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| SAINT GERTRUDE |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-29-2024, 03:57 PM - Forum: The Saints
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SAINT GERTRUDE
By WILFRED H. WOLLEN, B.A.
Taken from here.
Nihil Obstat: JOSEPH P. NEWTH, C.C., Censor Theol. Deput.
Imprimi Potest: @ IOANNES CAROLUS, Archiep. Dublinen., Hiberniae Primas. Dublini, die 25° Feb., anno 1955.
In the year 1229, Count Burchard of Mansfield, following the custom of pious nobles of his time, founded near his castle at Mansfield, in Saxony, a community of nuns under the rule of the Cistercian branch of the Benedictine family. (*) Five years later, to secure greater quietness, they removed to Rossdorf finally settling in 1258 at Helfta, near the town of Eisleben. Helfta was a place of great natural charm, a fertile valley rich with meadows and cornfields, watered by a silvery stream-a fit setting for lives graced by the beauty of holiness. At the time of its establishment there, the convent, still in its first fervour and a model of spirituality, was ruled by the saintly Abbess Gertrude of Hackeborn. This remarkable woman had given evidence so early of exceptional spiritual and mental powers that she had been unanimously elected Abbess at the age of nineteen. For forty years she sustained her charge with admirable fitness, charity and zeal, loved by her subjects as a mother. As assistant, she had her sister, St. Mechtilde, who held the important office of cantor, mistress of novices and directress of the schools.
In St. Mechtilde's care was placed, in 1361, our Saint Gertrude, then a little girl of five. Gertrude was born on the feast of the Epiphany, January 6th, 1256, but her birthplace is unknown, probably it was at some distance from Helfta. The name and rank of her parents are also unrecorded. If not quite of obscure origin, it seems unlikely that her family held a high social position. After entering the school at Helfta she apparently never saw her parents again; perhaps they lived too far away, or possibly she was early left an orphan.
Gertrude was a most attractive child and possessed exceptional abilities which enabled her easily to out-distance her fellow-pupils in study. At that time education in the convent schools of Germany was of a high order. Instruction was not confined by any means to elementary studies; in some cases it extended even to theology. It is no wonder, then, that some of the glories of literature in the Middle Ages emanated from the German convents. At Helfta, the Abbess Gertrude and her sister assiduously promoted the cause of learning among the religious and their pupils. Gertrude became a most proficient Latin scholar. Study, indeed, was with her a passion; caring little for the ordinary distractions of childhood, she devoted to it all the time she could. When she passed in due course from the school into the community this intense interest remained. Later, after what she calls her 'conversion,' she felt that her literary studies had occupied too large a place in her life. While careful about the observance of the Rule, the recitation of the Divine Office and her spiritual exercises, she found perhaps a greater attraction in the pleasures of the mind. In her humility, no doubt, she exaggerates the former state of her soul. When she turned from secular studies to sacred, it is certain that the habits of diligence which she had formed in earlier years and the sound foundation of knowledge which she had built up were of incalculable value both to herself and to the Church.
Towards the end of Gertrude's twenty-fifth year a feeling of strong dissatisfaction with her life seized her. Her pride and joy in study disappeared. She felt isolated, and human consolation seemed of no avail. Then it was that our Lord drew her to Himself and showed her where to find repose. Peace came to her soul on the Monday before the Feast of Purification (Jan. 27th), 1281. When in the middle of the dormitory after Compline on that day, she tells us, she perceived our Lord, in the form of a beautiful youth, standing before her. Tenderly addressing her, He said: 'Thy salvation is at hand. Why art thou consumed with grief? Hast thou no counsellor that thou art so changed by sadness?' Then she adds: 'As he said these words, although I was certain of my bodily presence in the place of which I have spoken, nevertheless it seemed to me that I was in choir, in that corner where I was accustomed to say my tepid prayers, and there I heard these words: I will save thee and deliver thee; be without fear.' When He had said this, I saw His fine and delicate Hand take mine, as though solemnly to ratify these promises; then He added: Thou hast licked the earth with My enemies and sucked drops of honey amidst the thorns; return now to Me, and I will inebriate thee with the torrent of My Divine delights.' While Our Lord thus spoke, I looked and saw between us, that is to say to His right and to my left, a hedge which extended so far that neither in front nor behind could I perceive the end of it. The top of this hedge appeared to bristle with such a mass of thorns that I could see no means of reaching Him. I remained * It seems now to be definitely established that the foundation was not Benedictine, although it may have become so after St. Gertrude's time.
hesitating, carried away by my desire for Our Lord, and was on the point of falling when suddenly taking hold of me, He raised me without any difficulty and placed me by His side. I then recognised in the Hand which had just been given me as a pledge the resplendent jewels of those Sacred Wounds, which have made of no effect the handwriting that was against us.'
Thus took place Gertrude's 'conversion. Divine grace operating on a soul naturally prone to good, had hitherto preserved her from evil. Now, however, nothing less than perfection was her goal. With intense ardour she sought a closer union with God, and having now the support of her Divine Master, she made rapid progress towards that end. It was the Vigil of the Annunciation, 1281, that she felt for the first time that intimate union with God which she so greatly desired and which was to bear such marvellous fruit. While at first she enjoyed special delights only on the days on which she received Holy Communion, yet her ordinary state of union with Our Lord was so constant that nine years afterwards she could tell Him that He had not left her even for a moment, from her conversion until that time, except once for the space of eleven days, on account of a worldly conversation in which she had engaged.
Everything now spoke to her of God. In a charming little picture which she paints of an incident which happened soon after her conversion she shows how the beauties of nature may draw us to Him. 'it happened on a certain day,' she says, 'between the Resurrection and the Ascension, that I went into the court before Prime, and sitting down near the fountain, began to meditate on the beauty of the place. I was enchanted with the clearness of the flowing stream, the verdure of the trees surrounding the spot, the unrestricted flight of the birds and especially of the doves, but above all by the rare calm of this hidden retreat. I began to ponder in my mind what else I should desire to complete the charms of the place, and I concluded that I should like the presence of a sociable and loving friend, one capable, in a word, of cheering my solitude. Then Thou, O my God, the author of ineffable delights, Who, as I hope, didst prompt me to begin this meditation, didst also make Thyself the end of it, inspiring me with the thought suggested by the stream, that if by continual gratitude I should cause Thy graces to flow back to Thee; if, growing in the love of virtue, I should bring forth, like the trees, the fruit of good works; if, again, despising earthly things, I should fly heavenwards freely like the doves, and if, with my senses stranger to the tumult of exterior distractions, I should devote myself to Thee with all my soul, my heart would become for Thee a habitation full of delight.'
One of the first fruits of Gertrude's conversion was the readjustment of the relations between her intellectual and her spiritual life. In her case, she considered, the call to perfection involved the abandonment of her once-loved literary studies. The time that she had previously devoted to them she now felt it her duty to give to Holy Scripture and the theologians and Fathers of the Church, her favourites being St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great and St. Bernard. The literary powers which her previous studies had developed she now put to excellent use by writing simple works for the people, explaining obscure passages of the Bible. Unfortunately all of these writings are lost, although we possess other most valuable works from her pen. She also procured copies of the Holy Scriptures for those who required them, apparently sometimes making transcripts with her own hand, printing yet being unknown.
As Gertrude's life was that of a simple nun in a contemplative order, it presents to us externally nothing of a startling nature. Her outward life, indeed, was a round of ordinary duties faithfully performed. She held the office of assistant to her former mistress, St. Mechtilde, but at times exterior occupations were given to her, and as the fame of her sanctity spread abroad strangers came to the convent seeking her advice. While she gladly gave her help, intercourse with the world was a real cross to her. 'Were I free to choose,' she said to Our Lord, 'I would have no other companionship and no other conversation but Thine. I abandon them all to return to Thee, O my Supreme Good and the one joy of my heart and soul.
Her well-informed and eloquent discourses often had striking effects. By her persuasive words, we are told, she would arouse in some the desire for salvation, give light to others whereby they might know God and their own defects, console the afflicted, or excite in other souls the more ardent love of God. A single word of hers, it was said, had more power to touch souls than whole sermons of the most celebrated preachers.
When her sisters in religion came to consult her, she would at any time willingly place herself at their disposal, even forsaking for them the delights of intimate intercourse with Our Lord. She used to say that the favours with which the excessive goodness of God enriched her unworthiness seemed to her like treasures hidden under a rubbishheap when kept to herself, but that immediately she revealed them to others they became like precious stones mounted in pure gold.
Gertrude's purity of heart was obvious to all who came in contact with her. Indeed the sisters used to say laughingly that she had a heart so pure that it would not be out of place among the relics on the altar. Her biographer relates that an old man of great authority declared that he had never met anyone a greater stranger to every motion of the senses than our saint; and he added that he did not wonder God had chosen to reveal His secret to her before all others; since He says in the Gospel: 'Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.'
Father Faber has said that in the creature humility is the infallible accompaniment of nearness to the Creator. St. Gertrude is a striking example of this truth. She considered no one so vile that he did not appear to her to be a more worthy recipient of God's gifts than herself. Each fresh access of grace deepened her sense of unworthiness. She recognised that the favours which God showered on His creatures are unmerited gifts. She thought with St. Teresa that 'if it seems to us that Our Lord has given us some virtue, we must regard it as a blessing received from Him that He can at any time take away from us.'
It was humility that urged Gertrude to consult others when she was about to undertake anything important, and readily to follow their advice even when it was contrary to her inclinations. It was humility, again, that both kept her for a time from making known her favours and also impelled her to reveal them, for while she feared to attract attention to herself, she felt that God did not give her His revelations for herself alone. An impetuosity natural to her temperament gave her frequent cause for humbling herself. Scrupulously careful herself about observance of the Rule, negligence on the part of others would bring down on them a reproach, sometimes severe. Then she would humbly beg her sisters to implore God to grant her the grace of gentleness and meekness. She endeavoured to obtain from Our Lord complete deliverence from these faults but learned from Him that He leaves these defects to His chosen souls so that they may bear in mind the weakness of their nature and realise that all their purity is only an effect of His free mercy.
As humility is, in the words of St. Augustine, 'the love of God reaching to contempt of self,' we should expect to find in one so humble as St. Gertrude an ardent love of God. This, indeed, was one of her most striking characteristics. Her love of God was shown by her complete submission to His will in small things as well as great. Our Lord taught her to make use of all the necessities of life, such as eating, drinking and sleeping, for the praise of God and the salvation of souls, in union with the love with which He had sanctified those actions when on earth. During Mass on a certain Palm Sunday, when she was suffering from extreme weakness, one of the sisters came and begged her to take some food. Her custom was never to take anything until she had heard the Passion. Asking Our Lord what she ought to do, she heard the reply: ' Take this refreshment, my beloved, in union with that love with which I, your Lover, before I suffered on the Cross, refusing to drink the wine mingled with myrrh and gall, after I had tasted it. ' At these words she submitted her will to God and gave Him thanks. Our Lord then showed her His Heart and said: 'Behold the cup wherein is preserved the memory of that saying, When He had tasted He would not drink. In it I present you with the desire which made me refuse to drink the draught in order that it might be reserved for you. Drink it then freely, for I, the experienced Physician, have tasted it, and have prepared it for you as a most salutary potion. The desire of suffering much for men prevented Me from drinking the wine mingled with myrrh and gall that was offered Me . . . With the same love must you, on the contrary, take all that is necessary and profitable, that you may live the longer for My service.
'In the cup offered Me, there are three considerations, and you must do three things in memory thereof. First, you must perform all your actions joyfully for My glory; this is donated by the wine. Secondly, you must make use of the conveniences of life, that you may be able to suffer the longer for My love; this is signified by the myrrh, which preserves from corruption. Thirdly, you must be quite willing for My love to be deprived of the joys of My sweet presence in Heaven and to remain in this vale of misery as long as it pleases Me; this is indicated by the gall. Whenever you use the conveniences of life with this intention, I will regard you as you would a friend who drank all the gall offered you, in order to give you in exchange the sweetest nectar .
St. Gertrude's general indifference to the material necessities of every-day life, such as food and clothing, is shown by the manner in which she would choose them. Shutting her eyes, she would take the first object she touched, and then, whatever her natural preference might be, she would regard it with affection as a direct gift from God.
St. Gertrude, as we have seen, did not allow her zeal for God's service to infringe on the charity which she owed to her neighbour. One of the fruits of her love for God was the compassion which she bestowed for His sake on all those in need or distress. On one occasion we are told that ' Gertrude had risen to say Matins, although in a very weak state, and she had already finished the first Nocturn when another sister who was also ill came to her, and Gertrude charitably began to recite the office with devotion all over again with her. Afterwards at Mass, while she was devoutly meditating on Our Lord, she saw her soul clothed in most wonderful apparel and magnificently adorned with precious stones emitting a marvellous light. Our Lord then made known to her that she had deserved these adornments because in humble charity she had said part of Matins over again with a younger sister, and that her vesture shone with as many ornaments as she had recited words. She then remembered certain negligences which she had not yet confessed on account of the absence of her confessor, and laid her trouble before Our Lord, Who said to her: Why do you bewail your negligences, you who are so gloriously clothed with the robe of charity, which covereth a multitude of sins ? How can I console myself, she answered, with the thought that charity covers my sins, when I see myself still stained with them?' Charity not only covers sins,' replied Our Lord, but like a burning sea consumes within itself and annihilates venial faults and moreover overwhelms the soul with merits.'
St. Gertrude's compassion for the afflicted extended to all living creatures, and when she saw animals in pain she would feel the deepest pity for them and implore God's mercy for their sufferings.
Nor did Gertrude's charity stop at the living; she showed the greatest zeal for the welfare of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. We are told that having offered all her good works on behalf of the soul of a departed Sister in religion, she asked Our Lord, in consequence, frequently to remember in mercy her absolute poverty. 'What more can I do,' He replied, 'for one who out of charity has thus despoiled herself, than to cover her with My Own garments and work earnestly with her for the speedy regaining of what she has lost by Charity?' 'Whereas Thou mayest do,' she answered, 'I must nevertheless appear before Thee despoiled of all, for I have renounced future as well as past benefits.' 'A mother allows her children who are clothed to sit at her feet,' replied Our Lord, 'but she takes one that is barely clad into her arms and warms it in her bosom with her own garments.' And He added, 'Seated on the shore of the ocean, are you poorer than those who seat themselves at the source of a little brook?' 'That is to say,' explained the chronicler, 'those who keep their good works to themselves remain at the source of the brook, but those who in charity and humility despoil themselves of everything, possess God, the inexhaustible ocean of all blessedness.'
St. Gertude's love of God was supplemented by an unshakable confidence in His goodness. Her confidence in God, to which, indeed, she attributed all her spiritual gifts, enabled her to receive Our Lord frequently in the Blessed Sacrament of His love at a time when frequent Communion was little practised. When some of her companions hesitated through scruples to approach the altar, she would exhort and encourage them and herself set the example. When she read or heard anyone speak of the danger of receiving the Lord's Body unworthily, she approached the Holy Sacrament with renewed acts of confidence in the goodness of God. If she had omitted to say the prayers which formed her usual preparation for Holy Communion she did not abstain from making her Communion on that account, because she knew that no preparation for so stupendous a Gift could be really adequate. The efforts of man to prepare himself worthily she compared to a drop of water in the vastness of the ocean. Still, having done what she could, she put her trust in God's infinite goodness and strove to receive the Holy Sacrament with a pure heart and fervent love.
A certain pious person once begged of God in prayer to reveal to him what it was that most pleased Him in St. Gertrude. He was told her liberty of spirit. Liberty of spirit does not mean, as Father Faber points out in praising this virtue of St. Gertrude, negligence, unpunctuality, slovenliness, or caprice, in the spiritual life. Rather it implies a certain broadness of outlook, enabling the eyes of the soul to look behind the creature to the Creator. It is the virtue which pre-eminently informs the Rule of St. Benedict, on which St. Gertrude's life as a Cistercian religious, was based. St. Gertrude's liberty of spirit was manifested by her readiness to come to the aid of her neighbour even at the expense of ordinary duties prescribed by the Rule and at the sacrifice of the delights of familiar intercourse with Our Lord; by her frequent Communions in spite of her defects; by her willingness to die even with little or no preparation for death, should God ordain it. The following illustrates this last point in a remarkable way. It once happened that when out walking in the country Gertrude fell from a dangerous height. 'Immediately, 'writes one of her companions, 'feeling great joy, she said in spirit to Our Lord: What happiness would it have been for me, O my beloved Lord, if that fall had been the occasion of my suddenly coming to Thee. And when we asked her in astonishment if she was not afraid to die without being fortified with the Sacraments of the Church, she replied: Indeed, with my whole heart do I desire to be fortified with the most salutary Sacraments; nevertheless, the will and appointment of my God seem to be the best and most salutary preparation. Therefore, I shall most gladly depart to Him in whatever way He shall wish, either by a sudden or by foreseen death, certain that whatever the manner of my death I shall never lack the mercy of God, without which in either case I know that I cannot possibly be saved''.
St. Gertude's liberty of spirit enabled her to perform all her actions for the glory of God. When she had anything to do she carried it out on the spot, in case preoccupation with the matter should prove a hindrance to the service of God. Our Lord revealed to St. Mechtilde that He was pleased by this. He appeared to her, in a vision, seated on a magnificent throne. St. Gertrude seemed to be walking up and down before Him, keeping her eyes fixed on Our Lord and following every motion of His Sacred Heart. When St. Mechtilde expressed her admiration at this sight, Our Lord said to her: 'As you see, in walking before Me, My elect acts as though she desires without ceasing the good pleasure of My Heart, and seeks diligently to learn it. When she has found out My will in any matter, she employs all her strength to perform it and soon returns to discover My other desires and execute them faithfully. Thus her whole life redounds to My praise and honour.'
On entering the convent Gertrude had dedicated herself to a life of prayer. Her conversion had confirmed and strengthened her in this resolution. The whole of her life as a contemplative nun was, of course, built round the liturgy of the Church-the Holy Mass and the Divine Office and her writings and visions indicated the extent to which these became absorbed into her very being. They indicate, too, her tender devotion to Our Lord Crucified and her childlike love for his Blessed Mother; but, if one may say so, it was the Sacred Heart of Jesus that made the greatest appeal to her soul. To exhibit the solid foundation in theology and the devotion to the Sacred Heart and thus to prepare the way for its propagation in God's good time by its apostle, St. Margaret Mary, became, in fact, the mission of this simple religious. With this high vocation in view for her, Our Lord gently led Gertrude through all the stages of the spiritual life to the highest sanctity. Gertrude became the recipient of 'extraordinary graces,' graces that is to say, quite apart from those which God has attached to the ordinary Christian acts of prayer, mortification, charity and so on. These extraordinary graces which are thus beyond the will of man to obtain by his own act, are the fruit of what is called the mystical life, whereby the soul learns to know God Himself by attaining a most intimate union with Him. And to these chosen souls, as to St. Gertrude, God sometimes, but not always, grants the favour of visions of His Divine Son and of the saints and angels, as well as supernatural discourse, or revelations.
Although the mystical life cannot be attained to by our own efforts, yet the privilege is granted only to those souls who by their piety and mortification are deemed by God in some sense to deserve it. Such was the fervour of the Helfta Convent that several of the religious reached the holy state. The path to the mystical life was thus made easier for Gertrude by the support and encouragement which she received from those of her companions who had already entered it. Among their number was her former mistress, St. Mechtilde, who was also granted the grace of visions and revelations. Between these two holy religious there existed the strongest possible bonds of confidence and spiritual affection. St. Gertrude had many visions relating to St. Mechtilde's death and Our Lord prompted her to warn her friend of the time when she ought to receive Extreme Unction.
The lives of some of the greatest mystics, like St. Bernard and St. Teresa, have been as remarkable for their unparralleled activity as for their intense spirituality. St. Gertrude's mysticism, similarly, was no hindrance to her ordinary exterior life. Once only do we read of its leading her into any appearance of eccentricity. On a certain occasion, during Mass, she was so carried away by the delights of the intimate intercourse with Our Lord that she neglected to conform to the ordinary movements of the choir. One of the sisters having drawn attention to it, she begged and obtained from Our Lord the favour of deliverance in future from all such singularity.
In order to test the souls of those who aspire to a close union with Him in the mystical life, God makes a condition of their progress the acceptance of trials, disappointments and acute bodily suffering. Unlike another soul dear to the Sacred Heart- St. Margaret Mary-St. Gertrude was spared the bitter pains of opposition from her superiors, who always gave her, indeed, their warmest sympathy. Some misunderstanding she was to encounter from her sisters within the convent, but her greatest suffering arose from the physical maladies with which she became afflicted. Not long after her conversion she received from Our Lord the impressions of the stigmata-His Five Sacred Wounds. These were imprinted interiorly on her heart and thus, unlike those of St. Francis and many other saints, were invisible to others: nevertheless, they united her intimately to the sufferings of Christ and thenceforward she was to tread the Way of the Cross.
In the eighth year after her conversion she was attacked by the first of a series of severe illnesses which did not cease until her death. 'On the Feast of the most holy Purification,' she tells us, 'I was confined to bed after a severe illness, and about daybreak was sorrowfully complaining of myself that my sickness would deprive me of the Divine visit with which I had often been consoled on such Feasts. I received consolation from the Mediatrix, Mother of Him Who is the true Mediator between God and man. You do not remember,' she said, having experienced before this, bodily sufferings more severe; but I learn that you have never received a more noble gift from My Son than the one that is to be given you, and it is in order that you may receive it worthily that your soul has been fortified by sufferings. I was much comforted by these words and received the Food of Life immediately before the Profession. As I was meditating on the presence of God within me, I beheld my soul in the likeness of wax carefully softened at the fire, presented to the bosom of Our Lord as though to a seal of which it was to receive the impression. Suddenly this Divine Seal seemed to be placed upon it, and my soul appeared to be drawn into the treasure house in which the whole fulness of the Godhead dwells corporeally, there to be marked with the impression of the resplendent and everpeaceful Trinity.
After this, Gertrude's ill-health was often so severe that she had to be dispensed from strict observance of the Rule. She was unable to fast, even during Lent; indeed, she sometimes could not get through the night without taking nourishment. We have seen already that she was obliged in times of great weakness to take sustenance during a long ceremony. She was once absent from the choir for a whole year. Even when not too ill to attend, she often had to remain seated during the Office. At first she found her inability to fulfil her religious obligations a serious trial. When, lying sick and helpless, she was forced to accept the services of her sisters-services joyously rendered -she used to feel that she was robbing God of times which she would otherwise have been able to devote to His service. Gradually, however, she learnt from Our Lord to regard herself and her own efforts as nothing. The following vision shows how completely Gertrude resigned herself to the Divine Will even to the extent of indifference to sickness or health.
Once, when very ill, she began to wonder how her malady would terminate. Our Lord then appeared to her, bearing health in His right Hand and sickness in His left. He presented them to her so that she might choose which she preferred; but Gertrude refused both. Tenderly embracing her, Our Lord allowed her to rest upon His Sacred Heart, but she turned her head away from Him, saying that she wished to show Him that it was her desire that He should disregard her will, but accomplish His good pleasure in her in all things.
To complete the union between Himself and His chosen one, Our Lord drew Gertrude mystically within His Sacred Heart. At Matins on one Feast of the Dedication of the Church, we are told that Our Lord ' introduced her into a place of incomparable splendour-the Heart of Jesus Christ, which He had adorned as a house that she might celebrate the Feast therein. The marvellous profusion of delights which she found on entering seemed to overcome her and she said to Our Lord: My Lord, if Thou hast led my soul into some place where Thy Feet had stood, it would have been more than enough for me; but what can I offer Thee in return for the stupendous favour which Thou art now bestowing on me?' Since you often seek, Our Lord replied, to offer Me the most noble part of your being- your heart-I deem it fitting that I should present you Mine for your delight . . . .'If my heart, she said, has conformed itself in any way to Thine, O my God, it has been by Thy grace.' I naturally follow,' Our Lord answered, and reward with happiness those souls whom I have previously prepared. If anyone co-operates with My grace according to the good pleasure of My Heart, I conform Myself in turn to all the good pleasure of his Heart''.
Thus was effected a spiritual marriage which marked a new stage in the relations between our saint and her Divine Lover, the highest that the creature can reach in this life. Gertrude was now sometimes deprived of the sensible presence of Our Lord, but her union with Him was so complete that she felt no pain at the loss of His visits. She asked Him why He no longer visited her in the same way as before. 'At first I often instructed you,' He answered, 'by means of replies which allowed you to make known My good pleasure to others; but now I manifest my operations to your intellect only, because it would sometimes be very difficult to explain them in words. I store up the riches of My grace in your soul as in a treasure- house, so that everyone may find in you what he seeks. You are thus like a wife who knows all the secrets of her husband, and having lived a long time with him knows how to divine his will in everything. Nevertheless, it would not be fitting that the secrets learnt through such intimacy should be revealed.'
St. Gertrude's ill-health was not the only trial of her comparatively peaceful life. The close relations which existed in the Middle Ages between convents and the families of their founders were not always to the advantage of the religious. Heirs were sometimes apt to grudge the loss of property through religious benefactions and to express their chagrin in no gentle fashion. In 1284 the community at Helfta was subject to much annoyance on the part of one of the sons of the founder, a brother, indeed, to the Abbess who succeeded Gertrude of Hackeborn. On Good Friday he sacrilegiously invaded the convent with an armed force. Ten years later a similar desecration took place as a result of a war which was devastating the whole country. A fresh misfortune befell them in 1296. Differences had arisen between the convent and the Chapter of Halberstadt on some financial position. The episcopal see falling vacant the canons seized the opportunity of launching an interdict on the nuns, who suffered greatly from the deprivation of Mass and Holy Communion and the suspensions of the public recital of the Divine Office. Fortunately the dispute appears to have been quickly settled, and cordial relations were soon established between the community and the new Bishop. None of the convent's external affairs was without its interest for Gertrude, and at this time of intense anxiety she prayed with great earnestness for a happy solution of its difficulties.
But greater than any of these calamities was the blow that befell Gertrude and her sister when their beloved Abbess died in 1291.To a fervent and united family like that of Helfta the loss of their Mother seemed an irreparable disaster. For forty years she had directed them in the way of sanctity, building up a household brightly conspicuous for its zeal and piety. A confirmed invalid during the last months of her life, the Abbess derived much spiritual consolation from St. Gertrude, especially at those times when her own sister, St. Mechtilde, was too ill to attend her. After the saintly Abbess's death, Gertrude was able to bring joy to the sorrowing hearts of her companions by relating to them the visions she had had of their mother in heavenly glory.
Eight years after the departure of Abbess Gertrude, her sister, St. Mechtilde, passed away after much suffering. Her visions and revelations were written down without her knowledge by St. Gertrude, her dear friend and former pupil, with the assistance possibly, of another nun also in her confidence. This record is entitled: 'The Book of Special Grace.' It was not the first work of St. Gertrude's, dealing with miraculous favours. She had previously written an account of the graces she had herself received in a book which Our Lord told her to name 'The Herald of Divine Love.' In her humility she felt that her favours could not have been granted her for herself alone, and that God must wish to use her as a channel to communicate them to others. Yet for a long time she hesitated about writing on the subject. She wondered what would be the use of it. She was determined not to allow anything she might write concerning her visions to circulate during her lifetime, and she doubted if anyone would benefit by reading about them after her death. Moreover, she was afraid that some narrow-minded persons, so far from being edified at learning of her favours, would find in them a pretext for calumny. We are told that Our Lord thus answered her thoughts: 'I have given you My grace in such abundance that I must exact more fruit from it. That is why I desire that those who are granted like gifts and through negligence undervalue them, when they hear of you will recollect the gifts they have themselves received and redouble their thankfulness for them, and thus My grace will be increased in them. 'Finally, Our Lord overcame all Gertrude's scruples by saying to her: 'Be assured that you will not quit the prison of your body until you have paid your debts to the last farthing.' Her desire to see Christ face to face was too strong to make further resistance possible. She then wrote with her own hand in Latin the second part of 'The Herald of Divine Love,' describing with easy grace the revelation she had received. After a time she laid aside her pen, as in her great humility she thought herself unequal to the task of giving human expression to celestial glories. She considered that another might be more skilful than herself in finishing what she had begun, and one of her sisters in religion was ordered by her superiors to write down what Gertrude would reveal. To the autobiography thus completed by dictation a short life of the saint was prefixed after her death, and the whole work, in five parts, then went by the title 'The Herald of Divine Love,' which originally applied only to St. Gertrude's contributions. Through St. Gertrude Our Lord made the following promises to readers of her book: ' . . . . he who reads this book for My glory, with a right faith, humble devotion and loving gratitude, and seeks therein the good of his soul, will obtain the remission of his venial sins and be granted the grace of spiritual consolation and in addition the disposition to receive an increase of grace.'
St. Gertrude has been called the Saint of the Humanity of Jesus Christ, as St. Catherine of Genoa was the Saint of His Sacred Heart, 'the symbol of that immense charity which urged the Word to take flesh, to institute the Holy Eucharist, to take on Himself our sins, and dying on the Cross, to offer Himself as a Victim and a sacrifice to the Eternal Father.' Down to the time of St. Gertrude there had been few to sound the praises of the Sacred Heart. Allusions to It indeed, are to be found in the Works of the Fathers of the Church, especially in St. Bernard, the illustrious Abbot of Clairvaux, whom St. Gertrude as a Cistercian venerated as a second founder of her Order, and for whose writings she had especial affection. But St. Gertrude gathered more knowledge of the Sacred Heart and Its love for men from the many years of intimate companionship with her revered mistress, St. Mechtilde. In 'The Book of Special Grace,' the Sacred Heart is a constantly recurring theme. The knowledge of the Sacred Heart granted to St. Mechtilde and to some other elect souls, however, was a 'special grace' for those souls alone. To St. Gertrude the revelation was made that it might be scattered broadcast to all men, and the chief source of her profound apprehension of the doctrine of the Sacred Heart was that Heart Itself, which willed that St. Gertrude with her sound foundation of learning should be Its theologian.
In her vision St. Gertrude reveals to us in a series of marvellous parables different aspects of the Divine Heart of Jesus Christ as the source of His infinite love for man. She thus prepared the way for the propagation of the devotion to the Sacred Heart by St. Margaret Mary nearly four centuries later and for its official recognition by the Church in the establishment of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. Then was put into operation one of the most powerful means that God had devised for drawing souls to Him, and Ireland, which cherishes a particular affection for this devotion, to-day one of the most striking characteristics of its religion, should hold in special veneration the forerunner St. Gertrude, who illuminated the path that St. Margaret Mary was to tread.
A few of St. Gertrude's visions we have already mentioned; some of the most beautiful are unfortunately too long in their panoramic unfolding of heavenly scenes to be included in this brief sketch. But we shall be able to consider a few of the many visions scattered through ' The Herald of Divine Love ' which have the Sacred Heart for their theme. In one she tells how Our Lord appeared to her during a certain Lent when she was lying seriously ill. 'I was alone one morning,' she said, 'while the other sisters were attending to their duties, when Our Lord, Who does not abandon those who are deprived of human consolation, appeared to me, thus fulfilling the word of the prophet, I am with him in tribulation. He showed me His left Side, from which gushed forth, as from the inmost depths of His Sacred Heart, a fountain of pure water, which appeared solid like crystal. Flowing away, it covered His holy bosom like a costly necklace, which seemed to alternate in colour between gold and purple. Meanwhile Our Lord thus spoke to me:' The illness from which you are now suffering has so sanctified your soul that whenever for My love or in condescension to your neighbour you seem to forsake Me in thought, word, or deed, you will in reality no more withdraw yourself from Me than this fountain withdraws itself from My Heart. And as the gold and purple shine through the pure crystal, so the co-operation of My Divinity, shown forth by the bold and the perfect patience of My Humanity, represented by the purple, will render all your actions agreeable in My eyes''.
Once when the saint was praying for certain persons who had been recommended to her prayers, Our Lord, we are told, said to her: 'I have given to every soul a golden tube by means of which it can draw from the depths of My Divine Heart whatever it desires.' She understood that this tube signified the good will with which men can appropriate for themselves all the spiritual riches of heaven and earth. If they wish, for example, to offer to God the praises, thanksgivings, obedience and fidelity of which some saints have given us an example, the infinite goodness of God immediately accepts the intention for the deed. This tube becomes more brilliant than gold when men thank God for the gift of so noble a faculty as the will, by which they may acquire infinitely greater riches than the whole world could obtain by exerting all its strength.
She understood further that all the sisters of the community who were surrounding Our Lord, were provided with tubes, and that each received Divine grace according to the measure of her powers. Some appeared to draw it directly from the depths of the Divine Heart, others received it from Our Lord's Hands. The further the source of grace from Our Lord's Heart, the greater was their difficulty in obtaining their desires, whereas the nearer this source was to His Heart the more easily, sweetly, and abundantly they obtained them. Those who drew directly from Our Lord's Heart represented those who conform themselves entirely to the Divine Will and desire above all things that His adorable will should be fully accomplished in them, both in spiritual and temporal affairs. These souls move the Divine Heart so profoundly and effectively that at the time ordained by God they receive the torrent of Divine sweetness with abundance and pleasure proportioned to the extent that they will have abandoned themselves perfectly to the Divine will. Those who endeavour to draw grace from the other members of Our Lord's Body represent those who try to obtain gifts or virtues by following their inclinations and their own will: and these obtain their desires with difficulty proportioned to their failure, in relying on their own will, to abandon themselves to Divine Providence.
On Christmas Day Our Lord taught St. Gertrude how acceptable to Him is the good-will of those devout souls who are lawfully hindered from offering Him all the devotions their hearts desire. During Midnight Mass she offered to Our Lord, as she had been requested, the prayers of certain persons which had been made before the Feast, together with the good-will of others who had been legitimately prevented from offering those prayers. She then saw all the prayers which had been devoutly said laid before Our Lord in the form of costly pearls, on a table of gold; but the good-will of those who had been unable to carry out their intentions was placed in a magnificent chain which adorned Our Lord's bosom. ' These souls, ' we are told, ' thus obtained from this nearness to the Divine Heart an advantage like that possessed by a person who holds the key of a treasure-chest from which he can take all that he can desire. '
Our Lord also taught St. Gertrude how He offers the love of His Sacred Heart to the Eternal Father for the omission of faithful souls who seek to repair their neglect. The Passion was, naturally, a frequent subject of meditation with St. Gertrude. But on a certain Friday evening she remembered that her occupations had crowded out the thought of the sufferings of her Saviour on the very day of the week when she most wished to remember them. When she lamented her negligence before a crucifix, Our Lord consoled her thus: 'What you have neglected I have supplied for you; for every hour I have accumulated in My Heart what you ought to have accumulated in yours, and My Heart has become so full that I have waited with an ardent desire for the hour when you should address this prayer to Me. With this prayer I now offer to God My Father all that I have done for you during this day, for without your good intentions this offering of Mine would not be so advantageous for your salvation.'
In another vision St. Gertrude learnt that the grace of the Holy Ghost flows into the hearts of the faithful through the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 'On the Vigil of Pentecost,' we are told, 'as she was fervently praying during the Office that she might be prepared for the coming of the Holy Ghost, she heard Our Lord say to her interiorly, with infinite tenderness: You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you. These words brought her a feeling of wondrous sweetness, yet she began desponding to consider her unworthiness. It then seemed to her that this feeling of unworthiness produced a kind of cave in her heart, which became deeper and deeper as she considered herself more and more vile. Then from the most sweet Heart of the Son of God there flowed a stream most pure, like honey, which trickled drop by drop into the cave of her heart until it was completely filled. She understood that this stream represented the sweetness of the Holy Spirit which gently flows into the hearts of the elect through the Heart of the Son of God.'
At another time Our Lord showed His Sacred Heart to our Saint under the form of a lyre which offered sweet music to the Blessed Trinity. 'When Vespers were begun,' on a certain Feast of the Holy Trinity, 'the Son of God offered His Sacred Heart to the glorious Trinity, holding It in His Hands in the form of a lyre, upon which all the fervour of the worshippers and all the words which were chanted through the whole of the Feast resounded most melodiously before God. The singing of those who chanted without special devotion, either by routine or with merely human satisfaction, produced unpleasing sounds on the lower strings of the instrument. But those who gave themselves up to singing devoutly the praise of the adorable Trinity, seemed to produce through the most holy Heart of Jesus Christ sweet and melodious strains upon the most sonorous strings.' Again, at Lauds on the same Feast, while the Antiphon was being sung, 'Gertude praised with all her soul the Ever- Blessed Trinity, desiring that if it were possible, she should sing the Antiphon in her last agony with fervour sufficient to consume her forces and cause her to die praising God; and it seemed that the resplendent and ever-peaceful Trinity inclined with loving tenderness to the most venerable Heart of Jesus, which like a marvellous lyre sweetly resounded in Its presence. On this lyre the Blessed Trinity placed three strings, which in harmony with the invincible omnipotence of God the Father, the wisdom of God the Son, and the benevolence of God the Holy Ghost, might atone without ceasing for all Gertrude's defects in pleasing the Most Blessed Trinity.'
On another occasion, during Vespers of the Assumption, St. Gertrude, we are told, was privileged to make mystical use of the lyre of the Blessed Heart to sound the praise of Our Lady. While the psalms were being sung she saw Our Lord first draw into His Divine Heart all the praises addressed to Him and then pour them forth in a stream towards the holy Mother of God. At the chanting of the Antiphon, Gertrude rushed into Our Lord's arms and tried to make these words resound on the instrument of His Sacred Heart, in honour of the tenderness which He had lavished on His Blessed Mother. This demonstration of love caused the torrents from the Sacred Heart to gush forth upon Our Lady's soul with such force that drops of water sprang out from the stream. These drops, becoming brilliant stars of incomparable beauty, served as an adornment for the Queen of Heaven; but so numerous were they that many fell to the ground, whereupon the Saint found delight in hastening to gather and present them to Our Lord. By this time St. Gertrude understood that the saints experience the greatest joy in the superabundance of Our Lady's merits.
In another marvellous vision Our Lord presented St. Gertrude with His Sacred Heart under the form of a burning lamp. On a certain occasion, during the recitation of the Divine Office, we are told that ' when she was endeavouring to pay the greatest attention to every note and word, she was often hindered by natural weakness, and grieving at her failure, she said to herself: What fruit can I obtain from this exercise in which I show such inconsistency ? Our Lord, being unable to endure the sight of her affliction, with His Hands presented her with His Divine Heart in the form of a burning lamp, saying to her: Behold I offer to the eyes of your soul My Heart, the sweet organ of the EverAdorable Trinity, that you may with confidence ask It to perform all that you are unable to perform yourself, and thus you will appear perfect in My eyes. For just as a faithful servant is always in readiness to carry out the wishes of his master, so My Heart will henceforth be always ready at any moment to make good your negligence . . . .'
Some days afterwards, while she was reflecting upon this magnificent gift, she anxiously enquired of Our Lord how long He would deign to continue the favour, As long as you desire to have it,' He replied, you will never have to grieve that I have taken it away. 'But how is it possible,' she said, O God, Who workest the greatest marvels, that I can perceive that Thy Divine Heart is suspended like a lamp in the midst of my heart, which is alas ! so unworthy, and nevertheless whenever by the help of Thy grace I have been counted worthy to approach Thee, I rejoice to find within Thy bosom the same source of all delights?' When you wish to take hold of anything,' Our Lord replied, you stretch out your hand, withdrawing it after you have clasped what you wanted; so also, when you turn your attention to exterior things, I, in My extreme love for you, stretch out to you My Heart to draw you to Myself; and when you respond to My tender advance and recollect yourself, I withdraw My Heart and you with It, offering you in Its recesses the delights of all virtues''.
During the Mass of the Presanctified on a certain Good Friday, Our Lord gave St. Gertrude His Sacred Heart under the form of a golden thurible, from which as many clouds of incense rose as there are races of men redeemed by the Precious Blood. When the prayers were offered for the different orders in the Church, St. Gertrude saw all the prayers of the whole Church ascend together like fragrant incense from the thurible of the Sacred Heart, This union gave the prayers a singular splendour and beauty. 'We should therefore pray for the Church on this day, with greater devotion,' says 'The Herald of Divine Love,' 'because it is Christ's Passion which gives our prayers their greatest value in the sight of God the Father.'
A wonderful vision is recorded in which St. Gertrude assisted at a mystical Mass in Heaven while the priest was offering the Holy Sacrifice in the convent church. Our Lord, true Priest and Supreme Pontiff, was the celebrant; the saints and heavenly hosts acted as ministers and choir. At the elevation of the host on earth, Our Lord in Heaven rose from His throne and presented to God the Father, with His Own Hands, His Sacred Heart under the form of a golden altar. Thus St. Gertrude learnt that the sacred liturgy links Heaven and earth, the Church doing for Christian souls below what the Saviour does above. The oneness of the spiritual life on earth and in Heaven is indeed the supreme lesson of St. Gertrude's mysticism and the key to many of her visions. 'She soars to Heaven,' says Aubrey de Vere in the course of a beautiful panegyric on St. Gertrude, to fmd there in a resplendent form, the simplest of those truths which are our food on earth . . . Her special gift was realisation; what others admitted, she believed; what others believed, she saw. It was thus that she felt the co-presence of the supernatural with the natural, the kingdom of spirit being to her not a future world, but a wider circle clasping a smaller one. From this feeling followed her intense appreciation of the fact that all earthly things have immediate effects on high. If a prayer is said on earth, she sees the sceptre in the hand of the heavenly King blossom with another flower; if a sacrament is worthily received, the glory of His Face flashes lightning round all the armies of the blessed. That such things should be seen by us may well seem wonderful; that they should exist can appear strange to no one who realises the statement that when a sinner repents there is joy among the angels in Heaven.'
Towards the end of St. Gertrude's life the desire for death which she had often felt but which she had learnt to subordinate to the will of God, became very insistent. On one Feast of St. Martin she felt, like St. Martin himself, a vehement desire to die and be with Christ, and she heard Him say: 'Soon I shall bear you away from this life.' These words increased her longing and one day during the following Easter week, just after she had received Our Lord in Holy Communion, He said to her: 'Come, my elect, and I will place you in My throne.' She then realised that the day of her release was approaching. Our Lord, indeed, counselled her to prepare for death. She did so by means of an exercise which she had written for the use of others-a kind of five-days' retreat devoted to the consideration of the last illness, the last sacraments and death itself. But she was not to die before further sufferings were to be added to the many that she had already endured. When she became weaker and the doctors pronounced her malady practically incurable, she increased her prayers and acts of piety, but all the time she did not neglect to console and sustain her sorrowing sisters.
There is no explicit record of St. Gertrude's actual death, but it was revealed to her during these last days in what manner she was to die. In this vision she beheld herself during her last agony in the arms of Our Lord, reposing on His Sacred Heart. She saw Our Lady tenderly embrace her, and the saints and angels surround her bed and adorn her soul with their gifts. Then she saw Our Lord gently draw her to Himself, 'as the sun in its mid-day heat draws to itself and makes to disappear the little drops of dew.' Thus, rapt in ecstasy, we may believe, did she pass to a full and everlasting enjoyment in Heaven of those celestial favours which she had already tasted on earth.
St. Gertrude died on October 17th, 1301 or 1302, aged 45 or 46 years. Her burial-place is unknown, but no doubt she was laid to rest at Helfta, where she had spent nearly the whole of her life. For a long time, in the secret designs of God's providence, her name remained in obscurity. Before her death, St. Gertrude's remarkable writings had been submitted by the authorities of Helfta to a thorough examination by theologians of the Dominican and Franciscan Orders, who gave them their entire approbation. Copies of her works were doubtless made from time to time in the monasteries and convents but they did not become generally known until the pious Carthusian Lanspergius, of Cologne, brought out a Latin edition of 'The Herald of Divine Love,' in 1536. Only then did St. Gertrude begin to exert an appreciable influence in preparing the ground for the general adoption of the devotion to the Sacred Heart. Her cultus spread. In 1677 her name was inscribed on the Roman Martyrology and her Office was made obligatory on the Universal Church. St. Gertrude was declared Patron of the West Indies, at the petition of the King of Spain. Peru cultivated a particular devotion to her, and in New Mexico a town was built in her honour and named after her. St. Gertrude's Feast is kept by the Benedictine and Cistercian Orders on November 17th, but by the rest of the Church on November 15th.
Among the countless holy men and women who have felt an especial attention to this saint of the Sacred Heart, the great spiritual writer, Abbot Louis of Blois (or Blosius), occupies a foremost place. He composed in her honour the following prayer, with which we may conclude:
'O sweetest Lord Jesus Christ, I praise Thee and give Thee thanks, with all the devotion of which I am capable, for all the benefits Thou didst bestow on the virgin Gertrude, Thy beloved spouse; and by that love with which Thou didst from eternity choose her out for Thy special favour, and in Thine Own good time didst sweetly attract her and familiarly invite her to Thyself, and joyfully abide in her soul, and end the course of her life by a blessed death, I pray and beseech Thee that Thou wilt have mercy on me, and render me pleasing to Thee, and lead me into eternal life. Amen.'
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| Transcription: Sermon for the Feast of Christ the King [On Catholics and Pro-Abortion Candidates] |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-29-2024, 11:16 AM - Forum: Rev. Father David Hewko
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The following transcription is graciously provided by The Catholic Trumpet [some minor adaptation and formatting changed].
Fr. Hewko - Catholics Cannot Vote for Abortion
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☩ PRAEDICATIO ☩ by THE ☩ TRUMPET [Slightly adapted and reformatted] | October 28, 2024
Today, the message is unmistakable: Catholics face an uncompromising choice between fidelity to Christ the King or complicity with a world descending into godlessness. Modern governments wage war on faith and life itself, mocking Christ’s rightful kingship and promoting laws that enshrine the killing of the innocent. As Catholics, we stand in a political landscape where both Trump and Harris champion abortion in one form or another—whether pushing for unrestricted access to abortion pills or expanding it through legislative loopholes. There is no choice here for a faithful Catholic, no "lesser evil" to cling to. Voting for either is, in effect, voting for the continued slaughter of innocents.
Rooted in Catholic tradition and the undeniable truth of the Gospel, this sermon pulls no punches: Catholics cannot sell their souls in the voting booth. In the words of Pope Pius XI, Christ reigns not only in hearts but in laws, institutions, and societies. We must heed this call for Catholic integrity, rejecting political systems that defy God’s law. Now more than ever, we need the reign of Christ and the Immaculate Heart of Mary—our only path to true peace and salvation in a culture bent on self-destruction. Stand with Christ the King, or face the inevitable judgment of those who choose to stand against Him.
Due to the urgent nature of this message, we prioritized delivering it to you swiftly and have not yet completed our second round of proofreading. As a result, minor grammatical or spelling errors may still be present. We appreciate your understanding and will work to correct any oversights in the next day or two.
The views expressed in PRAEDICATIO represent the teachings of traditional Catholic priests committed to the unaltered doctrines of the Catholic Faith. The Catholic Trumpet seeks only to faithfully transcribe these sermons for the benefit of readers who share a dedication to Catholic tradition.
Errors in transcription are unintentional; kindly report any you notice to thecatholictrumpet@gmail.com.
+JMJ+
KINGSHIP OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, "KING OF KINGS LORD OF LORDS"
BY: FR. HEWKO
[Transcription of Fr. Hewko's sermon for the Feast of Christ the King - October 27, 2024]
Today is the feast of our Lord Jesus Christ the King.
The Epistle is taken from Saint Paul's letter to the Colossians chapter 1.
Brethren, we give thanks to God the Father, who has made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light, who has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for in Him were all things created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominations or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and in Him, and He is before all, and by Him all things consist, and He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may hold the primacy, because in Him it has well pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell, and through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross, both as to the things that are on earth and the things that are in heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Holy Gospel From Saint John chapter 18.
At that time Pilate said to Jesus, Are thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thy own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee up to me. What hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from hence. Pilate therefore said to him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest it, I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.
Thus are the words of the Holy Gospel.
You'll find at the entrance The Recusant copies available for Autumn Issue Number 62. There's some very good articles, especially the conference of Archbishop Lefebvre against the liberalism, and he speaks of the reign of Christ the King. It's so very fitting for this feast.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, the Holy Ghost. Amen. We adore Jesus Christ the King.
He is King, why? Because of the Hypostatic Union. We learned that in the Catechism. What is the Hypostatic Union? [It] is the Divine Person of the Son, assuming, taking up to Himself the human nature, that God became flesh for us, so that we could say the person of Jesus Christ is not the person of, it's not a human person, he's the person of God.
We are all human persons. You all have a personality, and the essence of a person which makes up who you are, but it's all the human nature. But our Lord Jesus Christ, His Person is not human.
It is the Divine person. His nature is human, but his Person is one with the Father and the Holy Ghost from all eternity. And that's why Saint John the Baptist will say of Christ, 'His coming forth is from the days of eternity.'
And Daniel the prophet will say 'His days are from before time, before eternity.' And in this Mass, all throughout this Mass of Christ the King, you have these constant references to the Eternal Kingship of Jesus Christ. Look at the intro to Apocalypse 5. 'The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power and divinity and wisdom and strength and honor.
To him be glory and empire forever and ever. Now remember, the Muslims deny that God can die, and God in his divinity cannot die. But they reject that Christ is God.'
But this refutes the Muslim errors that Christ truly was the Lamb, and he truly died. And in the book of Apocalypse also, our Lord says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, who was dead, but now liveth." So Christ did die.
And that's the only way God could die for us, was to take on human flesh. It was truly an invention of love, an invention of the solution to the worst of all problems, which was how to restore the human race that had fallen from the Fall of Adam and Eve. And the sin of Adam shut the gates of heaven.
So how is it possible, since it takes blood to wash away sins, how would heaven ever be open again? And the answer was within the Holy Trinity. And it says this in the Psalms, "And the Son said to the Father, The Lord said to my Lord, I am this day I have begotten thee. You are my Son.'
And the Son says to the Father, 'Holocausts and oblations You didn't want,' the sacrifice of the Old Testament, animals, bulls being slaughtered, the sprinkling of the blood of the lambs, the lambs being roasted, 'sacrifice and oblation You didn't want.' And then I said, 'Then said I,' says God the Son, 'I will come, Ecce Venio, behold, I will come.' I will take on the human nature.
And this will solve all the problems. Because if I take on the human nature, then the blood can be spilled and man can be redeemed. And our Lord could easily have miraculously taken on a human flesh, miraculously arranged His death and work the Redemption.
He could have done that without any cooperation of anybody else. But notice our Lord loves to recruit helpers, co-redeemers in His work. He could hear your confessions today. Just come down from heaven and sit in the confessional. [He] will absolve your sins. He could come down from heaven and offer the Mass.
He could easily do it. And He did it, actually, in the convent of St. Gertrude many years ago when they had no Mass and no priest. And then Christ himself came and said Mass. So He could do that. And He could do it all over the world, by bilocation. No problem for Him.
But He has chosen to recruit priests, poor, weak clay to be consecrated, excuse me, to be ordained and bishops consecrated to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass, which is the same Sacrifice of Calvary. And so Our Lord, to work the Redemption, He was honored to have a Co-redemptrix, a Mediatrix, which would be the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So as St. Louis de Montfort said, 'God came to us through Mary.' He wants us to come to Him through Mary, through Her immaculate heart. That is God's desire, to bring the true peace in the world. But the modern world doesn't want the peace of God.
Ever since the French Revolution, especially, was the beginning of the war of the Freemasonic Lodges and the conspiracies of Satan to wage war against Jesus Christ, the King. How do we get rid of Christ the King? We have to attack His name, remove Him from the governments, therefore secular governments. And that's why the Freemasons, as Pope after Pope after Pope, Pius VI, Pius VII, Pope Leo XIII, Pius IX, Pius X, Pius XI even, who had the solution in his hands [condemned Freemasonry]. Pius XI was given the solution by the Virgin Mary to consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He had more interest in solving things through the League of Nations. Unfortunately, Pope Pius XI, he had already had high hopes for the League of Nations, which we call now the United Nations, and which Pope Paul VI would say to the United Nations in his address to them, 'You are the last hope of mankind.' Imagine that, a Pope saying that to a whole bunch of scoundrels and degenerates and enemies of Jesus Christ. 'You are the last hope of mankind.' Very, very sad.
So, Pope after Pope has reminded the whole world and especially leaders of countries and the leader prelates of the church, preach the kingship of Jesus Christ, proclaim his kingship. Listen to Pope Pius XI speaking of this. Christ as our Redeemer, this is from Quas Primas, Pope Pius XI on the Kingship of Christ.
Christ as Our Redeemer purchased the Church at the price of His own blood. As priest, He offered Himself and continues to offer Himself as a victim for our sins. Is it not evident then that His kingly dignity partakes in a manner of both these offices? It would be a grave error, on the other hand, to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs, since by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to him by the Father, all things are in His power.
And this is what St. Paul just said in this epistle, a very beautiful adoration and glory given to Jesus Christ, 'Through him all things are made, by him all things are made, in him all things consist.' Everything was made by Jesus Christ to the tiniest cell, to the biggest mountain. All the galaxies were in the mind of Jesus Christ and He created them with the Father and the Holy Ghost at the beginning, the Six Days of Creation, not 60 million years, six days of creation. And then Our Divine Lord, 'He is King,' says St. Paul, 'over again of all things visible and invisible.' And then he goes [thru] the hierarchies of Angels, whether of Thrones or Dominations or Principalities or Powers.
All things were created by Him and in Him. So as St. Augustine would say, 'All creation is a wonderful garden created for the glory of Jesus Christ the King. All is for His glory and all will give Him glory.'
We often wonder, well, how can this be since so many men hate Christ and so many men attack him and so many governments dethrone him? And it looks like the enemies of the Church are strangling our Catholic Church. And all governments today have become the last bastion, for example, to defend pro-life, to defend children and to stand against abortion. The last in the modern world was the United States.
It used to be you had a choice between all these rotten candidates who were for abortion, but there was used to always be at least one who was pro-life. And then all the priests and even the Novus Ordo bishops said, 'Don't vote for that one, vote for [the pro-life candidate] because he's pro-life.' And even Protestants say, 'Don't vote for that one, vote for him because he's pro-life.' But now we've come, we have become so degenerate that we have fallen. America has fallen. America has fallen hard and it's been overtaken and it's now in the hands of the enemies of Jesus Christ.
And now there is no option. It's just pro-abortion or pro-abortion. [As] there were centuries before Christ came, where they sacrificed children. That was normal policy in pagan countries. Even the Aztecs, this was what shocked the Spaniards when they arrived in Mexico, there was human sacrifice everywhere.
It was a continuation of that pre-Christian era, the Old Testament sacrifices, the Amorites who killed their children, the Canaanites, the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians. And sometimes the Jews would jump in there and adopt the practices of the pagans and start marrying their girls who were pagan. And their girls would lead them into the pagan religions.
And so they would sacrifice their babies. Jeremiah the Prophet thunders against this and he speaks of the valley of Tophet. In the valley of Tophet, Tophet in Hebrew means the Valley of the Drums because the pagans would pound the drums with pounding rock music as they sacrificed the babies and threw them into the fire to [honor] Baal or Moloch.
And the little babies, of course, fighting for their life, they'd be screaming. So to drown out the screams of the babies and drown out their wicked consciences, they would pound the drums. And the same thing's going on today.
How many going to drive into the Planned Parenthood are driving pounding rock music as they drive into the parking lot to drown their conscience from what they're about to do? And the young lady goes in with her boyfriend and sometimes even their own father. Imagine that. Walk into Planned Parenthood and they get all set up for the procedure, as they nicely call it. And notice, of course, the room is there's no germs. They make sure it's all antiseptic and there's no bugs that they can catch. Everything is clean to work the most disgusting and foul murder abortion.
And this practice of infanticide and child killing always shows up when a society becomes pagan. Marks of paganism is body piercing, tattoos all over the place. These are all signs of paganism and degeneracy.
And then, of course, all the sins that come with it, as St. Paul lists, 'disobedience to parents, rebellion, pride, lack of respect for the elder people.' All this is going. And we are back to killing our own babies.
And if you can kill your own baby, you can kill anybody. Nobody respects anything. And that's where we're at. We Americans. And we're in this position where, who do you vote for? Who do you vote for?
Listen to what happened in 1902. In 1902, there was a huge volcano that erupted on the island of Martinique, the French Caribbean island of Martinique [and its major city, St. Pierre]. [St. Pierre, which was a bustling port city and a significant commercial hub in the Caribbean. The city was known as “the Paris of the Antilles” due to its fine architecture, paved streets, and electricity.]
In 1902, it was it's still claimed to be the worst volcanic eruption, even more severe than Mount St. Helens, in 1902 [on Mount Pelée]. What was going on? There was a governor there, Governor Louis Mouttet, was his name. And they were having elections.
And the Freemasons were putting out all of the newspapers all about the elections coming up. And there were rumblings coming from the mountain. Mount Pelée was the name of the mountain, Mount Pelée.
There were strange signs. There were some earthquakes. And then the town below, St. Pierre, many snakes, poisonous snakes started coming down from the mountain because they knew something was coming. And centipedes, big, huge centipedes, a foot long started invading people's homes and backyards. Ants everywhere, termites, even the horses were rearing up and acting strange and agitated.
But the candidates for the election were telling everybody there's nothing to worry about.
And then more earthquakes started to rumble on Mount Pelée. The governor, Louis Mouttet, ordered voters who started to flee the city and planning to leave and fill the boats and get out get off the island. Even the Catholic priests started warning the people, there's a sign from God, He's angry with the city.
Because the Freemasons in this city [of St. Pierre], they didn't hold back of their mockeries and blasphemies against Jesus Christ. So this governor, he even ordered people back to town by force of law and threat of imprisonment, because he wanted the elections to go through. Even the U.S. consul Thomas Prentiss, wrote to Theodore Roosevelt, President at the time, saying the refusal of elections seems to be something unthinkable.
It's a nightmarish situation when it seems that no one can or does not want to face the truth. So they wanted the elections at any cost. But God didn't want them.
And then the day before May 8th, May 7th, on St. Vincent Island, which was not too far, 100 miles or so from Martinique, a volcano exploded on May 7th. But the scientists and the Freemasons and the newspapers were telling everybody that this was the earth releasing its pressure, so we're going to be safe here on the island of Martinique, so the elections can take place. This governor, Louis Mouttet, received a report from civil leaders who [had] climbed the volcano to assess the danger. Their conclusion was there is nothing in the activity of Mount Pelée that warrants a departure from Saint-Pierre City. The safety of Saint-Pierre is completely assured, so they thought. And [then] this happened.
Now, this May 8th of 1902, was the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord. On the Feast of Corpus Christi, just a year before, this happened a year before this [volcanic] event, the Bishop of Saint-Pierre, Monsignor Marie-Charles-Alfred de Cormont, had been forced to curtail the procession of the Blessed Sacrament because of the stones and insults hurled at him during the procession. The anti-Catholic persecution took on such proportions that the Bishop had to flee the island of Martinique for some months in order to let the situation calm down.
At his departure on the boat in the harbor, a group of enemies of the cross were still throwing projectiles at him, to which Bishop de Cormont's only response was, 'you throw stones at us, the volcano will return them.' [His words] proved prophetic. This was written and recorded by the eyewitness, Father Pinot.
During the 1902 Carnival, which starts with Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, right before Lent, the festivities took on a sacrilegious character. Many participants dressed up as monks and made a mockery of Christianity. Marenz, in his book titled Funeral Pilgrimage to the Ruins of Saint-Pierre, he recounts, quote:
Quote:An excessively violent and ungodly crowd strives to dechristianize this unhappy city. Narrow-minded and intolerant, those who have assumed the mission of directing public opinion do not cease in regard to everything and anything to spread blasphemy and cast contempt on all that is most respectable and sacred. On March 28, 1902, which was Good Friday, as an inhabitant of the island testified to one of the most famous newspapers in Paris, said this, a group of men had noisily for one of the city's main hotels, they gathered at one of the hotels, where a feast is being prepared. They are the representatives of the of the free thinking, free thought, who to prove their independence of spirit have decided to stuff themselves with the richest meats they can conjure up in opposition to the church's precepts of fasting and abstinence.
Drunk, these diabolical men began to roam the streets of the small capital, uttering obscenities and mocking a crucifix of our Lord. And it is also recorded elsewhere that they crucified a pig on this day as well, Good Friday, out of mockery of Christ, they crucified a pig. They set out on the road that leads to the mountain.
Fourteen times amidst infamous blasphemies, the mob pauses to mock the stations of the cross and the scenes of the passion. They continue their ascent, ever more agitated, inventing new improprieties at each step. At last they reach the peak of Mount Pelée.
They stop before the gaping mouth of the crater of the volcano. And there, in the midst of an infernal Sarabande, this hellish dance, jeering and gesticulating, waving their arms, they hurled the crucifix to the bottom of the abyss. That sacred image of Our Lord who died 19 centuries ago to redeem their ungrateful souls.
On the island of Martinique, they had three Masonic Lodges. It had sixteen refineries for rum, so it was a very luxurious city, very comfortable, very abundant with all good material things. And many Americans used to go down there and visit as well and spend vacations.
The Monday of the Carnival, during the Lent, was 'devoted to devils and witches, all dressed in red, followed by a horde of children and adults dancing and making frightful guttural noises, says another eyewitness.' Sounds like those Superbowl halftime shows now, doesn't it?
And then what happened? Mud began to flow down the valleys. People decided to flee, but the governor said, 'Don't worry, we have elections coming up. I've already sent a crew up there to test it all. Everything is fine. This happens every few billion years because of evolution and you're going to be safe.'
Well, here's what happened. There, within 70 seconds, the volcano erupted with violence and a pyroclastic flow came down, which is just a wall, like an avalanche of lava and hot coals and smoke and ash came down like a huge avalanche of snow and destroyed the city within 70 seconds. It came down at 100 miles an hour, this hot cloud of gas and incandescent solid particles like glowing clouds.
There was a statue of Our Lady weighing five tons, which was five kilometers, that's about just over three miles away from the crater, it was found some 12 meters away from the pedestal, 72 feet it was moved, this five-ton statue of Our Lady.
There was a bell in the city weighing one ton, which was considerably deformed by all the heat afterwards.
There were 400 boats in the radius of the mountain, only one survived.
Of the 100,000 people who inhabited the city, about 40,000 died from burning, asphyxiation and electrocution. And then, after this terrible disaster, only three survived.
One was a prisoner who was in the prison. The prisoner was so well insulated and he just said it just suddenly got really hot and hard to breathe. He didn't know what happened, he felt the earthquake and later rescue teams came and found him alive.
His name was Louis-Auguste_Cyparis, a big tall black man and he was in prison because he killed someone with a sword, a [cutlass]. Afterwards he joined Barnum and Bailey's circus and toured the world, boasting to be the lone survivor of Martinique Island [volcano]. The other survivor was a shoemaker, Léon Compère-Léandre. Léon, and the other one was a little girl, a little girl about five or six years old. Her name was Havivra Da Ifrile - and she was on a little boat and she was in a position where she was not harmed.
So, this whole island was just destroyed under two minutes, just like that. So, so much for their elections, so much for their blasphemies, so much for the insulting God - God is not mocked. God is not mocked and if this is just a little appetizer of what's coming on our world, it won't be pretty.
Sister Lucia of Fatima, she describes the one of the chastisements and she just, she says she sees like a lance pointed down on the earth and a whole raining of fire, whole cities buried under mountains, she says, in one of her visions. So, where have we come to? When blaspheming Christ in the Super Bowl has become the norm, the Olympics was begun with the whole ceremony mocking the Last Supper, mocking the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that was in Paris. The prophecies say Paris will burn and, you know, when we consider our elections this year, there is no pro-life.
So, here we are back to pre-pagan days when sacrificing children has become the norm. When abortion now totally backed by both candidates, President Trump totally backs, now sad to say, the pill, the abortion pill, which makes up 63% of abortions. And so, when they approve that to be bought or sold on the counter, this is just going to skyrocket abortions.
And there's full approval from both sides also for IVF and abortion. The argument, one wants abortion late term and even after, and the other, the Reds want the abortion earlier, but they approve, they approve of this. So, what are Catholics supposed to do? There are numerous priests and articles out there saying, 'well, you know, lesser evil and and the principle of trying to apply the principle of the lesser evil and the other moral principles.'
But for Catholics, you know, you can use moral distinctions and acrobatics all you want. The bottom line is we have become like the nations Jeremiah and Isaiah the prophet thundered against. And Isaiah and Jeremiah say, they quote God saying, 'The Lord God says, because you have sacrificed your children and have played your music at these pagan ceremonies, I will take you like a clay vessel of a potter and smash you against the rocks and you'll be shattered and your names will be no more.'
And is this what we're on the verge of? America being just one of the other pages of history? Yeah, there was once a nation that was started and was discovered by Christopher Columbus and the Masons settled up in the north and they took over. America was baptized Catholic, but it became overtaken by the Masons and they decided we don't want Christ the King. So this nation became very proud and pompous, started spreading wars everywhere in the name of liberty, freedom, and the rights of man.
And they started killing their own children by the millions, building up little hospitals and clinics everywhere. Then they invented pills to kill their own children so they could be more free for their vacations and to pursue their careers. And this nation, they had elections and it came to the point where there was no longer anyone fighting for the little ones, the little ones that Christ said, what you do to the least of these, you do to me.
What you do to the least baby in the mother's womb, you do to Christ himself. And these people became gross and hardened. And where were the Catholic people in those days to stand up and finally draw the line and say, enough, no more.
You don't deserve our elections if you're going to destroy and stand for the constant killing of the children. And even many Catholics voted these people in, says the books of history in the future, many Catholics voted them in trying to do moral theology acrobatics and make distinctions here and lesser evil there and distinctions there and material this, formal that, when it all just came down to slaughtering the innocents. And then this nation under the great chastisement was buried and they, whatever way God is going to punish the West, we know it's going to be, and it will be worse than Saint-Pierre, I'm afraid, much worse, because Saint-Pierre, they weren't doing abortions in that city.
They probably did them in the back alleys, but it wasn't approved by that governor. But now we have approved abortion and either candidate, whoever wins, is just going to fast forward abortions. To Trump's credit, he did reduce it from federal to state level and God may spare states like Oklahoma that has banned abortion.
Texas also is gravely trying to limit abortion, but it's still permitting it at the younger levels. So some states may be spared the chastisement, but where were the Catholics of those days when America was once a powerful nation? Where were those traditional Catholics to stand up and defend the little ones? Where were they when they cast all their elections and ballots in favor of candidates that would continue the bloodshed? That will be the future history books, and then the new books will be written. But America, God spared a few families, God spared a few people who did not want any participation in this wickedness, this wicked and adulterous generation, and out of these, few that survived that chastisement, God used them to rebuild, and priests began to fill seminaries and convents filled with nuns, and the faith spread, and the Pope finally consecrated Russia, and the United States, what used to be, became a Catholic nation.
In the reign of Christ the King was proclaimed, and in the laws was banned forever abortion and sodomite parades, and in their constitution, in their declaration of dependence on Christ the King, they declared Christ is King of this nation, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary reigns with Her Divine Son over our laws, over our people, and that people became strong and prosperous and blessed by God, and out of this era came many saints. Is this the future of what land we're standing on? Well, it can all be averted if we do what Our Lady says, 'Pray Her Rosary, Wear Her scapular, [make] reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and defend the unborn.
That's the last line in the sand for all of us.
We have to draw the line somewhere, and it has to stop with abortion. You cannot compromise on that question. In 2006, in Mexico, the tilma of Our Lady hangs in Mexico City, near Tepeyac, where Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego [as Our Lady of Guadalupe].
In 2006, Mexico passed the abortion law. It was a terrible tragedy for Mexico, but Our Lady protested, Heaven protested, and the tilma miraculously spoke again to the world, as she always does. Because where the baby Jesus is in her womb, for 24 hours, He was visible, shining through the tilma, the baby Jesus, and you can still see photographs of this and footage. And some scoffers tried to say, 'well, it was just reflection of camera glass.' No, it wasn't, because people came and saw it from all angles, and for 24 hours, they could see the baby Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and still today, people can put a stethoscope to the image of the tilma, and they hear two hearts beating miraculously, the heart of Mary slower, and the heart of Jesus pumping faster.
Why did she do this when the abortion was passed? Because Heaven hates this child sacrifice, which we have reverted to as decadent modern nations. So do we ever need Christ the King, and do we ever want to proclaim him Christ, King of our nation? May the Sacred Heart of Jesus come back to reign over our governments, over our constitutions, over our laws. That's the only path to freedom, and true liberty, and true prosperity. So, is God going to let us fall into these hands of these degenerates that will just bring down the more chastisement from heaven? Well, let's do our part.
Stay with Our Lady. Would she vote for a pro-abortion candidate if she was alive in St. Joseph? Do you think they would? And get into all these arguments of material, formal participation, and lesser evil, and this principle and that principle from the 1940s and 50s? I don't think so, and it really is that simple. It really is that simple, but you stand with Our Lady, opposed to this wicked and perverse generation.
Stand with her, and God will protect you, and at least you'll die in peace knowing that you've never cast your ballot to the massacre of children. Happy you, if you could say that. Let's turn to the Virgin Mary.
Let's turn to this Mother of God. Very soon, we're going to be escorting, carrying, and accompanying Jesus Christ the King through the little road here, out in the country. If we were in the city, a parish in the city, we'd walk right down the streets of the main city, but for now, here we are outside.
A little cool, but a beautiful day to honor Christ the King, and let's make reparation to the heart of Jesus. Let's pray. Pray to the Mother of God to spare this nation and our country, and beg Mother of God to grant a Pope to consecrate Russia.
That is the bottom line.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee, and for those who do not have recourse to Thee, especially all communists and Freemasons and other enemies of Holy Mother Church, Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
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| Archbishop Viganò: Brief reflection on “Synod on synodality” |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-29-2024, 09:11 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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![[Image: miniatura-241028-eng.jpg]](https://exsurgedomine.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/miniatura-241028-eng.jpg)
Brief reflection on “Synod on synodality”
[Slightly adapted.]
The “Synod on Synodality” that has just concluded is a perfect icon of the duplicitous and fraudulent nature of the conciliar and synodal church.
The usual promotion of the globalist agenda is all too evident. The hierarchical subversion of gender equality is at the origin of the surreal discussion about the “ordination” of women, of which a “pastoral experimentation” has already been approved to begin that will serve in the near future as an alibi for the official modification of doctrine on the Sacrament of Holy Orders.
In the same way, the acceptance of LGBTQ+ ideology, which is also a globalist objective, was obsequiously transposed to the Synod after the premise was laid in Fiducia Supplicans.
The deep church acts in total rupture from and in opposition to the ecclesial body, exactly as the deep state governs against the interests of citizens. Regardless of the individual articles of Faith that the Synod tampers with pastorally, it is also evident that the ultimate goal that Bergoglio has set for himself is to destroy the Catholic Church by distorting the nature of the Papacy as Our Lord established it. The church of Jorge Mario Bergoglio is a “synodal church,” therefore it is neither monarchical nor divine, but democratic and human. Its authority is not vicarious of the sacred Power of Christ but rather a false and deceptive expression of a supposed “will of the people,” or even worse it is a “sign of the Spirit” that a subversive organization is hiding behind. Faithful Catholics are being deceived by false shepherds and mercenaries.
Everything in the words and actions of the synodal church is a lie. Because its purpose is to impose by authority, under the guise of a request from the grass roots, things that no faithful Catholic has ever asked for, because they contradict the teaching of Our Lord. This authority, which has been usurped for the opposite purpose to that for which Jesus Christ established it, is completely illegitimate, and it is now the duty of each and every Successor of the Apostles to denounce this synodal farce, the final phase of the conciliar revolution, with which the Bride of the Lamb has been replaced by the Whore of Babylon that is subservient to the New World Order.
There are those who believe that the alarm about Bergoglio’s subversive intentions is excessive and unfounded, citing as an example of his intermittent orthodoxy his latest “encyclical” on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This document represents a diversion to deceive the faithful, according to the well-tested strategy of deception typical of the Jesuit and Peronist Bergoglio, confirming his duplicity and intellectual dishonesty. The argument made in Dilexit Nos – treated in an apparently anti-modern key – constitutes a clumsy attempt at fraudulent reappropriation by the Society of Jesus of the cult of the Sacred Heart, of which it has been the historical custodian. This devotion, which arose to counter the Jansenist heresy, will inevitably be distorted to give the appearance of theological rigor to the opposing heresy, that is, to a form of doctrinal and moral laxity that admits everything as morally permissible because it has supposedly already been healed and forgiven by the infinite Mercy of God. Such false devotion is perfectly consistent with the Synod’s aim.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
October 27, 2024
Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Regis
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| Archbishop Viganò: Homily on the Feast of the Christ the King |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-29-2024, 09:01 AM - Forum: Archbishop Viganò
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Rex Sum Ego
Homily on the Feast of Christ the King
![[Image: miniatura-241027-eng.jpg]](https://exsurgedomine.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/miniatura-241027-eng.jpg)
Dixit itaque ei Pilatus : Ergo rex es tu?
Respondit Jesus: Tu dicis quia rex sum ego.
Ego in hoc natus sum, et ad hoc veni in mundum,
ut testimonium perhibeam veritati:
omnis qui est ex veritate, audit vocem meam.
Jo 18, 37
Your Excellency, dear priests and clergy, dear faithful: praised be Jesus Christ!
By the providential will of Pope Pius XI, this last Sunday of October is dedicated to the Universal Kingship of Our Lord. The encyclical Quas Primas, promulgated on December 11, 1925, illustrates this doctrine and the reasons why, by virtue of the hypostatic Union – that is, the union of divinity and humanity in the person of Jesus Christ – we must recognize our Lord and Sovereign in the Word of God Incarnate.
Last Sunday’s Gospel – the twenty-second after Pentecost – has in some way prepared for today’s feast, inviting us to contemplate the Kingship of Christ also in the precept “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mt 22:21). Recognizing Our Lord as the Sovereign both of individuals and of societies is in fact already contained in these simple words: Give to God what is God’s.
I believe that each one of you has been able to rediscover this beautiful truth of our holy Religion; a truth that has been preserved since the dawn of the Church. The institution of this Feast, apparently redundant given that the whole Liturgy is a profession of Faith in the Divine Kingship of Our Lord, shows us how the Roman Pontiffs were able to reaffirm His Universal Lordship precisely at the moment when the errors of secularism, socialism and liberalism (in its two variants: collectivist in Russia and nationalist in Germany) were trying to oust God from public sphere, taking the errors and horrors of the Revolution of 1789 to their extreme but logical consequences. Behind this centuries-old conspiracy against Christ, which began well before we can imagine, we know there is the subversive work of the Synagogue of Satan, of the Masonic anti-church devoted to the establishment of the kingdom of the Antichrist. Protestantism, the Rosicrucians, the Bavarian Illuminati, Freemasonry, and all the sects that have conspired since the sixteenth century against Catholic Europe are expressions of this all-out war against Christ and His Church.
The Popes who reigned between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries condemned with apostolic severity the revolutionary principles in the name of which the monarchies of the Catholic nations were overthrown. These Popes saw clearly what immense ruins would follow their spread throughout the world, and warned the Christian people against accepting any compromise with the secular, liberal, materialist mentality that these errors conveyed.
What the Pontiffs could not foresee – it was so unheard of and scandalous even to be able to hypothesize it, at that time – was that this rebellion against Christ the Lord would not only find support among subsequent popes, with all the instances of Modernism ferried into the bosom of the Catholic Church with Vatican II, but that this rebellion would extend to the whole ecclesial body, to the point of apostasy from the Faith and the emancipation of the vicarious authority of the Roman Pontiff from that possessed exclusively and fully by the Divine Head of the Mystical Body, King and Priest. The post-conciliar popes, architects of innovations in the theorization and exercise of the Papacy, have come to adapt and reinterpret the Papacy in a synodal (ad intra) and ecumenical (ad extra) key, thus demonstrating their willingness to change what Our Lord established in founding His Church.
The apostasy of the Bergoglian church, now openly before everyone’s eyes, is not a phenomenon that started with Bergoglio. Its causes are to be found in the errors deliberately insinuated by the Council and obstinately supported by the popes of the post-conciliar period. The modernist revolution of Vatican II consisted precisely in having welcomed into the Church the anti-Catholic principles – Masonic and liberal – of modern nation-states, despite the fact that it was obvious that immense damage was caused by the Revolution in the space of a few decades, first of all to the eternal salvation of souls and the good government of nations.
But what is the essence of this unconditional surrender to the anti-Catholic ideologies that the Church had uninterruptedly condemned without appeal? Why are concepts such as liberty, fraternity, and equality so opposed to the Gospel and so disastrous in their effects on individuals and societies, on both the State and the Church?
To fully answer this question, we must first of all keep in mind that everything that comes from the Evil One is deception and lies. Satan lies us when he deceives humanity that it can “free” itself from the Lordship of Christ by presenting it to us as an “oppressive yoke.” Satan lies when he deludes us into thinking that he can claim for himself a sovereignty that instead belongs to Our Lord and to Him alone. Satan lies when he deceives men that they can be “brothers,” while simultaneously denying the Divine Fatherhood of God. He lies by presenting uniformity in sin and approval in vice as desirable – because this is his concept of equality – and he lies when he shows us how to avoid the multiplicity and variety of gifts with which the magnificence of God fills each of us in a unique and unrepeatable way.
We are “the chosen race, the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the people whom God has acquired for himself to proclaim the marvellous works of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pt 2:9), and it is against this race – which is the seed of the Woman (Gen 3:15) in perpetual enmity with the seed of the Serpent – that Satan is unleashed, in his livid envy of the destiny of glory that he irrevocably rejected with his Non serviam.
Satan knows that Jesus Christ is King. His sole purpose is to induce us to rebel against our Sovereign, to have Him as an enemy, to deny our due and necessary submission to Him, our Redeemer and Lord, in order to subjugate ourselves to the hateful slavery of the Evil One. In short, what Satan wants is to make us deny Christ the King and High Priest and instead acclaim the Antichrist as Our Lord’s blasphemous counterfeit. That is why this fury exists on the part of Satan and his servants in wanting to deny Christ His sovereign rights over the Nations and also over the Church.
Only those who do not believe and do not want Christ to be King can accept the idea that civil authorities should not publicly recognize the true and only Church, of which He is the Divine Founder. Only those who do not believe and do not want Christ to be King can accept syncretistic ecumenism and theorize that “all religions are a path that leads to God.” Only those who do not believe and do not want Christ to be King can arrogate to themselves the sacrilegious right to change His Church and the Papacy established by Him in order to obsequiously obey His enemies.
On the other hand, those who recognize that Our Lord Jesus Christ is God, Lord, King, and High Priest lead everything back to Him, return everything to Him, and consecrate everything to Him.
We cannot profess ourselves as Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman without proclaiming the Kingship of Christ, and without living it out daily, beginning with ourselves, our families, our communities. In fact, how can we hope that the Lord will not abandon us and return to reign over civil societies, if those who compose them do not recognize Him as King? Brought before Pilate by the Sanhedrin, Our Lord finds Himself answering the Roman Procurator who asks Him if He is King: “You say it, I am King. I was born for this, and for this I came into the world: to bear witness to the Truth; everyone who comes from the truth hears My voice” (Jn 18:37).
We listen to the voice of Our Lord if we come from the truth, and recognize Him as our King. It will be in this sequela Christi Regis that we will find the reasons for our fight in this hour of history and we will be able to recognize who is lined up under His holy banners and who, scelesta turba – wicked mob – is lined up with the Antichrist. “Qui non est mecum, adversum me est; et qui non colligit mecum, dispergit” (Lk 11:23). He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
The first creature to listen to the voice of Our Lord was Mary Most Holy, Regina Crucis, the mystical Throne of the divine King. Let us remember this well: wherever Christ reigns, His August Mother must also reign; because it is the will of the Son that She be the One who in Her unblemished Virginity humbles the impure spirit, and who in Her Humility crushes the proud head of the Serpent. May she be the Lady and Queen of every Christian and in particular of every priestly soul, so that the Mediatrix of all Graces may intercede before the Throne of the Most High for the Holy Church, for all who faithfully profess the Catholic Faith, and for the destiny of the world. And so may it be.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
27 October 2024
Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Regis
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| Kuwait Suspends [Financial] Services to Thousands for Failing to Submit Biometric Data |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-28-2024, 08:55 AM - Forum: Socialism & Communism
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A little foreshadowing perhaps?
Kuwait Suspends Services to Thousands for Failing to Submit Biometric Data
Oct 28, 2024
Kuwait has forced over one million citizens to hand over their biometric data in one of the most extreme pushes for digital ID. Kuwait introduced a national electronic ID (eID) that they say will assist with identification verification, digital signatures, E-government access, and the secure exchange of data. The deadline to file for this mandatory program was September 30 and the consequences for failing to comply were swift.
On October 1, the Ministry of Interior announced that those who failed to submit their data would be prohibited from all electronic services such as withdrawals, transfers, and account transfers. One cannot even withdraw cash. Around 35,000 people have been blocked out of their bank accounts and are unable to even view the balance. A few weeks later, those in noncompliance has their electronic bank cards deactivated. Visa, MasterCard, and K-Net all abided by the government’s rule.
Beginning on November 1, The Kuwait Banking Association stated it will implement a “complete block” on all accounts, which means one cannot even withdraw funds if they go to the bank in person. Expatriates have until December 31 to submit their biometric registration.
The government has reported an uptick of 6,000 new registrants per day compared to 600 since they began blocking citizens from accessing their own bank accounts. The government called this a “phased approach,” believing they’ve offered leniency to the public.
The issue here is that governments globally are strapped for funds and believe that they can increase revenues by at least 35% if they hunt down their citizens for taxes. Then we have the layer of the Great Reset put forth by Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum that is aiming to create a One World Government complete with a global database to track absolutely everyone. Australian journalist Maria Zaric has called it a “digital prison.” Once you’re locked in, you’re locked in. People will be less likely to speak out against the government, protest, or refuse vaccinations if they know their government can immediately exile them from society. This is more than a mere identification as it provides the government with instant access to all of your information and they will track your every movement. This is only the beginning of a massive wave of tyranny. [...]
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| Pope Francis closes Synod saying Church needs to ‘get its hands dirty to serve the Lord’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-28-2024, 08:50 AM - Forum: Vatican II and the Fruits of Modernism
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Pope Francis closes Synod saying Church needs to ‘get its hands dirty to serve the Lord’
Closing the Synod, Pope Francis rebuked the Church for being ‘seated in blindness’ and urged the Church to ‘take up the cry of the world’ and be ‘a Church that gets its hands dirty to serve the Lord.’
![[Image: PF-synod-closing-Mass.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PF-synod-closing-Mass.jpg)
Pope Francis at the Synod closing Mass
Credit: Michael Haynes
Oct 27, 2024
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis formally closed the Synod on Synodality with a Mass at the Vatican today, stating that the Church “cannot remain seated” but must be a “standing Church” which “gets its hands dirty to serve the Lord.”
Joined by all the participants of the Synod on Synodality in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis presided from the throne over the Mass which marked the formal closure of the Synod which began in 2021.
READ: Synod final text calls for continued ‘process’ with synodal ‘listening’ and dialogue
His homily was highly anticipated, being seen as the Pope’s last charge to the Synod over which he has presided and which has dominated the Church’s life in recent years. Indeed, the Synod final document states that though the official event is over, the process is only beginning: “The synodal process does not conclude with the end of the current Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, but it also includes the implementation phase.”
Not failing to deliver on such homiletic expectations, Francis issued a condemnation of Church’s practices and proposed a new style, by drawing from the Gospel passage of Christ meeting Bartimaeus, the blind beggar sitting by the road whom Christ healed.
Francis decried a Church that is blind and sitting, saying that “before the questions of today’s women and men, the challenges of our time, the urgencies of evangelization and the many wounds that afflict humanity, sisters and brothers, we cannot remain seated.”
“A sitting Church,” he continued, “which almost without realizing it withdraws from life and confines itself to the margins of reality, is a Church that risks remaining in blindness and settling into its own malaise.”
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Francis at the Synod 2024 closing Mass. Credit: Michael Haynes
Accusing the Church of already being unable to recognize global issues, Francis said that “if we remain seated in our blindness, we will continue to fail to see our pastoral urgencies and the many problems of the world in which we live.”
He attested that the Synod on Synodality calls the Church to “cry out” to Christ like Bartimaeus. This is done, said Francis, by the Church “taking up the cry of all women and men on earth: the cry of those who long to discover the joy of the Gospel and those who have turned away instead; the silent cry of those who are indifferent; the cry of those who suffer, the poor, the marginalized, the child labor slaves enslaved in so many parts of the world to labor; the broken voice, hearing that broken voice of those who no longer even have the strength to cry out to God, because they have no voice or because they have resigned themselves.”
“We do not,” he said, “need a sitting and resigned Church, but we need a Church that takes up the cry of the world and – I want to say this, maybe some people are shocked – a Church that gets its hands dirty to serve the Lord.”
A “synodal Church” is one that follows Christ “along the road” and is a “standing Church.”
Echoing the recurring talking point of the Synod, Francis closed by describing the newly synodal Church as “a community whose primacy is in the gift of the Spirit, who makes us all brothers in Christ and lifts us up to Him.”
The final document of the multi-year Synod was issued on October 26. Francis will not write an Apostolic Exhortation, but instead approved the text, meaning that under his own 2018 Apostolic Constitution Episcopalis communio, once the final document of a synod “is expressly approved by the Roman Pontiff, the Final Document participates in the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter.”
The text contains numerous talking points, and some mandatory elements, for changing the Church’s daily life and governance in line with “synodality.” This word, the text posits as being heavily focussed on “listening” to all – meaning seeking ways to make those the text identifies as “marginalized” feel welcome – and ecumenism.
Opening the Synod in 2021, Francis quoted Vatican II theologian Father Yves Congar and called for “a different Church” courtesy of the Synod. The intimate link between the Synod and Vatican II has been consistently highlighted throughout the process, and the Synod’s final text re-iterates this.
“Rooted in the Tradition of the Church, the entire synodal journey took place in the light of the conciliar magisterium,” the document notes.
The key words from the very beginning, in the earliest documents, have been “listening, dialogue,” whilst those such as “sharing… conversion… being inclusive…journeying together… inter-religious dialogue…” also featured heavily. Given this, the Synod has from the start been described by some Catholic theologians as containing a “fundamental error” due to the listening to non-Catholics about how the Church should live.
Notably, the Synod’s final text echoes the recent words of Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández in saying that “the question of women’s access to diaconal ministry remains open,” despite Catholic teaching infallibly stating that the matter is closed.
READ: Cardinal Fernández says question of female deacons is not closed, citing Pope Francis
It also highlights desires for increased ecumenism, and synodal style of governance at every level of the Church, including for the papacy. Some further limits would be placed on papal power, with the text arguing a pope cannot “ignore a direction which emerges through proper discernment within a consultative process, especially if this is done by participatory bodies.”
Such changes on Church life would be seen also at the local, provincial and national level, as the implementation of various styles of councils “must be made mandatory,” the document states.
This will be done in order to effect “decentralization,” and implement “synodality.”
READ: Synod final text calls for continued ‘process’ with synodal ‘listening’ and dialogue
However such moves, while warmly welcomed by the Synod, are not without criticism. In 2018 Cardinal Raymond Burke remarked that “synodality” has “become like a slogan, meant to suggest some kind of new church which is democratic and in which the authority of the Roman Pontiff is relativized and diminished — if not destroyed.”
He warned that some, “not understanding the notion of a synod correctly[,] could think, for instance, that the Catholic Church has now become some kind of democratic body with some kind of new constitution.”
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| Hymn for the Feast of Christ the King: Habet in vestimento |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-27-2024, 06:39 AM - Forum: Catholic Hymns
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The Feast of Christ the King
NLM | October 27, 2024
He hath on his garment, and on his thigh written: King of kings, and Lord of lords. To him be glory and empire for ever and ever. (The antiphon at the Magnificat for 2nd Vespers of Christ the King.)
![[Image: Facundus+Beatus.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNG9-N4G1w4ocdMQo5SVqQcu5MgYHCxzYPm1FOC5Cn560wkZ3-YkblDpzyLVrt0KkaFvIzTqlFWObnuYkVlIPm8P0rCIm5gZNvz3_VWqKjLT3L_ZoJtXL1QdAViS5aPaK8UG0c/w304-h428-rw/Facundus+Beatus.jpg)
The Rider on the White Horse and the Army of Heaven (Apocalypse 19); from an illustrated manuscript of the Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liebana, made by a scribe called Facundus for King Ferdinand I of Castille and Leon, 1047 AD, now in the National Library of Madrid. (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)
Aña Habet in vestimento et in fémore suo scriptum: Rex regum, et Dóminus dominantium.
Ipsi gloria et imperium, in sáecula saeculórum.
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| The Catholic Trumpet: A Call to Acknowledge the Unity of Church and State |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-27-2024, 05:58 AM - Forum: Articles by Catholic authors
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A Call to Acknowledge the Unity of Church and State
![[Image: rs=w:1280]](https://img1.wsimg.com/isteam/ip/df55e1a9-c854-4d0b-a2a9-94177954436c/Studio-Project-10.png/:/cr=t:0%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:100%25/rs=w:1280)
The Catholic Trumpet | October 25, 2024
In the current climate of moral relativism and secular governance, it is imperative for Catholics to recognize the integral relationship between the Church and the State. The teaching of the Magisterium is unequivocal: the authority of the Church must permeate all aspects of public life, including governance.
Divine Authority of Governance
Pope Leo XIII in Immortale Dei clearly articulates this principle, stating:
"The Church has the right to control the civil society and laws, as it is the custodian of the truth which must guide every action of the individual and community."
He further emphasizes:
"For God alone is the true and supreme Lord of the world. Everything, without exception, must be subject to Him, and must serve him, so that whosoever holds the right to govern holds it from one sole and single source, namely, God, the sovereign Ruler of all."
This foundational truth underscores that any governance lacking divine endorsement is inherently flawed.
The Role of the Church
The Church is tasked with guiding not only individual souls but also the collective moral direction of nations. As Pope Pius XI in Quas Primas asserts:
"As long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations."
The Church serves as the moral compass of society, guiding civil authority to recognize Christ’s sovereignty.
Consequences of Secularism
Pope Pius XI warns of the dangers of secularism, stating in Divini Redemptoris:
"It is the duty of every Christian to bear witness to the truth of Christ, and this includes the obligation to maintain the rightful relationship between Church and State."
He emphasizes:
"The separation of the Church from the State... will only lead to the moral decay of the community."
This highlights that neglecting Christ’s authority results in societal disarray and spiritual desolation.
Historical Precedent
The history of the Church has been one of upholding its authority against secular encroachments, as Pius XI states:
"In the Kingdom of Christ, that is, it seemed to Us that peace could not be more effectually restored nor fixed upon a firmer basis than through the restoration of the Empire of Our Lord."
This historical stance serves as a testament to the Church's unwavering commitment to guiding society.
Indispensability of Public Acknowledgment
Pope Pius XI further articulates the need for public acknowledgment of Christ’s kingship, asserting:
"Nations will be reminded... that not only private individuals but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and obedience to Christ."
This assertion reinforces that the acknowledgment of Christ’s authority is essential for true peace and order.
Theological and Moral Duty
As stated in Pascendi Dominici Gregis by Pope Pius X:
"The office divinely committed to Us of feeding the Lord's flock has especially this duty assigned to it by Christ, namely, to guard with the greatest vigilance the deposit of the faith delivered to the saints."
This underscores the moral obligation of Catholics to ensure that the Church’s authority informs the State.
As Catholics, we are called to uphold the truth that the Church and State must operate under the divine authority of Christ. To be a Catholic means to accept this integral relationship, advocating for a society that recognizes Christ as its rightful King.
We must strive to restore this essential order, promoting a public life informed by the principles of our faith, ensuring that the kingship of Christ is acknowledged in all facets of governance. In the words of Pope Pius XI:
"If the kingdom of Christ, then, receives, as it should, all nations under its way, there seems no reason why we should despair of seeing that peace which the King of Peace came to bring on earth."
In this light, let us reaffirm our commitment to the teachings of the Magisterium, ensuring that the authority of the Church guides the State towards the common good and eternal salvation.
-The ☩ Trumpet
References
Pope Leo XIII, Immortale Dei, November 1, 1885.
Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas, December 11, 1925.
Pope Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, September 8, 1907.
Pope Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris, March 19, 1937.
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| 'Legal apostasy of society'—Pope Leo XIII's devastating letter on religious liberty |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-24-2024, 06:59 AM - Forum: Church Doctrine & Teaching
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'Legal apostasy of society'—Pope Leo XIII's devastating letter on religious liberty
What would Leo XIII have made of Vatican II’s declaration of religious liberty?
And what would he have made of those who say that it is compatible with his teaching?
![[Image: https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.ama...4x1094.png]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F25c6cd86-c499-40af-9070-0dde4f148c3d_1944x1094.png)
WM Review | Oct 23, 2024
Editors’ Notes
“Christ is King” has become a popular slogan, but it’s not always clear that people understand its meaning, context or implications.
By 1889, the Emperor of Brazil Pedro II was declining. He was weary of his reign and doubted that the Brazilian monarchy would continue after his death.
In June 1889, the Cabinet tried to preserve the Empire by proposing a raft of liberalising reforms—including “liberty of worship” and “liberty of education.” Pope Leo XIII wrote the letter É giunto to Pedro II against these measures, explaining their opposition to the Catholic religion, and the grave dangers which they posed.
In fact, two particular measures were primary ways in which Christ’s kingship was denied throughout the nations of the world—and a primary reason for Pius XI’s establishment of the feast of Christ the King in 1925.
The measures were indeed blocked by the conservative General Chamber, but this was not enough to save the monarchy. In December 1889, a few months later, the First Brazilian Republic was declared, Pedro II was deposed and exiled, and the monarchy was abolished.
It should not be understood that the failure of these proposals is what cause the collapse of the Brazilian monarchy. There were many other factors: for example, the recent abolition of slavery without compensation to slaveholders caused unrest amongst the latter, whilst the hostility caused by the long continuation of slavery itself did not vanish with abolition. There were various restrictions on military officers which also led to dissatisfaction there.
This letter has not, to our knowledge, been translated into English before. This is lamentable as it contains many powerful explanations of the Catholic doctrine of Church-state relations.
For example, Leo XIII tells us that…
“Liberty of worship” and “liberty of education” are deceitful names for ideas that “proclaim the legal apostasy of society from its Divine Author”
These ideas were completely untenable for any Catholic, as well as being irrational in themselves (for the reasons discussed below)
They are detrimental even for the temporal good of society, let alone the eternal good of souls.
Although Leo XIII doesn’t use the term “religious liberty” in this letter, this concept sums up the liberty of worship and of education, and it is used as such by Leo and other popes up to Vatican II.
But what would Leo XIII have made of Vatican II’s declaration of religious liberty?
And what would he have made of those who try to defend it as compatible with his teaching and with Catholic tradition?
To ask such questions is to answer them.
Pope Leo XIII
Letter È Giunto
On liberty of worship and of education in Brazil
To Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil
1889. Available in Italian at Vatican.va
Translated with headings and some line breaks added by The WM Review
Your Majesty,
It has come to Our attention that in the programme of the new Brazilian Ministry, there are some projects that touch upon the most vital interests of religion and break the thread of the glorious traditions of your Empire. These would, if brought to completion, have the effect of…
- Disturbing the peace of consciences
- Weakening the religious sentiment among your Catholic populations
- Preparing a future full of dangers for the Catholic Church as well as for civil society.
We refer to the “liberty of worship” and “liberty of teaching,” and the provisions associated which, though not openly stated in the government’s public declaration, leave no doubt as to their nature and quality.
It is not Our intention here to elaborate on all the arguments that stand against the introduction of the aforementioned projects. Speaking to Your Majesty, whose cultured and elevated spirit is well known, it will suffice to mention a few of the principal points.
“Liberty of Worship”
This “liberty of worship,” considered in relation to society, is based on a notion that the State—even in a Catholic nation—is not bound to profess or favour any particular religion; rather, that it should be indifferent to all, treating them as legally equal.
This “liberty” does not concern itself, therefore, with that de facto tolerance which, under certain circumstances, may be granted to dissident cults; rather, it is concerned with granting these cults the same rights that belong to the one true religion—which God established in the world, marking it with clear and distinct signs, so that all could recognise and embrace it.
Such “liberty,” therefore, places on the same level…
- Truth and error
- Faith and heresy
- The Church of Jesus Christ and any other human institution
It establishes a deplorable and disastrous separation between human society and God who is its author; it leads to the sad consequence of the State’s indifference in matters of religion, or—what amounts to the same thing—its atheism.
The state’s duties to God
Yet no one can reasonably deny that civil society, no less than the individual, has duties towards God its Creator, its supreme Legislator, and its most provident Benefactor.
To break all bonds of subjection and respect to the Supreme Being, to refuse to honour His sovereign power and dominion, and to disregard the benefits society receives from Him is something condemned not only by faith, but also by reason and the general sentiment of even the ancient pagans. Even they based their public institutions and civil and military enterprises on the worship of the divinity, from whom they believed their prosperity and greatness were derived.
The harm done by this “liberty of worship”
But it would be superfluous to insist on these reflections. On other occasions, in public documents addressed to the Catholic world, We have demonstrated how erroneous is the doctrine of those who, under the seductive name of “liberty of worship,” proclaim the legal apostasy of society from its Divine Author.
What is of interest here, however, is that such “liberty” is the source of incalculable harm to both governments and peoples. Indeed, while religion commands citizens to obey legitimate authority as a divine ministry—prohibiting all seditious movements that might disturb public peace and order—it is all too evident that the State, by declaring itself indifferent to religion and demonstrating its disregard for it, deprives itself of the most powerful moral force, and separates itself from the true and natural principle from which all respect, loyalty, and love of the people are generated.
Furthermore, by neglecting its most holy duties towards God, the State not only forfeits this most effective means of ensuring the obedience and veneration of its citizens, but also undermines the religious sentiment in which the people find strength, resignation, and comfort to endure the hardships and miseries of life. This sets a pernicious example, made all the worse by the elevated status from which it originates.
Here, it will not be necessary to point out to Your Majesty that, especially in the present age when the need for the salutary influence of religion is felt more than ever, and given the ever-increasing moral and social disorders that are unsettling society, it cannot but be extremely dangerous and harmful to the public good to introduce into a Catholic country a system that can have no other result than to weaken or destroy in the population the only moral restraint capable of keeping them within the bounds of their duties.
Those nations which have embarked on this path of “renewal” have had, or still have, cause to lament…
- The progressive increase of crimes, discord, and revolts,
- The instability of power
- All the moral and material ruins that are accumulating upon them.
Therefore, wise and impartial men, after long experience, have had to acknowledge that a people who lose their religious spirit are a people on the path to decline; and that, consequently, the only means of recalling them to salvation lies in the beneficent action of religion, which…
- Alone effectively ensures respect for laws and constituted authorities
- Alone awakens and stirs within man his conscience, that admirable power which reigns in the depths of the soul, presides over all his actions, approves or condemns them according to the norms of eternal justice, and provides the will with the strength and energy to do good.
"Liberty of teaching"
But no less fraught with dire consequences in the social sphere is the so-called “liberty of teaching.”
Indeed, this grants broad licence to schools to disseminate theories and doctrines of every kind, even those most opposed to both natural and revealed truths.
Under the false pretext of “science”—whose true progress has not only never been hindered by faith, but has always been greatly advanced by it—those fundamental principles on which morality, justice, and religion rest are undermined or openly attacked.
As a result, the educational system deviates from its noble purpose, which is not only to produce knowledgeable individuals for society, but also honest ones—those who, by fulfilling their duties towards others, towards the family, and towards the State, help to secure the general well-being.
Instead of curbing the seeds of passions that breed selfishness, pride, and greed in the hearts of young people, and instead of encouraging the growth of sentiments and virtues that distinguish a good son, a good father, and a good citizen, the system becomes an instrument of corruption, leading the inexperienced youth down the path of doubt, error, and disbelief, and sowing within them the seeds of all pernicious tendencies.
These effects are all the more inevitable because, on the one hand, every monstrosity of opinion is given free rein; while on the other, once the principle of “free teaching” is established, the Church’s freedom and legitimate influence over the education of youth are hindered in countless ways.
Conclusion and appeal to the Emperor’s conscience
These few reflections, we are certain, will suffice to show Your Majesty the grievous evils that could arise from the proposed reforms in a country that has, until now, carefully preserved the precious inheritance of faith, and whose inhabitants remain so faithful to the holy traditions of their forefathers.
We do not wish to examine what other supplementary provisions might be alluded to in the Ministry's programme: the wording in which they are hinted at is vague and general, and could conceal further harmful innovations, among which might be the most pernicious of all (the so-called “civil marriage”) and other similar measures. However, we prefer to believe that the men whom Your Majesty’s sovereign trust has called to share in the responsibility of government will, in their political wisdom, understand how beneficial it is for a people to preserve intact the precious advantages of religious peace.
Above all, we trust that Your Majesty, in Your profound insight and constant attachment to the Catholic religion, of which We recently received a fresh and shining testimony through the wise and generous abolition of slavery within Your Empire, will never allow the foundations of a legislation that serves the true interests of the people and the sovereign authority that governs them to be altered, or an era of religious and social discord and unrest to be opened.
By averting such a disaster from Your Empire, Your Majesty will contribute effectively to its prosperity and will call down upon Yourself, upon Your August Family, and upon the Brazilian nation the blessings of heaven.
With this firm conviction, We wholeheartedly bestow upon Your Majesty and the entire Imperial Family Our Apostolic blessing.
From the Vatican, 19 July 1889.
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| Vatican orders suppression of the Latin Mass at California diocese’s cathedral |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-24-2024, 06:49 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Vatican orders suppression of the Latin Mass at California diocese’s cathedral
The letter directing the cessation of the Latin Mass at the Cathedral of St. Eugene in Santa Rosa, California, was handed down by the Secretary of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments.
![[Image: St.-Eugene-Cathedral.png]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/St.-Eugene-Cathedral.png)
Cathedral of St. Eugene in Santa Rosa, California
Screenshot
Oct 23, 2024
SANTA ROSA, California (LifeSiteNews [emphasis mine]) — The Vatican suppressed the Traditional Latin Mass at the cathedral in Santa Rosa, California, leaving parishioners to seek a new location for the Mass of the Ages.
Bishop Robert Vasa of the Diocese of Santa Rosa confirmed Wednesday to LifeSiteNews that the Vatican directed that the TLM be discontinued at the Cathedral of St. Eugene. According to Bishop Vasa, permission has been granted to relocate the Latin Mass, but details regarding when and where this will take place have yet to be determined.
A source who read the letter directing the cancellation of the cathedral’s TLM told LifeSiteNews that it was signed by Archbishop Vittorio Viola, the Secretary of Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments. The letter cited St. Ignatius of Antioch and Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, according to the source.
The decision was announced to parishioners on Sunday, October 13, without a definite date for the cathedral’s last TLM. However, parishioner George Zieminski told LifeSiteNews that the Latin Mass is expected to end there within the next two months or so.
“This news was met with great sorrow, but not unexpected,” said Zieminski, who added that there are no similar locations nearby for the Latin Mass. Santa Rosa is located about an hour north of San Francisco.
He noted that the cathedral was “renovated about 10 years ago to make it a much more beautiful place to worship our God,” and asked for prayers for the cathedral parish and Bishop Vasa during this time.
Since Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, which said that bishops are not to allow Traditional Latin Masses in “parochial churches,” dozens of Latin Masses have been suppressed across the world, with some relocated and many cancelled altogether.
Liturgical scholar Dr. Peter Kwasniewski has implored priests to resist Traditionis Custodes and its accompanying Responsa ad dubia “regardless of threats or penalties,” since obedience to these documents would undermine the very mission of the holy Catholic Church.
‘The traditional Mass belongs to the most intimate part of the common good in the Church. Restricting it, pushing it into ghettos, and ultimately planning its demise can have no legitimacy. This law is not a law of the Church because, as St. Thomas (Aquinas) says, a law against the common good is no valid law,’” he said in a speech during the 2021 Catholic Identity Conference.
He quoted the solemn words of St. Pius V’s bull Quo Primum, which authorized the Traditional Mass in “perpetuity.” Quo Primum states (emphasis added):
In virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us. We likewise declare and ordain … that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remains always valid and retains its full force … Would anyone, however, presume to commit such an act (i.e., altering Quo Primum), he should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.
Kwasniewski pointed out that Quo Primum “is not ‘just a disciplinary document’ that can be readily set aside or contradicted by his successors. It is a document de rebus fidei et morum, concerning matters of faith and morals, and therefore not susceptible to being set aside by a later pontiff.”
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| Pope Francis’ encyclical Dilexit Nos: Sacred Heart is ‘incarnate synthesis of the Gospel’ |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-24-2024, 06:45 AM - Forum: Pope Francis
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Pope Francis’ encyclical Dilexit Nos: Sacred Heart is ‘incarnate synthesis of the Gospel’
Pope Francis’ new encyclical, entitled ‘Dilexit Nos,’ calls for a renewed devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, emphasizing the need to develop a personal relationship with Jesus as a counter to the distractions of the modern world.
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Pope Francis delivers a speech at Laeken castel on September 27, 2024, in Brussels, Belgium
Photo by Sébastien Courdji/Getty Images
Oct 24, 2024
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has released a new encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, highlighting the Church’s wealth of teaching on the devotion, and recommending a renewal of traditional acts of piety and “consolation” to the Sacred Heart, which are born out of a recognition of one’s sins.
Divided into an introduction and five subsequent chapters, Dilexit Nos is “on the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ.” The encyclical is lengthy at 40 pages and with some 227 footnotes.
In his introductory paragraph, Francis points to the Scriptures to say that “nothing can ever ‘separate us’ from that love,” meaning the love of the Sacred Heart.
His text deals with the heart itself, before moving to the mystery of the Sacred Heart, then how the Church has fostered this devotion through Her teachings. In the final two chapters, Francis points to “personal spiritual experience and communal missionary commitment” in relation to the Sacred Heart.
The text is full of quotations from the Church’s vast wealth of writings on the Sacred Heart, and Francis makes great use of the teachings of the Fathers, saints, and popes. He also makes an earnest recommendation of renewing the practice of devotions such as the First Friday, and Eucharistic adoration.
In comparison to Pius XII’s 1956 encyclical on the Sacred Heart, Haurietis Aquas, which is replete with reference to sin and the wounds it causes the Sacred Heart, Dilexit Nos does not emphasize as much of the impacts of sin until near the end of the encyclical. In the closing chapters, Francis makes extensive commentary on the need to unite oneself to the Sacred and suffering Heart of Christ in order to make reparation and atonement for failings against God.
Similar to his 2023 apostolic exhortation on St. Thérèse, Dilexit Nos immediately strikes the reader as far more theological than much of the Pope’s other writings, and is replete with quotations from the Church’s history rather than from Francis himself, as has been the norm in his previous writings.
Importance of the Heart
While Pius XII’s 1956 encyclical on the Sacred Heart moves straight to a theological discourse, Francis dwells in his first chapter – “The Importance of the Heart” – on an understanding of the heart in itself.
He decried how modern society lives in a “liquid” world of “serial consumers who live from day to day, dominated by the hectic pace and bombarded by technology, lacking in the patience needed to engage in the processes that an interior life by its very nature requires.”
“The failure to make room for the heart, as distinct from our human powers and passions viewed in isolation from one another, has resulted in a stunting of the idea of a personal centre, in which love, in the end, is the one reality that can unify all the others,” Francis wrote.
The heart, he said, “is what sets me apart, shapes my spiritual identity and puts me in communion with other people.”
Expanding on how the current world is fostering a disconnect between the heart and reality, Francis posited the heart as the way for man to be truly man: “If love reigns in our heart, we become, in a complete and luminous way, the persons we are meant to be, for every human being is created above all else for love. In the deepest fibre of our being, we were made to love and to be loved.”
Living in accordance with proper human dignity requires “the help of God’s love,” wrote Francis, as Christ’s Sacred Heart “is a blazing furnace of divine and human love and the most sublime fulfilment to which humanity can aspire.”
The Pontiff also pointed to St. John Henry Newman’s famous motto, “cor ad cor loquitur,” saying that the saint understood that “the Lord saves us by speaking to our hearts from his Sacred Heart.”
Quote:This realization led him, the distinguished intellectual, to recognize that his deepest encounter with himself and with the Lord came not from his reading or reflection, but from his prayerful dialogue, heart to heart, with Christ, alive and present.
Drawing from a 1998 Angelus address by Pope John Paul II, Francis closed the chapter noting that that the “Sacred Heart is the unifying principle of all reality, since ‘Christ is the heart of the world, and the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection is the centre of history, which, because of him, is a history of salvation.’”
Actions and words of love
Francis’ second chapter deals more briefly with the manner of Christ’s love for mankind, drawing from Gospel passages to highlight Christ’s compassion.
“The heart of Christ, as the symbol of the deepest and most personal source of his love for us, is the very core of the initial preaching of the Gospel,” he wrote. “It stands at the origin of our faith, as the wellspring that refreshes and enlivens our Christian beliefs.”
The divine call to unite oneself with God (Jn 15:4) is a call to the Sacred Heart, commented Francis. It also contains the call to follow Christ to the cross, since “[t]he cross is Jesus’ most eloquent word of love,” said Francis.
He added that understanding Christ’s salvific death is central to building a relationship with God, just as it was for St. Paul: “Christ’s self-offering on the cross became the driving force in Paul’s life, yet it only made sense to him because he knew that something even greater lay behind it: the fact that ‘he loved me.’”
The heart that has loved so greatly
Linking to his remarks in the first chapter on the heart being a symbol of the entire person, Francis wrote that devotion to the Sacred Heart is fostered by the Church as being devotion to “the whole Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, represented by an image that accentuates his heart.”
The heart “speaks to us of the flesh and of earthly realities,” he said, adding how the heart is the “symbol” of God’s love.
Francis drew from the Church Fathers, along with saints who have written through the Church’s history on the Sacred Heart. But he also posited how Christ’s love from the Sacred Heart is “threefold” – being an “infinite divine love,” a human love, and a “sensible love.”
These three loves are “not separate, parallel or disconnected, but together act and find expression in a constant and vital unity,” he added, drawing on themes found in Pius XII’s encyclical on the Sacred Heart, Haurietis Aquas.
He also expounded on the link between devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Blessed Trinity, saying that “Christ does not expect us simply to remain in Him” but points to the Triune God.
The Church being cognizant of the beauty of this devotion has been visible, said Francis, by the constant teaching on the Sacred Heart which has continued to this day. He noted how recent popes have proposed the devotion as a necessary response to the various crises of each successive age as it is “an excessively privileged” means “granted us by the Holy Spirit for encountering the love of Christ.”
“Devotion to Christ’s heart is essential for our Christian life to the extent that it expresses our openness in faith and adoration to the mystery of the Lord’s divine and human love,” wrote Francis. “In this sense, we can once more affirm that the Sacred Heart is a synthesis of the Gospel.”
He recommended the traditional practices such as the First Friday devotions, consecration to the Sacred Heart, and Eucharistic adoration.
Drawing also from St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Francis recommended the brief aspiration: “Jesus I trust in you.” “No other words are needed,” he said.
A love that gives itself as a drink
The fourth, and longest chapter, draws from Sacred Scripture once more along with the Church’s wealth of saintly writings on the Sacred Heart, in the theme of the “personal spiritual experience.”
Francis summarizes that the “pierced heart of Christ embodies all God’s declarations of love present in the Scriptures. That love is no mere matter of words; rather, the open side of his Son is a source of life for those whom he loves, the fount that quenches the thirst of his people.”
He quotes from Saints Ambrose, Augustine, Bernard, and Bonaventure, before moving to the testimony of canonized male and female religious.
St. Catherine of Siena, he wrote, describes how “the open heart of Christ enables us to have a lively personal encounter with his boundless love,” while St. Getrude he quoted as recounting that the devotion to the Sacred Heart is one especially for the times of an “aging and lukewarm world.”
The devotional writings and teachings of Saints Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal, Margaret Mary Alacoque, Claude de La Colombière, Charles de Foucald, and Thérèse of Lisieux are all further quoted by Francis.
So too are a number of Jesuit saints, along with more recently canonized members of the Church Triumphant such as St. Padre Pio. The Sacred Heart devotion, writes Francis, “reappears in the spiritual journey of many saints, all quite different from each other; in every one of them, the devotion takes on new hues.”
He also made particular reference of the sufferings endured by Christ and the “natural” desire of Catholic faithful to respond with love to the Sacred Heart which suffered so much for mankind:
The heart of the risen Lord preserves the signs of that complete self-surrender, which entailed intense sufferings for our sake. It is natural, then, that the faithful should wish to respond not only to this immense outpouring of love, but also to the suffering that the Lord chose to endure for the sake of that love.
In light of this, Francis recommend a renewed practice of offering “consolation” to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Making one of the very few references to sin in the text, Francis noted that sin is another basis for fostering such acts of reparation to God: “Add the recognition of our own sins, which Jesus took upon his bruised shoulders, and our inadequacy in the face of that timeless love, which is always infinitely greater.”
He further highlighted the “inseparable and mutually enriching aspects” of the mystery of Christ and the Sacred Heart, namely, “union with Christ in his suffering and of the strength, consolation and friendship that we enjoy with him in his risen life.”
The natural desire to console Christ, which begins with our sorrow in contemplating what he endured for us, grows with the honest acknowledgment of our bad habits, compulsions, attachments, weak faith, vain goals and, together with our actual sins, the failure of our hearts to respond to the Lord’s love and his plan for our lives. This experience proves purifying, for love needs the purification of tears that, in the end, leave us more desirous of God and less obsessed with ourselves.
Love for Love
While the fourth chapter focused on the personal relationship with the Sacred Heart, Francis devoted his fifth chapter to a collective style devotion and union with Christ. Drawing once more from Scripture and from the Church’s prior teaching.
Mentioning that the devotion can foster “fraternity,” Francis drew from John Paul II to note that collective reparation to the Sacred Heart is a fitting way to atone for the evils of society: “Amid the devastation wrought by evil, the heart of Christ desires that we cooperate with him in restoring goodness and beauty to our world.”
Such reparation, Francis wrote, is “an extension of the heart of Christ.”
“Good intentions are not enough,” he said. “There has to be an inward desire that finds expression in our outward actions.”
The Pontiff closed by making a plea drawn from the spirituality of St. Thérèse and her desire for a spreading of Christ’s love: “I propose that we develop this means of reparation, which is, in a word, to offer the heart of Christ a new possibility of spreading in this world the flames of his ardent and gracious love.”
He also recalled how acts of charity must be rooted, ultimately, in God and be “nourished by Christ’s own love.”
This love of God and the Sacred Heart is at its heart a communal endeavor, wrote Francis, quoting from the divine command to love each other in the manner of God’s love for man.
He closed the encyclical by moving somewhat abruptly away from the theological language of prior passages, stating that the text highlights the Christian roots of his prior encyclicals Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti.
“I ask our Lord Jesus Christ to grant that his Sacred Heart may continue to pour forth the streams of living water that can heal the hurt we have caused, strengthen our ability to love and serve others, and inspire us to journey together towards a just, solidary and fraternal world,” Francis closed.
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| Outlines of New Testament History [1898] |
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Posted by: Stone - 10-23-2024, 09:41 AM - Forum: Church Doctrine & Teaching
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OUTLINES OF NEW TESTAMENT HISTORY
BY REV. FRANCIS E. GIGOT, D.D., Mooney Professor of the Sacred Scriptures in St. Joseph’s Seminary Dunwoodie, New York.
SECOND AND REVISED EDITION
NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO. BENZIGER BROTHERS, PRINTERS TO THE PUBLISHERS OF HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE
Nihil Obstat. J. B. HOGAN, S.S., D.D., Censor Deputatus.
Imprimatur. † MICHAEL AUGUSTINE, Archbishop of New York. NEW YORK, July 20, 1898.
1898, BY BENZIGER BROTHERS.
PREFACE
THE present is a companion volume to the “Outlines of Jewish History” published some months ago. It deals with the historical data supplied by the inspired writings of the New Testament, in exactly the same manner as the preceding work did with the various events recorded in the sacred books of the Old Testament. In both volumes the writer has pursued the same purpose and followed the same methods.
Both works have been prepared for the special use of theological students, not, however, without the hope that they may prove serviceable to a much larger number of readers, such as teachers of Bible history in Sunday-schools, colleges, academies, and the like. In neither volume has it been the aim of the writer to supply a substitute for the Bible itself, but rather a help towards a more careful perusal of the inspired record. With this purpose in view, he has set forth such results of modern investigation as may render the sacred narrative more intelligible and attractive. Many of the difficulties which are daily being raised on historical grounds are also touched upon, and the biblical student is supplied with constant references to further sources of information.
Like the historical writings of the New Testament, the present volume contains two distinct, though very closely connected parts. The first part, gathered from the four narratives of our canonical gospels, describes the life and times of Our Lord; the second, based mainly on the book of the Acts, presents a brief sketch of the labors of Peter, Paul, James, and John, the leading apostles of Christ. The first part, under the title of “The Gospel History,” takes up the sacred narrative at the point where it was left in the “Outlines of Jewish History,” and deals with the three-and-thirty years of Our Lord’s mortal life; the second, entitled “The Apostolic History,” narrates the principal events connected with the planting and early spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire down to the year 98 A.D.
As an additional help to the student, two maps—one of Palestine in the Time of Our Lord, the other of the Roman Empire in the Apostolic Times—have been especially prepared, and will be found at the end of the volume, together with a Chronological Table established on the now commonly admitted fact that the birth of Our Lord took place some years before what is called the Christian era.
July 16, 1898.
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