Alphonsus de Liguori |
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Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 02-21-2021, 04:39 PM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lord
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Steps of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
A short devotion to the suffering of Our Saviour
(Taken from St. Alphonsus Prayer-Book, page 169-171)
O Most Sweet Jesus, Who while praying in the Garden, didst sweat blood, wast in agony, and didst suffer a sorrow so great as to suffice to cause Thee death, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, Who was betrayed by Judas with a kiss, and delivered over into the hands of Thine enemies, and then wast taken prisoner by them, and bound in chains and ropes, and abandoned by Thy disciples, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, declared by the council of the Jews guilty of death, and in the house of Caiphas was blindfolded with a piece of cloth, and then punched, buffeted, spat upon, and derided, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, led away as a malefactor, a criminal before Pilate, and then turned by Herod into ridicule, and treated as a madman, as a fool, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, stripped of Thy garments and bound to the pillar, and so cruelly scourged, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, crowned with thorns, covered with a red mantle, punched, buffeted and in mockery saluted as King of the Jews, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, rejected by the Jews, and placed after Barabbas, and then unjustly condemned by Pilate to die upon the cross, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, laden with the wood of the cross, and as an innocent lamb led away unto death, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, nailed upon the cross, placed between two thieves, ridiculed and blasphemed, and for three hours suffering in agony of the most horrible torments, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, dead upon the cross, in sight of Thy most holy Mother, transfixed in Thy side with the spear, from whence there issued forth blood and water, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, taken down from the cross, and place in the bosom of Thine afflicted Mother, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
Most Sweet Jesus, Who, torn with stripes and stamped with Thy five wounds, wast laid in the sepulchre, have mercy on us.
R. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.
V. Surely, He hath borne our infirmities.
R. And He hath carried our sorrows.
Let us Pray
O God, Who for the redemption of the world, didst will to be born, to be circumcised, rejected by the Jews, betrayed by the traitor Judas with a kiss, bound with cords, led as an innocent lamb to the sacrifice, and with so many insults taken before Annas, Caiphas, Pilate and Herod, accused by false witnesses, beaten with scourges and punches, overwhelmed with ignominies, spat upon, crowned with thorns, struck with the reed, blindfolded, stripped of Thy garments, fastened with nails to the cross, lifted up on the cross, numbered amongst thieves, with gall and vinegar given Thee to drink and wounded with the spear in Thy heart – do Thou, Lord, by these sacred pains which I unworthy venerate, and in by Thy holy cross and death, deliver me from hell, and vouchsafe to conduct me whither Thou didst conduct the thief that was crucified with Thee: Thou Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost forever and ever. Amen.
So do I hope, and so may it be. Amen.
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| Anne Catherine Emmerich: The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-21-2021, 02:14 PM - Forum: Lenten Devotions
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The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
London, Burns and Lambert [1862]
MEDITATION I
Preparations for the Pasch
- Holy Thursday, the 13th of Nisan (29th of March)
YESTERDAY evening it was that the last great public repast of our Lord and his friends took place in the house of Simon the Leper, at Bethania, and Mary Magdalen for the last time anointed the feet of Jesus with precious ointment. Judas was scandalised upon this occasion, and hastened forthwith to Jerusalem again to conspire with the high-priests for the betrayal of Jesus into their hands. After the repast, Jesus returned to the house of Lazarus, and some of the Apostles went to the inn situated beyond Bethania. During the night Nicodemus again came to Lazarus' house, had a long conversation with our Lord, and returned before daylight to Jerusalem, being accompanied part of the way by Lazarus.
The disciples had already asked Jesus where he would eat the Pasch. To-day, before dawn, our Lord sent for Peter, James, and John, spoke to them at some length concerning all they had to prepare and order at Jerusalem, and told them that when ascending Mount Sion, they would meet the man carrying a pitcher of water. They were already well acquainted with this man, for at the last Pasch, at Bethania, it had been him who prepared the meal for Jesus, and this is why St. Matthew says: a certain man. They were to follow him home, and say to him: The Master saith, My time is near at hand, with thee I make the pasch with my disciples (Matt. xxvi. 18). They were then to be shown the supper-room, and make all necessary preparations.
I saw the two Apostles ascending towards Jerusalem, along a ravine, to the south of the Temple, and in the direction of the north side of Sion. On the southern side of the mountain on which the Temple stood, there were some rows of houses; and they walked opposite these houses, following the stream of an intervening torrent. When they had reached the summit of Mount Sion, which is higher than the mountain of the Temple, they turned their steps towards the south, and, just at the beginning of a small ascent, met the man who had been named to them; they followed and spoke to him as Jesus had commanded. He was much gratified by their words, and answered, that a supper had already been ordered to be prepared at his house (probably by Nicodemus), but that he had not been aware for whom, and was delighted to learn that it was for Jesus. This man's name was Heli, and he was the brother-in-law of Zachary of Hebron, in whose house Jesus had in the preceding year announced the death of John the Baptist. He had only one son, who was a Levite, and a friend of St. Luke, before the latter was called by our Lord, and five daughters, all of whom were unmarried. He went up every year with his servants for the festival of the Pasch, hired a room and prepared the Pasch for persons who had no friend in the town to lodge with. This year he had hired a supper-room which belonged to Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. He showed the two Apostles its position and interior arrangement.
* * *
MEDITATION II
The Supper-Room
ON the southern side of Mount Sion, not far from the ruined Castle of David, and the market held on the ascent leading to that Castle, there stood, towards the east, an ancient and solid building, between rows of thick trees, in the midst of a spacious court surrounded by strong walls. To the right and left of the entrance, other buildings were to be seen adjoining the wall, particularly to the right, where stood the dwelling of the major-domo, and close to it the house in which the Blessed Virgin and the holy women spent most of their time after the death of Jesus. The supper-room, which was originally larger, had formerly been inhabited by David's brave captains, who had there learned the use of arms.
Previous to the building of the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant had been deposited there for a considerable length of time, and traces of its presence were still to be found in an underground room. I have also seen the Prophet Malachy hidden beneath this same roof: he there wrote his prophecies concerning the Blessed Sacrament and the Sacrifice of the New Law. Solomon held this house in honour, and performed within its walls some figurative and symbolical action, which I have forgotten. When a great part of Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, this house was spared. I have seen many other things concerning this same house, but I only remember what I have now told.
This building was in a very dilapidated state when it became the property of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who arranged the principal building in a very suitable manner, and let it as a supper-room to strangers coming to Jerusalem for the purpose of celebrating the festival of the Pasch. Thus it was that our Lord had made use of it the previous year. Moreover, the house and surrounding buildings served as warehouses for monuments and other stones, and as workshops for the labourers; for Joseph of Arimathea possessed valuable quarries in his own country, from which he had large blocks of stone brought, that his workmen might fashion them, under his own eye, into tombs, architectural ornaments, and columns, for sale. Nicodemus had a share in this business, and used to spend many leisure hours himself in sculpturing. He worked in the room, or in a subterraneous apartment which was beneath it, excepting at the times of the festivals; and this occupation having brought him, into connection with Joseph of Arimathea, they had become friends, and often joined together in various transactions.
This morning, whilst Peter and John were conversing with the man who had hired the supper-room, I saw Nicodemus in the buildings to the left of the court, where a great many stones which filled up the passages leading to the supper-room had been placed. A week before, I had seen several persons engaged in putting the stones on one side, cleaning the court, and preparing the supper-room for the celebration of the Pasch; it even appears to me that there were among them some disciples of our Lord, perhaps Aram and Themein, the cousins of Joseph of Arimathea.
The supper-room, properly so called, was nearly in the centre of the court; its length was greater than its width; it was surrounded by a row of low pillars, and if the spaces between the pillars had been cleared, would have formed a part of the large inner room, for the whole edifice was, as it were, transparent; only it was usual, except on special occasions, for the passages to be closed up. The room was lighted by apertures at the top of the walls. In front, there was first a vestibule, into which three doors gave entrance; next, the large inner room, where several lamps hung from the platform; the walls were ornamented for the festival, half way up, with beautiful matting or tapestry, and an aperture had been made in the roof, and covered over with transparent blue gauze.
The back part of this room was separated from the rest by a curtain, also of blue transparent gauze. This division of the supper-room into three parts gave a resemblance to the Temple--thus forming the outer Court, the Holy, and the Holy of Holies. In the last of these divisions, on both sides, the dresses and other things necessary for the celebration of the feast were placed. In the centre there was a species of altar. A stone bench raised on three steps, and of a rectangular triangular shape, came out of the wall; it must have constituted the upper part of the oven used for roasting the Paschal Lamb, for to-day the steps were quite heated during the repast. I cannot describe in detail all that there was in this part of the room, but all kinds of arrangements were being made there for preparing the Paschal Supper. Above this hearth or altar, there was a species of niche in the wall, in front of which I saw an image of the Paschal Lamb, with a knife in its throat, and the blood appearing to flow drop by drop upon the altar; but I do not remember distinctly how that was done. In a niche in the wall there were three cupboards of various colours, which turned like our tabernacles, for opening or closing. A number of vessels used in the celebration of the Pasch were kept in them; later, the Blessed Sacrament was placed there.
In the rooms at the sides of the supper-room, there were some couches, on which thick coverlids rolled up were placed, and which could be used as beds. There were spacious cellars beneath the whole of this building. The Ark of the Covenant was formerly deposited under the very spot where the hearth was afterwards built. Five gutters, under the house, served to convey the refuse to the slope of the hill, on the -upper part of which the house was built. I had previously seen Jesus preach and perform miraculous cures there, and the disciples frequently passed the night in the side rooms.
* * *
MEDITATION III
Arrangements for eating the Paschal Lamb
WHEN the disciples had spoken to Heli of Hebron, the latter went back into the house by the court, but they turned to the right, and hastened down the north side of the hill, through Sion. They passed over a bridge, and walking along a road covered with brambles, reached the other side of the ravine, which was in front of the Temple, and of the row of houses which were to the south of that building. There stood the house of the aged Simeon, who died in the Temple after the presentation of our Lord; and his sons, some of whom were disciples of Jesus in secret, were actually living there. The Apostles spoke to one of them, a tall dark-complexioned man, who held some office in the Temple. They went with him to the eastern side of the Temple, through that part of Ophel by which Jesus made his entry into Jerusalem on Palm-Sunday, and thence to the cattle-market, which stood in the town, to the north of the Temple. In the southern part of this market I saw little enclosures in which some beautiful lambs were gambolling about. Here it was that lambs for the Pasch were bought. I saw the son of Simeon enter one of these enclosures; and the lambs gambolled round him as if they knew him. He chose out four, which were carried to the supper-room. In the afternoon I saw him in the supper-room, engaged in preparing the Paschal Lamb.
I saw Peter and John go to several different parts of the town, and order various things. I saw them also standing opposite the door of a house situated to the north of Mount Calvary, where the disciples of Jesus lodged the greatest part of the time, and which belonged to Seraphia (afterwards called Veronica). Peter and John sent some disciples from thence to the supper-room, giving them several commissions, which I have forgotten.
They also went into Seraphia's house, where they had several arrangements to make. Her husband, who was a member of the council, was usually absent and engaged in business; but even when he was at home she saw little of him. She was a woman of about the age of the Blessed Virgin, and had long been connected with the Holy Family; for when the Child Jesus remained the three days in Jerusalem after the feast, she it was who supplied him with food.
The two Apostles took from thence, among other things, the chalice of which our Lord made use in the institution of the Holy Eucharist.
* * *
MEDITATION IV
The Chalice used at the Last Supper
THE chalice which the Apostles brought from Veronica's house was wonderful and mysterious in its appearance. It had been kept a long time in the Temple among other precious objects of great antiquity, the use and origin of which had been forgotten. The same has been in some degree the case in the Christian Church, where many consecrated jewels have been forgotten and fallen into disuse with time. Ancient vases and jewels, buried beneath the Temple, had often been dug up, sold, or reset. Thus it was that, by God's permission, this holy vessel, which none had ever been able to melt down on account of its being made of some unknown material, and which had been found by the priests in the treasury of the Temple among other objects no longer made use of, had been sold to some antiquaries. It was bought by Seraphia, was several times made use of by Jesus in the celebration of festivals, and, from the day of the Last Supper, became the exclusive property of the holy Christian community. This vessel was not always the same as when used by our Lord at his Last Supper, and perhaps it was upon that occasion that the various pieces which composed it were first put together. The great chalice stood upon a plate, out of which a species of tablet could also be drawn, and around it there were six little glasses. The great chalice contained another smaller vase; above it there was a small plate, and then came a round cover. A spoon was inserted in the foot of the chalice, and could be easily drawn out for use. All these different vessels were covered with fine linen, and, if I am not mistaken, were wrapped up in a case made of leather. The great chalice was composed of the cup and of the foot, which last must have been joined on to it at a later period, for it was of a different material. The cup was pear-shaped, massive, dark-coloured, and highly polished, with gold ornaments, and two small handles by which it could be lifted. The foot was of virgin gold, elaborately worked, ornamented with a serpent and a small bunch of grapes, and enriched with precious stones.
The chalice was left in the Church of Jerusalem, in the hands of St. James the Less; and I see that it is still preserved in that town--it will reappear some day, in the same manner as before. Other Churches took the little cups which surrounded it; one was taken to Antioch, and another to Ephesus. They belonged to the patriarchs, who drank some mysterious beverage out of them when they received or gave a Benediction, as I have seen many times.
The great chalice had formerly been in the possession of Abraham; Melchisedech brought it with him from the land of Semiramis to the land of Canaan, when he was beginning to found some settlements on the spot where Jerusalem was afterwards built; he made use of it then for offering sacrifice, when he offered bread and wine in the presence of Abraham, and he left it in the possession of that holy patriarch. This same chalice had also been preserved in Noah's Ark.
* * *
MEDITATION V
Jesus goes up to Jerusalem
IN the morning, while the Apostles were engaged at Jerusalem in preparing for the Pasch, Jesus, who had remained at Bethania, took an affecting leave of the holy women, of Lazarus, and of his Blessed Mother, and gave them some final instructions. I saw our Lord conversing apart with his Mother, and he told her, among other things, that he had sent Peter, the apostle of faith, and John, the apostle of love, to prepare for the Pasch at Jerusalem. He said, in speaking of Magdalen, whose grief was excessive, that her love was great, but still somewhat human, and that on this account her sorrow made her beside herself. He spoke also of the schemes of the traitor Judas, and the Blessed Virgin prayed for him. Judas had again left Bethania to go to Jerusalem, under pretence of paying some debts that were due. He spent his whole day in hurrying backwards and forwards from one Pharisee to another, and making his final agreements with them He was shown the soldiers who had been engaged to seize the person of our Divine Saviour, and he so arranged his journeys to and fro as to be able to account for his absence. I beheld all his wicked schemes and all his thoughts. He was naturally active and obliging, but these good qualities were choked by avarice, ambition, and envy, which passions he made no effort to control. In our Lord's absence he had even performed miracles and healed the sick.
When our Lord announced to his Blessed Mother what was going to take place, she besought him, in the most touching terms, to let her die with him. But he exhorted her to show more calmness in her sorrow than the other women, told her that he should rise again, and named the very spot where he should appear to her. She did not weep much, but her grief was indescribable, and there was something almost awful in her look of deep recollection. Our Divine Lord returned thanks, as a loving Son, for all the love she had borne him, and pressed her to his heart. He also told her that he would make the Last Supper with her, spiritually, and named the hour at which she would receive his precious Body and Blood. Then once more he, in touching language, bade farewell to all, and gave them different instructions.
About twelve o'clock in the day, Jesus and the nine Apostles went from Bethania up to Jerusalem, followed by seven disciples, who, with the exception of Nathaniel and Silas, came from Jerusalem and the neighbourhood. Among these were John, Mark, and the son of the poor widow who, the Thursday previous, had offered her mite in the Temple, whilst Jesus was preaching there. Jesus had taken him into his company a few days before. The holy women set off later.
Jesus and his companions walked around Mount Olivet, about the valley of Josaphat, and even as far as Mount Calvary. During the whole of this walk, be continued giving them instructions. He told the Apostles, among other things, that until then he had given them his bread and his wine, but that this day he was going to give them his Body and Blood, his whole self-all that he had and all that he was. The countenance of our Lord bore so touching an expression whilst he was speaking, that his whole soul seemed to breathe forth from his lips, and he appeared to be languishing with love and desire for the moment when he should give himself to man. His disciples did not understand him, but thought that he was speaking of the Paschal Lamb. No words can give an adequate idea of the love and resignation which were expressed in these last discourses of our Lord at Bethania, and on his way to Jerusalem.
The seven disciples who had followed our Lord to Jerusalem did not go there in his company, but carried the ceremonial habits for the Pasch to the supper-room, and then returned to the house of Mary, the mother of Mark. When Peter and John came to the supper-room with the chalice, all the ceremonial habits were already in the vestibule, whither they had been brought by his disciples and some companions. They had also hung the walls with drapery, cleared the higher openings in the sides, and put up three lamps. Peter and John then went to the Valley of Josaphat, and summoned our Lord and the twelve Apostles. The disciples and friends who were also to make their Pasch in the supper-room, came later.
* * *
MEDITATION VI
The Last Pasch
JESUS and his disciples ate the Paschal Lamb in the supper-room. They divided into three groups. Jesus ate the Paschal Lamb with the twelve Apostles in the supper-room, properly so called; Nathaniel with twelve other disciples in one of the lateral rooms, and Eliacim (the son of Cleophas and Mary, the daughter of Heli), who had been a disciple of John the Baptist, with twelve more, in another side-room
Three lambs were immolated for them in the Temple, but there was a fourth lamb which was immolated in the supper-room, and was the one eaten by Jesus with his Apostles. Judas was not aware of this circumstance, because being engaged in plotting his betrayal of our Lord, he only returned a few moments before the repast, and after the immolation of the lamb had taken place. Most touching was the scene of the immolation of the lamb to be eaten by Jesus and his Apostles; it took place in the vestibule of the supper-room. The Apostles and disciples were present, singing the 118th Psalm. Jesus spoke of a new period then beginning, and said that the sacrifice of Moses and the figure of the Paschal Lamb were about to receive their accomplishment, but that on this very account, the lamb was to be immolated in the same manner as formerly in Egypt, and that they were really about to go forth from the house of bondage.
The vessels and necessary instruments were prepared, and then the attendants brought a beautiful little lamb, decorated with a crown, which was sent to the Blessed Virgin in the room where she had remained with the other holy women. The lamb was fastened with its back against a board by a cord around its body, and reminded me of Jesus tied to the pillar and scourged. The son of Simeon held the lamb's head; Jesus made a slight incision in its neck with the point of a knife, Which he then gave to the son of Simeon, that he might complete killing it. Jesus appeared to inflict the wound with a feeling of repugnance, and he was quick in his movements, although his countenance was grave, and his manner such as to inspire respect. The blood flowed into a basin, and the attendants brought a branch of hyssop, which Jesus dipped in it. Then he went to the door of the room, stained the side-posts and the lock with blood, and placed the branch which had been dipped in blood above the door. He then spoke to the disciples, and told them, among other things, that the exterminating angel would pass by, that they would adore in that room without fear or anxiety, when he, the true Paschal Lamb, should have been immolated--that a new epoch, and a new sacrifice were about to begin, which would last to the end of the world.
They then went to the other side of the room, near the hearth where the Ark of the Covenant had formerly stood. Fire had already been lighted there, and Jesus poured some blood upon the hearth, consecrating it as an altar; and the remainder of the blood and the fat were thrown on the fire beneath the altar, after which Jesus, followed by his Apostles, walked round the supper-room, singing some psalms, and consecrating it as a new Temple. The doors were all closed during this time. Meanwhile the son of Simeon had completed the preparation of the lamb. He passed a stake through its body, fastening the front legs on a cross piece of wood, and stretching the hind ones along the stake. It bore a strong resemblance to Jesus on the cross, and was placed in the oven, to be there roasted with the three other lambs brought from the Temple.
The Paschal Lambs of the Jews were all immolated in the vestibule of the Temple, but in different parts, according as the persons who were to eat them were rich, or poor, or Strangers. [6] The Paschal Lamb belonging to Jesus was not immolated in the Temple, but everything else was done strictly according to the law. Jesus again addressed his disciples, saying that the lamb was but a figure, that he himself would next day be the true Paschal Lamb, together with other things which I have forgotten.
When Jesus had finished his instructions concerning the Paschal Lamb and its signification, the time being come, and Judas also returned, the tables were set out. The disciples put on travelling dresses which were in the vestibule, different shoes, a white robe resembling a shirt, and a cloak, which was short in front and longer behind, their sleeves were large and turned back, and they girded up their clothes around the waist. Each party went to their own table; and two sets of disciples in the side rooms, and our Lord and his Apostles in the supper-room. They held staves in their hands, and went two and two to the table, where they remained standing, each in his own place, with the stave resting on his arms, and his hands upraised.
The table was narrow, and about half a foot higher than the knees of a man; in shape it resembled a horseshoe, and opposite Jesus, in the inner part of the half-circle, there was a space left vacant, that the attendants might be able to set down the dishes. As far as I can remember, John, James the Greater, and James the Less sat on the right-hand of Jesus; after them Bartholomew, and then, round the corner, Thomas and Judas Iscariot. Peter, Andrew, and Thaddeus sat on the left of Jesus; next came Simon, and then (round the corner) Matthew and Philip.
The Paschal Lamb was placed on a dish in the centre of the table. Its head rested on its front legs, which were fastened to a cross-stick, its hind legs being stretched out, and the dish was garnished with garlic. By the side there was a dish with the Paschal roast meat, then came a plate with green vegetables balanced against each other, and another plate with small bundles of bitter herbs, which had the appearance of aromatic herbs. Opposite Jesus there was also one dish with different herbs, and a second containing a brown-coloured sauce or beverage. The guests had before them some round loaves instead of plates, and they used ivory knives.
After the prayer, the major-domo laid the knife for cutting the lamb on the table before Jesus, who placed a cup of wine before him, and filled six other cups, each one of which stood between two Apostles. Jesus blessed the wine and drank, and the Apostles drank two together out of one cup. Then our Lord proceeded to cut up the lamb; his Apostles presented their pieces of bread in turn, and each received his share. They ate it in haste, separating the flesh from the bone, by means of their ivory knives, and the bones were afterwards burnt. They also ate the garlic and green herbs in haste, dipping them in the sauce. All this time they remained standing, only leaning slightly on the backs of their seats. Jesus broke one of the loaves of unleavened bread, covered up a part of it, and divided the remainder among his Apostles. Another cup of wine was brought, but Jesus drank not of it: Take this,' he said, and divide it among you, for I will not drink from henceforth, of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father' (Matt. xxvi. 29). When they had drunk the wine, they sang a hymn; then Jesus prayed or taught, and they again washed their hands. After this they sat down.
Our Lord cut up another lamb, which was carried to the holy women in one of the buildings of the court, where they were seated at table. The Apostles ate some more vegetables and lettuce. The countenance of our Divine Saviour bore an indescribable expression of serenity and recollection, greater than I had ever before Seen. He bade the Apostles forget all their cares. The Blessed Virgin also, as she sat at table with the other women, looked most placid and calm. When the other women came up, and took hold of her veil to make her turn round and speak to them, her every movement expressed the sweetest self-control and placidity of spirit.
At first Jesus conversed lovingly and calmly with his disciples, but after a while he became grave and sad: Amen, Amen, I say to you, that one of you is about to betray me:' he said, he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish' (Matt. xxvi. 21, 23). Jesus was then distributing the lettuce, of which there was only one dish, to those Apostles who were by his side, and be had given Judas, who was nearly opposite to him, the office of distributing it to the others. When Jesus spoke of a traitor, an expression which filled all the Apostles with fear, he said: he that dippeth his hand with me in the dish,' which means: I one of the twelve who are eating and drinking with me--one of those with whom I am eating bread.' He did not plainly point out Judas to the others by these words; for to dip the hand in the same dish was an expression used to signify the most friendly and intimate intercourse. He was desirous, however, to give a warning to Judas, who was then really dipping his hand in the dish with our Saviour, to distribute the lettuce. Jesus continued to speak: The Son of man indeed goeth,' he said, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of man shall be betrayed: It were better for him if that man had not been born.'
The Apostles were very much troubled, and each one of them exclaimed: Lord, is it I?' for they were all perfectly aware that they did not entirely understand his words. Peter leaned towards John, behind Jesus, and made him a sign to ask our Lord who the traitor was to be, for, having so often been reproved by our Lord, he trembled lest it should be himself who was referred to. John was seated at the right hand of Jesus, and as all were leaning on their left arms, using the right to eat, his head was close to the bosom of Jesus. He leaned then on his breast and said: Lord, who is it?' I did not see Jesus say to him with his lips: He it is to whom I shall reach bread dipped.' I do not know whether he whispered it to him, but John knew it, when Jesus having dipped the bread, which was covered with lettuce, gave it tenderly to Judas, who also asked: Is it I, Lord?' Jesus looked at him with love, and answered him in general terms. Among the Jews, to give bread dipped was a mark of friendship and confidence; Jesus on this occasion gave Judas the morsel, in order thus to warn him, without making known his guilt to the others. But the heart of Judas burned with anger, and during the whole time of the repast, I saw a frightful little figure seated at his feet, and sometimes ascending to his heart. I did not see John repeat to Peter what he had learned from Jesus, but he set his fears at rest by a look.
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MEDITATION VIII
Institution of the Holy Eucharist
By command of our Lord, the major-domo had again laid out the table, which he had raised a little; then, having placed it once more in the middle of the room, he stood one urn filled with wine, and another with water underneath it. Peter and John went into the part of the room near the hearth, to get the chalice which they had brought from Seraphia's house, and which was still wrapped up in its covering. They carried it between them as if they had been carrying a tabernacle, and placed it on the table before Jesus. An oval plate stood there, with three fine white azymous loaves, placed on a piece of linen, by the side of the half loaf which Jesus had set aside during the Paschal meal, also a jar containing wine and water, and three boxes, one filled with thick oil, a second with liquid oil, and the third empty.
In earlier times, it had been the practice for all at table to eat of the same loaf and drink of the same cup at the end of the meal, thereby to express their friendship and brotherly love, and to welcome and bid farewell to each other. I think Scripture must contain something upon this subject.
On the day of the Last Supper, Jesus raised this custom (which had hitherto been no more than a symbolical and figurative rite) to the dignity of the holiest of sacraments. One of the charges brought before Caiphas, on occasion of the treason of Judas, was, that Jesus had introduced a novelty into the Paschal ceremonies, but Nicodemus proved from Scripture that it was an ancient practice.
Jesus was seated between Peter and John, the doors were closed, and everything was done in the most mysterious and imposing manner. When the chalice was taken out of its covering, Jesus prayed, and spoke to his Apostles with the utmost solemnity. I saw him giving them an explanation of the Supper, and of the entire ceremony, and I was forcibly reminded of a priest teaching others to say Mass.
He then drew a species of shelf with grooves from the board on which the jars stood, and taking a piece of white linen with which the chalice was covered, spread it over the board and shelf. I then saw him lift a round plate, which he placed on this same shelf, off the top of the chalice. He next took the azymous loaves from beneath the linen with which they were covered, and placed them before him on the board; then be took out of the chalice a smaller vase, and ranged the six little glasses on each side of it. Then he blessed the bread and also the oil, to the best of my belief, after which he lifted up the paten with the loaves upon it, in his two hands, raised his eyes, prayed offered, and replaced the paten on the table, covering it up again. He then took the chalice, had some wine poured into it by Peter, and some water, which he first blessed, by John, adding to it a little more water, which he poured into a small spoon, and after this he blessed the chalice, raised it up with a prayer, made the oblation, and replaced it on the table.
John and Peter poured some water on his hands, which he held over the plate on which the azymous loaves had been placed; then he took a little of the water which had been poured on his hands, in the spoon that be had taken out of the lower part of the chalice, and poured it on theirs. After this, the vase was passed round the table, and all the Apostles washed their hands in it. I do not remember whether this was the precise order in which these ceremonies were performed; all I know is, that they reminded me in a striking manner of the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
Meanwhile, our Divine Lord became more and more tender and loving in his demeanour; he told his Apostles that he was about to give them all that he had, namely, his entire self, and he looked as though perfectly transformed by love. I saw him becoming transparent, until he resembled a luminous shadow. He broke the bread into several pieces, which he laid together on the paten, and then took a corner of the first piece and dropped it into the chalice. At the moment when he was doing this, I seemed to see the Blessed Virgin receiving the Holy Sacrament in a spiritual manner, although she was not present in the supper-room. I do not know how it was done, but I thought I saw her enter without touching the ground, and come before our Lord to receive the Holy Eucharist; after which I saw her no more. Jesus had told her in the morning, at Bethania, that he would keep the Pasch with her spiritually, and he had named the hour at which she was to betake herself to prayer, in order to receive it in spirit.
Again he prayed and taught; his words came forth from his lips like fire and light, and entered into each of the Apostles, with the exception of Judas. He took the paten with the pieces of bread (I do not know whether he had placed it on the chalice) and said: Take and eat; this is my Body which is given for you.' He stretched forth his right hand as if to bless, and, whilst he did so, a brilliant light came from him, his words were luminous, the bread entered the mouths of the Apostles as a brilliant substance, and light seemed to penetrate and surround them all, Judas alone remaining dark. Jesus presented the bread first to Peter, next to John [7] and then he made a sign to Judas to approach. Judas was thus the third who received the Adorable Sacrament, but the words of our Lord appeared to turn aside from the mouth of the traitor, and come back to their Divine Author. So perturbed was I in spirit at this sight, that my feelings cannot be described. Jesus said to him: That which thou dost, do quickly.' He then administered the Blessed Sacrament to the other Apostles, who approached two and two.
Jesus raised the chalice by its two handles to a level with his face, and pronounced the words of consecration. Whilst doing so, he appeared wholly transfigured, as it were transparent, and as though entirely passing into what he was going to give his Apostles. He made Peter and John drink from the chalice which he held in his hand, and then placed it again on the table. John poured the Divine Blood from the chalice into the smaller glasses, and Peter presented them to the Apostles, two of whom drank together out of the same cup. I think, but am not quite certain, that Judas also partook of the chalice; he did not return to his place, but immediately left the supper-room, and the other Apostles thought that Jesus had given him some commission to do. He left without praying or making any thanksgiving, and hence you may perceive how sinful it is to neglect returning thanks either after receiving our daily food, or after partaking of the Life-Giving Bread of Angels. During the entire meal, I had seen a frightful little figure, with one foot like a dried bone, remaining close to Judas, but when he had reached the door, I beheld three devils pressing round him; one entered into his mouth, the second urged him on, and the third preceded him. It was night, and they seemed to be lighting him, whilst he hurried onward like a madman.
Our Lord poured a few drops of the Precious Blood remaining in the chalice into the little vase of which I have already spoken, and then placed his fingers over the chalice, while Peter and John poured water and wine upon them. This done, he caused them to drink again from the chalice, and what remained of its contents was poured into the smaller glasses, and distributed to the other Apostles. Then Jesus wiped the chalice, put into it the little vase containing the remainder of the Divine Blood, and placed over it the paten with the fragments of the consecrated bread, after which he again put on the cover, wrapped up the chalice, and stood it in the midst of the six small cups. I saw the Apostles receive in communion these remains of the Adorable Sacrament, after the Resurrection.
I do not remember seeing our Lord himself eat and drink of the consecrated elements, neither did I see Melchisedech, when offering the bread and wine, taste of them himself. It was made known to me why priests partake of them, although Jesus did not.
Here Sister Emmerich looked suddenly up, and appeared to be listening. Some explanation was given her on this subject, but the following words were all that she could repeat to us: If the office of distributing it had been given to angels, they would not have partaken, but if priests did not partake, the Blessed Eucharist would be lost-- it is through their participation that it is preserved.'
There was an indescribable solemnity and order in all the actions of Jesus during the institution of the Holy Eucharist, and his every movement was most majestic. I saw the Apostles noting things down in the little rolls of parchment which they carried on their persons. Several times during the ceremonies I remarked that they bowed to each other, in the same way that our priests do.
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MEDITATION IX
Private Instructions and Consecrations
Jesus gave his Apostles some private instructions; he told them how they were to preserve the Blessed Sacrament in memory of him, even to the end of the world; he taught them the necessary forms for making use of and communicating it, and in what manner they were, by degrees, to teach and publish this mystery; finally he told them when they were to receive what remained of the consecrated Elements, when to give some to the Blessed Virgin, and how to consecrate, themselves, after he should have sent them the Divine Comforter. He then spoke concerning the priesthood, the sacred unction, and the preparation of the Chrism and Holy Oils. [8] He had there three boxes, two of which contained a mixture of oil and balm. He taught them how to make this mixture, what parts of the body were to be anointed with them, and upon what occasions. I remember, among other things, that he mentioned a case in which the Holy Eucharist could not be administered; perhaps what he said had reference to Extreme Unction, for my recollections on this point are not very clear. He spoke of different kinds of anointing, and in particular of that of kings, and he said that even wicked kings who were anointed, derived from it especial powers. He put ointment and oil in the empty box, and mixed them together, but I cannot say for certain whether it was at this moment, or at the time of the consecration of the bread, that he blessed the oil.
I then saw Jesus anoint Peter and John, on whose hands he had already poured the water which had flowed on his own, and two whom he had given to drink out of the chalice. Then he laid his hands on their shoulders and heads, while they, on their part, joined their hands and crossed their thumbs, bowing down profoundly before him--I am not sure whether they did not even kneel. He anointed the thumb and fore-finger of each of their hands, and marked a cross on their heads with Chrism. He said also that this would remain with them unto the end of the world.
James the Less, Andrew, James the Greater, and Bartholomew, were also consecrated. I saw likewise that on Peter's bosom he crossed a sort of stole worn round the neck, whilst on the others he simply placed it crosswise, from the right shoulder to the left side. I do not know whether this was done at the time of the institution of the Blessed Sacrament, or only for the anointing.
I understood that Jesus communicated to them by this unction something essential and supernatural, beyond my power to describe. He told them that when they should have received the Holy Spirit they were to consecrate the bread and wine, and anoint the other Apostles. It was made known to me then that, on the day of Pentecost, Peter and John imposed their hands upon the other Apostles, and a week later upon several of the disciples. After the Resurrection, John gave the Adorable Sacrament for the first time to the Blessed Virgin. This event was solemnised as a festival among the Apostles. It is a festival no longer kept in the Church on earth, but I see it celebrated in the Church triumphant. For the first few days after Pentecost I saw only Peter and John consecrate the Blessed Eucharist, but after that the others also consecrated.
Our Lord next proceeded to bless fire in a brass vessel, and care was taken that it should not go out, but it was kept near the spot where the Blessed Sacrament had been deposited, in one division of the ancient Paschal hearth, and fire was always taken from it when needed for spiritual purposes.
All that Jesus did upon this occasion was done in private, and taught equally in private. The Church has retained all that was essential of these secret instructions, and, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, developed and adapted them to all her requirements.
Whether Peter and John were both consecrated bishops, or Peter alone as bishop and John as priest, or to what dignity the other four Apostles were raised, I cannot pretend to say. But the different ways in which our Lord arranged the Apostles' stoles appear to indicate different degrees of consecration.
When these holy ceremonies were concluded, the chalice (near which the blessed Chrism also stood) was re-covered, and the Adorable Sacrament carried by Peter and John into the back part of the room, which was divided off by a curtain, and from thenceforth became the Sanctuary. The spot where the Blessed Sacrament was deposited was not very far above the Paschal stove. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took care of the Sanctuary and of the supper-room during the absence of the Apostles.
Jesus again instructed his Apostles for a considerable length of time, and also prayed several times. He frequently appeared to be conversing with his Heavenly Father, and to be overflowing with enthusiasm and love. The Apostles also were full of joy and zeal, and asked him various questions which he forthwith answered. The scriptures must contain much of this last discourse and conversation. He told Peter and John different things to be made known later to the other Apostles, who in their turn were to communicate them to the disciples and holy women, according to the capacity of each for such knowledge. He had a private conversation with John, whom he told that his life would be longer than the lives of the others. He spoke to him also concerning seven Churches, some crowns and angels, and instructed him in the meaning of certain mysterious figures, which signified, to the beat of my belief, different epochs. The other Apostles were slightly jealous of this confidential communication being made to John.
Jesus spoke also of the traitor. Now he is doing this or that,' he said, and I, in fact, saw Judas doing exactly as he said of him. As Peter was vehemently protesting that he would always remain faithful, our Lord said to him: Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not: and thou being once converted, confirm thy brethren.'
Again, our Lord said, that whither he was going they could not follow him, when Peter exclaimed: Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death.' And Jesus replied: Amen, amen, I say to thee, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice.'
Jesus, while making known to his Apostles that trying times were at hand for them, said: When I sent you without purse, or scrip, or shoes, did you want anything?' They answered: Nothing.' But now,' he continued, he that hath a purse let him take it, and likewise a scrip, and he that hath not, let him sell his coat and buy a sword. For I say to you, that this that is written must yet be fulfilled in me: AND WITH THE WICKED WAS HE BECKONED. For the things concerning me have an end.' The Apostles only understood his words in a carnal sense, and Peter showed him two swords, which were short and thick, like cleavers. Jesus said: It is enough: let us go hence.' Then they sang the thanksgiving hymn, put the table on one side, and went into the vestibule.
There, Jesus found his Mother, Mary of Cleophas, and Magdalen, who earnestly besought him not to go to Mount Olivet, for a report had spread that his enemies were seeking to lay hands on him. But Jesus comforted them in few words, and hastened onward--it being then about nine o'clock. They went down the road by which Peter and John had come to the supper-room, and directed their steps towards Mount Olivet.
I have always seen the Pasch and the institution of the Blessed Sacrament take place in the order related above. But my feelings were each time so strongly excited and my emotion so great, that I could not give much attention to all the details, but now I have seen them more distinctly. No words can describe how painful and exhausting is such a sight as that of beholding the hidden recesses of hearts, the love and constancy of our Saviour, and to know at the same time all that is going to befall him. How would it be possible to observe all that is merely external! the heart is overflowing with admiration, gratitude, and love--the blindness of men seems perfectly incomprehensible--and the soul is overwhelmed with sorrow at the thought of the ingratitude of the whole world, and of her own sins 1
The eating of the Paschal Lamb was performed by Jesus rapidly, and in entire conformity with all the legal ordinances. The Pharisees were in the habit of adding some minute and superstitious ceremonies.
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[8] It was not without surprise that the editor, some years after these things had been related by Sister Emmerich, read, in the Latin edition of the Roman Catechism (Mayence, Muller), in reference to the Sacrament of Confirmation, that, according to the tradition of the holy Pope Fabian, Jesus taught his Apostles in what manner they were to prepare the Holy Chrism, after the institution of the Blessed Sacrament. The Pope says expressly, in the 54th paragraph of his Second Epistle to the Bishops of the East: Our predecessors received from the Apostles and delivered to us that our Saviour Jesus Christ, after having made the Last Supper with his Apostles and washed their feet, taught them how to prepare the Holy Chrism.
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| First Sunday in Lent |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-21-2021, 07:25 AM - Forum: Lent
- Replies (5)
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INSTRUCTION ON THE FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT, called INVOCABIT.
Taken from Fr. 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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THIS Sunday is called Invocabit, because the Introit of the Mass begins with this word, which is taken from the ninetieth psalm, wherein we are urged to confidence in God, who willingly hears the prayer of the penitent: He shall call upon me, and I will hear him; I will deliver him, and glorify him; I will fill him with length of days. (Ps. xc. 15. 16.) He that dwelleth in the aid of the Most High shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven. (Ps. xc. 1.) Glory be to the Father. &c.
PRAYER OF THE CHURCH. O God who dost purify Thy Church by the yearly fast of Lent: grant to Thy household that what we strive to obtain from Thee by abstinence, by good works we may secure. Through our Lord, &c.
EPISTLE. (ii. Cor. vi. 1 — 10.) Brethren, we exhort you that you receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith: In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. Giving no offence to any man, that our ministry be not blamed: but in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the armor of justice on the right hand, and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report, and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastised, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as needy, yet enriching many; as having nothing, and possessing all things.
Quote:EXPLANATION. The Church very appropriately reads on this day this epistle of St. Paul, in which he exhorts the Christians to make use of the time of grace. A special time of grace is Lent, in which everything invites to conversion and penance, a time, therefore, in which God is ready to make rich bestowal of His graces. St. Anselm says, those do not use the grace who do not cooperate. Let us, therefore, follow St. Paul's exhortation, and earnestly practise those virtues he places before us, and especially those of temperance, patience, chastity, liberality, love of God and of our neighbor. Let us arm ourselves with the arms of justice at the right and the left, that is, let us strive to be humble in prosperity, and in adversity confident of God's help. Let us never be led from the path of virtue, by mockery, contempt, nor by persecution, torments, or death.
ASPIRATION. Grant, O Jesus, that we may always faithfully cooperate with Thy graces, and employ well the time Thou hast again given for our salvation.
GOSPEL. (Matt. iv. i — ii.) At that time, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry. And the tempter coming, said to him: If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Who answered and said: It is written: Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. Then the devil took him up into the holy city, and set him upon the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written: He hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said to him: It is written again: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil took him up into a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and said to him: All these will I give thee, if, falling down, thou wilt adore me. Then Jesus said to him: Begone, Satan, for it is writ- ten, The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil left him; and behold, angels came, and ministered to him.
Quote:INSTRUCTION.
I. Christ went into the desert by inspiration of the Holy Ghost to prepare by fasting and prayer, for His mission, and to endure the temptations of Satan, that, as St. Paul says, He might be one tempted in all things such as we are, without sin, and so become for us a High-priest who knew how to have com- passion on our infirmities, (Heb. iv. 15.) and to show us by His own example, how we should, armed with the word of God, as with a sword, overcome the tempter.(Eph. vi. 17.) — Let us, therefore, courageously follow Christ to the combat against all temptations, with His assistance it will not be hard to conquer them. He has certainly taught us to overcome the hardest ones: the lust of"the eyes, of the flesh, and the pride of life, and if we overcome these, it will be easy to conquer the rest.
II. If Christ, the only Son of God, permitted Himself to be tempted by Satan, even to be taken up on a high mountain, and to the pinnacle of the temple, it should not appear strange to us, that we are assailed by many temptations, or that we should find in the lives of so many saints that the evil spirit tormented them by various images of terror and vexation. This we find in the history of the pious Job, where we also find at the same time that the evil spirit cannot harm a hair of our head without God's permission.
III. From the coming of the angels to minister to Christ, after He had conquered Satan, we see that all who bravely resist temptations, will enjoy the assistance and consolations of the heavenly spirits.
INSTRUCTION ON TEMPTATION
To be tempted by the devil. (Matt. iv. 1.)
What is a temptation?
A temptation is either a trial for instruction and exercise in virtue, or a deception and incitement to sin. In the first sense, God tempts man. in the second, he is tempted by the devil, the world or bad people, and the flesh, by evil thoughts, feelings, words, or works.
By what are we principally tempted?
By our own evil concupiscence and inclination to sin which adhere to us through original sin, (Jam. i. 14.) on account of which it is said, that the flesh lusteth against the spirit. (Gal. v. 17.)
Does the devil also tempt us?
He does, and is therefore called, in this day's gospel, the tempter. St. Peter teaches us this, having himself experienced it: Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour,(i Peter v. 8.) Not all temptations are to be ascribed to the devil,however, they often come from our own corrupt nature, our own incautiousness, or looseness of our senses, by which we expose ourselves to the danger of falling into sin.
How does the devil tempt us to sin?
In a twofold manner: He incites the concupiscence of man to those sins to which he sees him inclined, and then seeks to blind and confuse his imagination, so that he neither reflects, nor properly sees the temporal injury, disgrace, and derision, nor the shamefulness of sin and its eternal punishment. Thus the devil seduced Eve, our first mother, and thus he tempted Christ, with whom he could not, of course, succeed, for He was incapable of sin. He tempts bad people to persecute us, or to try us by their wicked vanities, as he did by the friends of Job.
Can the devil force us to evil?
He cannot; "for as a chained dog," says St. Augustine, "can bite none but those who go near him, so the devil cannot harm with his temptations those who do not consent to them. Like the dog he can bark at you, but cannot bite you against your will." Not by force but by persuasion Satan strives to injure, he does not force our consent, but entreats it. Seek, therefore, to subdue your passions and your senses, especially your eyes, and you will either remain free from all temptations, or easily overcome them.
Does God also tempt us?
God does indeed tempt us, but not to sin, as St. James expressly teaches. (Jam. i.13.) God either Himself proves us by sufferings and adversities, or He permits the temptations of the devil or evil-minded people to give us opportunity to practise the virtues of love, patience, obedience, etc. Thus He said to the Jews through Moses: The Lord your God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him with all your heart, and with all your soul, or no. (Deut. xiii. 3.)
Does God permit us to be tempted by man also?
He does, and for the same reasons. Thus He permitted the chaste Joseph to be tempted by Putiphar's wife; (Gen. xxxix. 7.) Job by his wife and his friends. {Job ii. 9.) But He never permits us to be tempted beyond our strength, but gives us always sufficient grace to overcome and even derive benefit from the temptation,(i Cor. x. 13.)
Are temptations pernicious and bad?
No; they are useful and necessary, rather. "Hard is the fight” St. Bernard writes,"but meritorious, for although it is accompanied by suffering, it is followed by the crown;" (Apoc. iii. 12.) and Origen says. (Libr. Num.) "As meat be- comes corrupt without salt, so does the soul without temptations." Temptations, then, are only injurious when con- sent is given, and we suffer ourselves to be overcome by them.
When do we consent to temptations?
When we knowingly and willingly decide to do the evil to which we are tempted; as long as we resist we commit no sin.
What are the best means of overcoming temptations?
Humility; for thus answered St. Anthony, when he saw the whole earth covered with snares, and was asked, "Who will escape?" "The humble;" he who knows his own frailty, distrusts himself, and relies only on God, who resists the proud and gives His grace to the humble; (Jam. iv. 6.) the fervent invocation of the Mother of God, of our holy guardian angels and patron saints; the pronouncing of the holy name of Jesus, making the sign of the cross, sprinkling holy water; the remembrance of the presence of God who knows our most secret thoughts, and before whom we are indeed ashamed to think or do that which would cause us shame in the presence of an honorable person; frequent meditation on death, hell, and eternal joys; fleeing from all those persons by whom, and places in which we are generally tempted; fervent prayers, especially ejaculations, as: "Lord, save me, lest I perish! . Lord, hasten to help me!" finally, the sincere acknowledgment of our temptations at the tribunal of penance, which is a remedy especially recommended by pious spiritual teachers.
PRAYER. O Lord Jesus! who spent forty days in the desert without food or drink, and didst permit Thyself to be tempted by the evil spirit, give me, I beseech Thee by that holy fast, the grace to combat, during this holy season of Lent, under Thy protection. against intemperance, and to resist the suggestions of Satan that I may win the crown of eternal life. Amen.
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| April 6th - St. Celestine I |
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Posted by: Elizabeth - 02-20-2021, 10:48 PM - Forum: April
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Saint Celestine I
Pope
(† 432)
Saint Celestine was a native of Rome, a relative of the emperor Valentinian, and at the death of Pope Saint Boniface in September 422, he was chosen to succeed him, by the consent of the entire city.
His first official act was to confirm the condemnation of an African bishop who had been convicted of grave crimes. He wrote also to the bishops of the provinces of Vienne and Narbonne in Gaul to correct several abuses which had followed upon errors in doctrine. He stipulated, among other things, that absolution or reconciliation should never be refused to any dying sinner who sincerely asked it; for repentance depends not so much on time as on the heart, which can be changed in a moment when God so wills.
Saint Celestine assembled a synod at Rome in 430, by which the writings of Nestorius were examined, and the heresiarch's obstinate errors in maintaining in Christ two persons, a divine and a human, were condemned. The Pope pronounced sentence of excommunication against Nestorius, and deposed him. Being informed that in Great Britain, the seeds of the Pelagian heresy, denying the necessity of grace, were spreading, Saint Celestine sent there Saint Germanus of Auxerre, whose zeal and ministry happily prevented the threatening danger.
He also sent Saint Palladius, a Roman, to preach the Faith to the Scots, both in North Britain and in Ireland. Many authors of the life of Saint Patrick say that he, too, received his commission to preach to the Irish from Saint Celestine, in 431. This holy Pope died on the 1st of August, in 432, having reigned almost ten years.
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| Devotion to the Passion - Jesus in the Garden of Olives |
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Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 02-20-2021, 05:31 PM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lord
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(Taken from St. Alphonsus’ Prayer-Book – page 446-447)
DEVOTION TO THE PASSION
Jesus in the Garden of Olives
Our afflicted Lord, during His agony in the garden, exclaimed: “Is this, O men, the reward That you render Me for My immeasurable love?”
Eternal Father, look on the face of Thy Christ” (Ps. Xxxiii. 10): look not on my iniquities; behold this, They beloved Son, trembling, agonizing, and sweating blood in order to obtain Thy pardon for me. “And His sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground” (Luke xxii. 44). Behold me, and have pity on me. But, my Jesus, in this garden there are not executioners to scourge Thee, nor thorns, nor nails to torture Thee; what, then, extracts so much blood from Thee? Ah, I understand Thee: it was not the foresight of Thy approaching sufferings that then afflicted Thee so grievously; for to these pains Thou didst spontaneously offer Thyself: “He was offered because it was His own will” (Isa. Liii. 7). It was the sight of my sins; these were the cruel press which forced so much blood from Thy sacred veins. Hence, it was not the executioners, nor the nails, nor the thorns, that were cruel and barbarous in Thy regard: no, my sins, which made Thee so sorrowful in the garden, have been barbarous and cruel to Thee, my sweet Redeemer. Then, in Thy great affliction, I too have added to Thy sorrows, and have grievously afflicted Thee by the weight of my sins. Had I been guilty of fewer sins, Thou wouldst have suffered less. Behold, then, the return I have made for Thy love in dying for me. I have added to Thy great sufferings! My beloved Lord, I repent of having offended Thee, I am sorry for my sins, but my sorrow is not sufficiently great; I would wish for sorrow that would take away my life. Ah, through the bitter Agony which Thou didst suffer in the Garden, give me a portion of that abhorrence which Thou didst then feel for my sins. And if my ingratitude was then a cause of affliction to Thee, grant that I may now please Thee by my love. Yes, my Jesus, I love Thee with my whole heart. I love Thee more than myself, and for Thy love I renounce all the pleasures and goods of this earth. Thou alone art, and shalt always be, my only good and my only love.
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| German Study: Laboratory Accident Most Likely Cause of Coronavirus Pandemic |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-20-2021, 04:08 PM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular]
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German Study: Laboratory Accident Most Likely Cause of Coronavirus Pandemic
Swiss Policy Research | Published: February 18, 2021 (upd.)
Professor Dr. Roland Wiesendanger, a leading German nanotechnology expert and three-time recipient of the prestigious European Research Council Advanced Grant, has completed a one-year, hundred-page study on the origin of the novel coronavirus, Sars-Cov-2. Professor Wiesendanger concludes that “both the number and quality of the circumstantial evidence point to a laboratory accident at the virological institute in the city of Wuhan as the cause of the current pandemic.”
In the following, SPR provides an English translation of the official German press release of the University of Hamburg. The hundred-page German study by Prof. Wiesendanger can be found here.
SPR would like to add the following information: The two most recent global pandemics were the 1977 ‘Russian flu’ and the 2009 ‘swine flu’. In both of these cases, modern genetic research indicates that a lab escape was the most likely origin of the pandemic virus (see here and here). Yet in both cases, the World Health Organization (WHO) initially excluded this possibility (see here and here).
Study on the origin of the coronavirus pandemic published
Professor Dr. Roland Wiesendanger, University of Hamburg
For more than a year, the coronavirus has been causing a worldwide crisis. In a study, nanoscientist Prof. Dr. Roland Wiesendanger has now shed light on the origin of the virus. He concludes that both the number and quality of the circumstantial evidence point to a laboratory accident at the virological institute in the city of Wuhan as the cause of the current pandemic.
The study was conducted between January 2020 and December 2020. It is based on an interdisciplinary scientific approach and extensive research using a wide variety of information sources. These include scientific literature, articles in print and online media, and personal communication with international colleagues. It does not provide strictly scientific evidence, but it does provide ample and serious circumstantial evidence:
- Unlike previous coronavirus-related epidemics such as SARS and MERS, to date, well over a year after the outbreak of the current pandemic, no intermediate host animal has been identified that could have facilitated the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 pathogens from bats to humans. Therefore, the zoonotic theory as a possible explanation for the pandemic has no sound scientific basis.
- The SARS-CoV-2 viruses are surprisingly good at coupling to human cell receptors and penetrating human cells. This is made possible by special cell receptor binding domains combined with a special (furin) cleavage site of the coronavirus spike protein. Both properties together were previously unknown in coronaviruses and indicate a non-natural origin of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen.
- Bats were not offered at the suspected fish market in the center of Wuhan city. However, the Wuhan City Virological Institute has one of the world’s largest collections of bat pathogens, which originated from distant caves in southern Chinese provinces. It is extremely unlikely that bats from this distance of nearly 2,000 km would have naturally made their way to Wuhan, only to cause a global pandemic in close proximity to this virological institute.
- A research group at the Wuhan City Virological Institute has been genetically manipulating coronaviruses for many years with the goal of making them more contagious, dangerous and deadly to humans. This has been documented in the scientific literature by numerous publications.
- Significant safety deficiencies existed at the Wuhan City Virological Institute even before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which have been documented.
- There are numerous direct references to a laboratory origin of the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen. For example, a young female scientist at the virology institute in Wuhan is believed to have been the first to become infected. There are also numerous indications that as early as October 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen spread from the virological institute to the city of Wuhan and beyond. Furthermore, there are indications that the virological institute was investigated by the Chinese authorities in the first half of October 2019.
“The current coronavirus pandemic is not only dominating the current headlines, but will be with us for many years to come – not least because of the social and economic impact. For months, dealing with and managing the corona crisis has understandably been at the forefront of issues in politics and the media. However, the critical science-based examination of the question of the origin of the current pandemic is already of great importance today, because only on the basis of this knowledge can adequate precautions be taken to minimize the probability of similar pandemics occurring in the future,” says Prof. Dr. Roland Wiesendanger.
The study was completed in January 2021 and initially distributed and discussed in scientific circles. The publication is now intended to stimulate a broad discussion, particularly with regard to the ethical aspects of so-called “gain-of-function” research, which makes pathogens more infectious, dangerous and deadly for humans. “This can no longer remain a matter for a small group of scientists, but must urgently become the subject of a public debate,” says the study’s author.
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| Researcher: Babies were aborted alive, placed in fridge to harvest cell lines used in some vaccines |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-20-2021, 01:47 PM - Forum: Abortion
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Babies were aborted alive, placed in fridge to harvest cell lines used in some vaccines: researcher
'These babies were literally placed into the fridge alive and then stored between one and 24 hours until they could be dismembered.'
February 19, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Cell lines derived from aborted babies used in the production or testing of various vaccines, including a number of COVID vaccines, most likely came from babies who were aborted alive, and according to the general practice as outlined in medical literature, may have been placed in a fridge while still living where they awaited dismemberment before having their organs harvested, a researcher has found.
Biologist Pamela Acker, who has a master’s degree in Biology from the Catholic University of America and who recently authored a book titled Vaccination: A Catholic Perspective, related what the literature says about how babies were aborted to obtain cell lines used in a number of vaccines.
“A number of these abortions that were done in that way were termed ‘abdominal hysterectomies’ in the medical literature. So in some cases, the women were actually being sterilized in the process as well,” she said.
“They had to maintain a sterile environment because you don't want any contamination of the tissue with any kind of foreign agents, any bacteria, or viruses, or anything like that. The babies were — and, in some cases, the uterus as well — removed from the woman and, without even puncturing the amniotic sac, placed directly into the refrigerator where it was kept for no more than 24 hours.”
“So these babies were literally placed into the fridge alive and then stored between one and 24 hours until they could be dismembered, basically. And this is right there in the scientific literature,” she said.
Acker made these comments during her Feb. 19 presentation at an online conference hosted by LifeSiteNews titled “Unmasking COVID-19: Vaccines, Mandates, and Global Health.”
Moral conflict
Acker spent about nine months in a lab a decade ago working on a project to develop an HIV vaccine with a grant provided by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It was when her team decided to use HEK-293 cells for the project that she began to question her involvement.
“At this point, most people have heard of these (cell lines) because they are connected with the COVID vaccines, but at that time I hadn't. So I asked (my colleague) what ‘HEK’ stands for, and she told me, ‘Human Embryonic Kidney,”’ Acker said in an interview last month with LifeSite Editor-in-chief John-Henry Westen.
Acker said that it was after reading Dr. Alvin Wong’s paper titled “The Ethics of HEK 293” that appeared in the 2006 autumn issue of The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly that she was able to arrive at some moral clarity on the issue.
Wong, an oncologist and senior consultant at Singapore’s National University Cancer Institute who has an interest in bioethics, wrote in his paper that due to evidence that the cells were “obtained from the embryo of a willfully induced abortion,” there is “a moral duty on the part of any researcher to discontinue using this cell line.”
“That moral duty should be particularly clear to Catholic researchers and institutions. Even if it may be extremely difficult to stop or modify the experiments in progress, an immediate cessation of the use of the cell line is the correct and just action to take,” Wong added.
Acker said that when she “expressed my concerns to my primary investigator, it ended up being the end of my career in his lab.”
The baby girl behind HEK-293
Acker explained to Westen during her January 12 interview the meaning behind the letters and numbers HEK 293, the cell line developed by Dr. Frank Graham in the Netherlands in 1973.
“HEK stands for Human Embryonic Kidney. But 293 stands for the 293rd experiment that this particular researcher did to develop the cell lines.”
The kidney was taken from a “completely normal” preborn girl aborted in 1972 who, according to Alex van der Eb, the doctor leading the team to develop the cell line, had “nothing wrong” with her.
Acker said at the time to Westen that there were likely more abortions behind the final development of the cell line since “for 293 experiments you need far more than one abortion.”
“We're talking probably 100s of abortions,” she said at that time.
Graham, however, recently told Ian Jackson, who was conducting research in the HEK-293 cell line, that only one fetus was involved.
"On my arrival at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands I kept lab books in which I numbered my experiments in the order in which I carried them out starting in 1970. None of these experiments used human embryo kidney cells (HEK) until very late in my studies in Leiden (1973) when I carried out 2 (two!) experiments that utilized kidney cells from 1 (one!) human fetus."
“Since abortion was illegal in the Netherlands at that time except to save the life of the mother I have always assumed that that fetus resulted from a therapeutic abortion. However, the kidney cells I used had been prepared and frozen away before I even arrived in Leiden. Consequently, I do not have first hand knowledge of the circumstances relating to that single abortion. The second of the two experiments I carried out with these HEK cells was experiment 293 and resulted in the cell line of the same name. The bottom line is that the 293 cell line resulted from cells obtained from a single fetus,” Graham told Jackson, who forwarded the doctor’s statement to LifeSite.
Acker told LifeSite for this report that Graham's statement is “misleading at best.”
“Dr. Plotkin tried to say something similar, that the cell lines involved in the creation of vaccines only came from two abortions. But that ignores the other 74 babies that were a part of the research he was doing. It's published in the literature that other HEK and HER (human embryonic retina) cell lines are attributed to Frank Graham. So his research definitely involved more than one abortion.”
“When a cell line is developed, it is usually produced using a sample of tissue from a single individual unless it's a hybrid cell line. So on the one hand, it is technically correct to say that the cell line was developed using one aborted baby. However, this is not an accurate representation of how many lives were actually sacrificed in the whole process of developing an aborted fetal cell line," she continued.
“If Graham wasn't just working on fetal cell lines during his time at the University of Leiden, it may not have been hundreds of abortions," she added, "but we would need to see his notebooks to know.”
Acker pointed out that there is every indication that the cells were derived from an “electively aborted” baby.
“In particular, the fact that the cells were stored in the freezer lends further credence to the conclusion that HEK-293 was derived from an electively aborted fetus,” she said.
“The success and longevity of HEK-293 suggests that the specimen was remarkably well-suited for culturing, and anyone who has studied cell theory should know that you cannot derive a living cell culture from tissue that is already dead. Because of the biological impossibility of creating a live cell line from dead tissue, and the practical and biological implausibility of obtaining live tissue from a spontaneously miscarried fetus, it is far more likely that the baby from whom HEK-293 was derived was electively aborted and alive at the time of tissue extraction,” she added.
Acker quoted Dr. C. Ward Kischer, an embryologist and emeritus professor of anatomy from the University of Arizona College of Medicine, who stated the following regarding the cells obtained for aborted fetal cell lines: “In order to sustain 95% of the cells, the live tissue would need to be preserved within 5 minutes of the abortion [...] within an hour the cells would continue to deteriorate, rendering the specimen useless.”
Acker said that if the baby used in the production of HEK-293 “had already been dead (through a natural miscarriage), the tissue would certainly have been of no use to Mr. Graham in making a cell line after it had been stored in a freezer.”
She speculated that the tissue from the baby used for the production of HEK-293 was likely procured by the surgical method of whole-fetus extraction, often referred to as a C-section abortion, which can include the removal of the uterus along with the living baby still inside.
Acker quoted a 1952 study from Dr. Thomas Weller and Dr. John Enders (among others), who were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1954 for their polio research involving growing cultures in various types of tissue, where they explained how “human embryonic tissues” were obtained for their experiments.
“This material was employed in most of the experiments. It was obtained under sterile precautions at the time of abdominal hysterotomy for therapeutic indications. Embryos of between 12 and 18 weeks’ gestation have been utilized. Rarely tissues were obtained from stillborn fetuses, or from premature infants at autopsy … In the experiments on prolonged propagation of virus, three sorts of embryonic materials were used: elements of skin, connective tissue, and muscle; intestinal tissue; brain tissue,” the researchers stated.
“Embryonic tissues were prepared in the following manner. Whenever possible the embryo was removed from the amniotic sac under sterile precautions, transferred to a sterile towel and kept at 5 C until dissected,” (bold added) they added.
Acker then quoted from Dr. Gonzalo Herranz, Professor of Histology and General Embryology at the University of Navarra, Spain, who described how abortions must be done to obtain uncontaminated fetal material in Italian scientist Pietro Croce’s book Vivisection or Science? first published in English in 1991.
“To obtain embryo cells, embryos from spontaneous abortions cannot be used, nor can those obtained by means of abortions performed via the vagina: in both cases, the embryo will be contaminated by micro-organisms,” wrote Herranz.
“The correct way consists in having recourse to Caesarian section or to the removal of the uterus. Only in this way can bacteriological sterility be guaranteed. In either case, then, to obtain embryo cells for culture, a programmed abortion must be adopted, choosing the age of the embryo and dissecting it while still alive to remove tissues to be placed in culture media,” (bold added) he added.
Commented Acker: “Because of the necessity of maintaining a sterile culture of tissue for developing a cell line, it seems reasonable to conclude that there would — at minimum — had to have been some pre-arrangement to obtain sterile, unmacerated tissue from the fetus used for HEK-293. The easiest and surest way to do this is by the surgical method of whole-fetus extraction.”
Acker’s findings relate to the findings of U.S. pro-life investigator David Daleiden, who performed an undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood’s involvement in the illegal harvesting and trafficking of aborted baby body parts. Daleiden, who began to release videos of his sting operation in 2015, uncovered that biotech companies in the United States harvested numerous organs, including “live beating” hearts from aborted babies for research (see here, here, and here).
Multiple abortions behind various aborted fetal cell lines
Acker told LifeSite for this report that the formation of other cell lines derived from aborted babies and used for research purposes and in the development of numerous vaccines involved hundreds of abortions.
“Many aborted fetal cell lines and all the aborted fetal cell lines used in currently licensed vaccines are the culmination of a series of experiments that include multiple abortions,” she said. Acker listed the following examples:
- The WI-38 cell line (used in MMR and shingles vaccines) came from the 32nd aborted baby that was used in a series of experiments. Other cell lines that came out of the Wistar Institute include WI-26 (from the 20th aborted baby) and WI-44 cell (from the 38th aborted baby).
- The MRC-5 line (used in hepatitis A, measles, and shingles vaccines) required five abortions to develop.
- WALVAX2, the most recent aborted fetal cell line, came from the ninth aborted baby in a series.
- RA273, which is the virus used in the rubella vaccine, originated in the 27th baby that was aborted in search of the virus. Mothers who were infected with the rubella virus during pregnancy were actively encouraged to abort their children. Forty more elective abortions for rubella virus were performed after this, though RA273 was the strain that ended up in the final vaccine preparation.
Acker said that the use of aborted fetal cell lines in medical research, at any level, “fuels a growing acceptance of using aborted babies in other types of medical research.”
“This problem is irrespective of the original number of abortions performed to obtain a cell line, and will only be exacerbated by the acceptance of HEK-293-derived COVID vaccines,” she added.
‘New pro-life movement’
Kazakhstan Bishop Athanasius Schneider, during his presentation at today’s vaccine conference, called for the formation of a “new pro-life movement” that refuses to have anything to do with medicines or vaccines derived in one way or another from aborted babies.
Schneider said that until now, the pro-life movement has been “very meritorious” in raising a united voice against abortion. “But I think there now comes a new time, a new phase, a new period of all pro-life movements to protest, clearly and unambiguously, against abortion-tainted medicines, against the abuse of the body parts of the unborn.”
[...]
“The voice of the unborn children’s blood is crying to God from the abortion tainted vaccines, from the abortion tainted medicines,” he said. “This voice is crying all over the world, and we have to awaken.”
“No one who is really deeply concerned about the defense of life and the moral law can be silent or can be quiet and can resign to this situation,” he added.
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| To Jesus Our Good Shepherd - Devotion to the Passion |
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Posted by: Hildegard of Bingen - 02-19-2021, 12:53 PM - Forum: In Honor of Our Lord
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(Taken from St. Alphonsus’ Prayer-Book – page 445)
DEVOTION TO THE PASSION
To Jesus our Good Shepherd
But who has ever seen such an example, the shepherd dying for his sheep, The Creator for His creatures!
My Jesus, what Shepherd has ever given His life for His sheep? Thou alone, because Thou art a God of infinite love, canst say, “And I lay down My life for My sheep.” (John x. 15). Thou alone hast been able to show to the world this excess of love that, being our God and our supreme Lord, Thou hast yet willed to die for us. It was of this excess of love that Moses and Elias spoke on Mount Tabor: “They spoke of His decease that He should accomplish in Jerusalem” (Luke ix. 31). Hence St. John exhorts us to love a God Who was the first to love us: “Let us therefore love God because God first hath loved us” (I John iv. I9). As if He said, If we will not love this God for His infinite goodness, let us love Him at least for the love that He has borne us in suffering willingly the pains that were due to us.
Remember, then, my Jesus, that I am one of those sheep for whom Thou hast given Thy life. Ah, cast on me one of those looks of pity with which Thou didst regard me once when Thou wast dying on the cross for me; look on me, change me, and save me. Thou hast called Thyself the loving Shepherd Who, finding the lost sheep, takes it with joy and carries it on His shoulders, and then calls His friends to rejoice with Him: “Rejoice with me, for I have found the sheep that was lost” (Luke xv. 6). Behold, I am the lost sheep; seek me and find me: “I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost; seek Thy servant” (Ps. Cxviii. 176). If through my fault Thou hast not yet found me, take me now and unite me and bind me to Thee, that Thou mayest not lose me again. The bond must be that of Thy love; if Thou dost not bind me with this sweet chain Thou wilt again lose me. Ah, it is not Thou who didst neglect to bind me by holy love; but I, am ungrateful wretch, who did continually flee from Thee. But now I pray Thee, by that infinite mercy which caused Thee to come down to the earth to find me, ah, bind me; but bind me with a double chain of love, that Thou mayest not lose me again, and tat I may no more lose Thee. I renounce all the goods and pleasures of the world, and other myself to suffer every pain and death, provided that I live and die always united to Thee. I love Thee, my sweet Jesus; I love Thee, my good Shepherd, Who hast died for Thy lost sheep; but know that this sheep now loves Thee more than himself, and desires nothing but to love Thee and to be consumed by Thy love. Have pity on him, then, and permit him never again to be separated from Thee.
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| Fr. Ruiz: An Appeal to the Faithful [February 18, 2021] |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 03:25 PM - Forum: Rev. Father Hugo Ruiz Vallejo
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APPEAL TO THE FAITHFUL
by Fr. Hugo Ruiz
“We must build again the Social Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ in this Christian world which is disappearing. You shall tell me, “But Monseigneur, this is the fight of David against Goliath!” Yes, indeed, I know. But in his fight against Goliath, David won the victory! How did he win the victory? By a little pebble which he took from the torrent. What is this little stone which we have? Jesus Christ! Our Lord Jesus Christ! We shall say with our ancestors from the Vendee: “We have no other honor than the honor of Jesus Christ. We have no other fear in the world than to offend Jesus Christ!” They went to their death to defend their God singing this! We also, let us sing with courage, wholeheartedly: “We have no other love than Our Lord Jesus Christ, no other fear than to offend Him!”
- (Archbishop Lefebvre, 60th Ordination Anniversary Sermon, 1989)
Quote:Dear Faithful,
I would like to tell you of the need in which I find myself at the present time to find a new place to live; since I have to leave the place where I am currently renting as the owners have asked me to vacate my current house this March, next month.
We have found a good opportunity to buy a house at a very affordable price (3,750,000 pesos, about $187,500.00 in U.S. dollars). It should be noted that the land alone is worth 2,000,000 pesos. The house is spacious and could be adapted later for preaching retreats. Fr. Hewko suggested to me to make a presentation to see if we could raise the funds to buy it. I am therefore appealing to your generosity which God will surely reward. I would like to point out that we have only until the end of February at the latest to make a decision, since March would be already too late. Please count on my prayers to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph so that God may help you and bless you abundantly.
Father Hugo Ruiz V.
Donation Options:
To donate directly into Fr. Ruiz’s bank account in Mexico, contact Fr. Ruiz via his email address or phone # and he will give the necessary details for this transaction.
Fr. Ruiz’s email: hugoruiz12.22@gmail.com
To donate through PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/hugoruizv
Other Contact Details:
Fr. Ruiz’s phone #: 011 52 55 3367 9642 (from USA to Mexico)
Fr. Ruiz’s current address: Copan 9 Col. Vista Azul 76087 Qro.
Queretaro, Mexico
To find online Fr. Ruiz’s sermons and catechisms:
- The PDF of this letter with accompanying pictures of the house Fr. Ruiz hopes to purchase can be found HERE.
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| Words of Our Lord to Sr. Josefa Menendez on His Passion |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 11:28 AM - Forum: Lenten Devotions
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A Simple Introduction to Sr. Josefa Menendez
Sister Josefa Menendez was born on February 4, 1890 in Madrid, Spain. Being of Spanish descent, she initially sought to enter the religious life in Spain, but God’s Providence lead her elsewhere and eventually, after many trials, she entered a French Convent and became a Coadjutrix Sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1920 at age 29. As far as external appearances go, nothing signalized that Josefa was in any way fitted for so high a mission as to bring forth a Message of Jesus to the world. She was a religious Sister for only 4 years before her death and prior to this she repeatedly delayed entering into the religious life. Then if we take in consideration her humble rank in the Community, her status as a mere novice, her reserved natures and great love of retirement, and the very real obstacle of her ignorance of the language of the country (French), -all these hindrances combined would at first sight appear insurmountable to the proclamation of a Message to the world.
In reality however they were signs of God's choice. Though she was but a simple novice, often reserved and quite meek, she would show later an unconquerable strength of will. In the blinding light of divine revelations, she only crept deeper into her littleness, and the closer God drew to her the more she humbled herself. In spite of the evidence of God's action, she was ever fearful of being deceived herself, and of deceiving her Superiors. In reality her Superiors had rarely met with a more obedient and docile subject, or one more deferential, more eager to submit to their authority, more ready to sacrifice herself.
In her devotions, as in everything else, there was no exaggeration; she was sincere, straightforward and simple. She was mentally healthy and had a well-developed spirituality and devotion. The supernatural graces and gifts, whose weight was often crushing, purified her to the depths, though her spiritual equilibrium was at times shaken by the extraordinary visions and communications, which at times required an almost superhuman endurance. All this was in reality the best guarantee to Superiors that her communications were divine in origin.
Her daily life within the Convent was very ordinary as she carried out her humble tasks and chores with grace and humility. Her fellow Sisters did not know of the extraordinary graces and lights that God was bestowing upon His humble servant, nor did they know of the inner struggle Josefa was undergoing as the devil tempted her to doubt God's voice and her Religious calling, but through it all Josefa maintained a strong prayer life, which aided her in resisting the deceitful voice of the evil one.
It was because of her simplicity, humility and ordinary life that our Lord said to Sister Josefa: "You yourself shall be My sign." And elsewhere our Lord said to her: I will reveal to you the burning secrets of My Heart and many souls will profit by them. I want you to write down and keep all I tell you. It will be read when you are in Heaven. Do not think that I make use of you because of your merits, but I want souls to realize how My Power makes use of poor and miserable instruments."
Sister Josefa Menéndez, died a holy death at age 33 on December 29, 1923, at the Convent of Les Feuillants, Poitiers, France. She lived as a sister in the Society of the Sacred Heart only four years, and in so hidden a way that the world ought never to have heard of her, and even in her own community she should have soon been forgotten. It was not until after her death that her fellow religious Sisters heard of all the extraordinary graces that God had bestowed upon her.
On November 13, 1923 shortly before her death, our Lord had said to Sister Josefa:
Quote:"My words will be light and life for an incalculable number of souls, and I will grant them special graces of conversion and enlightenment."
These words have been verified, for as soon as the first volume of Sister Josefa’s writings appeared, it was eagerly read and promulgated, and was quickly reprinted several times, while letters from all parts of the world gave testimony to the profound impression it created and to the signal graces that followed on the delivery of the Message.
Within a few months the book had been translated from the original Spanish into French, then into Portuguese, Italian, English, Chinese, and Hungarian, thus helping to fulfill our Lord's wish that His call to the way of love and devotion to His Sacred Heart should be known everywhere.
✠ ✠ ✠
Words of Our Lord to Sr. Josefa Menendez on His Passion and Sufferings
Adapted from here.
PART 1
Mankind must know me, I want men to know my love. Do they know what I have done for them? With this am I come, that they may know that they will never find true happiness except in Me.
My appeal is addressed to all: to those consecrated in religion and those living in the world, to the good and to sinners, to the learned and to the illiterate, to those in authority and to those who obey. To each of them I come to say: if you seek happiness you will find it in Me. If riches, I am infinite Wealth. If you desire peace, in Me alone is peace to be found. I am mercy and love!
I desire that my love should be the sun to enlighten and heat to reanimate souls. That is why my words must reach them. I want all the world to recognize in Me a God of mercy and love. I wish that everywhere my desire to forgive and save souls should be read, and that not even the most wretched be kept back by fear! Nor the most guilty fly from me….Let them all come. I await them with open arms like the most affectionate of fathers order to impart life and true happiness to them……
God created man out of pure love. He placed him on the earth in circumstances that ensured his happiness until the day of eternal bliss should dawn for him. But to have a right to such felicity he is bound to keep the sweet and wise laws laid down by His Maker.
Man, unfaithful to this law, fell grievously sick; sin was committed by our first parents, and all mankind, their descendants, contracted this guilt and lost their right to the perfect beatitude promised them by God; and pain, suffering and death became henceforth their lot.
Now God, in perfect bliss, has no need of man or of his services. He is sufficient unto himself. Infinite is His glory and nothing can diminish it.
Infinite in power, He is also infinite in goodness; hence He will not allow man, created out of love, to perish; instead, He met the grave evil of sin with a remedy infinite in price: one of the divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity, assuming human nature, will repair in a Godlike manner the evil of the Fall.
The Father gives His Son, the Son sacrifices His glory. He comes to earth not as an all-powerful Lord and Master, but in poverty as a servant and as a child. The life He led on earth is known to you all.
You know how from the first moment of the Incarnation I submitted to all human afflictions. In My childhood I endured cold, hunger, poverty and persecution. In My life of labor, how often humiliation and contempt were meted out to the carpenter’s son. How often after a hard day’s work we, My foster–father and I, found that we had earned hardly sufficient to support us… And this I continued for 30 long years.
Then, foregoing the sweet company of My Mother, I devoted Myself to the task of making My heavenly Father known. I went about teaching men that God is Love.
I went about doing good to bodies as well as to souls: to the sick I gave back their health; the dead I raised to life; and to souls? Ah! to souls I restored liberty… that liberty which they had lost through sin, and I opened to them the gates of their everlasting home, Heaven.
Then came the hour when to win salvation for them the Son of God willed to surrender life itself. And how did He die? Was He surrounded by friends? Acclaimed as a benefactor? Beloved ones, you know that the Son of God did not will to die thus. He who had preached nothing but love was the victim of hatred. He who had brought peace to the world was treated most cruelly. He who came to bring men freedom was imprisoned, bound, ill used, calumniated, and finally died on a cross between two thieves, condemned, abandoned, abject and despoiled of everything.
It was thus that He surrendered Himself for man’s salvation. It was thus He accomplished the work for which He had voluntarily left His Father’s glory. Man was sick and wounded, and the Son of God came down to him. He not only restored fallen man to life, but earned for him both strength and power to acquire in this life the treasures of eternal beatitude.
Dearly loved son, I am Jesus, which name signifies Savior. Why else are My hands transfixed with nails which fasten them to a cross? On it, for love of you, I died. My feet are wounded, My Heart wide open, riven by the lance after death.
Thus do I stand before you that you may know who I am and what My law is. But do not fear, My law is one of love. And in knowing Me you will find peace and joy. It is sad to live as an orphan; come, My sons, come to your Father. I am your God and your Father, your Creator and your Savior. You are My creatures, My sons bought at the price of My life and Heart’s Blood, which I shed to free you from slavery and the tyranny of sin.
You have souls great and immortal, destined for eternal happiness, wills capable of all good, hearts made both to give and receive affection. The thirst for contentment and love can never be appeased by earthly and fleeting gains, which will always leave you hungry and unsatisfied. Perpetual conflict, sadness, anxiety, and affliction will still be your portion.
If you are poor and have to earn a living by work, the miseries of life will embitter you; you will be hostile to your employers and may even wish them ill, that like yourself they may experience the hard grind of daily toil. Fatigue, disgust, even despair will weigh heavily on your spirits, for the way is rough and in the end comes death!
O! How great are these calamities when viewed from a human standpoint. But I come to show you life under a different aspect:
All you who are deprived of this world’s goods and obliged to labor for your daily bread under a master, reflect that you are not slaves, but created for the freedom of eternity. All you whose craving for affection is unsatisfied, remember that you are made to love that which is eternal, not that which passes with time.
You who love your homes and labor to support your families and provide them with comforts and happiness, do not forget that though death will one day sever every tie, this is only for a time.
You who serve a master, and owe him respect, love, care for his interests, hard work and fidelity, forget not that he is your master only for the short span of a lifetime. How soon this will pass away and give place to an eternity, where you will no longer be workers but reign as kings for ever and ever.
Your souls, created by a loving Father who bears you a limitless and eternal affection, will find one day in the bliss of Heaven prepared for you a final answer to all your aspirations.
There every labor will be rewarded.
There, you will find your family for whom you worked so hard on earth.
There you will live eternally, for earth is but a passing shadow; Heaven will never pass away.
There you will be united to your God and Father. O! If you but knew how great is the beatitude that awaits you!
You say you do not believe in a future life? Tell Me, are you perfectly contented here and do you never feel a yearning for what is not possible to obtain here below? If after seeking for enjoyment, you succeed in obtaining it, does it satisfy your cravings?
If after pursuing riches, you will last possess them, have you ever enough? If you feel the need of affection, and one day find it, are you not soon tired of it? None of these things is what you long for and here below you will never obtain all that your heart desires. Your craving is peace, not the peace of this world, but that of the children of God; and how do you expect to find in the midst of rebellion?
That is why I have come to show you where true peace and happiness are to be found, and where you can slake the thirst that for so long has consumed you. Do not rebel when I tell you that all these things are to be found in accomplishing My law. Do not fear this word Law for My law is no tyranny but a law of love, because I am your God and your Father.
Believe in My love and My mercy.
You have sinned against Me; I forgive you.
You have persecuted me; I love you.
You have wounded Me by both word and deed; still I wish to do you good and to let you share all My treasures.
Do not imagine that I am ignorant of your state of soul. I know that you have despised My grace, perhaps even profaned My Sacraments. Yet you have from Me a full pardon.
If then you would be happy in this world and at the same time secure your eternal salvation, do as I tell you:
If you are poor, do the work that necessity forces on you with submission and remember that I too lived for 30 years in subjection to the self-same law, for I was needy and poor. Do not consider your masters as tyrants. Banish all hatred from your hearts. Never wish them ill, but further their interests and be faithful to them.
If, however, you possess this world’s goods and employ workers and servants, be fair to them in all your dealings; pay them a just wage, and show them both gentleness and kindness. If you have an immortal soul, so too have they, and if you’re bound in wealth, it is not for your sole comfort and enjoyment, but that you may administer it wisely and practice charity to your neighbor.
Both employer and employed must accept the law of labor with submission, acknowledging a Supreme Being over all created things. As God He demands of you the accomplishment of His divine law. As your Father, He asks you to accept His commandments in a spirit of filial piety.
Thus, when you’ve spent a week in the pursuit of work, business or sport, He claims but one half-hour that you may fulfill your Sunday duty. Is this excessive? Go then to your Father’s House, where day and night He awaits your coming, and as Sundays and Holidays recur, give Him the homage of this half-hour by assisting in the mystery of love and mercy that is Holy Mass. Tell Him everything; about your families, your children, your business, your desires. Lay at His feet your sorrows, difficulties and sufferings. Believe in the interest and love with which He listens to your prayer.
You may perhaps say to Me: “I have not entered a church for so many years that I have forgotten how to hear Mass.” Do not be afraid on that account. Come, spend this half-hour with Me; your conscience will tell you what to do, and be docile to its voice. Open your soul wide to grace, and it will inspire you. Gradually it will teach you how to act in a given circumstance, how to treat your family, what to do in regard to your business… How to bring up your children, love those who depend on you, and honor those in authority over you. It may make you feel that such and such concern must be given up, such a friendship relinquished, or such a meeting avoided.
Again, it may tell you that you are hating a certain person quite unreasonably; or it may put into your mind to sever your connection with some person you feel drawn to and whose advice is doing you harm.
Only give grace a chance, and gradually its power will grow stronger in you, for just as evil increases insensibly, once it is given into, so will each new grace prepare your soul for a still greater one. If today you listen to My voice and let grace act, tomorrow its influence will be stronger and so steadily increase as time goes on; light will grow in your soul, peace envelop you, and the reward will be eternal bliss!
Man was not created to live forever here below. He was made for eternity. If then he is immortal, he should live, not for the passing things of time, but for that which will never die. Youth, wealth, wisdom, human glory, all that is nothing, it will all end with this life; God only will endure forever.
The world is full of hate, races are in perpetual conflict with one another, so are nations, and even individuals, and all this is due to the decay of faith. Only let faith reign once more over the world and peace and charity will return to it.
Faith in no way impedes civilization and progress. The more it is rooted in individuals and peoples, the more wisdom and learning increase, for God is infinite in wisdom and knowledge. But whenever faith is completely lacking, peace, civilization, and true progress likewise vanish… For God is not in war… and in their place come enmities, clash of opinions, class wars, and within man himself, rebellion of passions against duty. All that is noble in humanity is exchanged for revolt, insubordination and warfare.
Let yourselves be convinced by faith and you will be great. Let yourselves be ruled by faith, and you will be free; live by faith, and you will escape eternal death.
My Heart is burning with desire to attract souls to Itself in order to forgive them. I want to forgive. I want to reign over souls and pardon all nations. I want to rule souls, nations, the whole world. I will shower My Mercies on the world to wipe out its ingratitude. My reign will be one of peace and love and I shall inaugurate it by compassion on all: such is the end I have in view and this is the great work of My love.
I love souls so dearly that I have sacrificed My life for them. It is this love that keeps Me a prisoner in the tabernacle. For nearly twenty centuries I have dwelt there, night and day veiled under the species of Bread and concealed in the small white Host, bearing through love, neglect, solitude, contempt, blasphemies, outrages, sacrileges.
For love of souls, I instituted the Sacrament of Penance, that I might forgive them, not once or twice, but as often as they needed to recover grace. There I wait for them, longing to wash away their sins, not in water, but in My Blood.
I am God, but a God of love! I am a Father, but a Father full of compassion and never harsh. My Heart is infinitely wise, and knowing human frailty and infirmity, stoops to poor sinners with infinite mercy.
I love those who after a first fall come to Me for pardon. I love them still more when they beg pardon for their second sin, and should this happen again, I do not say a million times but a million million times, I still love them and pardon them, and I will wash in My Blood their last as fully as their first sin.
Never shall I weary of repentant sinners, nor cease from hoping for their return, and the greater their distress, the greater My welcome. Does not a father love a sick child with special affection? Are not his care and solicitude greater? So is the tenderness and compassion of My Heart more abundant for sinners than for the just.
This is what I wish all to know. I will teach sinners that the mercy of My heart is inexaustable. Let the callous and indifferent know that My Heart is a fire which will enkindle them because I love them. To devout and saintly souls I would be “The Way,” that, making great strides in perfection, they may safely reach the harbor of eternal beatitude.
Look at my Heart, study It, and from It you will learn love. True love is humble, generous, disinterested. So if you want Me to teach you to love, begin by forgetting yourself. Do not stop at sacrifices. Do not be checked by what they cost you. Ignore your personal attractions, and do all things because you love. Many souls think that love consists of saying: “My God, I love Thee!”
No, love is sweet, and acts because it loves. I want you to love Me in that way, in work, in rest, in prayer and consolation as in distress and humiliation, constantly giving Me proofs of your love by acts; that is true love! If souls really understood this they would advance in perfection rapidly, and how greatly they would console My Heart!
Love makes all things easy. The soul that loves wants to suffer, for suffering increases love. Love and suffering unites a soul closely to God, and make her one with Him.
Many are willing to entertain Me when I visit them with consolation. Many receive Me with joy in Holy Communion, but few welcome Me when I visit them with My Cross.
Souls are of such great worth! Do not fear suffering, for by enduring it you can increase My glory and repair the sins of the world. Only those who love the Cross and embrace it willingly for love of Me, will possess eternal life. Whoever generously accepts the Cross walks in true light; follows a straight and sure path, with no danger from steep inclines down which to slide.
My Cross is the door to true life, and the soul that knows how to accept and love it, just as I have chosen it for her, shall enter by it into the glory of life eternal. Do you now understand how precious the Cross is? Do not shun it. Love it for it comes from Me, and I never shall leave you without strength to bear it. I bore it for love of you, will you not bear it for love of Me?
Do you know how to comfort Me? Love Me and suffer for souls and never refuse Me anything! Yes, do not refuse Me anything, and do not forget that I need souls to carry on My Passion, that divine wrath may be restrained. But I will sustain you.
When two people love one another, a very small lack of consideration in one of them is sufficient to wound the other. And so it is with My Heart. That is why I want those to who aspire to intimacy with Me to refuse Me nothing. If you are faithful to these tiny details of love, I will not be outdone in generosity. Your soul will be filled to overflowing with peace, nor shall I leave you alone, and in your very littleness you will be great, I shall live in you.
My Heart cannot contain the ardor with which It longs to impart Itself, and deliver Itself over, and remain always with sinners. How I long for them to open their hearts to Me, to enclose me in them, and that the fire that consumes Mine should fortify and enkindle theirs!
Then I shall be for them just what they wish: If they look upon Me as their Father, I shall be a Father to them. If they desire Me as their Beloved, I shall be their Beloved. If they need strength, I will be their strength, and if they long to console Me, I will let them console Me. All I want is to give Myself to them and to fill them with graces prepared for them.
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| ‘No Jab, No Job’ – UK Firms Set to Make Vaccines Mandatory |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 11:20 AM - Forum: COVID Vaccines
- No Replies
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‘No Jab, No Job’ – UK Firms Set to Make Vaccines Mandatory
Breitbart | 18 Feb 20210
Companies in Britain have been tasking law firms to craft “no jab, no job” contracts that would bar prospective employees
from being hired unless they have been vaccinated against the Chinese coronavirus.
While the government has publicly claimed that it has no intentions of requiring domestic vaccine passports, ministers have admitted that private businesses may take up the mantle of imposing it on the British public.
Speaking to the Financial Times, law firms said that they have already been contacted by companies, including care homes and multinational corporations, which are looking to draw up contracts that would require employees to be inoculated against the virus.
One unnamed attorney told the paper that such requirements could be risky as they might trigger discrimination claims from people who refuse to take the vaccine on religious grounds, pregnant women, or those who have health conditions, such as allergies, which prevent them from taking the jab.
The lawyer did note that in sectors in which employees are surrounded by at-risk people, such as in care homes, so-called “no jab, no job” contracts may ultimately be defensible.
Some of the law firms contacted claimed that businesses have also begun inquiring about how to require that those already employed receive the vaccine.
However, companies seeking to change the contracts of people already employed would need to gain the consent of the worker, a partner at the law firm Lewis Silkin, James Davies, cautioned.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said that there was no justification for businesses to require vaccines for employees, saying that mass testing would be a preferable option.
The chief executive of the human resource firm CIPD, Peter Cheese, said: “The UK government hasn’t made the vaccine compulsory, so neither can employers.”
Mr Cheese added: “Nor should they be restricting people coming into work based on whether they have had the vaccine.”
On Tuesday, Britain’s vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “It’s up to businesses what they do, but we don’t yet have the evidence of the effect of vaccines on transmission.”
Zahawi had previously said that such a scheme would be wrong and discriminatory.
On Sunday, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the use of vaccine passports on a domestic level is being considered by the government in such places as supermarkets.
In January, the anti-Brexit founder of Pimlico Plumbers announced that he would be requiring his employees to be vaccinated, boldly pronouncing “no vaccine, no job”.
Charlie Mullins said that he will make it “standard” in employment contracts that “you’re required to have a vaccine”, saying: “We won’t be employing people in the future unless they’ve got a vaccine.”
Barchester Healthcare, which operates over 200 care homes, has also said that it will refuse to hire people who fail to vaccinate.
[Emphasis mine.]
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| COVID patients transferred between quarantine sites with garbage bags over their heads in Australia |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 09:26 AM - Forum: Pandemic 2020 [Secular]
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COVID patients transferred between quarantine sites with garbage bags over their heads
In Melbourne, Australia, questions are being raised about excessive precautions.
![[Image: image_(28)_1_810_500_75_s_c1.JPG]](https://assets.lifesitenews.com/images/made/images/remote/https_www.lifesitenews.com/images/local/image_(28)_1_810_500_75_s_c1.JPG)
MELBOURNE, Australia, February 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – COVID-positive patients have been seen evacuating from the Holiday Inn in Melbourne with garbage bags covering their heads.
At least one patient was shown moving from inside the Holiday Inn across the sidewalk to a bus holding a large, black garbage bag over his or her head during Channel Nine’s live broadcast of Today.
Patients were escorted to their buses by hotel quarantine staff dressed in full PPE, causing Today hosts to question why a patient with a respiratory illness would further restrict their breathing with a garbage bag.
The next patient to leave the Holiday Inn, however, wore only a mask as he carried his young child into the bus.
Water damage on four levels of the building prompted the transfer of patients from the Holiday Inn to the Pullman Hotel.
Last week, several of 48 patients were also spotted wearing garbage bags over their entire bodies as they were evacuated from a different Melbourne Holiday Inn.
Some Twitter users speculated the most recent incident was more a privacy issue than anything else.
Others thought it was simply bad healthcare advice.
The precedent for this behavior was set by UK healthcare workers in April 2020 when they ran out of PPE in the Intensive Treatment Unit.
Soon after, the Miami New Times published a story on weird “PPE” spotted around Miami, including caution tape, an alien suit, and underwear.
Two hotel quarantine breaches and subsequent snap lockdowns in Melbourne have led Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews to consider following in the footsteps of the Northern Territory with purposefully built quarantine camps. The creation of such camps raises numerous concerns about privacy, civil liberties, human rights, and due process.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is considering similar measures.
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| New rules from Chinese gov’t make no mention of the Vatican in process for appointing new bishops |
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Posted by: Stone - 02-18-2021, 09:12 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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New rules from Chinese gov’t make no mention of the Vatican in process for appointing new bishops
The new rules will also require registered clergy, who are each assigned a unique identifying record number, to 'guide' their congregations 'to be patriotic and law-abiding.'
![[Image: vaticanchinaflag_810_500_75_s_c1.jpg]](https://assets.lifesitenews.com/images/made/images/remote/https_www.lifesitenews.com/images/local/vaticanchinaflag_810_500_75_s_c1.jpg)
BEIJING, China, February 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – The Chinese government have released new guidelines regarding the Catholic clergy in China, including a rule whereby bishops must be elected from among the state-sponsored Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA), appointed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and consecrated through China’s Catholic Bishops Conference (CCCB), which is not recognised by the Vatican.
No reference is made in the new ruling to the Vatican’s wishes in the appointment of bishops in China, despite the highly criticized 2018 deal, renewed in 2020 for a further two years, that allowed Pope Francis to appoint bishops in conjunction with the CCP.
As part of the agreement made in 2018, Pope Francis recognized seven bishops appointed by the Chinese government who had previously been excommunicated, even requesting that two underground, legitimate Chinese bishops cede their offices to accommodate the former schismatics.
According to reports, the Vatican-China deal afforded the Holy See the ability to approve or deny candidates forwarded by the CCPA. This framework has already been used to install three bishops in China.
The document laying out the new rules, “Administrative Measures for Religious Clergy,” which has been translated into English by Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious freedom in China, takes effect on May 1. Now, “Catholic bishops are approved and consecrated by the Chinese Catholic Bishops’ Conference,” after being appointed by the CCP, according to Article XVI of the new rules.
LifeSiteNews spoke to China expert and Population Research Institute founder Steven Mosher, who called the new rules “a slap of the face of the Vatican.”
“Catholics are told by article 16 that bishops in China should be democratically elected through the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, i.e., appointed by the CCP, and consecrated through the Chinese Catholic Bishops Conference. There is no mention of the Vatican or the Pope, which in theory should appoint the bishops under the Vatican-China deal of 2018," Mosher explained.
“Since the Sino-Vatican Agreement is still secret, it is impossible to know for certain what it says about the appointment of bishops. We know that Pope Francis believes that he appoints the bishops of the Catholic Church in China, because he has said so. It is also clear that the CCP is here asserting that it appoints those self-same bishops.”
“So what is the reality?” Mosher asks.
“My understanding of the [2018] agreement is that it says that the CCP shall nominate, and the Pope shall confirm, bishops. This, presumably, gives the Holy Father a veto over bishop appointments in China. At the same time, however, a senior Chinese official has said, quite plainly, that the Pope cannot continually veto candidates, nor can he indefinitely refuse to give his consent to a CCP nominee. In these circumstances, he said, the ordinations will go forward anyway.”
On account of this, Mosher noted that “the new regulations state quite plainly that the CCP is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to deciding who heads Chinese dioceses. I take their statement at face value.”
Additional measures for the clergy in China have been included in the new rules beside those of episcopal ordinations. All priests will be required to register in a database that will “regulate the management of religious clergy” from May. The purpose of the database, run by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, will be to continually assess a religious minister’s loyalty to the CCP, as Article III of the rules stipulates:
Quote:Religious clergy should love the motherland, support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, support the socialist system, abide by the Constitution, laws, regulations, and rules, practice the core values of socialism, adhere to the principle of independent and self-administered religion in China, adhere to the direction of the Sinicization of religion in China, operate to maintain national unity, religious harmony, and social stability.
The new rules will also require registered clergy, who are each assigned a unique identifying record number, to “guide” their congregations “to be patriotic and law-abiding.” They are prohibited from organizing or participating in “unauthorized religious activities held outside the authorized places of religious activities,” as well as “preach in schools and other educational institutions other than religious institutions.”
Clergy who are unregistered, not satisfying the stringent rules attached to membership of the database, yet claiming to be priests and acting as such, will be breaking the law, including those priests and bishops who remain loyal to Rome and reject the CCPA.
[Emphasis mine.]
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