De Fide Catholica

Vertebras and Shellfishes

2011-12-04T12:49:00.002-05:00

Report from the Chronicles of the Fortress of Heaven

When Captain Hugues de Beautrad from the Alpine troops arrived in Solvanie, a French Province lost in the Mountains of the East and far from the Métropole, to take his command, he already knew the region, as he had served there as a young lieutenant several years before. But he did not know that Providence would soon make him the “Governor” of what was left of the western civilization. A few months after his arrival, the decree of a state of emergency put him at the head of the last bastion which resisted the global anarchy that followed the fall of the West. Deprived of means of communication, cut off from the rest of the world, the young Governor, heir of his predecessors of the seventeenth century, carried out his mission, which was to maintain and to save what could be saved.

Baudoin Forjoucq invites us, in his two books that form the Chronicles of the Fortress of Heaven, to follow the young officer. In the first volume, Twenty-one Steps of Black Marble, we discover the fortress of Saint Romuald in the imaginary Province of Solvanie, where the young Lieutenant meets with the tough reality of the field in a difficult social and cultural context. In the second volume, The Duke of the Apocalypse, Captain de Beautrad and his men try to maintain what is left of our civilization. To help him in his task, he can count on his friend, Father Mounot, alias “the captain of the Angels,” the young Pastor who reestablished the old liturgy of the Church in his parish at the ends of the earth. The prayers of the Benedictine monks of Bédonic, led by their Abbot, Dom Mayeul, will appear soon to be of crucial importance. It is simply the harmony of many centuries of Christendom, when the temporal order meets the spiritual order, which the warriors of the last times will preserve against all odds.

But is this book really a fiction? In fact, Baudoin Forjoucq affirms that the men described in his book truly exist, which I have no doubt. “This book is also a story of men and of virile friendship, also a love story, a story of these selfless sentiments that many people have forgotten nowadays,” he says. It is a book for those who “love the one who stands while others snigger or give up.” It is a book for those who believe that “the silence of a cloister is filled,” for those who are “attracted by the wide horizons,” or those who “know how to be moved by the look of a young woman whose words are neat.”

It is a book dedicated to the soldiers, to those who gave up their ambitions to serve their country, to those who still believe in our civilization, and, finally, to “the Benedictine monks, soldiers of heaven and roots of the West,” who offered the author hospitality to write his book. I would recommend you to read this book if there were not a little problem: it is only in French! Nevertheless, I translated a passage for you. It is a discussion between Captain de Beautrad and one of his lieutenants, Imbarek, about vertebras and shellfishes. Yes, it is a novel, but not so far from the reality!

- “Well, Captain, you can do whatever you like here; truly, whatever you like!”
- “It is true that I have a great autonomy. Some would say a total autonomy. But as a matter of fact, I do what the circumstances command me to do, according to the conscience that I have of my duties. Nothing more!”
- “This is what I say, Captain. So, you could make a little fief to yourself and live as a despot and take many wives.”
With a roar of laughter, the Captain answers: “These are interesting perspectives, my dear. I did not think about that. No, more seriously, you see, it is in extraordinary circumstances that we collect the fruits of the education we have received.”
“Do you really believe that it is a matter of education?”
“In the original sense of the word, yes. This has nothing to do with the social level, as I have already noticed. You know, there are two kinds of men: vertebras and shellfishes.”
“Vertebras and shellfishes? Explain, Captain…”
“Imbarek, one day you will be amazed to see how the behavior of men can be really different from what you thought. I have often noticed, in operations or overseas, that many quiet fathers of families, faithful to their wives and honest in Métropole, became some kind of hoods when they were far away from their usual surroundings. They are shellfishes, who need an external carapace: the social pressure to restrain their flabby flesh. On the other hand, the vertebras rely on the principles received from their parents or masters. Whatever are the circumstances, a vertebra stands. He does not deviate from the right way because he is well-built from inside, and less than others, he needs formal and positive laws.”
“Do you believe that the law is almost useless for vertebras?”
“This is my conviction! Did Saint Louis ever need formal laws in addition to the natural law and the Decalogue in order to act with uprightness? And look at so many others who used their power only for the common good: Lyautey, Sonis, hundreds of administrators, of prefects, of governors, of engineers, of family leaders throughout our long history!”
“Why, then, all these laws, all these piles of legislative texts? Is this because shellfishes are in greater numbers?”
“Probably. I do not remember the exact numbers, but I read a few months ago an article that basically said that we need to find a solution against the proliferation of legislative texts and rules in our country. There were in 2004 more than 7,500 laws in force, more than 15,000 texts of general scope, 200,000 regulations and instructions, and I even do not mention the 80,000 additional European texts. Another example: in 1980, the Journal Official de la République Française had 7,000 pages, and 17,000 in 2000…”
“That’s chilling! What can be the reason of this inflation?”
“It is because of the refusal of a superior and transcendent reference, because of the loss of the moral sense of our fellow citizens and a part of the ruling class. The negation of the natural law, the rejection of the Decalogue, the inversion of the principle of subsidiarity, as well as the desire to bring the law into line with the mores which have led the ruling class, that is even unable to govern itself, to draw up more and more texts. They were regulating everything, and thus they thought they could make up for their refusal of a moral order. But refusing a moral order was the proof that they desired moral disorder, and moral disorder does not allow men to live in harmony. Therefore, it was necessary to regulate everything in order to limit the consequences of this disorder. Just consider the avalanche of the texts of law during the first years of the Republic at the end of the eighteenth century! While this Republic was pretending to fight against the arbitrary, it fell into the Terror and revolutionary tribunals. These were instituted by laws that created an even greater arbitrary system. The more laws there are, the more the shellfishes are tempted to beat the game, and, therefore, they make more laws.”
“But then, there is no end to this. We are condemned to legislate always more.”
“Yes, and this is what happened! A soon as a problem arose, they immediately made a new law instead of referring to an inviolable rule. My conclusion is that nothing is more important for social man than having a moral; and the worst is to put rights first instead of duties. If one day I were asked about a code or a declaration of universal range, I would propose to begin this text with this simple sentence: Any right is the counterpart of a duty. You would see that the consequences of such an assertion would be enormous. Truly, it would be a new revolution.”
“Nothing would be framed by the law?”
“Yes, of course. We cannot do without the law, and rights are precisely a mark of a civilization. Without them, it would be a ‘law of the jungle’, the law of the strongest, and this is what we are going to fight against in the following days. In the field of the law, as for anything else, we only have to see reason. For instance, we need the right of ownership, the right to trade, or even fiscal right. In fact, these are but developments of the Seventh Commandment of God. But we need a right that is clear and laws that are brief, like the Napoleonic Code, and not this recent inflation of texts of circumstances. I am convinced that this proliferation of laws and of rules has contributed to the fall of our civilization. And what about the laws against nature we recently had?”
“Are you thinking about something in particular?”
“Sure, I am thinking about the law that authorizes abortion.”
“Why this one?”
“Because it is the most serious illustration of what I mean to say. In all times, in all the civilizations, even the roughest, the law consists in protecting the weakest against the strongest. Is there anyone weaker than an unborn child? Everywhere and in all times, abortion has been prohibited, from Sumer to China, where they still count the age of man by adding nine months to the date of his birth. In our own country, without mentioning the Christian ages, even the First Republic decreed that abortion was a “crime against the nation,” which truly it is. And suddenly, in 1975, it is decriminalized, and even since then it is reimbursed by Social Security. Hence millions of dead children! Authorizing abortion even became an imperative condition for a country to join the European Politic! This terrible example shows that when a law is not founded on the natural law, it can lead to the worst excess, and, first of all, to the loss of moral sense of entire people that killed their children because “Madame,” who happened to be pregnant without planning this, wanted to go to winter sports.”
“And we were defending this society, Captain?”
“We were not defending this society, Imbarek, but France, the synthesis of the West.”
“But you said that our country was living under the empire of criminal laws!”
“Not all the laws, but many were criminal, yes. And many young men who remained straight concluded that it was no longer worthy to serve our country. Then, they refrained from taking up civil services, like these aristocrats of the nineteenth century who did not want to take any responsibility in the service of the new regimes, because the Republic had guillotined their ancestors and drove God out of the country.”
“In my opinion, they were right!”
“No, Imbarek, they were wrong! How can you complain that things are bad when you do nothing to make them better, except only criticize? The “empty chair” policy had never been a good policy. Those who are absent always get the blame, and chairs do not remain empty for a long time. A post of responsibility that is not occupied by a good person will be by a bad one. We had to wait until the Great War and the invasion of the national territory to see these “exiles of the inland” accepting to be engaged in politics and taking again their natural positions in the society.”
“Captain, the aristocrats and other monarchists got involved, they shed their blood, and in 1918, the Republic that many of them detested came out from this trial politically stronger with almost all the population of our country behind it.”
“This is a very interesting objection. For all that, should we have let Wilhelm II take Paris? Certainly not! What would have been France under a German occupation? The example of what happened twenty years later, when this time the French could not stop the invasion, makes us think. Also, we should keep in mind, when a soldier puts politics in the first place of his preoccupations instead of the defense of the country, he can be quickly tempted by treason, or he can excuse it under the pretext that he does not like the regime of the country. In this area, the only solid and military thing that I know is this British saying that Captain Porral told me once: Right or wrong, my country!”
Imbarek was pensive. He paused a while before answering.
“Well, after the war, it seems that things went from bad to worse, and everything led us to where we are now. So, the rallying to the Republic did not change a thing.”
“Yes, it did. A part of the descendants of those who had contributed to build our country for thirteen centuries took their places again under the roof of France. It is already something to not live as a foreigner in your own country. But let us go further, if you would like. Things were disastrous on a moral level prior to the events of this summer. Let us imagine what would have happened if nobody among those who kept a traditional thought had loyally served in the army or the public services. Who would stand now in order to limit the damages?”
“I guess nobody.”
“Indeed! It is worth thinking about that. It is good that many young people did not despair at the awful sight of our country and did not throw away everything.”
“Don’t you think, Captain, that we might be deceived once again, as has happened so many times in our history?”
“You miss a crucial point. In 1918, nothing regarding the regime or the institutions had changed. Only God knows what the future will be, but today, when everything is shattered, I think that we should invent something new or come back to institutions that proved themselves. Nevertheless, we should remember the mistakes of the past. For instance, Louis XVIII believed that he could reestablish a traditional monarchy after Napoleon. In exile for fifteen years, he did not understand how much our country had changed. It was a fiasco, as the ideas of the Revolution made their way into public opinion, and the people did not remember the crimes of the Terror, but the ideas of liberty and of equality. The old aristocracy had lost its position of the ruling elite in the country, and the aristocrats, who looked with condescension upon the new nobility of the Empire, gained with arms, did not understand the situation.”
“What should we do then, once the order will be reestablished? Shall we need to build a new regime? I mean somebody will have to build a new regime, to establish a new system. But which one?”
“This somebody can only be one of us, the survivors. Concerning this regime, I have no idea, but I already know some of the mistakes that we should not do again. Basically, we know what to not do, but we do not know yet what to do. Besides, shall we be consulted, you and me?”
Imbarek steadfastly looked at his Captain and smiled while retorting:
- “Forgive my insolence, Captain, but don’t you think that you do not see further than the end of your nose if you think that you are out of touch, considering your present responsibilities?”
- “This insolence suits you very well! After all, it is a privilege of your rank, since in the French Army, lieutenants are traditionally “insolent, scrawny and hopeless”… Concerning my responsibilities, they only command me to preserve what can be preserved, here and now, in other words, to maintain.”
The darkness had already enveloped the old building and swarms of braises carried out by the wind were rising in a serene sky. The two officers had in common the peace of the soul given by the sentiment of carrying out their duties in spite of the difficulty.

Sermon for 6th Sundat after Pentecost

2011-07-25T10:55:00.000-04:00

You certainly remember, dear Brethren our meditation during Lent when we were considering the Cross of Jesus Christ as the main source of our faith and therefore as the main inspiration for our lives. You certainly remember the great proclamation of faith of the Apostle Saint Paul who wants to know only Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

After Lent, Easter came, and we put behind us the austerity of this holy time and the rigor of penance in order to celebrate the great mystery of the Resurrection of Our Savior and to rejoice in it. The feast of Pentecost ended a liturgical cycle and we have been now for 6 weeks in this time after Pentecost that will lead us to the end of the liturgical year. It is the time that is given to us in order to continue in our own lives the mysteries of the life and of the death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is no longer the life of Jesus that we directly contemplate during the Liturgy but rather His teaching that we listen to and that we try to assimilate, though we can hardy separate the life of Jesus from His teaching. Living the life of Christ, according to His own teaching is now our program and Saint Paul reminds us today that we have been baptized in Christ Jesus and in His death.

Therefore our Baptism makes sense only if we accept to crucify our old man and to destroy the body of sin, because it is the necessary condition to live unto God. The Gospel shows us that following Jesus means accepting certain privations and inconveniences, like this crowd that followed Him for three days and had nothing to eat. Christian life is basically a life of renunciation and of abandon: renunciation to Satan first, as the rite of Baptism invites us to do, and therefore renunciation to sin; renunciation to the world; finally renunciation to ourselves. But these renunciations would be unbearable without a total abandon to God’s Providence who provides for all our need, provided that we accept our condition and fulfill our duties according to our state of life. Renunciation and abandon certainly does not mean passivity; it rather means that we put all our heart, our energy, our strength to love and serve God. And we do that we the confidence that our sacrifices, our renunciations, and even persecutions, when they come, are not vain, but are rather the beginnings of eternal life, the life unto God.

Renouncing to sin requires training and a discipline of the will that can more easily be gained when renouncing ourselves, especially with the virtue of obedience. Discipline and obedience have always been, even on a mere natural level, the mark of the strong, and a key to success. It is true in many fields such as education, sport, army, etc…. And when these virtues are elevated by the Divine grace, it is a key that opens the gates of heaven. Renouncing the world is more delicate, as we have to renounce its spirit but not its physical reality. In fact, unless you have a particular vocation such as monastic life, you have to sanctify yourself in the world and there are many ways of doing that.

First, it supposes that you are not afraid of it. The world is indeed a large field of apostolate in which you should be comfortable; you should be aware of its danger, yes, but also comfortable. Do not be afraid to be involved in its life so that you can bring the testimony of your faith in all your activities: at work, in your neighborhood, in the different association in which you may be involved, in your sport teams, at school, at university, wherever you go, whatever you do. Bring always with you the light of Christ and His love. Do not remain entrenched at home, but participate in the mission of the Church. The Church is visible, but it is not only visible by her churches, but also by her schools – and I can never emphasize enough about their necessity today – and different associations and activities. Be involved in the life of your town, your county, your state, your country. If you do not, then you may complain about the evilness of our times in vain. Abandoning the battlefield means giving the victory to the enemies of Christ. If you have the required abilities, run for positions in the world, not for yourself but for Christ. The more good Catholics are in charge in the many areas of social and public life, the better it will be for the common good of our societies. This can be done as well on the smallest local level as well as on a national or even international level. Do not let someone else take the place you can have in this world!

Yes there are many wrong and bad things in the world today. But there would be certainly less if we all would take our responsibility in the society and even in the Church. And what we certainly need first is to know the teaching of the Church on many subjects and issues that regard the social life; what we call the social doctrine of the Church and that regard many areas such as education, politics, economy or arts.

With the Grace of God, we shall try to expose this beautiful doctrine in other sermons and conference soon.

An invitation from Saint John Bosco Academy

2011-04-27T11:37:00.001-04:00

St. John Bosco Academy is presenting a dinner theatre “Summer Comes to the Diamond-O” on May 14th at St. Patrick's Catholic Church (North Little Rock, AR), in the Gym. 6:00 dinner, 7:00 show.

Tickets are $20.00 for a family or $10.00 individual. Tickets will be sold at the door.

Please call for reservations: Lorri Sonnier at (870) 834-8993 or Colleen Strandquist at (417) 284-3987.

Visit our website: http://www.saintjohnboscoacademy.net/

Sermon for Lent

2011-04-21T12:50:00.002-04:00

Sermon VIII: Continuation on the Truth

Si veritatem dico vobis, quare non creditis mihi? If I say the truth to you, why do you not believe me?

The truth is a queen who has her eternal throne in heaven, the seat of her sovereignty in the bosom of God. Nothing is nobler than truth because everything comes under its governance. It should reign over the reason which is intended to govern all things. Nothing is stronger and nothing is more powerful than the truth, especially the truth of the Gospel which has been established on facts, and which is proposed by faith, in our present condition, and which openly appears uncovered in heaven. Even the devils believe in it, as Saint James says, and not only do they believe, but they also tremble as the truth stands out to them in its whole dramatic and terrible dimension. It is certainly not the least of the pains of the devils and damned souls to realize that the truth that was offered to them, and which could have freed them, now enchains them, keeping them captive in infernal and eternal torment. The truth is known and respected in heaven, and there it is loved. But the truth is also known and respected in hell – respected, or at least observed – although it is hated there. Yes, the truth is known and observed in heaven and in hell, but between heaven and hell, here on earth is the only place where truth is despised. In heaven and in hell, the truth cannot leave you indifferent: you love it or you hate it with your whole heart and your whole mind. Here, on earth, you may find such sentiments toward the truth, but you also find a lot of indifference and a great lack of concern for it. Very often, it simply leaves men with a great coldness. We have already given the reasons for this in the beginning of this Lenten season’s sermons.

Let us continue our reflection with the help of Bossuet, and let us try to take a closer look at the reasons that push men to despise or to hate the truth. First, we say with Saint Thomas that “truth in general cannot be the object of hatred.” You certainly remember, dear brethren, that good, truth, and being are the same in reality. They just differ as considered by reason. So, “truth in general cannot be the object of hatred because disagreement is the cause of hatred, and agreement is the cause of love, while being and truth are common to all things. But nothing hinders some particular being or some particular truth from being an object of hatred, in so far as it is considered as hurtful and repugnant, since hurtfulness and repugnance are not incompatible with the notion of being and truth, as they are with the notion of good.” (Ia IIae Q 29 Art 5)

Bossuet develops the thought of Saint Thomas, and he says that men can hate the truth in three different ways, in three different subjects, wherein truth dwells, when truth is considered as it is in God, as it appears in men, or as we feel it in ourselves. In each case, truth hurts the sinful man. In God, the immutable laws of truth condemn man. In man, who is the present witness of the laws of truth, they correct him. Within himself, in the secret of his conscience, the laws of truth trouble and make him worry. In each case they displease the sinful man. The pride of his mind does not accept that truth condemns him. The obstinacy of the sinner prevents him from being corrected. The blind love for his vices cannot permit him consent to be bothered. Therefore the sinner hates truth, or at least he pretends to ignore it, by enclosing himself in a state of indifference towards it.

The Gospel of Saint John that we have been reading at Mass for the last few days, and which we continue to read during the Passion time, is extremely affirmative in this regard, as it shows us the increasing antinomy between the Jews and Jesus, and the indifference of the Gentiles. Jesus gives testimony to the truths that He saw in the bosom of His Father, and the Father gives testimony to Jesus. These truths condemn those who do not receive them. Furthermore, it is on behalf of these truths that Jesus is put to death.

“Jesus corrects their vices, and while His words convince them, their hatred of truth makes them hate the One who announces it,” Bossuet says. “They get angrier at Him; they call Him a Samaritan and a demonic person. They take stones to throw at Him. Yet, He presses them more and brings to the depth of their hearts the light of truth: ‘Yet a little while, the light is among you.’ (John 12:35) But they hate the adorable truth so much that they extinguish the feeble ray of light that was still in them. They look for the dark night that covers their bad works.” In a last attempt, as the ultimate resort, He asks them: “If I say the truth to you, why do you not believe me?” (John 8:46)

The sinners hate the law of God, even when they pretend to follow it. It is a religious tribunal that condemns Jesus to death; a tribunal of men who pride themselves of being the faithful observers of the law. Yes, Saint Paul is absolutely right when he says that the letter kills, but it does not only kill metaphorically; it also kills literally. It kills first the One who gives it to men. The sinners hate the law of God and the truth. And they know that it is precisely this truth that condemns them. “Miserable men,” Saint Augustine says, “who, because wishing to be wicked, deny that to be the truth whereby the wicked are condemned.”

Therefore, they try to abolish the law and to kill the legislator. The sinners are revolutionaries by nature. They organize themselves in impious assemblies in order to free themselves from God. They establish a structured system that denies the truth and, when it is necessary, they eliminate the heralds and the heroes of the truth. When sin is not simply tolerated, but rather encouraged, in a society, it can only generate a secular or even an atheist environment where people may be still free to give themselves a god, provided that it is a god who does not come to recall to them that they have duties and obligations to him, or toward the truth.

We said in the beginning of Lent that faith has two kinds of enemies: ignorance and corruption. We showed how a life of sins leads a soul astray from God. What was said about individuals is true for societies, too. We have been witnessing the apostasy of the old Christian nations for the past two centuries, in spite of the solemn and repeated warnings from the Popes since the Revolution. Today, human rights have replaced the commandments of God, even sometimes in the minds and the hearts of many members of the clergy. After all, it was not said that the clergy would be immunized against the errors of our time, which are the errors of any time. It is even the clergy that often leads the faithful toward rebellion, as it was the clergy that condemned Jesus to death. But once again, we do not have to be surprised. It was announced by Jesus that wolves would come to scatter and cast the sheep.

Now, dear brethren, we could go on and on about this subject. It can be very comforting for some Catholics who are still faithful in these times of apostasy to contemplate the pathetic state of our society and even of our Church, to pronounce solemn anathemas, to condemn everything and everyone that is not entirely Catholic, and to think that, after all, they are not so bad since they are faithful to the authentic teaching of Jesus Christ. Well, it is precisely to these faithful that I am speaking now, as I do not see among our congregation many atheists or modernists.

Certainly, you have not rejected Christ, and you receive the truth of His speech. But let me ask you again the same question I asked last week. Have you received the entire truth of the Gospel? You would say that you do not hate the truth, but we have just said that the truth in general cannot be the object of hatred. Are you sure that there is no particular truth that you don’t like? Have you taken great care, since the beginning of Lent, to examine your conscience in detail? You think that you hear the truth, and you do not want to be counted among the enemies of Christ who crucifies Him. But where were the friends of Jesus during His Passion? You claim to be a friend of Jesus, but are you better than all his friends who abandoned Him, who ran away when He was arrested, judged, and crucified?

When Jesus speaks about the truth, He does not speak only to the Jews who condemn Him. He also intends to teach His disciples to love and to respect His holy truth, so that when they contemplate it in their Judge, they can be corrected; when they hear it from others, they can receive it with humility; when they listen to it in their conscience, they can be enlightened, changed, and converted by it. And conversion is precisely a permanent process which is never achieved in this life, but which requires a deep, serious, and ongoing investigation of your conscience.

Let us bring some light on one point. The Fifth Commandment forbids us to kill. You think that you have not broken this Commandment since you have never killed anybody. This is your conclusion after your own reflection, based upon your own interpretation of the law. But are you in the truth? Being in the truth is not the same thing as thinking you are in the truth! Saint John says that whosoever hates his brother is a murderer.

Hatred pushes men to destroy what they hate, what they have already destroyed in their heart, and, therefore, when the object of hatred is a person, it generates a secret intention to murder. You can recognize that you hate someone when his presence hurts your feelings, when you have a kind of repulsion for anything that comes from him, when you consider that meeting him is something grievous, when you take any opportunity to speak behind his back to denigrate him, to lower him, to mock him. Now, if you include all these elements in your examination of conscience, are you still certain that you have not broken the Fifth Commandment? Are you still certain that you are truly a friend of Jesus who says as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me? And then, are you still certain that you are not like the Jews who condemned Jesus to death? If you hate your neighbor, you are guilty of murder. And if you murder your neighbor, you murder Christ Himself. You do not hate the whole truth since you cannot, but you still hate a particular truth that bothers you, hurts your feeling, or displeases you. And you try to forget this, and to hide this sin in a dark corner of your conscience, comforting yourself in the observance of the other commandments, forgetting that, in fact, you have broken all of them, according to Saint James: “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10)

Again, dear brethren, it is the whole truth that we have to hear and to accept, and not only the particular truths that are more convenient to us. The truth will be our judge, and there will be no way to escape this. Please God that we may tremble more often in front of the truth, instead of hiding ourselves behind it, or using it for our own convenience and satisfaction.

Sermon for Lent

2011-04-19T12:48:00.003-04:00

Sermon VII: Hearing the whole Truth

We usually prefer to hear things that we like rather than things that displease us, and, therefore, we have a tendency to be evasive when it is time to tackle certain uncomfortable subjects. But burying our heads in the sand cannot be of any use in order to solve a problem, or simply to comprehend the truth. And when the truth regards our eternal destiny, it would be a great madness to refuse to face it. The Apostles refused to consider the whole truth about Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us repeat it. This was before their third conversion, prior to the effusion of the Holy Ghost in their souls. At this point, they had already accepted Jesus Christ, but not yet His Cross. Refusing to hear the integral truth, they were still remaining in the darkness, and they could not understand certain words of Jesus.

You remember, dear brethren, that we expounded in our previous sermons several reasons that prevent us from hearing the words of God. Haste and rashness of mind were two of them. We also mentioned last Friday the scandal of social and personal prejudices, how they only make us deaf to the word of God, and, in this regard, we had also denounced the occasion of prejudice with Bossuet as “an insolent enterprise toward the rights of God and against public liberty.” Prejudice is a social plague which can be very harmful to the true spirit of religion, affecting and infecting many souls, namely the souls who are guilty of such prejudices, and who may believe that they are religious when they are not.

There are souls of good will, but still too weak or too shy, who may suffer from prejudices. They feel confined or even incarcerated in a social fabric governed by rules and codes. They fear the reproachful look of their peers and neighbors, and unless they finally find the courage to break the institutional rigidity that surrounds them, they blend in with the masses like sheep. From the way people dress, to the kind of music to which they listen, from the food they eat to the people with whom they associate, everything is closely examined. The poor “trespasser” is already judged by the tribunal of the dominant ideology, and there is no appeal for the sentence, because “in our traditional community, we do not do such a thing.” But people are not always fooled by the hypocritical smiles of the public prosecutors, and since we cannot expect everyone to live the beatitudes and to be heroic in the practice of the virtues, it is not surprising to see people who turn away in order to escape the sectarian spirit of prejudice.

Let us leave this spirit to the Mormons, to the Amish, to the Quakers, to all these sects that have forgotten that among the gifts of God there is liberty, and that liberty is a condition to love God. Faith is not imposed on others by means of protocols and conventions, but it is proposed to the intelligence and to the heart. There is a true education in the Faith, an education that speaks to the intelligence and which moves the heart. Far from being indoctrination, it is rather a culture, and as such, it involves many fields of human life, like academics, arts, a certain enjoyment of life, and good taste, and some values and virtues like courtesy, civility, and urbanity, where refinement should not be excluded. These are Catholic, and, therefore, are universal marks of true Christianity, and we can see them flourish everywhere in the world where the Faith is sincerely lived. They flourish with different tastes, different colors, and different scents in different cultures, and they comprise a beautiful bouquet made of a great variety of flowers which embellish the society of men, and render honor and glory to God. When faith is truly received in a person or in a society, it does not confine men in a pharisaic system, but rather frees them from any system, and makes the society of men more enjoyable.

Finally, prejudices affect non-believers. Certainly, many of them may have their own prejudices toward religion and toward the Church, but this must not be cause to enable further prejudice. The prejudices of the faithful can only give more weight to the prejudices of non-believers.

Haste, rashness of mind, and prejudices are substantially the many obstacles that prevent us from receiving the full message of the Gospel. Let us add now the weakness of the will, which beckons us to refuse the Cross. Bossuet points out that the Apostles usually ask Jesus many questions regarding the mysteries of which He speaks. You remember that they did not understand the words of Jesus concerning His Passion: “But they understood not this word, and it was hid from them, so that they perceived it not.” But this time, instead of asking for some explanations as they usually do, Saint Luke reports that “they were afraid to ask him concerning this word.” Bossuet says that “one cause of their ignorance is that they were fleeing from the light, and did not want to hear what Jesus was saying about His humiliations.”

Yes, they had a true love for Jesus, but a love that was still human and sensible, to the extent that they refused to hear anything about His sufferings. Indeed, they knew that they were supposed to partake in His sufferings, and this hurt their feelings. Such is our human nature that we accept easily the greatness and the glory of Jesus, but we are reluctant when we hear about the Passion, the sufferings, and the death of Jesus. The contrast is huge between the crowd that welcomes with palms the King of Glory, who enters Jerusalem in triumph, and the few souls who accompany the man of sorrow on the Cross.

Let us take a look at Saint Mark, Chapter 10. The Apostles, who had followed their Master for three years, were thinking about their reward. Peter attracts the attention of Jesus on this point: “Behold, we have left all things and have followed you.” And, yes, Jesus promises a reward to those who leave house and family for His sake and for the Gospel. They shall receive a hundred times as much. But, He adds, with persecutions. (Mark 10:28-30) And right after, we see Jesus going up to Jerusalem. The Apostles are astonished, and, following Him, are afraid.

In Saint Matthew, Chapter 20, Jesus speaks again about His Passion: “And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart and said to them, ‘Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and the third day He shall rise again’.” And they still don’t want to hear this speech. James and John come right away, with their mother, and ask for the first place in the Kingdom of Christ. Then Jesus presents the Chalice.

Dear brethren, we have to understand that we cannot partake in the greatness and the glory of Jesus if we do not participate in His Passion. Again, we have to suffer, and we have to die. After Pentecost, the Apostles again hear these words. They hear them so well that they want to suffer for the love of God, and now they rejoice in their sufferings.

Christians, children of the Cross and of the wounds of Jesus Christ, do you hear these words? Do you understand that these words are spoken to all men, and not only to the religious? Open the Gospel and read: “And he said to all, ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me’.” (Luke 9:23) He said to all!

Alas, many Christians want to be the disciples of Jesus, and yet refuse the Cross. They make their own Gospel that is a compromise with the world. “All take counsel of Thee on whatever point they wish, though they do not always hear what they wish,” Saint Augustine says. “He is Thy best servant who does not look to hear from Thee what he himself wills, but who wills rather to will what he hears from Thee.”

May the Blessed Virgin Mary teach us how to hear and to accept the whole truth!

Sermon for Lent

2011-04-15T11:51:00.002-04:00

Sermon VI: Prejudices

The purpose of this Lenten Season, dear brethren, is nothing else than to increase our interior life, which is, according to Father Garrigou Lagrange, the knowledge of the truth and the love of good, or if you like, the knowledge and the love of God, who is the supreme Truth and the supreme Good. The interior life is also the knowledge and the love of anything true and good that proceeds from God. We already see, from this definition, that the interior life cannot germinate, develop, and blossom without faith and charity. It is by faith that we love the truth, and by charity that we love the good. Therefore, anyone who hears the word of God, and who wants to answer His call to holiness, will have to work on both virtues, which are distinct, but should not be separated.

As a matter of fact, as much as we progress in the spiritual life, we are more and more united with God, but we also are more and more united with ourselves. Original sin first, and then our personal sins, have dislocated us, and unless we work diligently toward rebuilding ourselves, there always remains certain anarchy within us. By seeking union with God, we seek to restore His image in us. We polish the mirror of our intelligence in order to find in it the undistorted reflection of the eternal truths.

Jesus has compared the Kingdom of God to a seed that grows and becomes a high tree. This comparison applies to the interior life, which is the Kingdom of God in a soul. The growth of our spiritual tree supposes three stages that are necessary. First, it has to come to life, to germinate. This is the first conversion, the one that we call justification, when a soul passes from the state of sin to the state of grace. The second stage is when the tree develops and becomes visible. “It is a state of life,” as Father Garrigou Lagrange says, “when we begin seriously to surpass ourselves, and when we begin to relate everything to God and not to ourselves. It is the admission into the reign of God, where a docile soul begins to reign with Him over its passions, over the spirit of the world, and over the spirit of evil.” Let us note, dear brethren, that at this stage, it is still only a beginning. The third stage is finally when the tree blossoms and when we can see its fruits and flowers. This is when a soul has no other desires other than pleasing God in everything, existing in a perfect union with God, reigning over its passions and faculties.

We said last week that the laws of spiritual life are the same for everybody. We can see in the New Testament the progress, and sometimes the decline, of the interior lives of the Apostles. Bossuet invited us last Sunday to consider three different spiritual states in the Apostles since their vocations began, which was precisely their first conversion. Their second conversion certainly happened during the Passion of the Savior. At least it appears to be the case for Saint Peter, when after having denied Him, Jesus looked upon him. “Peter, going out, wept bitterly,” Saint Luke reports. That look of Jesus, accompanied with His grace, moved the heart of Peter, and his contrition was the principle of a new life, though his faith was not yet definitively and strongly established. The grace of the Resurrection, and finally of Pentecost, will achieve and complete the renovation of the new man within each of the Apostles, with the notorious exception of Judas, whose example should always remain in our memory. If such a man, one of the Twelve who had received so many graces, who lived in the intimacy of Jesus for three years, who had been a privileged witness of the miracles and all the deeds of the Savior, and a close listener of His magnificent doctrine, could fall, and who most certainly damned himself, why should I be so sure that I will persevere in the service of God? It is not rare to see Christians who boast in knowing the truth! Did not Judas know it better than all of these, he who was a close friend of the Incarnate Truth?

But let us return to the Apostles, and to their lack of understanding of the words of Jesus. Haste and rashness of mind explain the lack of understanding of God’s mysterious intentions. Another reason is certainly the great difficulty we have in accepting the Cross. The Lord is our God and our Redeemer. For those who have faith, this is not hard to believe. We admire Jesus Christ for His celestial doctrine, for His great authority when He teaches: “Never did man speak like this man.” (John 7:46) We admire Jesus Christ for His miracles, but when He speaks about His Passion, the spirit of darkness comes again to envelop our minds.

Jesus Christ does not redeem us by showing His divinity and performing powerful miracles, but by demeaning Himself and suffering like the least of men. And what does He want us to remember and to consider? After He rebukes an evil spirit from a boy, the crowd marveled at His power. And what did He say? “Lay you up in your hearts these words, for it shall come to pass that the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.” (Luke 9:44)

As Bossuet explains, the Lord asks the disciples to lay these words in their hearts, because it is an incomprehensible thing to the spirit, especially when our minds are too preoccupied with the things of the world, as it is usually the case. Again, faith is not only a matter of intelligence, but is also a matter of the heart. “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.”

Faith cannot grow in a corrupted soul; we have already explained this. Vices and sins are the greatest obstacles to the understanding of God’s mysteries, but there are still other stains of the mind that we need to remove, which are the prejudices and preoccupations of the world. Therefore, it is necessary to come in front of God with a spirit totally dispossessed of itself and free, which is, dear brethren – let us admit it – something rare.

A prejudice is something that has already been judged utilizing a lack of knowledge and of wisdom, because of an element of narrow-mindedness, and/or certain habits, individual and/or social. It is the judgment of people who have no other rule than the rule itself, which has too often been established by their own opinion and authority. They judge and condemn out of hand anything and anyone that does not fit their personal and social straitjacket, and they usually induce others to accept their own standards.

If the Apostles tried to do so toward Jesus Himself, it is, after all, not surprising to see among ourselves people who act this way toward others. With Bossuet, we denounce this “rigorous censorship that we exercise over our brothers" and which “is an insolent enterprise toward the rights of God and against public liberty.” Judgment belongs to God only, and he who judges his brother is guilty of disobedience toward God, and guilty of making himself superior to his equal and equal to his superior.

If you look at your neighbor as if he were an incurable sick person, if you move away from him because he is, in your opinion, an incorrigible sinner, you offend God, Saint Augustine explains. You are like the Pharisee of the Gospel who condemns the adulterous woman, and who comes to the Lord with his rule: “Moses, in the law, commanded us to stone such a one.” Like him, you say, or think, “If you knew who this woman is.” Does Jesus condemn her? Does he scrupulously and literally follow the rule? Not only does He forgive her, but He also exposes the hypocrisy of her detractors: “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone.”

Would you say that you do not hear these words, brethren? Of course you hear them, and yet you still judge your neighbor! Are you so ignorant of your own sins that you dare to expose the sins of others? If it is the case, remember that God’s justice will be as rigorous as yours. I beg you to lay up in your heart the words of Saint Paul: “For wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself.” (Rom 2:1)

Let us go further. From where does our inclination to passing judgment come? Man is definitively curious, Bossuet says again. “Everyone wants to see what is hidden, and wants to judge the intentions. This curiosity makes us infer what we cannot see, and since no one likes to be wrong, suspicion quickly becomes certitude. Then we call conviction what is only speculation. And this is an invention of our mind” that we like, and in which we please ourselves. Don’t you see that this is the true scandal, and that this scandal comes only from your own imagination and your own misunderstanding?

Prejudices, dear brethren, lead us away from Jesus and His Cross. Because of them, we crucify our neighbor instead of being crucified. They prevent us of hearing the words of God and putting them into practice. And the worst is that because of our prejudices, we may think that we are just.

Sermon for Lent

2011-04-12T10:06:00.002-04:00

Sermon V: Why do we not understand the Divine things?

“And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said.” (Luke 18:34)

The Eagle of Meaux, Bossuet, says that the sacred history of the Gospel shows the holy Apostles in three different states since their vocation began. We can see them first in a great ignorance of the celestial truths, next in a glaring incredulity, and finally they appear to be filled with lights and knowledge, so enlightened that they proceed to enlighten the whole world. When Jesus Christ was still with them, their gross understanding did not penetrate the mysteries. When He left the world, the scandal of the Cross disconcerted them so much that they lost their faith. When the Holy Ghost descended upon them, their faith was immutably reestablished, and all the darkness that was yet enveloping their spirits vanished. These different changes which we can derive from the Gospel are of great use to us. Do not be tempted to think that they do not concern you. Saint Paul reminds us that “all scripture, inspired of God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, and to instruct in justice.” (2 Tim 3:16)

We know from the Fathers that the Apostles, chosen by God, do not only instruct us by their holy and salutary doctrine, but they also support us by their doubts, they strengthen our faith by their incredulity, and they teach us by their ignorance.

The sublime doctrine of Jesus Christ is the same for all. The laws of the interior life, an interior life which is absolutely impossible without the knowledge of this doctrine, are the same for all. There is both permanency and some constants not only in our nature, but also at the level of the Divine Grace, which makes our doctrine truly a science, as we have already said. And I beg you not to think for one instant that this science is reserved only for the intellectual elite of erudite persons. This would be totally contrary to the Divine Wisdom that wants to communicate Itself to everyone. Again, the doctrine of Christ is intended for everybody and proposed to everybody, but it is understood only by those who want to hear it and to receive it. Our Lord, who perfectly knows this, does even not deign to answer anyone who has no concern for the truth, and His silence after Pilate asked “what is truth?” is particularly eloquent.

The doctrine of Christ is first speculative, but it is not only speculative. In fact, it is ordained to action, according to the word of Saint James: "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only." (James 1:22)

It is true that among the things we have to believe, there are some that are so mysterious and so high that even faith does not remove all the darkness that envelops them. Faith enlightens our intelligence and enlarges it. It gives it the greatest ability to understand the things of the earth as it gives us the knowledge of their Creator. Yet, faith is always received in a human and, therefore, limited intelligence. The part of darkness that remains even in believers does not come from the objects of faith that are believed, but from the limitation of the intelligences that believe. It is as much as we advance and progress in the interior life that we understand better the things proposed to our intelligence by faith.

“When Jesus Christ proposes to the peoples with sublime words the inscrutable secrets that He has seen within His Father,” Bossuet says again, “when He wraps with parables the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, so that the proud and ungrateful men may see and not perceive, and may hear and not understand, it is not surprising that the Apostles do not understand this mysterious speech.” On the other hand, it is quite astounding when the certainly clear words of Jesus are not understood. “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the Son of man; for He shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked and scourged and spit upon, and after they have scourged him, they will put him to death. And on the third day he shall rise again. (Luke 18:31-33) Nothing is clearer than these words, and yet the Apostles do not appreciate them. Saint Luke makes sure that the readers of his Gospel grasp well that the Apostles understood nothing: “And they understood none of these things, and this word was hid from them, and they understood not the things that were said.”

Since all Scripture is for our instruction, we certainly have something to learn from the ignorance of the Apostles. By considering what darkens the minds of the Apostles, even in the presence of the light of the Sun of Justice, we may hopefully find out what darkens our minds to the extent that we sometimes miss the whole point of certain evidences of faith, or certain evidences that are to be learned from the Doctrine of Faith, which affect our life and the morality of our actions, and which will ultimately jeopardize our salvation.

For instance, it is clear that, for whoever reads well the Gospel, Jesus is the Bread of Life, and that one has to eat His flesh in order to have eternal life. He who does not believe at all in the Revelation will not see the necessity of receiving the Body and the Blood of Jesus, which is, after all, logical and coherent. But how is it possible that so many Christians, who claim to follow Jesus Christ, do not understand, or even explicitly reject, the teaching of Christ concerning His body and His blood? Yet, it is a doctrine that He has magnificently expounded with great clarity, found in Chapter 6 of the Gospel of Saint John. All Christians can read these words, and they can see that when they were spoken, there were some disciples who left Jesus. Their reason could not adapt to the brightness of faith, and they remained in or returned to the darkness. And once again, and we will never grow tired of repeating it, those in darkness do not comprehend the light, because they simply cannot.

It is clear for whoever reads well the Scriptures that matrimony is a holy and divine institution, and that divorce is a serious trespass against the Divine Law, as it is clearly explained in any Catechism book. "Are there any reasons that justify divorce? No, divorce is never acceptable. It is a grave offense against the natural law, and it is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents, often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect, which makes it truly a plague to society." Our Lord has made clear once and for all that “what, therefore, God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” It won’t surprise us that the non-believers, who live in a time of enslaving consumerism, of hedonism, and of self-interest, regard marriage from a mere materialistic and practical point of view, and, therefore, marry and divorce as their passions dictate, and when the mood suits them. But how is it possible that so many Christians who read or hear the word of God justify what cannot be justified, if not because of the ignorance of the mind or the corruption of the heart, as we spoke about two weeks ago? Faith is not given to ignorant minds that are ignorant because of their own fault, or to corrupted hearts. Once again, and we will never grow tired of repeating it, those in darkness do not comprehend the light, because they simply cannot.

It is clear to whomever reads well the Scriptures that homosexuality is a sin and an abomination, which even appears to be a result of the denial and disobedience of God, according to Saint Paul. By the way, we can here catch a glimpse of the infernal spiral to which mankind is attracted. We have already explained how corruption is a source of the lack or the loss of faith. We see also that a lack of faith usually generates more corruption. We are not too surprised to see this vice among the pagan people, even though it is against nature, but a careful reading of the first chapter of the epistle to the Romans shows us that it is this kind of thing that we should expect when people reject God. But how do Christians, who are supposed to know the word of God, accept such a shameful defiance? In the name of which Christian principle can they justify it? And here, I do not speak about those who have a disordered attraction, and who struggle and suffer with it while trying to live a good life. I speak about those who justify, and even publicly promote, homosexuality, and who relentlessly try to make everyone believe that it is something normal, just another way of life.

We said that sacred doctrine is first speculative, but then it is ordered to action. Therefore our actions and our way of life depend on how we receive the doctrine of Christ. Saint Thomas compares a well disposed mind to a well polished mirror, on which things appear as they truly are without being altered or distorted. He also explains that an act of intelligence is a movement, and he makes a comparison to corporeal movements. If you have to move, you can do it calmly by being sure you go in the right direction, and by avoiding the dangers you may encounter on your way. You can also rush with haste and, therefore, accept the possibility that you may go in a wrong direction or crash into an obstacle.

As Bossuet points out, it is very often haste and rashness that clouds and stains the mirror of the mind, impeding it from reflecting the true object which the intelligence considers so quickly. It is the source of all the prejudices that darken our intelligence and prevent us from receiving the teaching of Christ, even though it is clear and evident of itself. The truth may stand right in front of us, as simple and clear as it is, and yet, we do not see it, we do not hear it, and we receive it as we want to receive it, not as we should. We prefer to judge rather than consider the things and the facts. We do not penetrate the essence of the things, and we stop our minds at their exterior covers. We judge, and, therefore, we act according to the appearances, and not according to the realities. It is not the intrinsic and objective truth that governs our life, but our own subjective conception of the truth, which is a distorted and false image of it. And although we claim to follow Jesus and His teaching, the Gospel is not really and entirely the supreme and sublime rule of our life.

Look at the Apostles at this stage of their lives. They had already confessed that Jesus is Christ, the Son of the living God. For his profession of faith, Simon even had his name changed to Peter. Yet he dares to contradict his master: “Lord, be it far from you, this shall not be unto you.” Hear the answer of Jesus: “Go behind me, Satan, you are a scandal unto me.”

What about you, Christians, who profess the Divinity of Jesus Christ? Are you sure that you are not a scandal unto Him for not hearing all His words? Are you certain that your minds reflect entirely the shining light of the truth? Are you aware of the stains of your intelligence that may still darken it? Let me ask you again the same questions I asked last week: Do you really accept in your life the scandal of the Cross, or do you desperately, like the Apostles, seek to turn away from the Cross? Or are you sure that the Cross you carry is the one that Christ has made for you, and not the one that you have carved for yourself according to your own will?

As you see, there are still many questions that need to be asked and need to be answered. This Lenten season is the time to ask yourself the right questions, and with the grace of God, to answer them in all objectivity.

This is what we intend to do, and to continue Friday and throughout Lent. May the Mother of God continue to help us to open our intelligence and our heart to the Divine truth! May she help us to understand all the things that are said by her Son!

Sermon for Lent IV

2011-04-04T07:04:00.001-04:00

These are the sermons I give on Fridays and Sundays during this Lenten season. The four firsts sermons are not really mines, but a translation of sermons given by Father Chanut, then Pastor of Saulx-les- Chartreux (France), in 1997 at Notre Dame des Armees (Versailles). These first sermons were originally two. I translated them and reordered them in 4 sermons with some minor adaptations and changes for our Community of Cherokee Village. To the Highest Glory of God !

Sermon IV: Suffering and Dying!

We tried Friday to see the connection between faith and charity, and we said that the junction of these two virtues has to be found in the Cross of Jesus. We dwelled on the words of Saint Paul, who wanted to know only Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. (1 Cor 2:2) Yet, we have to go further than a mere intuitive and sentimental comprehension of these words. Yes, these words are the sublime expression of the love that Saint Paul had for Jesus Christ and His Cross, but we still have to explain why the Cross is the point from which everything radiates and toward which everything converges.

We are subjects, in this valley of tears, to different kinds of sufferings and pains, and we are all in the expectation of death, which is the only certitude we have concerning our future. Certainly, we find consolations and comforts when we turn to Christ crucified. He did not simply suffer and die as any other man. As the liturgy of Holy Week will soon remind us, He suffered and died in the most horrible ignominy, relegated to the rank of the criminals of the worst sort, though He was the Just One, par excellence. Do we have to conclude that suffering and death are the whole lot of our existence? Certainly not! It is rather the opposite. The Cross is the proof that we cannot be resigned to the fact that suffering and death are the whole lot of our life. Aroused by an invincible inspiration, we look for more than consolation and comfort. We look for a remedy, and even more than a remedy, we look for a liberating victory.

When we turn to Jesus Christ crucified, if we only contemplate the sorrow of Christ that is beyond compare, according to Isaiah, and if we only contemplate a death that has been so dramatic and so cruel, it would quickly appear to be useless. The sufferings and the death of Christ cannot be the end of everything. But when we turn to Jesus Christ crucified, we learn why He suffered and why He died, and we also learn why we have to suffer and why we have to die. The Cross, that is temporally the end of the life of Christ, is also spiritually its completion, its crowning, and its achievement. When the Savior accepts to carry the Cross as the instrument of His torment, and accepts to be crucified, He also expresses the sense of His suffering and of His death. Thereby He explains what sense we can give to our sufferings and death, through Him, with Him, and in Him, as the great conclusion of the Canon of Mass reminds us every day. If you think for one moment about this, you will understand that everything is said in these words.

It is obvious that it is only insomuch as we make sense of our suffering and our death, and we overcome the incessant scandal of our suffering and our death, that the mystery of our existence becomes clearer. Our religion is the science of life only because the science of suffering and of death exists in the light of the Cross. Our religion teaches us how to recognize in suffering and death some accidents and means by which we are called to find our fulfillment in the fullness of being and of life.

Thus, what Saint Paul means when he says that he wants to know only Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ crucified, becomes now clearer. He tells us in what does the science consist, especially this supreme science without which any other science is not only vain, but also blinding. He who does not know why he suffers and why he dies, which is opposed to the aspiration to life and to happiness that is in our nature, has only a darkened knowledge of the other things. He may bustle, he may move heaven on earth, he may rearrange the world just as he likes, but he only undergoes his own existence after all.

So, again, when Saint Paul says that he wants to know only Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ crucified, he certainly expresses the deep sentiment that attaches him to Jesus. But we have to admit that he also he formulates a doctrine that is inseparable from his sentiment. Saint Paul exclaims that he loves Christ, and that he is bound up with Him, only to teach us that such an adherence is the essential and universal condition of salvation.

Therefore, for the Apostle, the Cross is not only a fact, but it is also an idea. When we say an idea, we do not mean an idea such like the concepts of the Greek philosophy that are abstractions. No, it is an idea as a living principle to which Saint Paul refers in order to explain the living reality that we are, and to propose the idea of salvation that we have to pursue. And the scholastic theology tells us what such an idea means when, with Saint Thomas Aquinas, we contemplate ideas in God. The Divine ideas are, for the great Doctor, the spiritual and intellectual place of theology. In them, there is both a rational and a religious explanation of these things. And of course, when we say rational and religious, we do not oppose the two terms, but we consider the same reality under different points of view.

Saint Paul presents Baptism as a death. It is the death of the old man, or the carnal man, the man of evil or the man of sin. The death of Christ on the Cross is not only the type of this death, but its reason as well as its justification, as the death of Baptism receives from the Cross its whole effectiveness. “Know you not that all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized in His death?” he writes to the Romans. “In His death” means dying with Him and like Him. And then Saint Paul clarifies his thought: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed to the end that we may serve sin no longer. For he that is dead is justified from sin.”

Thus, dear brethren, at Baptism and by Baptism, the man of pride that we all are is called to die and to be crucified with Christ. But let us not delude ourselves. The man of pride dies at Baptism, but not in a way that he does not have to die again, and not in a way that he does not have to be crucified any longer. By Baptism we can say that this man of pride feels obliged to die, and that he receives the grace of dying, but he still has to actually die by voluntarily renouncing himself. This is what Saint Paul reminds the Colossians when he urges them with these vigorous words: “Mortify therefore your members who are upon the earth.” By members who are on earth, we have to understand fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which are idolatry. It means all the desires and all the actions in which pride manifests itself are the members by which the devil exercises his malice upon us.

It is clear that the task that Saint Paul urges us to perform is a permanent and constant work that will end only with our death freely accepted. So we can summarize the doctrine of Saint Paul in this way. Living in bodies of flesh, which means bodies that comprise carnal appetites, with such a tendency for selfishness, we are inclined to be unaware of God and of others, and to consider ourselves a whole. Therefore, we are doomed to suffering and to death, because our reciprocal selfishness clash with everything else and usually ends in being crushed. No matter what we do, we cannot escape from our condition. But instead of enduring this like powerless slaves, we have to suffer and to die by renouncing the old man, the carnal man, and the man of pride. This is how we accept to be crucified as Christ accepted to be crucified. So, Christian life should be a continual death, and this is why Saint Paul says, “I die daily.” (1 Cor 15:31)

Nevertheless, dear brethren, do not be mistaken. It is only one aspect of Christian life, and you would be completely wrong in pleasing yourself by wallowing in this state. You would give such a negative image of our religion, which has been so many times decried as a religion of suffering and of death, and which glorifies suffering and death for themselves, a religion comprised of faithful who would have to suffer and to die just for the sake of suffering and dying, as if God were a Moloch pleased to see His worshipers struggling in tortures and vanishing in emptiness.

Yes, suffering and death are daily realities. There is no point in negating this. There is no point in diverting oneself in order to forget this. There is no point in trying to eliminate this reality without fighting our selfishness, which is the principle and source of suffering and death. Again, there is no middle. Either you endure suffering and death as slaves, or you accept them and want them by voluntarily suffering and dying. It is precisely through the Cross, as Saint Paul presents it, that Christianity offers us the means to accept and to want suffering and death as free men.

Let us be clearer. It is not a stoical resignation to what is inevitable, suffering and death, without the hope that exceeds them. Such a resignation is nothing else than an enslaving subjection. Along with this kind of resignation, there is always a protest that is more or less admitted. In order to not revolt against suffering and death, and to accept them with a cordial and sincere acceptance, we have to see through them something more, and to believe in something higher than them. This is why Saint Paul says that if we die with Christ, we shall live with Him, and if we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him. Ultimately, the Apostle does not invite us to suffering and death, but to happiness and Divine life. “Buried with Him in Baptism,” he says, “in Whom also you are risen by the faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him up from the dead. (Col 2:12)

So, understand well that if Christian life is a continual death, it is only to our pride and selfishness that we have to die in order to increase daily in the true life. By doing such, we eliminate from our life any miscomprehension in the light of faith. We eliminate any interior conflicts, and we can blossom in the peace of eternity above the tribulations of time and of space.

When you consider the effects of pride that are present everywhere, within ourselves and at all the levels of society, within families and individuals, and when you hear Saint Paul and Christ speak of dying to yourself daily, if you are tempted to say that these words are too hard, please, reject this temptation. These words are too hard only because of the selfishness within and amongst us that only knock against each other. Consider the richness of the words of Christ who says, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For he that will save his life, shall lose it, and he that shall lose his life for My sake, shall find it.” (Matthew 16:24) These words are nothing else than a call for a true, sincere, and total generosity. It is what, in the language of a Christian, we call charity. And charity, as it is something that proceeds from God, is something immense and tremendous like God, Who made man, Who becomes man, and Who dies on the Cross to redeem the sins of the world. To be and to remain in charity requires that we die to ourselves, to get rid of our selfishness, to get away from our individuality as flesh and blood. This is the gift of self, realized in the union to the God Who gives Himself in perfect charity.

And do not believe that God asks you for things that are above your strength, even though these thing might be impossible without the Divine grace. Before even thinking about martyrdom or any great work, simply thing about faithfully persevering in your daily thoughts, words and actions. The victor is the one who keeps the works of God unto the end. (Apo 2,26) To deny yourself means preferring the word of God to your own thinking and preferring the Commandments of God to your own will. This is what we call the new life in the Spirit.

It appears then that when Jesus teaches us how to suffer and to die, he simply teaches us how eternally live. The Cross of Jesus reveals and teaches the value of charity because by offering ourselves we forget ourselves and we can efficiently help to the conversion of sinners, the propagation of faith and to the salvation of the world as much as it depends on us.

In this in this light, dear brethren, that we have to consider during this Lenten season, our penances and mortifications, our public and private prayers, and our works of mercy. If for your own misfortune, you would refuse this high expression of charity that are the exercises of Lent, be aware that because of you, something would lack to the sanctification of the name of God, to the realization of His reign and to the accomplishment of His will. Because of you, the treasure of the Divine grace would become impoverished, while the power of darkness would be stronger in the world.

Sermon for Lent III

2011-04-02T09:04:00.002-04:00

Sermon III: Knowing Jesus Christ crucified

We speak during this Lenten season about faith, but it would be vain if we were not talking about the works, too, simply because faith without the works is vain. Now, when we speak about the works, we have to understand not the materiality of the acts, but mainly the spirituality that penetrates them, and which makes them the works of Jesus Christ Himself.

The Christians who truly confess Jesus Christ from their heart can be recognized by the fact that they are always unsatisfied with themselves. What they know of the Divine science and of the evangelical knowledge is never enough for them, and they always want to know more. What they do, with regards to the works of mercy and of piety, is never enough, and they always want to do better.

According to a deep thought of Saint Augustine, which they may not have ever read but which they certainly realize in their interior life, is that what they find in the endless field of the truth is for them a new reason to continue their quest. They tell themselves with the great Doctor, whatever we have already found, we still have infinitely more to look for, and as we never stop searching, we are certain of finding. Notice, dear brethren, that it is their faith that tells them that they will find, as Our Lord told them, “For every one that asks, receives, and he that seeks, finds.” (Matthew 7:8) The faithful know that their quest is not vain, and cannot be vain, because God has never and will never deceive anyone.

They never grow tired of listening to the magisterial and apostolic teaching of the Church that unrolls for them the demands and the beauties of the Christian virtues. Since you are here, I can suppose that, dear brethren, you have to be counted among them. And you know with Saint Paul that we can sum up the entire doctrine in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

The Cross is to the true faithful the symbol of the renouncements entailed by Christian life. It is also the supreme revelation of God and the highest expression of His love, the unique secret of His Heart, and finally the triumph through which the disciples of Christ win over the world. The Cross appears to them as wisdom, light, and salvation. In one word, it is the Christian conception of Christian life.

Alas, and very far from it, is the Cross accepted by all the Christians. It is not rare, let us acknowledge it, to see among us some non-Christian perceptions of the Christian religion. Look at those who show the Cross as their emblem, and who refuse it as the principle of their life! Who, among ourselves, has never met one of these Catholics who walk with confidence, and whose soul is free from concerns? By the way, why would they be anxious? They strive, more or less deliberately, to not be involved in the questions, the doubts, and the anxieties that torment their co-religionists. They have certainly learned how to see in the Cross of Christ the symbol of the religion of Christ, but the idea that they form and which they demonstrate by their conduct is totally opposed to the Cross that they wear. If those prideful persons would only take an instant to think, they would immediately abandon the sign of the Cross, which appears to them as a weakness, as a reversal of the values of their life, and this, considered in the extreme, would exist, in their eyes, the disorder. It reminds me of my pastor when I was younger, who said about these sort of Catholics, who we see in various pilgrimages, who are facades of faith, that the banners they carry are often more Catholic than them. Our Lord had already spoken of them when He said, “This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:8)

The Beatitudes are to them a kind of extravagance for cranks. Listen to them, those lovers of the established situation in which they firmly settle and triumphantly flaunt themselves. They see God and His worshipers absorbed with power, and who have to claim their rights only by force. Listen to them, those poor glorious Catholics, who ensure that their Catholic identity resounds loudly, and who like to claim that they fully possess the truth. Let us ask them, what is the purpose behind the precepts of Christ that they know so well? They can list all of them, but they live their lives far from the light and the spirit of these precepts. They make the religion of Christ one of the elements of their worldly honorability. They take possession of Christ like a suit that they make to their own measure, according to their own manners and tastes, so that they can pride themselves on being in the truth and look down upon those who are not.

Let them be warned! Let them be careful not to be like the Pharisee of the Gospel, he who is pleased with himself, dwells on the misery of others, and finds in it the occasion of exalting himself above them. In fact, he does exactly the opposite of what Christ does for him. Jesus, indeed meek and humble of heart, presses upon our misery out of compassion in order to assume and bear it, as if He has been responsible for it.

What about you, dear brethren? Have you really accepted the dramatic scandal of the Cross where strength once became weakness? From the day when you entered into the life of faith, the Cross was marked on your forehead. You have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which means in the name of the God of goodness, of light, and of love. And today, do you happen to be a true witness of the One who, on the Cross, gave the supreme proof of His goodness, the One who has made the true light shine, and the One who has manifested His love by the pouring out of all His blood?

Catholics, are you here on earth the imitators of the suffering God who dies on the Cross like a criminal, He who generously and freely became the brother of those for whom He dies? Ask yourselves, in all sincerity, if the Cross of Jesus Christ has not been until this day, maybe even not wittingly and consciously, not only a scandal but also a folly. When asking this question, I do not think only about the bloody sacrifice of Christ on the mount of Calvary, but also about the union we should have with this Divine Sacrifice, which is the scandal and folly. If in reality the Cross is such a scandal and a folly for so many Christians, how can we be surprised that it is only a scandal and a folly to so many unbelievers?

There are not a few, in fact, of those who nowadays turn away from the Cross, like in olden times when the Jews and the Gentiles turned away from it. Nevertheless, we have to make a distinction between those who are decidedly deniers of Christianity and those who live in incertitude and doubt, and who struggle more or less grievously in the darkness. The latter deserve all our compassion, but we have to expose and to relentlessly fight the former. It is not rare that some people, who are dogmatic to the extreme, and who head the field, assume the position of humility in order to disarm us. They are second to none in their claim to be the victims of those that they imperiously despise, raising their aggressive hypocrisy to the sublime level of the defense of mankind. There is not a week when the Holy Father is not the object of such vile attacks. Let them allow us to point out to them that their militant unbelief along with their incontestable savoir-faire, which may impress vain people, could not supplant in souls the faith that they intend to destroy.

We have enough of these new evangelists who have succeeded in destroying, but who cannot manage to build. With the help of the juicy contributions of the money moguls, they have consistently undermined and methodically ruined everything that humanity used to believe, which rendered right reason. But we have to notice that mankind is more than ever morally and spiritually in incertitude and in confusion. All of these fine gentlemen are entirely responsible for this, and have nothing in which to boast. But they forget that they are the adulterous fathers of the silliest superstitions, of the most insane sects, and they haughtily retort that thanks to them, a breeze of pity for human misery came into the world and, for this, the need for great social progress.

Let us say a word about that. This breeze of pity certainly comes from the Gospel, and no one can argue this fact, but mankind has already lost all its benefit. All deniers of faith are responsible for this failure. By rejecting the message of Christ, they made the western man lose the sense of man and his value, which Christ has so clearly and emphatically highlighted. They might be filled with human knowledge, or think that they are, but we have to tell them the facts. We have to tell these people, who set themselves up with so much confidence as the judges of Christianity, that they condemn out of hand, that they have absolutely nothing that can substitute for the Christianity which they have rejected. The real environment that they have imposed upon us, and in which we now struggle, is only a bloody chaos, where we discern at first sight only self-interests that fight against each other. What true sense of life have they given in this social and moral decadence? What ideal have they produced so as to overcome the intellectual and spiritual scandal they have set everywhere? What resolutions have they proposed in order to remedy the solitary and common misery that they have established?

We can see clearly that as much as they have deprived the western man from the Cross of Christ, they have broken the liberating impulse that was in him, they have dried up the source of beneficial and placatory generosities.

What is the Cross of Christ? We do not speak only and mainly about the sufferings of Our Lord Jesus Christ, even though there is nothing dearest to our piety or nothing richer for our instruction. But understand well, that in order to answer such a question, it would not be enough to be moved by the appalling spectacle of the sufferings of Christ. It would neither be enough to be edified by the example of His resignation. Even Saint Paul, who proclaimed that he knew nothing but Jesus, and Jesus crucified, speaks in his epistles about many other things that are not at a first sight directly related to the Cross. Did the Apostle forget the foundation of his profession of faith? Or did the Apostle express himself in such a sudden fervor so as only to tell of his ardent love for Jesus Christ? If you thought so, you would considerably wane the impact of his predication, and to tell the truth, you would roughly misread it. There is absolutely no doubt that the exclusive profession of faith to Jesus Christ crucified is a cry of love from Saint Paul, but it is infinitely more than that. This cry of love knows from where it comes and where it goes. It springs forth from a soul that is entirely irradiated by the integral truth of Christ. Whatever he knows and whatever he teaches, Saint Paul maintains that he understands it only in the light that shines from the Cross. And so can we understand and comprehend things only in the same light.

Since Saint Paul, dear brethren, nothing in this regard has ever changed, and nothing will ever change. Therefore, like Saint Paul, let us take the Cross as the center of our faith. Otherwise we have to renounce our understanding of, in its whole truth, the message of the Gospel. Do not imagine for one second that by wanting to know only Jesus Christ crucified, we have chosen to remain in ignorance. Furthermore, it is by knowing only Jesus Christ crucified that we shall know everything as everything should be known. Is the Cross the center of our faith because the apostolate of Jesus Christ ends on the mount of Calvary in the manner of the most desolate drama and of the most sublime martyrdom? This view is undoubtedly correct, as well as it is undoubtedly incomplete, because it does not show us any essential links between the Cross and the doctrine of Jesus in the way that this doctrine, as it reveals God and explains to us the world, also explains ourselves to us. So, is the Cross the center of our faith because it is the tragic symbol of the suffering of mankind, which only finds in the Cross the strength to not succumb to the temptation of despair and of blasphemy? No, it is not for this reason either.

Yet, we can all testify that the thought of Christ crucified has put back on their feet many cowards. It has provoked so many repentances. It has made so many pains endurable. It has eased so many agonies. But this is not sufficient to explain why the Cross is the point from which everything radiates, and toward which everything converges.

With the help of grace, we shall try to see why Sunday. Meanwhile, let us turn to Our Lady, whose faith, throughout her life, remained unflagging. Like any other believer, she used to see through a glass in a dark manner during her life on earth. Now she sees face to face, and she knows as she is known. Her faith had not been vain, because her charity was great. We said last week, and we maintain still, that it is possible that faith remains in a soul without charity, but it would be vain. This is even an extra motive for condemnation and reprobation, as we know by faith that we should love. It is charity that gives faith its full measure, and this explains the mystery of the Cross, bringing a light to the darkness that remains here, even in faith. It is charity which urges us to work towards our salvation, as it is charity which brought Our Lord to the mount of Calvary. May Our Lady always help us to remember this!

Sermon for Lent II

2011-03-30T07:31:00.003-04:00

Sermon II

The other enemy of Faith: Corruption

Last Friday, we were contemplating ignorance as a major enemy of Faith. We said, with Pope Benedict XIV, that most of the souls perish because of ignorance, and we were deploring the lack of knowledge of so many faithful regarding the object of faith and the reasons that support the Faith. Today, we focus on another and more pernicious enemy of the Faith, namely corruption. Corruption also, corruption above all, I should say, conspires against the Faith.

You all remember, dear brethren, that the Son of God has revealed a very deep truth when He said, “Blessed are the clean of heart for they shall see God.” With these words, He does not only tell us that those who have a pure heart will see God face to face at the light of glory, but He also tells us that those people will see God in our present condition with the light of Faith, which is like the dawn of the light of glory. The soiled souls do not have this privilege; the perverted hearts do not receive such an honor. Or, if they actually do, it is in a limited measure with a restricted grace.

It is not that the loss of Charity always leads to the loss of Faith. Losing the friendship with God does not always mean losing His light. Faith can subsist without the works. It can still shine through the darkness of a corrupted soul. But it is not less certain that corruption is often more than an obstacle to the Faith. It is often its ruin because a guilty life makes man unworthy of Faith, and also makes him its enemy.

Corruption makes man unworthy of Faith. There is no need to demonstrate this, as you all know, at least since Friday, that Faith is not only a science that one can acquire by studying, or lose by a lack of culture, but that it is first a gift from God, a particular grace that He offers to men, and a supernatural virtue that enriches them. God is Master of His gifts, the free dispenser of His grace. God gives to whomever it pleases Him the virtue that makes the believers so as to make them Saints. But to whom does He give such favors? For whom does He keep such a treasure? Is it for those who have no respect and no consideration for such a gift? For those who fear it instead of desiring it? For those who respond to this gift only by abusing or neglecting it? It would be a weird and bizarre idea in God’s wisdom, mercy, and justice to think that He is as liberal and magnificent toward those who have no other laws than His will, and no other rules than His word, as He would be for those who despise His will and His word, and who claim to be the disciples of the free-thought and of the independent moral. We read in the Gospel that He orders those who announce His doctrine to go forth from those who refuse to hear it, to shake off the dust from their feet. He acts in the same way when He is not heard. He withdraws from an unfaithful soul and takes with Him His despised gifts. According to the word of Jesus, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from them. When Jesus speaks about the Kingdom of God, we have to understand first the Faith that shows its way and that is the principle of justification.

It is the effect of sin to envelop with darkness the pervert souls. Sin puts between God and a sinner a distance that increases as much as the prevarications multiply. Saint Augustine remembered the state of his soul when he wrote in the Second book of His Confessions: “Instead, the mists of passion steamed up out of the puddly concupiscence of the flesh, and the hot imagination of puberty, and they so obscured and overcast my heart that I was unable to distinguish pure affection from unholy desire. Both boiled confusedly within me, and dragged my unstable youth down over the cliffs of unchaste desires and plunged me into a gulf of infamy. Thy anger had come upon me, and I knew it not. I had been deafened by the clanking of the chains of my mortality, the punishment for my soul's pride, and I wandered farther from Thee, and thou didst permit me to do so. I was tossed to and fro, and wasted, and poured out, and I boiled over in my fornications.”

To those who do not have Faith any longer, or who have just a flagging Faith, we can ask what they have done in order to prove themselves unworthy of the Divine grace. After all, we can wonder: You had Faith once! And now you have ceased to believe? But when did you stop believing? I bet you did not lose Faith as an inattentive person loses his keys. It happens - and we have examples - that Faith becomes suddenly established in a soul but there is no way that Faith can abruptly disappear. Let us take a closer look! Did you lose your Faith when you were becoming better, and when your determination for virtue was growing? I’d rather reckon that you noticed the extinction of your Faith only after a more or less long period of its fading, when little by little you became more and more oblivious of God and of His Law, more and more an enemy towards yourself and towards your duties.

It is the old story of an adolescent, who is bothered by disordered desires, and who finally decides one day that God does not exist, or at least that the Religion is not God, so that he can free himself and abandon himself to the temptations that gnaw at him, unless it is simply to laze better and to run away from the fight. All the priests have seen such a weak and prideful person, who, after a life of piety and of observance, walks away slowly but surely from the altar and the confessional, moves back to the last pew of the church, and finally end by passing the door to sink into the darkness of apostasy. After that, because of a certain concern for convenience, and in order to give a good image of themselves, these souls would readily add to their apostasy a sacrilege of the day of their marriage, and often a perjury later, as they will certainly not keep the promises of their marriage.

Do not believe that they lost their Faith on the day of their defection, or even during the following days. God is so good! God is so good and so constant in His love that He cannot abandon His poor creature so quickly. It is as deliberately as they multiplied revolts and prevarications that they eventually lost their Faith. It is only after they had despised so many times and for a long time the Master, who called them back, that the Divine light could no longer shine before their eyes, or that it could shine only in the midst of the darkness, and they were unable to understand it. The darkness did not comprehend it, Saint John says in his prologue.

Thus, dear brethren, unbelief comes slowly, on a way that is not the way of virtue, nor the way of honor. It is a sinister ghost who slips in during the middle of the night. It is an unhealthy plant that grows in the muck of revolt.

That explains why, alas, the Faith remains languid, if not dead, in so many souls. Look where our contemporary generation is now, if we consider it at all the ages and all the levels. Look at the youth, deceived by bad masters and flattered by vile seducers! They get carried away by their passions, and they rush headlong into depravation while being too busy deifying themselves through the fleeting idols that the media like to incense. Some statistics published in 2007 say that 62% of the population in the country had their first sexual intercourse by the age of 18. The media, which we were denouncing Friday for participating in the work of the destruction of the Faith, would tell you that this is normal. There is no doubt, for whoever is a little bit lucid and aware of the situation, that television is one of the greatest means of corruption in our society. It is unfortunately not the only one.

Look at the middle-aged, manipulated by ignoble, ambitious people, and deceived by incapable liars! Blinded by their interests, they blithely run after their fervid greed, while being too busy deifying themselves through the terrible idols of the enslaving consumerism.

Look at the elderly, dazed by fiddled mirages and reassured by costly artifices! Blinded by indifference, they leisurely damn themselves in a sacrilegious oblivion, while being too busy deifying themselves behind an immoral minstrel of criminal betrayal.

Weep over these living dead! Weep over these living dead of every age who fall asleep in the arms of indifference, where everything fades and everything is forgotten. Listen to them who mutually lead each other toward perdition and live a life of pleasure. They claim to be irreproachable because they have some principles. Their principles are vaguely generous, covered by the mask of tolerance, the great universal virtue of our time that allows them to hide their betrayal. Listen to them who justify themselves in the name of guilty prejudices! Listen to these harbingers of the evil spirit whose pride serves the virtues that they give themselves!

Pride! This is what is certainly contrary to the spirit of religion. A proud person is unable to receive the gifts of God, and first of all, the gift of Faith, which is hidden from the wise and prudent of the world but revealed to the little ones, according to Jesus. The primary condition required of a soul to receive and to keep the Divine light is first to feel its need, which means to confess one’s own darkness and insufficiencies. Without this confession, and if you think yourself wise and savant, and if you remain filled with the sentiment of your own excellence, then you are for sure one of these proud people who will be scattered by God Almighty, and one of these mighty dethroned, as the Blessed Virgin reminds us in her Magnificat.

Lent calls us to a detailed examination of conscience and to different kinds of penance, so that we can spotlight what we still lack in order to remain children of light, or to be better and better children of God. It is not enough to sing out loudly Attende Domine. We have to pray it with our whole heart. It is one of the best remedies against pride. You tell the Lord that He is your King. Be sure that He truly reigns over you by keeping His laws. You tell Him that He is your Redeemer. Be sure that He really saves you by accepting His graces. You tell Him that you weep and groan. Be sure that He listens to you by weeping over your sins. You ask Him to wash away the stains of your sins. Be sure that He forgives you by going to the confessional and doing penance.

Vice cannot come to an agreement with the truth that repudiates it. A guilty life does not ally with a faith that disturbs its false peace and condemns its shameful distractions. There are between the heart and the spirit such connections that if one is unhealthy, so is the other. When the heart is in evil, the spirit remains rarely in the truth.

Most of those who believe no longer have some interests for not believing. They reject religion less because it lacks of proofs to support it, and more because it lacks of tolerance for their guilty passions. The truth of religion is banished from their convictions only because its moral is banished from their lives. When you believe, you feel obligated to do good and you suffer from doing evil, because after the Creed that imposes on us to believe in the dogmas, there are the Commandments that impose on us to carry out our duties.

Certain of the formerly faithful, before they deserted and perjured themselves, tried to keep to some external marks of respect, and changed only little by little their sentiments and their habits. How long did this hypocrisy last? Faith does not accept any compromises of this sort. It blackens all hypocrisies, tears off all the masks, and accepts nothing without the reform of morals. This is what troubles and exasperates, or at least what frightens, so many souls. We would be less timid concerning the Faith if we would be less corrupted. We would feel stronger if we would be more virtuous. But corruption costs little while virtue costs a lot. Then we prefer self satisfaction rather than sacrifice, and thereby apostasy rather than faith.

It is today as it was at the time of Saint Augustine, and as it will ever be. Faith has two kinds of enemies, the ignoramus and the pervert. The first reject faith because they don’t know, or they have forgotten, that it is salutary. The latter reject it because they know that it is hostile to their passions.

What about you, dear brethren, who have the joy to possess the Divine Faith? You can be saintly proud of it and keep it as a treasure. However, be well aware that this treasure can escape you, if, by any chance, you do not apply your intelligence and your will, always enriched by grace, to it. Remember that you will escape the misfortune of others only if you take care to keep in you the treasure of Faith by the observance and the practice of the Commandments and of the virtues. Lent reminds us that among these practices, there are penance and alms.

Now that you know that you can lose your faith because of ignorance and of corruption, make sure that you fight against them within yourself, and never think that you are definitely safe and protected from either of them. Take great care to always know more and more the science of God, while hunting down the darkness that overshadows it, and seeking the light that makes it radiant. Be attentive to receive the graces that God has prepared for you in His great goodness. Try to practice the Christian virtues the best you can by applying yourself to the observances that support them, and by running away from the occasions that weaken them. The more we become worthy of the Faith by a holy life, the more we believe in its truths.

Lenten Sermons

2011-03-29T09:55:00.008-04:00

First Sermon

The enemy of Faith: Ignorance

God has revealed Himself through Our Lord Jesus, and He has given the mission to His Church to teach the truth to all men. But God did not promise that all men would be faithful to His teaching. On the contrary, when going to Jerusalem, and right after He told the parable of the unjust judge and of the troublesome widow, Our Lord announced bad days when Faith would be so flagging that He wondered if the Son of man will find faith on earth when again He would come. Most certainly, these days of universal defection have not yet come, since you are here present at the foot of the altar, and, throughout the world, many Christians desperately try to remain inviolably faithful to the Faith and to the promises of their Baptism. Yet, if it is true that faith is not extinct in all, no one would deny that it is weakened in most of the people.

The splendor of the revealed truth is too often mixed with obscure opinions that have been invented, that is, when they are simply not otherwise destroyed by some aggressive impious negations. It seems that these terrible days predicted by the Son of God are now approaching. There will be only miscreant hearts with blasphemy on the lips.

What are the reasons for such a situation? Is it because the Divine truth, the object of faith, would have ceased to be true, and therefore it could no longer earn men’s respect? Or, is it because the Divine truth, the object of faith, would have changed, and therefore no longer establish itself in the spirit of men with its sovereign authority? To say this, or simply to think it, would be an outrage against God’s authority. We profess that the truth comes from God who is the source of any truth, that it has descended from eternity, and that it is as immutable and permanent as eternity. It cannot be distorted in its source or in the organs that deliver it to us, because God did not want His Gift to be derisive. Indeed, it would have been a derisive gift if God would have permitted that the truth could have been corrupted by those whose have received the deposit of truth, and by those who are its organs in the Church.

Now, you could say that there might be some hybrid theologians whose theories infest all the levels of the teaching of the Church. But should we be surprised? Did not Our Lord warn us when He denounced them? Have you forgotten that many false prophets shall rise and shall seduce many? And that because iniquity has abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold?

We all know that the stewards of the truth can fail. But we also know from our personal experiences that Sacred Scripture and Grace always keep the fullness of truth’s strength in those who want to adore in spirit and in truth. We all know that the truth cannot change toward men, but that, on the other hand, men can change in regard to the truth, and actually, they do. They can despise it because they know it no longer. They can fear it because it accuses them. The worst is that they can ridicule it when it no longer satisfies their desires. Ignorance on one hand and corruption on the other: this is what diverts them from the way of truth and puts them on a wrong path that always leads to a lie.

The most illustrious and enlightened Pope of the eighteenth century, Benedict XIV Lambertini, said that most of the souls perish because of ignorance. It is even truer nowadays when ignorance in matters of faith has become such a common evil and a quasi-general wound. There are certainly lights in the beginning of this century, and nobody in this congregation would deny the scientific and technological progresses since. But men have extended their knowledge in temporal things as much as they have limited it in the things that pertain to eternity. It is now an incontestable fact that in matters of religion, ignorance is almost universal. Some people even consider religion as the enemy of progress, but this is an old chimera from the philosophers of the eighteenth century. It is not worth to speak about this, as I don’t see any people in this congregation who prefer to ride a horse instead of driving a car, or who have candles instead of electric lighting.

Faith is first of all a supernatural virtue, and as such it has for an enemy corruption, as we shall address later. But faith is also a science: the science of God. In this regard, its enemy is ignorance, since science and ignorance are two incompatible things, because they are contrary. The science of faith has two objects: the doctrine itself, and the reasons upon which this doctrine is based. The doctrine bears its own justification within itself, and it is already a proof of its divinity, an intrinsic proof. The motive of credibility on which it is based justifies it, too, and this is the second proof of its divinity, an extrinsic proof. These two proofs are the two flying buttresses that support the edifice of Christianity. To whomever ignores them, Christianity is but an edifice without solidity, simply good as a shelter for simple and credulous souls.

Let us say at this point that the knowledge of the proofs that support the faith must be proportionate to the degree of the fitness and culture of the mind, and that unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required. God proportions His demands to His giving, as we can hear from the parable of the talents. For the humble and little people who can lend to the faith only a straight mind and a sincere heart, the God of goodness has particular attentions and truly paternal considerations. For them, He gives sudden illuminations and intimate lights that compensate for many things. Their faith, that we unjustly sometimes call blind faith, is as valuable as the faith given to the great genius.

On the other hand, let us be well aware that this special grace from God - faith - is not given to those who are guilty of serious negligence. It is refused to those who can learn more and who actually content themselves with learning less. This negligence can concern the doctrine itself. The doctrine comes from God, and nothing comes from above without the lights that flow from such a source. For that reason, the Catholic doctrine has always delighted those who study it, who appreciate its cohesion, who penetrate in its depth and discover the Divine secrets that make it a doctrine entirely different than any other, the most sublime that has ever been proposed to men. In just a few lines, the Creed tells much more than all the philosophies of the earth. The Decalogue teaches with its ten precepts much more than all the codes issued from the hands of men. The Gospel, to one who knows how to read it, is such a Divine book, that a ravished soul has no more words to say than the Apostle Thomas, my Lord and my God!

Hopefully, dear brethren, you do not receive these words without thinking, and you do not cover an intellectual laziness with the sumptuous dress of the simple hearts. Whoever can learn the heavenly things must learn them. There is no indulgence for those who can read, and yet do not know by heart their Creed and the Ten Commandments, and who do not read frequently the New Testament, especially if they claim to follow the ancient Latin liturgy. If we go further, and if we strain our ears to the words of the Doctors, we penetrate with them into the intimate depth of the sacred doctrine where a dazzling light shines, the Divine light that shines into the eyes of the soul and uncovers for it the most ineffable marvels of God. And yet, who, among the great thinkers who are in vogue, even thinks about these Divine and sublime things? Who, among them, try to discover them with a studious desire? And even among those who still pretend to be Christians, do we have to mention those who do not have any more religious knowledge than that which they acquired during their childhood, especially in our time, when for more than thirty years, the initiation to the Christian doctrine has been too often reduced to sensations and feelings? Whoever can learn the heavenly things must learn them. There is no indulgence for those who have been to college, and yet balk at referring regularly to the great spiritual authors, especially if they claim to follow the ancient Latin liturgy.

Our generation is dealing with everything except the science of God. The life of most of our contemporaries passes in the preoccupations of their personal interests, in the agitations of business, in the inebriations of pleasures, in the aspirations for glory or fortune, and sometimes in the fear or the hatred of the truths of the Faith. This is where so many Christians are today, puppets of the lies and errors of the world. Too often they have just been able to put up some contestations that were as weak as their religious instruction, and ended by lowering their flags and capitulating in front of the spirit of the world. In these Christians, ignorance is great, and is graver as it is deliberate. Because they did not know the doctrine, or simply because they had but insufficient notions of it, this doctrine has perished in their souls.

It has also perished for another reason. They have ignored the truths of faith, but their ignorance of the reasons that support these Divine truths was not less. God indeed did not speak to men without proving that the word that they heard was His word, and, therefore, they must listen to Him. He took great care to teach men about this, as He knows very well, He who knows very well our nature, that if faith would remain in the state of a teaching without any other proof than the ones drawn from its own truth, this truth would be perpetually contested insomuch as man’s spirit is subtle and ingenious when the truth is at stake. We can incessantly argue about truths, even when they are evident. When the spirit lacks of rectitude and of sincerity, and above all, when the heart lacks of honesty and of generosity, there is only one thing that cannot be held in honest discussion, and this thing is the well established fact. Facts are obvious by themselves, and nothing is starker than a fact. God has established the truth on facts, and these facts have filled the world. They have moved it. They have changed it. And their marks remain still visible to the eyes of everybody. In spite of all, the Church exists. She exists even sometimes in spite of herself, as Pope Pius VII pointed it out with keenness in front of Napoleon, but she still exists. The Church, established over the ruins of the ancient world that she had vanquished, that appears in the midst of the new world as a visible phenomenon, throughout all times and history, always close to her end but always re-emergent, still exists. Jesus Christ is the center of all these facts and it is toward Him that they all converge, from the prophecies that had announced Him, to the prodigies that have accompanied Him during His life, and that have been repeated after Him by His Saints. They give the most authentic and the most striking testimony of the divinity and authority of Christ and of His doctrine. It is a whole story that is History, which began in the Garden of Eden and will end on the shards of the universe. All its pages have been written by God, either composed by His own hand or by His using the hands of the Prophets, the Apostles, the Martyrs, or the faithful. Brethren, do you know well the Holy History and the History of the Church, or even the profane history, insofar as it is related to the economy of salvation? What are your usual readings and favorites books? Is it the Bible? Is it any serious work on Christianity and its mysteries that may enlighten and strengthen your faith? When did you last read the Scriptures on your own accord? When did you last read the catechism? When was the last time you read the life of a Saint? Which authentically Catholic magazine or newspaper do you regularly read? This Lenten season is certainly a good time to put aside profane books and magazines and to open some that would be beneficial to your souls.

Such is our contemporary generation, indifferent, or even hostile, to the faith. Yet neither indifference nor hostility leads toward truth and universal happiness. Ignorance comes often from the environment in which we live, where religion is often the butt of jokes, mockeries, contempt, and sarcasms. It comes from education that is often not enough serious or enough Christian, and that which is often provided by unworthy mercenaries and agents of the enemy. It comes from the teaching of history that is so often distorted and falsified to the point that we can say for the last two centuries it has been a flagrant lie. Finally, it comes from philosophy that has forgotten what it owes to Christianity and has brought back the crassest errors of the pagan centuries by adding all the subtleties of cluttered and messed-up metaphysics, wrapped with sophism as much despicable as they are perfidious. Thus we can hear so many alleged scholars and savants who blaspheme. They blaspheme what they ignore, and they don’t forget to object that our predication is awkward, as our generation is enriched with so many new experiences, intoxicated by so many scientific progresses, and altered by important moral innovations. They tell us that our doctrine, conceived in the distant time of antiquity that has now vanished, was maybe suitable for the past ages of the Christian society, but it cannot interest our current society when thousand of upheavals have changed the lives of everyone. They maintain that all these social, cultural, technological, and moral changes compel our contemporaries to turn toward a future of evolutions that we cannot even imagine. This doctrine eventually expose them, and they consider the past as a period of childhood, which might be still susceptible of arousing the curiosity of some erudite persons, but certainly not capable of enlightening the conscience of modern men. They would demonstrate, with certainty, that we are doomed to failure, and that the only thing we can arouse is the same sarcasm that the Athenians of the Areopagus once threw in the face of the Holy Apostle Paul: We will hear you again concerning this matter.

They do not content themselves with fighting the religion. You also have, dear brethren, to feel guilty for their rejection. In the old days, they just had to make people laugh with some caricatures or jokes, or to make people cry with pathetic examples in order to attack the religion with success. But today, in a time when the religion becomes almost invisible and silent on matters that concern it, it requires more effort and cleverness to touch the faithful. Almost every week they present certain prestigious brains in vogue imbued with science, philosophy, and history, who declare with pride to the good people that like everything flashy and new, that they repudiate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. They bring instead new beliefs that are finally not so new, since they have been running in the world forever. The New Age is certainly more ancient than Christianity.

The loose and carefree multitude receive without discernment all the inanities, the lies, and nonsense words that are chucked everyday on the television, the radio, the newspapers, the internet, and so forth. We all know what the Evil Genius has already done with the media. Common people engage without effort the so called “information.” The periodic dissemination of the scandal and of the poisoning of souls is very well managed. You may be startled by a book or alarmed by a newspaper, but it is not enough. Then there are radio and television, which tell, narrate, entertain, and amuse. They slip in the midst of their programs scandalous narratives, perfidious insinuations, odious lies, and impious and subversive doctrines. Once the news or so called information programs are over, they deliver, under the cover of fiction, things that are as surprising as they are painful. The more expert they are in the art of impiousness, the more they have an audience. Evil becomes in our modern society an object of speculation.

How can religion not be shaken and weakened in so many souls in such a context? Religion assures first and mainly the eternal interests of men, but the great majority of men is not concerned with religion until they pass the door of death. In such an environment, it is not surprising that faith is weakened. It would be the greatest of miracles if faith would conserve all its vigor in the faithful at a time when the powers of hell are more than ever stirred. We should rather marvel at the fact that the Divine truth still subsists in so many faithful even though they are only a remnant. It is such an admirable thing to see that this Divine truth continues to reign, victorious and triumphant, over the spirit of the faithful. How strong it is in their souls, so strong that it cannot be shaken by so many attacks! It is because God is there to defend it and to guard it. God makes Himself its invisible Protector after He made Himself its infallible Revealer. God does not permit that the gates of hell prevail against this Divine Truth, and avenges this Divine Truth on all its enemies. God makes from the multitude of the true faithful a guard of honor of the Divine truth, as worthy of it as much they are faithful and generous.

Brethren, let us thank God for our faith if it is still strong in our souls. Let us beg His mercy if it has weakened, and let us think about what we should do to invigorate it again. Let us not accept ignorance and do what it takes to learn more and more our faith. Ignorance is certainly one of the greatest enemies of faith, and, therefore, of men. We still have to deal with another and certainly more pernicious enemy: corruption.

Summer Latin Session for Clergy

2011-03-23T07:34:00.000-04:00

Place: Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, Denton, Nebraska (Airport access: Lincoln NE).
Dates: Noon on Monday 6 June-Noon Friday 10 June
Cost: $400 for instruction, room and board
Instructor: Prof. John M. Pepino, PhD
Entrance requirement: to have done seminary-level Latin and to be a priest or seminarian in good standing (testimonial letters required; sample available upon request).
Purpose: to help clergy whose Latin has become rusty to understand liturgical texts better.
Means: review of the core grammar and vocabulary of liturgical Latin. Afternoons are spent on lessons; mornings on homework.
Texts: Roman Missal and Breviary, 1962 edition; work is done on photocopies. Bring a grammar and Latin dictionary.

For an application packet or questions, please email or write to John Pepino:
patres@fsspolgs.org
c/o Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary
7880 West Denton Rd
Denton, NE 68339.

Upon this Rock

2011-03-11T12:37:00.002-05:00

The issue of February is now available online with just one click:

http://www.arlatinmass.com/images/uponthisrock/2011/02February11.pdf

Nova et Vetera

2011-02-19T16:39:00.001-05:00

"When they are arranged under these spiritual values – Nova et Vetera – , the attempts, works and institutions of men, even when they just meet a current usefulness, and satisfy a transitory need, seem to be filled with divine peace. Then, they cause an impression of order, of continuity and of stability. They are at once known and unforeseen, familiar and surprising, new and old. In their clearness, the ancient and young Beauty that made Saint Augustine so amazed – tam antiqua et tam nova – glows. And the scribe who explains them resembles a father, who brings forth out of his treasure, for the greatest joy of his family, expected but still always beautiful fineries, old but always new – Nova et Vetera (Matthew 13:52)"

Editorial of the first issue of Nova et Vetera, 1926

We have the regrettable habit to lower, to depreciate, and to reduce everything that God has made. You would tell me that it is in our nature, so what can we do? After all, it can only be this way when our finite and created human nature touches the infinite and uncreated divine essence. There is such heaviness in us that we are inevitably inclined to lowness; the law of gravity is universal. It seems that it does not concern only the matter but also the spirit and morals. We do need to rise up into the heights, so that instead of depreciating the divine realities we can be dilated by them.

Spiritual life puts us in state of weightlessness. It is the realization of the words of Saint John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” It allows us to be seized by Christ and to be introduced into His mansion, and not to seclude Him within our dimension as we are so inclined to do. Spiritual life is the life of Christ in men, and Christ elates those who cultivate it.

So does the Church unsurprisingly, for the very simple reason that “Our Lord and the Church are one,” according to the Maid of Orléans. What an act of faith it requires in order to understand this! What an act of charity and of humility it takes in order to accept this! The Saints show us how to understand and how to love the Church, even when the Church, or rather churchmen, make them suffer. The sentire cum Ecclesia of Saint Ignatius of Loyola truly is the practical application of the call of Jesus Christ: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) It offers us the grace of living the Beatitudes.

But again, we have the tendency to enclose the Church in our own little dimension. The Church is this subtle and harmonious combination of new and old things, Nova et Vetera. This is precisely the principle of Tradition: bringing forth out the treasure of the Revelation old and new things. On one hand, there are those who take only the Nova part. They are the innovators – but innovating is not renovating – who believe that the Church began with the Second Vatican Council. They want to make all things new, as if Jesus Christ did not do it two millennia ago before them. They have a constant and obsessive thirst for novelties that Pope Saint Pius X has well described in his Encyclical letter, Pascendi Dominici Gregis, condemning the Modernist error. Everything must be new: a new liturgy with a new Ordo of Mass, a new calendar, a new Ritual, and so forth. Even the Dogmas are not spared. “Thus the way is open to the intrinsic evolution of dogma. Here we have an immense structure of sophisms which ruin and wreck all religion,” Saint Pius X said. Ruin and wreck; this is what is usually left over after a revolution. And a revolution is usually made by revolutionaries – this is evident – whose marks are hatred and tyranny: hatred for any vestiges of the previous order that they try desperately to destroy, and tyranny toward those who are attached to this previous order. This is certainly what the future generations of Christians will remember when they look at the history of the Church in the last decades of the twentieth century. In the best case, we find among the innovators, who are not all monsters, a certain commiseration for those poor traditionalist Catholics attached to an older fashion of worshiping God that no longer adapts to the needs of our time, provided that they accept the Council. But have they read it well, those who make the Council their new Bible, and yet who have banished from the Liturgy Latin and Gregorian chant? Let us turn the page before my itching envy for sarcasm takes over!

On the other hand, we can find those who take only the Vetera part. They claim to be traditionalists, but I see them as conservators, as they desperately try to conserve identically things as they were fifty years or so ago. For them the Church stops at the Second Vatican Council or even before. Since Pius X said that novelty is a mark of Modernism, they reject all novelties without discernment. If they had a little bit of logic they would know that it is not because novelty is a mark of Modernism that every novelty is necessarily marked with the seal of Modernism. If they had a little bit of understanding of the History of the Church, they would see that many things had been new one day. They would also notice that every time new things came, there have been some narrow-minded persons who opposed them. If novelties were always evil, we ought to get rid of the Mendicant Orders, just to give an example, a novelty from the twelfth century, which had at its time its detractors. If these traditionalists are afraid of losing their faith by praying the luminous mysteries of the Rosary, I advise them to not pray the Rosary at all, which is a novelty from the twelfth century, too, that has known different developments, additions, and modifications throughout the centuries.

They often enjoy themselves with a certain apocalyptic literature based on some revelations to prove themselves right, and all others are condemned. I do not mean that we do not have to take seriously the last messages from heaven that have been approved by the Church – Fatima, for instance – but it is not a reason to set aside the reading of the Fathers and of the great Doctors of the Middle Ages, which are still so accurate for our modern time. They would certainly enlarge their vision of the Church that is without question, wherever we stand, bigger than any idea of her we may have. The Church is a mystery and a great one. It is only with humility that we can appreciate and love her. Then we can peacefully rejoice with her while contemplating her ancient and young Beauty. The acceptance of the new things that are given to us today supposes the understanding of the old things that have been given to the previous generations.

May Our Lady, seat of Wisdom, help us to see clearly with prudence and discernment. May she open our minds and hearts to the comprehension and the love of God’s mysteries.

The Papal Zouaves

2011-02-17T10:57:00.003-05:00

Fourth part: Toward the Battle

By June 1860, the training of the new recruits could begin. The battalion went out for a first exercise. The Holy Father himself reviewed the troop in the evening and exhorted the men. Enthusiasm and cheerfulness were not lacking, and Monsignor Talbot, a camerier of the Pope, would tell that Pius IX appreciated the spirit of the men. Then, the battalion left the Eternal City for a few weeks of training that gave full satisfaction to Becdelièvre. The people from the country displayed cordiality when the troop went through their villages. It was quite comforting to see that many Italian people loved and supported the Pope. Meanwhile the organization of the corps was set up: supplies, equipment, weapons and ammunition were distributed. The fusion between the French and the Belgian was well carried out, and new recruits continued to arrive. Other units composed with volunteers of different countries were organized at the request of General de La Moricière, such as a corps of cavalry. In less than a month, La Moricière muffled all the critics that had said it was impossible to create an international corps. The General, who had served in North Africa, certainly remembered the example of the Foreign Legion created in 1831, and he knew that with discipline, everything was possible. The cohabitation of men from different countries even fostered a sound competitiveness that pushed the whole group toward a greater perfection. Yet, it was a difficult task that required many efforts and attention from the officers.

A new uniform was finally presented to Monsignor de Mérode who approved it. It was a combination of the uniform of the Zouaves of Africa and the one of the French infantry: the dress was blue with red trimmings. This uniform would change the title of “bataillon de tirailleurs” into the famous “zouaves pontificaux.”

During the summer, the situation became more tense as the revolutionary troops intensified their pressure. With an impulse of greatness, La Moricière exclaimed: “If France abandons Rome, and if Austria permits the violation of the treaty of Villafranca and the invasion of the Papal States, we shall go to the sanctuary of Loreto and pick the standard given by His Holiness Pius V to Juan of Austria, the hero of Lepanto. We shall lead the Pope to Ancona. Then we shall see if Christian Europe would contemplate without stirring Pius IX besieged and bombarded by the barbarians of the XIX century.”

The strength of the Papal Army was now 18,000 men. La Moricière organized the Army in three columns positioned on the line that goes from Rome to Ancona. General de Pimodan received the order to deploy his brigade around the city of Terni. This little corps was composed, in addition to the Zouaves, of two battalions of Italian volunteers, one battalion of Swiss Carabineers, one battalion of Austrian Bersaglieri, a squadron of cavalry, and six pieces of artillery. The two others corps were deployed around Foligno and Macerata. La Moricière remained with a reserve in the middle of his deployment in Spoleto. He could join one of his corps and reinforce it wherever a serious menace would appear. He knew that something would happen in the very near future. Garibaldi had to attack before the Army of the Pope became too strong. But its General–in–Chief had no idea about the huge wave that would break soon.

In fact, it was not the little troop of Garibaldi, considered as a gang of bandits, that would frighten the Papal Army led by well experienced officers who have fought on many battlefields. Colonel de Becdelièvre explained that the morale was excellent in the camp. French and Austrian officers met every evening and the “gatherings were joyful as long as it was just about fighting against Garibaldi.” But in the beginning of September, an event changed the situation. Piedmont had officially declared the war on the Papal States, with the passive approbation of Napoléon III. La Moricière took this as a betrayal and an act of hypocrisy. As a result, some Italian troop of the Papal Army refused to fire on other Italian fellows.

La Moricière received an ultimatum from General Franti, who led the Army of Piedmont, which was composed of 35,000 men. Franti’s Army had already taken possession of Perugia and Spoleto. La Moricière found his communication cut off and decided to reach the last fortress in the power of the Papal troops: Ancona. He urged General de Pimodan to redeploy his brigade as fast as possible around the city. It was necessary to arrive before the Piedmont Army. By the 12th of September, a column of 4,000 men were en route toward Ancona. The weather was extremely hot and it took four days to arrive. La Moricière was already there. He ordered a day of rest and of preparation for the battle that would be on the 18th.

“His men passed the day of the 17th in religious exercises and in going to confession, Countess Cesaresco wrote in The Liberation of Italy. The vicinity of the Holy House of Loreto, brought hither by angels from Bethlehem, filled the young Breton soldiers with transport of religious fervor. La Moricière had taken from the Santa Casa some of the flags of the victors of Lepanto to wave over his columns. In the battle of the next day the French fought with the gallantry of the Vendéens, whose descendants they were, and the Irish behaved as Irishmen generally behave under fire.”

Colonel de Becdelièvre gathered his Zouaves on the eve of the battle. “The hour that you were longing for since you joined the army of the Holy See is now near. Tomorrow you will see the enemy, and we know that this day will be hot. You will do your duties as valiant soldiers, and you will not forget that we fight for the cause of God. For that reason you must prepare yourselves to appear in front of Him. Tomorrow, many of us will be gone. Therefore I urge you to do what many military chiefs would not dare to tell. Go to our chaplain, as I am going to do now. Let everybody be prepared for tomorrow.”

The sun rose on the morning of this bloody day of September 18th, 1860. It was to be a fatal day.

The Papal Zouaves

2011-02-14T13:02:00.003-05:00

Third part: creating a new army

General de la Moricière was now officially appointed Commander in Chief of the Papal army, but this would create some tensions with the French Government. La Moricière had been an opponent to the regime of Napoleon III from the beginning. He had promised to never take arms against France, but this did not mean he would accept the politic of her Government. “I gave my sword to the Pope, I recommend my soul to God, but I do not want to take anything from the Emperor, to keep my honor safe,” he wrote. General Goyon, who was the head of the French troops in Rome, had a great admiration for La Moricière, and he did everything he could to make the situation better for everyone, but Napoleon displayed more and more impatience. In fact, the attitude of the Emperor and his politics regarding the Roman Question were quite ambiguous. On one hand he was in favor of the Italian unity, and on the other he claimed to be a defender of the Papal State.

By April 9th, 1860, General de la Moricière issued his first Order of the Day, by which he took possession of his commandment:

“Soldiers, our Holy Father, Pope Pius VII, having deigned to call me to defend His rights, which are unrecognized and threatened, I did not hesitate to take again my sword. To the echo of that venerable voice which, not long ago, from the high of the Vatican, made the world know the perils that threaten the patrimony of Saint Peter, the Catholics have been moved. Their emotion quickly expands across the earth. Indeed, Christianity is not only the religion of the civilized world, but it is even the principle and the life of civilization, since the Papacy has been the center of Christianity. All Christian nations show in this time that they are aware of these great truths that constitute our faith. The Revolution, as in former times Islam, threatens today Europe, and today, as it was the case then, the cause of the Papacy is the cause of civilization and the liberty of the world.
Soldiers, have courage, and be assured that God will keep up our courage and raise it for the cause He entrusted to our arms.”

General in Chief de La Moricière.”

Now, there was an urgent task to begin, which was to organize an army. Uprisings had begun in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and by May 6th, Garibaldi boarded with a troop of one thousand volunteers. King Francis II would not hold too long his defense. Cavour had managed to have Napoléon III on his side with the condition that Rome remained with the Pope and that Nice and Savoy are given to France. In 1859, the French-Piedmontese army had defeated Austria, which was no longer in position to help the Holy Father. At the end of the year 1859, Tuscany, Parma, Modena and the Legations became the United Province of Central Italy. Austria was powerless and the Pope could not rely upon Napoléon. It was necessary to act quickly.

In April 1860, the Papal troop was composed only of eleven battalions, for a total of 600 men, very poorly equipped. Cavalry and artillery were almost inexistent. La Moricière would need first some fine officers that he could trust entirely. Messieurs de Pimodan, de Chevigné, de Lorgeril, and de Bourbon-Chalus accepted to organize the Headquarter and the new army. Officers of the former Papal Army joined them. Then it was necessary to recruit at least 20,000 soldiers. The call of the Holy Father had been heard. Soon, 5,000 Austrians, 3,000 Swiss, 3,000 Irish, and hundreds of French and Belgians, and even a little contingent from Quebec, would arrive. Organizing an army with volunteers of different countries, speaking different languages, and having different habits and traditions was not an easy task, but La Moricière, who had gained a great experience in North Africa, could manage this situation.

The French and the Belgians were joined together in a battalion of “tirailleurs pontificaux,” which would soon become the famous “Zouaves Pontificaux.” It was a valiant former officer of the French Army who took command of this unit, Lieutenant Colonel de Becdelièvre, who did not remain in charge for a long time (as we will see later), but whose testimony is precious, as evidenced in his writing, “Memories of the Papal Zouaves.”

De Becdelièvre had served eight years in the French Army and was no longer in active duty when he heard the news that General de La Moricière needed men. He went to Rome and met with the General and Monsignor de Mérode. By June 1st, he was officially appointed as “Chef de Bataillon des tirailleurs pontificaux.” La Moricière instructed him to begin his duties immediately. The newly appointed “Chef de Bataillon,” who did not even have a uniform, obeyed and went right away to his new quarters. He had to begin the organization of the battalion with only 70 men. Captain de Charette gathered the troops and Becdelièvre delivered his first message:

“Messieurs, this is the first and last time I call you this way. I have received from the General in Chief, who himself has his power from the Pope, the honor to command you. I do not yet have a military uniform, but this is my patent, and from now I take command of this corps. We have been called to defend the cause of God, and we must keep in our minds that, in a Pontifical army, distinctions of nationalities and of races have no place, especially in such a critical time when union is our strength. You would give a sad representation of your dedication, and we could suspect your intentions, if you would not immediately understand that, belonging to the French nation, you cannot shrink from privations and fatigue. On this day, the first company will be constituted. The Belgians will be mixed with the French, and it will always be like this. You will submit to this order; such is the will of your General in Chief, and I have been appointed by him in order to execute his orders. "

Lieutenant-Colonel de Becdelièvre would tell later that the orders were quickly understood. “As I appealed to their Catholic hearts, I was understood. One has to acknowledge that never I have met in the French army more submissive or braver soldiers.” The story of the Papal Zouaves was about to begin.

The Papal Zouaves

2011-02-11T12:23:00.003-05:00

Articles published in Upon This Rock, April and June 2009

First part: historical background

The French Revolution had initiated a process that has totally changed the face of Europe. In the XIX century, the borders and the sovereignties had become the pieces of an international chessboard that constantly moved according to the result of the military actions and the revolutions within the states. Italy had not escaped from the wind of the great changes of this time. After the proclamation of the French Republic, several republican insurrections broke out here and there in the kingdoms and duchies of Italy. Many Sovereigns of Italy were allied or relatives of the House of France, such as Charles Emmanuel of Sardinia and Savoy, who was the brother-in-law of the future Louis XVIII, or Mary-Caroline of Austria, Queen of Naples and of Sicily, who was the sister of the Queen of France, Marie-Antoinette.

In 1796, the new French Republic sent its armies into Italy to help the revolutionaries overthrow the Monarchs and to create Republics. It is during this campaign that a young general distinguished himself at the Bridge of Arcole. His name would be soon known in the whole world: Bonaparte. Italy became a kind of annex of France when Napoleon, then Emperor of the French, proclaimed himself King of Italy, while he gave the Kingdom of Naples first to his brother Joseph, and then to Murat.

The Italian Campaigns of 1796-1797 brought to an end a long alliance between the Church and her eldest Daughter. In 754, King Pepin the Short promised to give the Pope the land of the Lombards in a document known as the Donation of Pepin. His son, Charlemagne, would confirm this act 20 years later. The Donation of Pepin provided a legal basis for the erection of the Pontifical States. The Kingdom of France had been predestined by God for the defense of the Roman Church (Testament of Saint Remy). Now, the French Republic would become the persecutor of the Church. The pact that has been sealed in Reims would be rejected.

By February 11th, 1798, Rome was occupied by the armies of General Berthier. The Roman Republic is proclaimed. Pius VI left Rome during the night of the 20th of February, 1798. He found a refuge in the Carthusian monastery of Florence, but he was finally caught by the troops of General Berthier and brought to France. He died, prisoner in Valence, on August 29th, 1799.

His successor, Pope Pius VII, restored the Pontifical States after the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and that had reestablished the borders of the countries as they were before the Revolution of 1789. The former Monarchs returned on their thrones: Francis IV, Duke of Modena, Reggio and Mirandola; Ferdinand III, as Grand Duke of Tuscany for the House of Habsburg; Ferdinand IV, as King of the Two Sicilies; and Maria Luisa, Infanta of Spain, as Duchess of Lucca for the House of Bourbon.

But the liberal ideas inspired by the Enlightenment and the French Revolution contributed to the blooming of a national romantic ideal. The Carbonari spread throughout Italy, and in spite of their condemnation by Pius VII (Papal Constitution Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo, 1821) , realized an increasing success. Many uprisings instigated by the Carbonari broke out in the 1820’s and 1830’s throughout the peninsula. Pope Leo XII, who had been elected in 1823, renewed the condemnation of the Carbonari in the Apostolic Constitution Quo Graviora in 1826:

Would that those who were in charge of matters then had assumed these Decrees to be of such value as the salvation of both the Church and the State was demanding! Would that they had convinced themselves that they ought to respect in the Roman Pontiffs, Successors of Blessed Peter, not only the Universal Pastors and Teachers of the Church, but also the Vigorous Defenders of their Dignity, and the most diligent heralds of the dangers which threaten! Would that they had used that power of theirs for dismembering the sects whose pernicious devices had been exposed to them by the Apostolic See! Already from that time they had plainly put into effect their cause. And because they judged that this cause was needing to be treated with indifference or at least treated very trivially, whether by the deceit of the sectarians cunningly hiding their affairs, whether by the imprudent counsels of some, from those old Masonic sects which have never languished, very many others have arisen much more dangerous and more audacious than the former. The sect of the Carbonari, which was considered the leader of all the others in Italy and in some other regions, was considered to embrace as if in its bosom all these, and having divided into, as it were, various branches diverse in name only, undertook to fight most vehemently against the Catholic Religion and every topmost legitimate civil power. Which being a disaster, so that he might free Italy and other regions, indeed even the very Pontifical Domain – into which, because the Pontifical Government had been obstructed for so long a time, the sect had insinuated itself. Pius VII of happy memory, in whose place We have been chosen, condemned with the gravest penalties the sect of the Carbonari, or with the passage of time by whatever other name it might be called according to the diversity of places, of idioms and of men, by a Constitution published on the 13th of September in the year 1821 whose beginning is: Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo.

In spite of the condemnations, the movement continued to develop, led by Mazzini, Cavour, and Garibaldi. Then began Il Risorgimento - The Resurgence - with the first Italian War of Independence in 1848. After the assassination of Pellegrino Rossi, Minister of Justice of the Papal States in November, 1848, Pius IX fled from Rome to Gaeta. The Roman Republic was proclaimed in 1849. France, who was then under the Presidency of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, the future Emperor Napoléon III, sent an army to support the Pope. General Oudinot took Rome and reestablished the Pontifical power.

But the Papal States had been weakened and the Pontifical armies were just a shadow of an army. It is at this time that Monsignor François Xavier de Mérode, of the illustrious Belgian House of Mérode and Minister of the Armies of Pius IX, decided to create a new army for the honor and the defense of the Papacy. The adventure of the Papal Zouaves would begin.

Second Part :The General of the Pope

Louis Juchault de La Moricière came back from Africa in 1846 with a great prestige that allowed him to deal with princes, ministers, and all the political leaders as an equal. After brilliant military successes in Algeria and Morocco, where he gained the nickname of Bou Chechia, ‘the man who wears a chechia,’ General de La Moricière thought that there would be something good to do with these great territories, especially in the area of agriculture. North Africa needed “Christian arms to work the soil.” He pacified these territories as a soldier; now he would participate in their development as a politician.

At forty years, Louis de La Moricière began a new career in which he would be as successful as he was in his military career. Deputy in 1846, he was appointed Minister of the War two years later. But in 1851, he was arrested for being opposed to the coup d’état of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte. He was sent in exile to Belgium and probably thought that his career was now over. This period gave him an occasion to nurture his faith.

It is at this time that Pius IX, advised by Monsignor de Mérode, decided to reorganize the Pontifical Army. In the political context of the middle of the XIX century, the Pope could not entrust the survival of His territories to any sovereign country. The intervention of the Army of Oudinot gave Pius IX a certain respite, but it would not last long. His last recourse was then to call the children of the Church from all over the world and to organize an army under the command of a General, as Saint Pius V did when he gave full power to Marc-Anthony Colona, who defeated the Turks.

“He chose for this mission General de La Moricière, Emile Keller writes. This man had the most brilliant military reputation of this time and was then disengaged of any obligations toward his Government. He was not involved with any political party and had given proofs of his love for order and liberty. He came back to God with a pure faith matured by the harshest adversities.”

But there was still a question: would he accept? Nothing was certain. La Moricière had fought for many years, but in a well organized army and for his country. In a certain way, he was asked now to be a kind of mercenary at the head of a troop that had poor means and was hardly organized. Moreover, though he was a man of principles and faith, he was nevertheless not so certain about the necessity of maintaining a form of political power that was a vestige of the old regime.

Pius IX sent Monsieur de Corcelles, ambassador of France to the Holy See and former Deputy, to General de La Moricière. The two men knew each other very well. La Moricière’s answer was direct: “I think that it is a cause for which I would be happy to die.” We have learned from his correspondence how great a sacrifice this was for him and his family, as it was for thousands of Catholics, known or unknown, who left their families and countries to serve the Pope. The sacrifice was even greater, as many relatives and friends of La Moricière tried to persuade him to renounce such a foolish project. The answer of the great General was always the same: “When a father calls his son in order to defend him, there is only one thing to do: you go.”

In March 1860, Monsignor de Mérode, who knew La Moricière when he visited the province of Oran as a Belgium officer, paid a visit to La Moricière in his chateau of Prouzel. In the name of Pius IX, Monsignor de Mérode officially asked him to take the command of the army. The day after, La Moricière and his devoted wife offered their resolution to God in their parish church. Nothing would make him change his mind.
This great General and organizer knew that the mission was almost impossible. It was certainly a difficult cause, yet not a desperate one, as there is always a chance of victory. La Moricière was very lucid. “My hope is only in God,” he wrote to friend the day before his departure. “For what I know, the strength of a man can not suffice for the work that I am about to begin.”

By March 19th the new Commander in Chief of the Papal Army began his trip with his dear saber of Africa that he did not want to leave. It would share the glory of this cause. La Moricière asked a dear friend, François Cattoir, to come with him and Monsignor de Mérode. The three men traveled to Italy, passing by Belgium and Germany. In Cologne, they stopped to pray in the Cathedral and venerate the relics of the Wise Men. In the old days, the Family of Mérode had hosted these relics in their chateau. For this reason, the knights of the family of Mérode were granted to enter the vault of the Cathedral of Cologne with their swords. On this day, Monsignor François Xavier de Mérode had the saber of General de La Moricière under his cassock.

The three travelers arrived in Rome by April 2nd, 1860. La Moricière immediately wrote to the Pope and expressed again his desire to serve him under the only condition of never fighting against France. Pius IX accepted his service with joy and gratitude and the two men met together. The General offered his person and his saber to the Pontiff who was charmed by his prestige and his candor. From this day, the Holy Father had never refused anything to the man who represented the last chance of protecting the Pontifical States. But much more was still to be done, and the difficulties would come soon enough.

Continuation of the story of the Papal Zouaves in Upon This Rock, February 2011, soon on line!

A church for the Glory of God

2010-12-08T08:27:00.008-05:00

Saint Pio de Pietrelcina Latin Mass Community needs your help

for a great project:

- A Romanesque Church, for the glory of God, where the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass shall be offered daily according to the ancient magnificent Liturgy.

- A school for Saint John Bosco Academy and Saint Caecilia Academy where our children will receive an authentic Catholic education.

We need your help so that our dream may become reality. We found a beautiful property for sales in Ash Flat, Arkansas that would be perfect for our project. A house would serve as a rectory for the priest and a barn as a provisory chapel until we build our future Romanesque Church.

Rectory and office

A provisary chapel

The location of our future church

Help us and participate to a great project for the restoration of the Catholic culture. You may send your donation by check (order to Cherokee Village Latin Mass Community) at the following address:

Saint Pio de Pietrelcina Latin Mass Community
40 Matecumbe Drive
Cherokee Village AR 72529

Or with Paypal (click the link on the top right of the blog)

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered once a month for the Benefactors.

Ut In Omnimbus Glorificetur Deus

A pilgrimage in Louisiana

2010-11-20T09:12:00.005-05:00

Pilgrimage of Thanksgiving and of Reparation
From Baton Rouge to New Orleans
November 25th – 27th

Three days of prayer, of sacrifice, but also of joy and Christian friendship, in thanksgiving for all the good graces received and in reparation for all the sins committed, especially the sin of abortion. As pilgrims on earth, we want to advance on the road to heaven and bring with us as many souls as we can. A pilgrimage is a time of conversion and of mission. Join us in this spiritual journey for the kingdom of Christ.

“On the uphill path, sandy and troublesome.
On the uphill road.
Dragged along, hanging from the arms of her two older sisters,
Who hold her by the hand,
The little Hope
Pushes on.
And in between her two older sisters she seems to let herself be carried.
Like a child who lacks the energy to walk
And is dragged along the road in spite of herself.
But in reality it is she who moves the other two
And who carries them,
And who moves the whole world.”

Charles Péguy, The Portal of the Mystery of Hope.

The pilgrimage will begin with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Thursday 25th at 7 am at Saint Agnes church, Baton Rouge (749 East Boulevard) We shall walk to New Orleans. Confession and spiritual direction will be available during the walk. For those who cannot walk all the way, vehicles will follow us. The pilgrimage will end Saturday 27th with a High Mass at the shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos (2030 Constance Street, New Orleans) at noon.
Bring good shoes, food and beverage, a sleeping bag, your rosary and your joy and good zeal.

Voting Right - Voting the Commandments

2010-10-26T18:28:00.003-04:00

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary

2010-09-01T11:37:00.000-04:00

Sermon for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost

2010-08-10T12:14:00.001-04:00

Saint Paul helps us today to continue our meditation on the virtue of humility. We have seen last week that this virtue is necessary for justification, and that all the works performed without this excellent virtue are useless. We have also seen that everything we have has been given by God and that, therefore, there is no reason for us to be proud. True humility does not make us deny our gifts, but rather use them for the glory of God. It supposes that we acknowledge first our gifts. It is what our Blessed Mother did when she said her Magnificat: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because he that is mighty has done great things to me: and holy is his name. It is what Saint Paul does when he says: By the grace of God, I am what I am. He, who was a persecutor of the Church, is now one of her Apostles, and this is the work of the grace of God.

Holy Scriptures teaches us about the virtue of humility. Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. Commentating on this verse, Saint Benedict tells us what to do in order to be exalted. He describes humility as a ladder – the ladder that Jacob saw in his dream – on which Angels appeared to him descending and ascending. By that descent and ascent we must surely understand nothing else than this, that we descend by self-exaltation and ascend by humility. And the ladder thus set up is our life in the world, which the Lord raises up to heaven if our heart is humbled. This ladder has 12 degrees that we have to climb one by one.
The first degree of humility, then, is that a person keeps the fear of God before his eyes and bewares of ever forgetting it. Let him be ever mindful of all that God has commanded; let his thoughts constantly recur to the hell-fire which will burn for their sins those who despise God and to the life everlasting which is prepared for those who fear Him. Let him keep himself at every moment from sins and vices, whether of the mind, the tongue, the hands, the feet,
or the self-will, and check also the desires of the flesh.

This is basically what Holy Mother Church constantly recalls us during the Sundays after Pentecost. There is even not an ounce of humility in a person who still lives in sin.

On the 5th Sunday, we were told by Saint Peter to refrain our tongues from evil and our lips that we speak no guile. We can never speak enough of the seriousness of the sins of the tongue, which are often the sins of the coward. Someone once asked Saint Anthony, "What is backbiting?" and he replied, "It is every sort of wicked word we dare not speak in front of the person about whom we are talking." This is truly the nature of backbiters. They cannot do physical harm to those who are absent, so they strike at them with their tongue. Saint Thomas Aquinas says, "Destroying a person's reputation is a very serious wrong." And Saint Bernard declares, "Backbiting is a great vice, a great sin, a great crime."

The Scriptures says You shall not curse the deaf! Here is how Saint Gregory explains these words: "Backbiting someone who is deaf means backbiting one who is absent and cannot hear you. Just as a deaf man cannot hear or understand what is said, so it is with an absent person someone backbites. He cannot reply or rectify the errors of which he is the object."

He who speaks evil commits a great sin. So does he who listens to him, as Saint Bernard explains: “I would have difficulty deciding which of them is more damnable," he says, "he who backbites or he who listens to the backbiter. Even if we excuse it as wit or banter, every jesting word must be banished not only from our mouth, but also from our ears. "

In today’s gospel, Our Lord heals a deaf and dumb man. Speaking and hearing are such gifts from God! But as well as every other gift, they must be used with humility for a good purpose. Sins of the tongues are unfortunately so common throughout the world. But when they come from Christians, they are even more serious, more reprehensible and more harmful. They hurt the Mystical Body of Christ and are object of scandal. On the day of your Baptism, the priest put the salt of wisdom on your tongue and touched your ears saying like Jesus: Ephpheta, be opened. This was done so that you can hear the teaching of God and speak out wisely in order to praise God.

Let us remember, brethren, that we are accountable for what we say and what we listen. The first degree of humility, then, is that a person keeps the fear of God before his eyes. May this fear make us use well all our faculties and abilities for the glory of God and not for our own satisfaction!

In Memoriam

2010-08-09T11:31:00.005-04:00

August 6th 1945 - Hiroshima: about 90,000 casualties

August 9th 1945 - Nagasaki: about 40,000 casualties

Plus about 80,000 injured people who eventually died

Total: about 200,000 victims.

I have always considered the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a crime against humanity, there is absolutely no doubt about this. Then I was surprised, for not saying shocked, to hear some Traditional Catholic Americans who say that it was a necessary thing to end the war and to save the life of American soldiers. Ending the war and saving American lives is definitely a good purpose, but not at any cost. And patriotism is certainly a very good thing…as long as it remains virtuous, which means as long as it remains a prudent medium between defect and excess. One can love his country very much without justifying the crimes of its Government. The fact is that on a moral level, nothing can justify the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, according to the old principle: the end does not justify the means.
Besides, in the opinion of many, this was totally useless, as Japan was already almost defeated.

Dwight Eisenhower:
Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. ...the Secretary, upon giving me the news of the successful bomb test in New Mexico, and of the plan for using it, asked for my reaction, apparently expecting a vigorous assent.

"During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'. The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude.. "

Admiral William Leahy:
"It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons.

"The lethal possibilities of atomic warfare in the future are frightening. My own feeling was that in being the first to use it, we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages. I was not taught to make war in that fashion, and wars cannot be won by destroying women and children."

"Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man, which merits firm and unequivocal condemnation." (Cathechism of the Catholic Churc # 2314)

Righteousness is in us, not of us!

2010-08-04T11:18:00.003-04:00

Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Men’s justice is definitively not like God’s justice, and this is a very good thing. It is a very good thing because God is infallible in his judgments and infinitely good and merciful in his sentences, whether He condemns or He acquits. Men are certainly not infallible and as for their goodness and mercy, though it is possible to find them in certain noble hearts, it is still in a relative proportion that will never attain the divine perfection. Most of the men are rather prompt to condemn their neighbor while they so easily justify themselves. And when these men pretend to be religious, such an attitude becomes simply more obnoxious as it is a caricature of religion. It is true that men have the tendency to belittle the holy things that God has given. This is our nature: we have this treasure in earthen vessels, Saint Paul says.

But knowing this should precisely make us humbler, acting with fear, like a person who would have to handle precious porcelain and would be afraid of breaking it. Cardinal Newman, commentating on Saint Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians, says that righteousness is in us, but not of us. The Corinthians "had had gifts given them, he says. They did not forget they had them; they used, they abused them; they forgot, not that they were theirs, but that they were given them. They seem to have thought that those gifts were theirs by a sort of right, because they were persons of more cultivation of mind than others, of more knowledge, more refinement. In spite of the clear views which the Apostle had doubtless given them on their conversion of their utter nothingness in themselves; in spite too of their confessing it, yet they did not feel that they came from God. They seemed, as it were, to claim them, or at least to view their possession of them as a thing of course; they acted as if they were their own, not with humbleness and gratitude towards their Giver, not with a sense of responsibility, not with fear and trembling, but as if they were lords over them, as if they had sovereign power to do what they would with them, as if they might use them from themselves and for themselves."

Such is the Pharisee of today’s gospel who reckons that he is justified. Such is his judgment. He is sanctimonious, satisfied of himself. He is so full of himself that he even gives thanks to God for what he is. He thanks God for not being like the others that he looks down upon. Pride and prejudice! It seems to be a very old sin. In fact, "in every age of the Church, Cardinal Newman says again, Christians have been tempted to pride themselves on their gifts, or at least to forget that they were gifts, and to take them for granted. Ever have they been tempted to forget their own responsibilities, their having received what they are bound to improve, and the duty of fear and trembling, while improving it."

Every age of the Church, Cardinal Newman says. Dear Brethren, let us well consider that we might be tempted to act like the Corinthians of the time of Saint Paul, like the Pharisees of anytime. For us, who by the grace of God, have been preserved from the modernist errors, for us, who might know well our catechism and the teaching of the Popes, for us who can worship according to the old and venerable Tradition of the Church, there is a danger if we forget that we have precisely some responsibilities for having received such gifts. God asks more to those who have received more, and if you take for granted what you have received, remember that it may be taken away from you one day.

Without humility, all these beautiful gifts from God would become the object of our condemnation. Attending the Latin Mass is not always and necessarily a ticket for heaven. It can also be your ticket for hell if you do not humble yourself. Dom Guéranger, commentating on today’s gospel, reminds us of what humility is:

Humility, which produces within us this salutary fear, is the virtue that makes man know his right place, with regard both to God and to his fellow-men. It rests on the deep-rooted conviction, put into our hearts by grace, that God is everything, and that we, by nature, are nothingness, nay, less than nothingness, because we have degraded ourselves by sin. Reason is able, of herself alone, to convince anyone, who takes the trouble to reflect, of the nothingness of a creature; but such conviction, if it remain a mere theoretical conclusion, is not humility: it is a conviction which forces itself on the devil in hell, whose vexation at such a truth is the chief source of his rage.

So, do not thank God for what you are, because you are just a sinner. Give thanks to God for what you have received. And since what you have is what you have received, do not keep it for yourselves, but share it with others. This is where charity blossoms and it cannot blossom if it is not rooted in the soil of humility.

Only one surgical abortion site in Arkansas

2010-07-28T10:55:00.002-04:00

It is still too much, but we can rejoice for the following news received from 40 Days for Life. Deo gratias!

It appears to be official - William Harrison is closing the Fayetteville Women's Clinic due to health reasons. In case you missed it, this story aired on KFSM. http://www.kfsm.com/news/kfsm-news-fayetteville-womens-clinic-closing,0,7890155.story

Please continue to pray for Harrison, his health, conversion, family and that no other abortionist comes to take his place.

We give all the glory and praise to God that abortions have stopped at the Fayetteville Women's Clinic. Thank you to each one of you who has prayed for an end to abortion in our town, state and nation and taken a stand against the injustice of abortion. As we rejoice over the babies that will be saved and the parents who will be spared from a lifetime of regret by currently not having an abortionist at the FWC, we must continue to pray that abortions will also stop at Planned Parenthood on Township. Planned Parenthood performs medical abortions through RU-486 and distributes abortifacient contraceptives. In addition, it is rumored that Planned Parenthood may be considering building a mega clinic in Arkansas, which means our prayers are all the more important at this time.

In case you are wondering, 40 Days for Life will take place as planned this fall in Fayetteville. Given the recent events, we are carefully discerning the location of the fall campaign. We will be sure and keep you updated. God bless.

Destruction of Jerusalem

2010-07-25T10:10:00.002-04:00

Commentary of Saint Gregory the Great on today's gospel

"The evil spirits lay siege to the soul, as it goes forth from the body, for being seized with the love of the flesh, they caress it with delusive pleasures. They surround it with a trench, because bringing all its wickedness which it has committed before the eyes of its mind, they close confine it to the company of its own damnation, that being caught in the very extremity of life, it may see by what enemies it is blockaded, yet be unable to find any way of escape, because it can no longer do good works, since those which it might once have done it despised. On every side also they enclose the soul when its iniquities rise up before it, not only in deed but also in word and thought, that she who before in many ways greatly enlarged herself in wickedness, should now at the end be straitened every way in judgment. Then indeed the soul by the very condition of its guilt is laid prostrate on the ground, while its flesh which it believed to be its life is bid to return to dust. Then its children fall in death, when all unlawful thoughts which only proceed from it, are in the last punishment of life scattered abroad. These may also be signified by the stones. For the corrupt mind when to a corrupt thought it adds one more corrupt, places one stone upon another. But when the soul is led to its doom, the whole structure of its thoughts is rent asunder. But the wicked soul God ceases not to visit with His teaching, sometimes with the scourge and sometimes with a miracle; that the truth which it knew not it may hear, and though still despising it, may return pricked to the heart in sorrow, or overcome with mercies may be ashamed at the evil which it has done. But because it knows not the time of its visitation, at the end of life it is given over to its enemies, that with them it may be joined together in the bond of everlasting damnation."

La voici, la voilà!

2010-07-15T21:23:00.002-04:00

L'intégrale du Défilé du 14 juillet 2010, qui plus est, sans les commentaires !

Merci au Ministère de la Défense !

I like this octopus

2010-07-14T00:56:00.001-04:00

There is no need to present Octopus Paul, the most famous octopus in the world who was 100% right for his predictions during the World Cup. He can now enjoy a peaceful and well deserved retirement but Paul thought he still had a prediction to make. Is this the announcement of the near coming of the Great Monarch?

The truth about Bastille Day

2010-07-13T23:33:00.005-04:00

The following text was written by John Zmirak and published on the blog InsideCatholic.com (July 15th 2008.)

Yesterday probably passed without much fanfare in your home, but July 14 is a day I usually try to commemorate. Not because I carry a single drop of French blood (more's the pity -- I'd be proud to be a cousin of Joan of Arc and François Mauriac). No, it's because I think Bastille Day is a solemn occasion every Catholic should remember -- like the feast of the Martyrs of Mexico, or the Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War.

Bastille Day marks the beginning of the greatest organized persecution of the Church since the Emperor Diocletian, and the explosion onto the world of ideologies that would poison the next two centuries: socialism and radical nationalism. Between them, those two political movements racked up quite a body count: In his 1997 book Death By Government, scholar R. J. Rummel pointed out that during the first 88 years of this century, almost 170,000,000 men, women, and children have been shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed, or worked to death; or buried alive, drowned, hung, bombed, or killed in any other of the myriad ways governments have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens or foreigners.

And the first such modern genocide in the West took place in France, beginning in 1793. It was undertaken by modern, progressive apostles of Enlightenment and aimed at Catholic peasants, and by its end up to 300,000 civilians had been killed by the armies of the Republic.

It was ordinary peasants of the Vendée and Brittany regions who rose up in that year against the middle-class radicals in Paris who controlled the country. The ideologues of the Revolution had already

• executed the king and queen, and left their young son to die of disease in prison;
• declared a revolutionary "war of liberation" against most of the other countries in Europe;
• seized all property of the Church, expelling thousands of monks, priests, and nuns to fend for themselves, then sold the property to their cronies to raise money for their wars;
• ordered all clergy to swear allegiance to the French state instead of the pope; and
• launched the first universal conscription in history, drafting ordinary people (most of them devout peasants bewildered by the slogans that held sway in Paris) to fight for the Revolution.

When the Parisians came to take away their sons for the army, the Vendeans finally fought back and launched a counter-revolution in the name of "God and King." It quickly spread across the northwest of France, tying down the government's professional armies -- fighting untrained bands of devout guerillas, many of them armed only with muskets suited to hunting.

As Sophie Masson -- herself a descendant of Catholics who fought in the Vendée resistance -- has written:

The atrocities multiplied, the exterminations systematic and initiated from the very top, and carried out with glee at the bottom. At least 300,000 people were massacred during that time, and those of the intruders who refused to do the job were either shot or discredited utterly. But still the people resisted. Still there were those who hid in the forests and ambushed, who fought as bravely as lions but were butchered like pigs when they were caught. No quarter was given; all the leaders were shot, beheaded, or hanged. Many were not even allowed to rest in peace; the body of the last leader was cut up and distributed to scientists; his head was pickled in a jar, the brain examined to see where the seed of rebellion lay in the mind of a savage. . . .

"Not one is to be left alive." "Women are reproductive furrows who must be ploughed under." "Only wolves must be left to roam that land." "Fire, blood, death are needed to preserve liberty." "Their instruments of fanaticism and superstition must be smashed." These were some of the words the Convention used in speaking of the Vendée. Their tame scientists dreamed up all kinds of new ideas -- the poisoning of flour and alcohol and water supplies, the setting up of a tannery in Angers which would specialise in the treatment of human skins; the investigation of methods of burning large numbers of people in large ovens, so their fat could be rendered down efficiently. One of the Republican generals, Carrier, was scornful of such research: these "modern" methods would take too long. Better to use more time-honoured methods of massacre: the mass drownings of naked men, women, and children, often tied together in what he called "republican marriages," off specially constructed boats towed out to the middle of the Loire and then sunk; the mass bayoneting of men, women and children; the smashing of babies' heads against walls; the slaughter of prisoners using cannons; the most grisly and disgusting tortures; the burning and pillaging of villages, towns and churches.

The persecution only really ended when Napoleon came to power in 1799 -- and needed peace at home so that he could launch his wars of conquest. He patched together a modus vivendi with the pope, and the Vendée quieted down.

This story is little discussed in France. Indeed, a Catholic historian who teaches at a French university once told me over dinner, "We are not to mention the Vendée. Anyone who brings up what was done there has no prospect of an academic career. So we keep silent." It is mostly in the Vendée itself that memories linger, which may explain why that part of France to this day remains more Catholic and more conservative than any other region. The local government, to its credit, opened a museum marking these atrocities on their 200th anniversary in 1993 -- with a visit by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who pointed out that the mass murders of Christians in Russia were directly inspired by those in the Vendée. The Bolsheviks, he said, modeled themselves on the French revolutionaries, and pointed to the Vendée massacres as the right way to deal with Christian resistance.

Of course, it wasn't supposed to work out this way. The Revolution had begun with a financial crisis, and promised to pare back an absolutist monarchy, perhaps along British lines. King Louis XVI -- a kindly if not terribly competent king, who'd lifted legal penalties against Protestants and Jews -- had bankrupted his kingdom bankrolling the American Revolution. (In gratitude, the U.S. Congress hung a portrait of the monarch in the Capitol, and named for his family the southern county which gave birth to bourbon.) The legislators who met in 1789 for the first time in over a century intended at first to reform their government, not replace it.

And some reforms were certainly needed: the ruthless centralization imposed by Louis XIV and XV had hollowed out French political life and concentrated power over the lives of citizens almost entirely in Paris, in the hands of technocrats. Predictably, they'd made a mess of things.

Unlike its sister kingdom across the channel, France had no sitting parliament, no common law protecting its subjects from arbitrary arrest, and an economy largely driven not by free citizens but the state. The French "Gallican" Church, while still in communion with Rome, was largely controlled by the kings -- who appointed its bishops and set its policies. Indeed, the kings of France, Portugal, and Spain had arranged in 1767 for the suppression of the Jesuits -- whose loyalty to Rome and rejection of the Divine Right of Kings made them suspect, and whose defense of the rights of Indians got in the way of "progress."

The educational vacuum created by the destruction of this order was quickly (and ironically) filled by Enlightenment philosophes. The first generation to rise without the Jesuits would come of age in 1789. The abuses that would mark the Revolution -- including mass executions of priests and nuns -- were endorsed by intellectuals schooled on the slanderous pamphlets of Diderot, full of pornographic falsehoods about the "secret lives" of monks and nuns.

Indeed, there's a chilling similarity between the anti-clerical literature that prepared the public for the looting of monasteries and the anti-Semitic canards that were spread by the Nazis. The euphemism that was used to describe stealing monastic property for the state -- "secularization" -- found its echo in the 1930s in the term the German government employed for robbing the Jews: "aryanization." If the Jews are indeed a priestly people, it is not surprising that such diabolical parallels exist.

Just as fascists excused their atrocities by pointing to Jewish prominence in the financial sphere and the press, leftists still defend the persecution of the Church by pointing to her political influence. We shouldn't let them get away with it. I wait in vain for the historian who will write a comprehensive comparison of anti-Semitism and anti-clericalism.

In the meantime, I'll mark Bastille Day as best I can. In 1989, I helped organize a Requiem Mass for all the Revolution's victims (we invited the French consul-general, but he pleaded a prior engagement). On several subsequent anniversaries, I've thrown a memorial party on the day, with foods and wines from the Vendée and counter-revolutionary songs. (Recipes and lyrics appear in each of my Bad Catholic's guides.) In the Christian spirit of transforming suffering into joy, I think that the hearty folk who fought for God and king would appreciate the gesture. But in the Vendée itself, a French friend has told me, some people still wear black armbands on their country's national holiday.

Rediscovering simplicity of life!

2010-07-10T09:08:00.004-04:00

I was happy when I recently found the English translation of a very good book that I read some years ago when I was in the Seminary: Abandonment to Divine Providence by Father de Caussade, s.j.

Father de Caussade (1675-1751) was a French Jesuit, director of souls, preacher of the Spiritual Exercises. He wrote several books of spiritualy that are all helpful and accessible to anyone. He is known for his belief in the sacredness of the present moment, or the "eternal now", proof that the Jesuits can be be close to the Benedictines.... sometimes! We will come back to this notion soon.

For now, as an appetizer, enjoy the following words of Father de Caussade. May they help us to discover the simplicity of life that we need.

"God still speak today as he spoke to our fathers, when there were no spiritual directors or set methods. Then, spirituality consisted in fidelity to the designs of God, for it had not yet been reduced to an art and explained in a lofty and detailed manner with many rules, maxims, and instructions. Surely our present needs demand this, but it was not so in former times when we were more upright and simple. Then it was enough for those who led a spiritual life to see that each moment brought with it a duty to be faithfully fulfilled. On that duty the whole of their attention was fixed at each successive moment, like the hand of the clock which marks each moment of the hour. Under God’s unceasing guidance their spirit turned without conscious effort to each new duty as it was presented to them by God each hour of the day."

Le Mont Saint Michel

2010-07-09T01:45:00.005-04:00

De magnifiques images de la Merveille de l'Occident.

Merci à MGRoyaume

"Plus loin, dans la ligne bleuâtre des flots aperçus, d'autres roches noyées montraient leurs crêtes brunes ; et l'œil, continuant le tour de l'horizon vers la droite, découvrait à côté de cette solitude sablonneuse la vaste étendue verte du pays normand, si couvert d'arbres qu'il avait l'air d'un bois illimité. C'était toute la nature s'offrant d'un seul coup, en un seul lieu, dans sa grandeur, dans sa puissance, dans sa fraîcheur et dans sa grâce; et le regard allait de cette vision de forêts à cette apparition du mont de granit, solitaire habitant des sables, qui dressait sur la grève démesurée son étrange figure gothique." (Guy de Maupassant)

The Nature of Sacramental Grace (V)

2010-07-07T12:24:00.001-04:00

By Father Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

Our dignity is further revealed in the Sacrament of Penance. In order to receive absolution, men and women entrust the priest with their secret thoughts and desires, which not even the Angels themselves are allowed to know. And thus the priest actually cooperated with God in giving back life to the soul. So, whether he is celebrating Mass or ministering to souls, he is another Christ. His priesthood is a splendid participation in the priesthood of Christ; he is Christ’s minister, His living, conscious instrument for the saving of souls.

Remember that the priest in celebrating Mass is so closely united to Christ – the principal Offerer – as his instrument that the one effect of Consecration is produced by both of them together, just as a writer and his pen produce the same effect. The effect of Consecration – the changing of the substance of bread and wine – is produced by God as the principal agent, by the huminity of Christ as the instrument conjoined to the divinity, and by the celebrant as a separate instrument, conscious and free.

It might be objected that the Sacramental grace of the priesthood is of less worth than the priestly character, for although the latter is indelible, sacramental grace, like Sanctifying Grace, is lost by mortal sin. This is a serious difficulty, since the more perfect an accidental reality, the more firmly does it inhere in the substance to which it belongs. Therefore, grace, which can be lost, does appear to be less perfect than the character which can never be lost.

In reply to this objection, notice why it is that the character cannot be lost. It is not because of its own perfection and dignity, but because it is conferred for the valid celebration of Mass and for the valid administration of Penance, which provide for the spiritual welfare of the faithful. This is very well explained by St. Thomas: “The sacramental character is a sharing of Christ’s priesthood by His faithful…”; also, in answer to the first objection: “Grace is present in the soul as a form complete in its being, whereas the character is there as an instrumental power. Now a complete form is present in its subject according to the condition of that subject , so that grace is present in the soul of a person here on earth according to the volatile nature of the will. But an instrumental power is to be considered rather from the point of view of the condition of the principal agent; hence the character is indelibly present in the soul not because of any perfection of its own but because of the perfection belonging to Christ’s priesthood, from which the character originates as an instrumental power.” (IIIa, Q.63, art 5c).

Again, in answer to the third objection, St. Thomas says: “The character endures even after this life, in the good as redounding to their glory, in the wicked as stressing their disgrace, just as the character of military service remains in a soldier after the victory has been won, as the mark of honor in the victors, as a mark of dishonor in the vanquished.”

This concludes for the present our study of the dignity of Christ’s priesthood and of ours.

Saint John Bosco Academy coat of arm

2010-07-02T18:35:00.002-04:00

We are glad to present our new coat of arm

Visit Saint John Bosca Academy's website: http://www.saintjohnboscoacademy.net/

The Nature of Sacramental Grace (IV)

2010-07-02T12:47:00.001-04:00

By Father Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange

Corollaries

Therefore the sacramental grace of the priesthood, since it is a permanent and intrinsic mode of habitual grace, can be looked upon as a feature of the priest’s spiritual character which is meant to develop and grow to perfection – to the age of maturity in the spiritual life.

It follows that while no growth is possible in the character of Holy Orders, which empowers a man to exercise validly the priestly functions, yet the sacramental grace, having as its aim an increasingly holy celebration of Mass and administration of Penance, is intensified at the same time as habitual grace, which it modifies and strengthens in a special way. True, this is not expressed in so many words in the theological works, but it is deduced as certain from the purpose of these divine gifts.

And thus all are agreed that the sacramental grace of Holy Orders should bear fruit and that it entitles a man to further and higher actual graces – provided no obstacle is put in the way. It develops rather like the features of a child countenance, which change with the different facial expressions of smiling, crying, blinking, etc. Therefore, “how careful we must be not to lose that sacramental grace or prove ourselves unworthy of it by receiving the Sacrament without the suitable disposition.” (Billuart )

The value of our priesthood is also evident in the fact to which we have already alluded – namely, that so far as the Consecration of the Eucharist is concerned, the Bishop himself has no greater power than the priest. And this power of consecrating the body of Christ is far more outstanding than the power of consecrating priests and chalices, because the Holy Eucharist is the supreme Sacrament and Sacrifice, containing not merely the gift of grace but the very Author of grace. So we find St. Thomas, St. Albert, St. Bonaventure, Scotus and Soto of the opinion that the Episcopate is not a separate Sacrament from that of priesthood but is its extension and perfect complement, giving the power to ordain, confirm and govern. It is, therefore, the fullness of the priesthood and is intended to be as fruitful in the Bishop as the grace of priesthood should be in the priest.

The Nature of Sacramental Grace (III)

2010-06-23T09:44:00.001-04:00

By Father Garrigou-Lagrange, o.p.

Is it possible to be more precise in determining the nature of this permanent supernatural reality if it is not a new habit distinct from Sanctifying Grace, the infused virtues or the gifts? So far we have moved in the realms of certainty but now we must descend to probability.

It seems to be the more probable opinion, held by John of Saint Thomas, the theologians of Salamanca, Contenson, Hugon, Merkelbach and many other Thomists, that the sacramental grace is a special modification and strengthening of Sanctifying Grace, which exerts an influence on the acts of the various virtues. We know already that the grace of original justice had a particular vital force of its own in addition to habitual grace which has now been restored to us, and it is this special vigor which is given back to us in some measure by the proper effect of each of the Sacraments. This modal reality added to habitual grace forms the basis of the moral right to the future reception of actual graces corresponding to the Sacrament received. We find something similar – although on a higher plane – in the lives of Our Lady and St. Joseph. Our Lady was given the grace of motherhood, the love and tenderness of a mother, St. Joseph the love and prudence of a foster father, both of them thus receiving a special modification and strengthening of Sanctifying Grace.

Although all the statements in this section have been deduced from the purpose of the Sacraments, this final conclusion cannot be put forward as anything other than the more probable opinion. But our view can be confirmed by considering each of the Sacraments in turn. The grace of Baptism is given not merely to make us capable of living a supernatural life – such as was enjoyed by Adam before his fall and by the Angels – but in order to help us to live as Christians by following the example of Christ in His work of Redemption. And so this grace, by enabling us to live as Christians, disposes us to love the Cross, a disposition not present either in the good Angels or in Adam before the fall.

The grace of Confirmation is intended to make us constant and prudent in witnessing to the truth of the Christian Faith. The grace of Holy Communion is given to unite us more closely to Christ through an increase of charity. The sacramental grace of Penance is meant as a help for avoiding the occasions of sins. The sacramental grace of Marriage strengthens the parties to live as followers of Christ in their married state and to educate their children according to Christian principles. The grace of Holy Orders is conferred that the priest may fulfill his sacred duties – the act of Consecration, sacramental absolution, preaching, spiritual direction – with ever-increasing holiness: and so we speak of priestly love and priestly prudence. It is clear, therefore, that the modality of habitual grace, about which we have spoken above, exercices an influence on the infused virtues, which flow from Sanctifying Grace.

The nature of sacramental grace (2)

2010-06-20T09:12:00.001-04:00

By Father Garrigou-Lagrange, o.p.

The Council of Florence uses a similar argument, although expressing it in a different form: “By Baptism we are spiritually reborn; by Confirmation we receive an increase of grace and are strengthened in faith; already reborn and strengthened, we are then nourished with the divine food of the Eucharist. If the soul should fall sick through sin, we are spiritually healed through penance, etc.” The Council of Trent declares: “If anyone should say that the Sacraments of the New Law are not essential for salvation but superfluous, let him be anathema.” Therefore the sacramental grace does add something to habitual or Sanctifying Grace.

But what does it add? This can also be deduced from its purpose, but in order to be methodical, we must first decide what it does not add and what is the general teaching of theologians on this point. In this way it will prove possible to discover what is admitted as certain by everyone and what is the more probable opinion where certainty cannot be attained.

It is the common teaching of theologians that sacramental grace is not a new infused habit distinct from Sanctifying Grace. On the one hand, the soul is already sufficiently sanctified in its essence by habitual grace, which makes us sharers in the divine nature, just as Adam before his falls and the Angels were sanctified without receiving the Sacraments; on the other hand, the faculties of our soul are sufficiently empowered to perform supernatural acts by the infused virtues and the seven gifts, which flow from Sanctifying Grace. Therefore, sacramental grace is not a new infused habit.

All theologians are also agreed that the sacramental grace adds to Sanctifying Grace a definite right to receive at the appropriate moment those actual graces which correspond to the end of each of the Sacraments. Without this addition, the sacramental grace would be possessed by anyone in the state of Sanctifying Grace, and thus no special grace would be produced by any of the Sacraments. So the very least we can say of each of the Sacraments is that they give this title to special actual graces.

But this title, being a relative and morale reality, needs a real foundation which cannot be other than the sacramental grace enduring in the soul as an intrinsic reality. We know already that our right to an eternal inheritance is founded on habitual grace – the seed of glory – and our meritorious acts which obtain an intensification of that grace. So in a similar way, the right to the actual graces corresponding to the particular end of each Sacrament is founded on the sacramental grace itself, which cannot be regarded as a mere moral or relative entity, but must be the foundation of that right; it is a permanent, intrinsic and supernatural reality inhering the soul. Of this we are certain from what has been revealed about the purpose of sacramental grace. St. Paul speaks about this permanent reality in Timothy: “Neglect not the grace that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with imposition of the hands of the priesthood.”

(To be continued...)

The nature of Sacramental Grace

2010-06-09T07:38:00.001-04:00

The Nature of Sacramental Grace (I)
With Special Reference to the Priesthood
By Father Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

(From The Priest in Union with Christ)

It is difficult to determine accurately the nature of sacramental grace, and the question is rarely given a sufficiently systematic treatment. Yet it does help to bring out in a greater relief the dignity of our priesthood. We will begin by noting what is more well known and certain about this question from Revelation.
At once we discover that more is known with certainty about the purpose of this grace than about its nature. In fact, the same holds true of habitual grace (sanctifying Grace); what is primarily known with certainty about this gift is that it is the seed of glory of eternal life. But we know that this eternal life is a sharing in God’s own intimate life through the Beatific Vision and an unceasing act of love – acts which necessarily presuppose a share in the divine nature. Therefore, habitual grace must be some kind of participation in the divine nature or Godhead, in order to be the seed of glory.

And so it is the purpose of sacramental grace which is first made known to us by Revelation through Sacred Scripture and Tradition. It is conferred on man to help him exercise worthily and in close union with God those actions which he can perform validly by reason of the character he has received. Hence, the sacramental grace of the priesthood is intended for the worthy and increasingly holy fulfillment of our priestly duties – consecration and sacramental absolution. This much is admitted as certain by all theologians.

But what of the nature of this grace? This can be deduced from its purpose, which is the primary cause of any being; an agent only acts with a definite end in view and produces a perfection which corresponds to that end. St. Thomas asks whether the sacramental grace adds anything further to habitual grace, which he calls “the grace of the virtues and gifts,” since the infused virtues and the seven gifts (of the Holy Ghost) have their origin in that grace – that was true even of Adam before his fall, and of the Angels, although they had not received the Sacraments. He replies that it must add something, otherwise there would be no point in conferring the Sacraments on those who already possess the grace of virtues and gifts. (Cf IIIa, Q.62, art 2)

Confirmation and the Eucharist are received by persons already baptized, but such Sacraments are meaningless unless they produce some special effect. To suggest that they merely produce an increase of grace is not sufficient, for the frequent repetition of one and the same Sacrament would have a similar effect. Certainly there would never be any need for more than three Sacraments: Baptism for the reception of the first grace, Penance for those who had lost their baptismal grace, and a third Sacrament for the increase of the grace in a just. So any solution of the problem along those lines could never explain why there are seven Sacraments specifically distinct from each other, which must, therefore confer a special grace if they are not to be pointless. The whole question depends on this notion of “purpose.”

Sermon for Corpus Christi

2010-06-07T08:02:00.004-04:00

Not surprisingly at the end of the Year for the Priests, the Holy Father invited the faithful to meditate on the relation that exists between the Eucharist and the Priest. There is certainly more than a relation of causality between the priest and the Eucharist. Yes, it is true that it is the priest who confects the Eucharist and as such is really the agent that produces this admirable Sacrament. In fact he is not the first and primary agent. The changing of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus is produced first by God as the principal agent, by the humanity of Christ as the instrument conjoined to the divinity, and by the celebrant as a separate instrument, conscious and free, Father Garrigou-Lagrange explains.

And this shows the great dignity of the priest, who, though simply an instrumental cause, has still a power on God Himself who obeys him. In virtue of his priesthood, the priest has a power on the Body of Christ that he can confect here or there whenever he wants, as a conscious and free agent. But again, there is more than a relation of causality. Consider what the Eucharist is and consider how it is confected, or what does the priest say when he confects it.
The Eucharist is the Sacrament that contains the body, the blood, the soul and the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine. It means that a consecrated host is Jesus Himself. In his sermon for the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Holy Father recalled who Jesus is. He is the High Priest. And His Priesthood results from His very own Humanity. He was not a priest according to the Jewish tradition, the Holy Father says. He did not belong to the lineage of Aaron. He is rather a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek! Nobody knows really who he was. The Scriptures give just few information about him: he was King of Salem, priest of the Most High who brought bread and wine and that’s all what we know. And Jesus is priest according to the order of this mysterious man and not in reason of his belonging to the tribe of Aaron. It shows the superiority of the priesthood of Christ and its mysterious origin that has to be found in the hypostatic union.

The degree of excellence belonging to any priesthood depends on the intimacy of union, first between the priest and God, Father Garrigou-Lagrange says. Since there is no higher degree of union with God than the hypostatic union, there is no higher priesthood than the one Of Christ. Secondly the degree of excellence of any priesthood depends also on the intimacy of union between the priest and the victim possessing the greater purity and value and which is more completely destroyed. In our case, Christ is both Priest and Victim; no other victim would have been worthy of His priesthood.

And being consummated, he became, to all that obey him, the cause of eternal salvation.(Hb 5,9). Being consummated can also be translated by ‘made perfect.’ Then the Pope explains: The term "teleiotheis," translated correctly as "made perfect," belongs to a verbal root that, in the Greek version of the Pentateuch, namely the first five books of the Bible, is always used to indicate the consecration of the ancient priests. This discovery is quite precious, because it tells us that the Passion was for Jesus as a priestly consecration. He was not a priest according to the Law, but he became so essentially in his Passion, Death and Resurrection: He offered himself in expiation and the Father, exalting him above every creature, constituted him universal Mediator of salvation.

The offering of the bread and wine, prefigured by Melchizedek and that is now the offering of the body and of the blood of Christ is the perfect Sacrifice. When a priest confects the Eucharist, he also renews the Sacrifice of Jesus, and both are intimely connected. The Eucharist is both a Sacrament and a Sacrifice, and if we can distinguish between them we cannot separate them. The permanence of the physical presence of Christ is a fruit of His Sacrifice.

We return, in our meditation, to the Eucharist, Pope Benedict continues, which in a while will be the center of our liturgical assembly and of the subsequent solemn procession. In it Jesus anticipated his sacrifice, not a ritual sacrifice but a personal one. In the Last Supper he acted moved by that "Eternal Spirit" with which he will offer himself later on the Cross (cf. Hebrews 9:14). Giving thanks and with a blessing, Jesus transformed the bread and wine. It is divine love that transforms: the love with which Jesus accepts in advance to give himself completely for us. This love is none other than the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father and of the Son, which consecrates the bread and wine and changes their substance into the Body and the Blood of the Lord, rendering present in the Sacrament the same sacrifice that is made later in a bloody manner on the cross.

The priests who consecrate every day the bread and the wine make the Sacrifice of Christ present. As such, it is the greatest sign of the love of God for us. Priests renew the only one Sacrifice of Jesus and make possible the permanence of the physical presence of our Redeemer by saying the words that Jesus said: This is my body – this is the chalice of my blood. And this time, they act in persona Christi. Like Christ was made perfect by his Sacrifice, priests are made perfect when they celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass. By confecting the Eucharist, they perfect themselves, and in a certain way “they confect themselves” if we can say this, because they act in persona Christi, Priest and Victim. This is why there is more than a relation of causality between the priest and the Eucharist. This is a great mystery! This is why the Church, through the mouth of the Bishop admonishes the priests on the day of their ordination: Imitamini quod tractatis: Imitate that which you celebrate – or what you do!

The feast of Corpus Christi is a call for all the priests to live a holy life, the life of Christ. May Our Blessed Mother pray for them and protect them.

The Cathedral of the Kings

2010-05-15T15:03:00.009-04:00

Built in the XIII century on the site of the previous basilica where Clovis received the Sacrament of Baptism – one of the founding acts of the very Christian Kingdom of France – the Cathedral Our Lady of Reims is a jewel of the Gothic art. It is the Cathedral where the Kings of France were anointed and crowned. (The anointing was even more important than the crowning and was considered to be a “quasi-sacrament” similar to the consecration of the Bishops: the King of France was referred as “l’évêque du dehors.”) Twenty five Kings have been anointed in this Cathedral. Louis VIII was the first in 1223 and Charles X the last in 1825.

Sermon for the 5th Sunday after Easter

2010-05-13T08:00:00.004-04:00

Our collects are some of the oldest evidence of the faith of the early Church, Dom Gérard says. They have survived the slow transformation of the Liturgy and they have now a considerable interest. They are a jewel of the Liturgy for the beauty of their composition with their well balanced rhythm, as it is often the case, and the wisdom that shows through their words. They undoubtedly bear the mark of the Holy Ghost.

Dom Gérard point out two characters of these collects: their doctrinal richness and their educational value. It is clearly the mark of the Church, Mater et Magistra, mother and teacher, who educates her children with so much love, care and attention. And it is first our minds and our hearts that Holy Mother Church tries to educate. I say try, because the Church does not compel us, but really educates us according to the etymology of word: ex-ducere. She leads us from where we are so that we can move forward. And this is a work of patience as we often turn a deaf ear to the Church.

Yes, the Liturgy is definitively a locus theologicus, a theological place where we learn about God and where we are educated in His wisdom. It is a theology whose literary form is poetry. It is for this very reason that it is often very difficult to translate it into vernacular languages, but though the translations cannot always preserve the literary form, they can still express the theological substance.

The Exsultet, the Lauda Sion and the Dies Irae are sung dogmas, Dom Gérard says again. They infuse into the soul light and love. In the time of faith, the Liturgy has been the great teacher of the children of the Church. Hymns, Psalms, Gregorian chant and the Sacramental order poured into the souls the light of the truths of faith and roused men to look at God rather than to look at themselves.

It is still the case, but we do not understand it very well. The frequent meditation of the collects from the missal can certainly help us to rediscover the beauty and the greatness of the Divine Liturgy and therefore to taste more fruitfully the Divine Wisdom. Let us consider today’s collect: O God, from Whom all good things do come, grant to us Thy suppliants, that by Thine inspiration we may think what is right, and under Thy guidance perform it; Through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Meditation on this collect)

There is a great sweetness when we pray with the very same words and the same accents as the first Christians, freshly reborn with the Baptismal water did. Listening to the same readings; modulating the same chants, like them we are attentive to the mysterious voice of the Spirit and of the Bride who says: Come Lord Jesus.

In Memoriam

Dom Gérard Calvet o.s.b. (1927-2008)

The Church is our Mother

2010-04-30T19:50:00.002-04:00

28th Pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres

The Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage is a three-day walk from Notre-Dame de Paris to Notre-Dame de Chartres, approximately 75 miles. Pilgrims are organized into groups of 20-65 people, that are referred to as "chapters". The "walk" is through the streets of Paris, and then into the countryside. It can be muddy, rocky, and demanding-and the rewards of such a penitential exercise are eternal. Good sturdy shoes are a must. Each chapter is accompanied by at least one chaplain, who hears confession and gives spiritual direction to each pilgrim who avails himself of the priest's presence. This pilgrimage originated in the 12th century, with interruptions for the various wars our European brethren seem to find themselves in from time to time. A plenary indulgence is granted, under the usual conditions.
Pilgrims will meet in front of Notre Dame de Paris at 6 a.m. on May 22nd, and the journey of faith and foot begins.

Information and registration here: http://www.nd-chretiente.com/index-eng.php

Intellectual weapons to win the public square.

2010-04-18T09:45:00.003-04:00

I have received the following letter from the Sapientis Institute with a proposal for the readers of this blog and the parishionners of Saint Pio de Pietrelcina. A good doctrinal formation supposes a good education and first, it requires what many people lack because they have been brain-washed by the system (Public school, televison, modernism...): to learn how to think well, according to our human nature.

Please, take a look and consider it.

The vocation of lay Catholics is to regain the public square for the Church. The Holy Father’s vision is that we must do this by "imbuing the temporal order with the Christian spirit and transforming it according to the divine plan". But we cannot perform this mission unless we have been fully formed in the intellectual traditions of the Catholic Church. Only then will we have the tools required to bring the voice of the church to the public square.
To provide that intellectual formation the Sapientis Institute is presenting a unique online program that combines modern technology and a timeless program of Thomistic studies. Through this medium we are able to reach potentially hundreds of thousands of students who, for reasons of geography, age and financial situation, would never be able to complete a course of Thomistic study in the conventional way.

Many people are intimidated by philosophy, mainly because they have been thrown in the deep end by starting with Metaphysics. But we start with Logic. This mirrors perfectly how our intellects develop and therefore makes philosophy accessible to all. We have a number of teenagers as students.

Lectures are delivered via an online classroom that allows students to have the benefit of immediate interaction with the lecturer. We also offer the benefits of traditional distance education. All lectures are available as downloads after the class.

Our course fees are not per person but are per household, so the whole household, even every member of a large family, can afford to get the best in Scholastic formation.

We are currently registering students for courses in Beginning Latin, Formal and Material Logic and Philosophical Physics. Once these courses are completed students can go on to study Ethics, Economics, Politics, and Metaphysics.

Readers of De Fide Catholica and members of the St. Pio da Pietralcina community are invited to attend the first three sessions of any of our courses on a trial basis. Just go to the Trial Offer page.

Link Trial Period Offer: http://sapientisinstitute.org/trialperiodoffer.html

Link Sapientis Institute: http://sapientisinstitute.org/home.html

God Bless

Christopher Cordeiro
Marketing and Student Affairs Director

Trip to Saint Louis

2010-04-16T01:45:00.004-04:00

Some pictures of Saint John Bosco Academy's trip to Saint Louis on the week of Easter.

Visit Saint John Bosco Academy website:
http://www.saintjohnboscoacademy.net

U Catenacciu

2010-04-02T01:22:00.003-04:00

Catenacciu

Holy Week Schedule at Cherokee Village

2010-03-28T11:25:00.000-04:00

The wounded Liturgy

2010-03-20T09:20:00.003-04:00

An outstanding speech from Bishop Marc Aillet at the Theological Convention on the Liturgy.

http://www.convegnoteologico.org/en/index.php/leaf/14282

His Excellency Marc Aillet, Bishop of Bayonne

Lenten Sermon (III)

2010-03-16T07:11:00.001-04:00

We often know a thing by its effects according to the principle of causality. It is particularly true in the case of things that do not fall directly under the senses. For instance, it is the case of our souls and of God. An atheist would say: God does not exist; nobody has ever seen him. Certainly, we can answer that a thing does not have to be seen in order to exist. Furthermore, denying God is denying the principle and the cause of everything we know and see. Saint Paul calls such an atheist, a foolish person, for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. (Rm 1,20)
As for our souls, our intellect knows itself not by its essence but by its acts, which put us, men, in the lower rank among the rational creatures. We are not as intelligent as we may think. God knows Himself and everything that He has created by His own essence, Saint Thomas explains. An angel can also understand himself – and only himself and not other created things – by his own essence. But for us, it is more complicated. We are sometimes a mystery to ourselves. But again we can still know our intellect by its acts. If you want to know who you are, consider what you do. With Saint Augustine, we say: I understand that I understand.
Our acts can be divided into two categories: good and evil. The object of our meditation is now about out evil acts, namely sins. In order to understand better the nature of sin, we shall use the principle of causality and consider its effects. Two years ago, when we had a tornado here in North Arkansas, I did not fully realize how bad it was until I saw its effects the next morning when I went out. It is only when I saw all the damages, the trees down, the houses flattened, the land devastated that I understood that it was a serious tornado. Similarly, in order to understand how bad sin is, let us consider its effects.
The first effect is the corruption of nature. In fact we had already the occasion to meditate on this in our first meditation of Lent – remember the triptych. The corruption of nature is signified by the parable of the Good Samaritan as the Fathers explain it. A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Saint Augustine: that man is taken for Adam himself, representing the race of man; Jerusalem, the city of peace, that heavenly country, from the bliss of which he fell. Jericho is interpreted to be the moon, and signifies our mortality, because it rises, increases, wanes, and sets.
This man fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. This is how mankind is now: stripped and wounded, half-dead, among the thieves who are the spirits of darkness. Saint Augustine says again: they stripped man of his immortality, and wounding him, by persuading to sin, left him half dead; for wherein he is able to understand and know God, man is alive, but wherein he is corrupted and pressed down by sins, he is dead.
Yes, because of our sins, the good of nature is now diminished and corrupted. Saint Thomas says that the good of human nature is threefold. First, there are the principles of which nature is constituted, and the properties that flow from them, such as the powers of the soul, and so forth. Secondly, since man has from nature an inclination to virtue, this inclination to virtue is a good of nature. Thirdly, the gift of original justice, conferred on the whole of human nature in the person of the first man, may be called a good of nature.
Then Saint Thomas continues: Accordingly, the first-mentioned good of nature is neither destroyed nor diminished by sin. The third good of nature was entirely destroyed through the sin of our first parent. But the second good of nature, viz. the natural inclination to virtue, is diminished by sin because human acts produce an inclination to like acts. Now from the very fact that thing becomes inclined to one of two contraries, its inclination to the other contrary must needs be diminished. Wherefore as sin is opposed to virtue, from the very fact that a man sins, there results a diminution of that good of nature, which is the inclination to virtue.
There is something that we have definitely lost with original sin; it is original justice: the condition of mankind that we have considered in the beginning of Lent. We suffer each day of the loss of it. And we even make things worst each single time we commit a personal sin. We make things worse for ourselves as Saint Thomas just said. Human acts produce an inclination to like acts. In other words, the more I sin, the more I am inclined to sin against and I can easily be driven into a vicious circle if I do nothing against it. Furthermore, as a result of the loss of original justice, all the powers of the soul are left destitute of their proper order.
There are four of the soul's powers that can be subject of virtue: the reason, where prudence resides, the will, where justice is, the irascible, the subject of fortitude, and the concupiscible, the subject of temperance. Therefore in so far as the reason is deprived of its order to the true, there is the wound of ignorance; in so far as the will is deprived of its order of good, there is the wound of malice; in so far as the irascible is deprived of its order to the arduous, there is the wound of weakness; and in so far as the concupiscible is deprived of its order to the delectable, moderated by reason, there is the wound of concupiscence.
This means that a sinner can ignore that he is a sinner, and this ignorance would be a shameful and guilty ignorance. Or he may acknowledge it and like it, which would be merely malicious.
I think we have for now enough matter for our meditation. Let us continue to consider the effects of sin in our own personal lives. How much am I wounded? how much am I inclined to sin? How much am I guilty? How much am I ignorant, weak and malicious?
Next Friday, with the help of God, we will continue our meditation by considering more effects of sin.

Terribilis est!

2010-03-01T10:01:00.002-05:00

I am on my way to Denton, Nebraska for the Dedication of the chapel of our seminary. This is not terrible, except for the drive that is long - but it gives times for many rosaries. What is terrible is that our seminarians will have a holy place where God will be served and loved with majesty and reverence. Deo gratias!
PS: terrible is an equivocal word. Pick the right meaning!

Cathedral of Helena, Montana

2010-02-25T11:40:00.003-05:00

Just some pictures of the Cathedral of Helena taken last summer (the pictures, and not the Cathedral)

Le sourire

2010-02-25T07:13:00.004-05:00

Jean de Larigaudie, Etoile au grand large

Il est un bon moyen de se créer une âme amicale : le sourire. Pas le sourire ironique et moqueur, le sourire en coin de lèvres, qui juge et rapetisse. Mais le sourire large net, le sourire scout à fleur de rire. Savoir sourire : quelle force ! Force d'apaisement, force de douceur, de calme, force de rayonnement. Un type fait une réflexion sur ton passage... tu es pressé... tu passes... mais souris, souris vastement. Si ton sourire est franc joyeux, ton type sourira aussi... et l'incident sera clos dans la paix... Essaie. Tu veux faire à un camarade une critique que tu juges nécessaire, lui donner un conseil que tu crois utile. Critique, conseil, choses dures à avaler. Mais souris, compense la dureté des mots par l'affection de ton regard, le rire de tes lèvres, par toute ta physionomie joyeuse. Et ta critique, ton conseil porteront mieux... parce qu'ils n'auront pas blessé. Il est des moments où, devant certaines détresses, les mots ne viennent pas, les paroles consolatrices ne veulent pas sortir... Souris avec tout ton cœur, avec toute ton âme compatissante. Tu as souffert et le sourire muet d'un ami t'a réconforté. Tu ne peux pas ne pas avoir fait cette expérience. Agis de même pour les autres. « Christ, disait Jacques d'Arnoux, quand ton bois sacré me harasse et me déchire, donne-moi quand même la force de faire la charité du sourire ». Car le sourire est une charité. Souris à ce pauvre à qui tu viens de donner deux sous..., à cette dame à qui tu viens de céder ta place..., à ce monsieur qui s'excuse parce qu'il t'a écrasé le pied en passant. Il est malaisé parfois de trouver le mot juste, l'attitude vraie, le geste approprié. Mais sourire ! C'est si facile... et cela arrange tant de choses ! Pourquoi ne pas user et abuser de ce moyen si simple. Le sourire est un reflet de joie. Il en est source. Et là où la joie règne - je veux dire la vraie joie, la joie en profondeur et en pureté d'âme - là aussi s'épanouit cette "âme amicale" dont parlait si bien Schaeffer. Routiers, soyons des porteurs de sourires, et par là des semeurs de joie.

Letter to Bishop Taylor

2010-02-22T11:20:00.002-05:00

As many other people, I was surprised to read the sermon that His Excellency Anthony Taylor, Bishop of Little Rock delivered on January 17th. In this sermon, General Robert E. Lee was simply associated with the culture of death. The same day, I gave a sermon – I was not aware of Bishop Taylor’s sermon at this time – and said that Robert E. Lee, though non Catholic, was a great man of honor and of principle who did not hesitate to sacrifice many things for what he thought being good. It is precisely for the sake of honor – it is justice to defend someone’s honor – that we had to react against this statement of Bishop Taylor, who happens to be my Bishop in Arkansas. It is with all due respect, without any unsound volition against the authority of our Bishop, but simply because we think it is the right thing to do that we sent the following letter to Bishop Taylor. It was written by Earnie Cavin and signed by 56 persons including myself.

Your Excellency,

After hearing about your sermon delivered Sunday, January 17th, AD 2010 and reviewing the text in the Arkansas Catholic, we were struck by your level of insensitivity towards the memory and the honor of a man who is considered to be a great Christian hero by many, many people, including Catholics, across this great state and nation. In addressing the timely and wholly appropriate topic of abortion, you used, what appears to be, your low personal opinion of an honorable 19th century military commander along with your obviously high personal opinion of a 20th century social action figure, to illustrate some perceived dichotomy between the two; linking Lee to the “culture of death” and King to the “culture of life”…

From your words, it appears you hold that, because Lee led an army in a bloody war, he was aligned with the “culture of death”… What’s more, you postulate that Lee was leading this army to keep slavery alive and well. However, you declare that because King led an effort in reforming social laws, through “non-violent” means, he was of the “culture of life”.

You express “astonishment” that Lee would be honored with a holiday in Arkansas. Let us assure you that we are astonished, indeed shocked, that the Ordinary of a diocese in a state which left the United States, and was honored to become a state of the Confederacy, would make such detrimental statements about a man who courageously led many secessionist Catholics into battle against an overwhelming invasion force of a tyrannical government. A holiday for Lee on the same weekend that we have a holiday for King? You asked, ”Why in the world would we ever want to do that?” Well, let us respectfully point out that “we” did not include “you”. Lee’s birthday (January 19) was a state holiday, long before King came to prominence. No dichotomy existed then.

Indeed, the very war which Lee fought was over the centralization of power, by the federal government. Because the war was lost, that same centralization has grown in nature to the point in which the ability of states to nullify laws, such as Roe vs. Wade, has been all but extinguished. When you think about it, the victory of the various northern states paved the way for the current federal system which mandates that every state allow abortion. Considering this possibility, perhaps Lee’s motives are a little more complex and noble than your sermon indicated. Could it be that Lee was more aligned with the “culture of life” than you realized? Therefore, to try and make the point that Lee fought on the side that wished to preserve slavery, making him somehow morally inferior to Dr. King, is a disregard of the facts as well as the bigger picture. Chattel slavery in the west (evil that it was), was on its way out… This was a given. Only two western countries still allowed slavery: The United States and Brazil. Lee was sympathetic towards the repeal of slavery, as were many other southerners who fought and died against an overwhelming invading army, in their quest for independence. The repeal of slavery would have certainly come about, soon, with or without the war.

Your comments would consequently hold the same contempt for all southerners of the period (Black, White, Catholic, Protestant, and Jew) who supported this great state, the Confederacy, and their struggle against an invasion. Were these people also aligned with the “culture of death”?

What about Confederate Catholics like:
Gen. Pierre Beauregard, who fired the first barrage at Fort Sumter ?
Gen. James Longstreet who commanded at Gettysburg ?
Rear Adm. Raphael Semmes who commanded the legendary CSS Alabama ?
Col. Santos Benavides of Texas ?
Gen. Joseph Finnegan of Florida ?
Stephen Mallory, Secretary of the Confederate Navy ?
Were these men also aligned with the “culture of death”?

What about the Catholic men who fought with valor such as those of the:
10th Tennessee?
Louisiana Tigers?
First Missouri?
…. “Culture of death”, also?

What about the courageous men of black Confederate regiments, such as the black Catholics in the 1st Louisiana Native Guard? …“Culture of death”?

What about the Southern priests, such as:
Fr. Abram Ryan, Poet Laureate of the South ?
Fr. Emmeran Bliemel (Killed in Action), Confederate Medal of Honor winner ?
Fr. John Bannon, fighting chaplain of the First Missouri ?
…Aligned with the “culture of death”, also?

Or what about your brother prelates, such as Bishop Patrick Lynch of Charleston, who was the ambassador of the Confederacy to the Holy See. Was he too aligned with the “culture of death”?

What about the Papal States? The Papal States were the only countries to exchange ambassadors with the Confederate States of America. Were they also complicit in the “culture of death”?

What about the Holy See and Blessed Pope Pius IX himself. . . . The only world leader to give de facto recognition of legitimacy of the Confederate States of America, addressing President Davis as the “Illustrious and Honorable Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America”? The same Holy Pontiff who wove a crown of thorns, with his own hands, and sent them to an embattled Jefferson Davis while Davis was held without trial for several years after the war? The same Holy Father who sent an autographed picture of himself to Davis, inscribed (from his own hand) with the words, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."

Was the Holy Father then also aligned with the “culture of death” ?

Your Excellency, while your zeal for social justice and work to end abortion is very much appreciated, we feel that denigrating the honor and memory of such a great man, whose courage, leadership, and impeccable moral character has, for over a century, been a model of civic responsibility, to so many people across this land, is both offensive and abrasive. Your public sermon, which seeks to include such a moral man, who is a great hero to the people of Arkansas and the rest of the South, in the “culture of death”, is both insensitive and insulting.

We prayerfully ask that you re-investigate the man and the conflict carefully. We might also recommend that you look a little deeper into the relationship that Holy Mother Church worked to foster with the Confederate States of America. Arkansas’ and the other Southern states’ cause for independence cannot be so simply described as the result of panicked slave holders, as so many northern history scholars have depicted.

We also prayerfully ask that you humbly consider retracting the offensive comments, in the spirit of cultural and pastoral charity.

Thank you for your consideration.

Yours, Respectfully in Christ,

Pope's message for Lent

2010-02-11T15:00:00.000-05:00

“The justice of God has been manifested
through faith in Jesus Christ” (cf. Rm 3, 21-22)

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Each year, on the occasion of Lent, the Church invites us to a sincere review of our life in light of the teachings of the Gospel. This year, I would like to offer you some reflections on the great theme of justice, beginning from the Pauline affirmation: “The justice of God has been manifested through faith in Jesus Christ” (cf. Rm 3, 21-22).

Justice: “dare cuique suum”

First of all, I want to consider the meaning of the term “justice,” which in common usage implies “to render to every man his due,” according to the famous expression of Ulpian, a Roman jurist of the third century. In reality, however, this classical definition does not specify what “due” is to be rendered to each person. What man needs most cannot be guaranteed to him by law. In order to live life to the full, something more intimate is necessary that can be granted only as a gift: we could say that man lives by that love which only God can communicate since He created the human person in His image and likeness. Material goods are certainly useful and required – indeed Jesus Himself was concerned to heal the sick, feed the crowds that followed Him and surely condemns the indifference that even today forces hundreds of millions into death through lack of food, water and medicine – yet “distributive” justice does not render to the human being the totality of his “due.” Just as man needs bread, so does man have even more need of God. Saint Augustine notes: if “justice is that virtue which gives every one his due ... where, then, is the justice of man, when he deserts the true God?” (De civitate Dei, XIX, 21).

What is the Cause of Injustice?

The Evangelist Mark reports the following words of Jesus, which are inserted within the debate at that time regarding what is pure and impure: “There is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him … What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts” (Mk 7, 14-15, 20-21). Beyond the immediate question concerning food, we can detect in the reaction of the Pharisees a permanent temptation within man: to situate the origin of evil in an exterior cause. Many modern ideologies deep down have this presupposition: since injustice comes “from outside,” in order for justice to reign, it is sufficient to remove the exterior causes that prevent it being achieved. This way of thinking – Jesus warns – is ingenuous and shortsighted. Injustice, the fruit of evil, does not have exclusively external roots; its origin lies in the human heart, where the seeds are found of a mysterious cooperation with evil. With bitterness the Psalmist recognises this: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps 51,7). Indeed, man is weakened by an intense influence, which wounds his capacity to enter into communion with the other. By nature, he is open to sharing freely, but he finds in his being a strange force of gravity that makes him turn in and affirm himself above and against others: this is egoism, the result of original sin. Adam and Eve, seduced by Satan’s lie, snatching the mysterious fruit against the divine command, replaced the logic of trusting in Love with that of suspicion and competition; the logic of receiving and trustfully expecting from the Other with anxiously seizing and doing on one’s own (cf. Gn 3, 1-6), experiencing, as a consequence, a sense of disquiet and uncertainty. How can man free himself from this selfish influence and open himself to love?

Justice and Sedaqah

At the heart of the wisdom of Israel, we find a profound link between faith in God who “lifts the needy from the ash heap” (Ps 113,7) and justice towards one’s neighbor. The Hebrew word itself that indicates the virtue of justice, sedaqah, expresses this well. Sedaqah, in fact, signifies on the one hand full acceptance of the will of the God of Israel; on the other hand, equity in relation to one’s neighbour (cf. Ex 20, 12-17), especially the poor, the stranger, the orphan and the widow (cf. Dt 10, 18-19). But the two meanings are linked because giving to the poor for the Israelite is none other than restoring what is owed to God, who had pity on the misery of His people. It was not by chance that the gift to Moses of the tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai took place after the crossing of the Red Sea. Listening to the Law presupposes faith in God who first “heard the cry” of His people and “came down to deliver them out of hand of the Egyptians” (cf. Ex 3,8). God is attentive to the cry of the poor and in return asks to be listened to: He asks for justice towards the poor (cf. Sir 4,4-5, 8-9), the stranger (cf. Ex 22,20), the slave (cf. Dt 15, 12-18). In order to enter into justice, it is thus necessary to leave that illusion of self-sufficiency, the profound state of closure, which is the very origin of injustice. In other words, what is needed is an even deeper “exodus” than that accomplished by God with Moses, a liberation of the heart, which the Law on its own is powerless to realize. Does man have any hope of justice then?

Christ, the Justice of God

The Christian Good News responds positively to man’s thirst for justice, as Saint Paul affirms in the Letter to the Romans: “But now the justice of God has been manifested apart from law … the justice of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (3, 21-25). What then is the justice of Christ? Above all, it is the justice that comes from grace, where it is not man who makes amends, heals himself and others. The fact that “expiation” flows from the “blood” of Christ signifies that it is not man’s sacrifices that free him from the weight of his faults, but the loving act of God who opens Himself in the extreme, even to the point of bearing in Himself the “curse” due to man so as to give in return the “blessing” due to God (cf. Gal 3, 13-14). But this raises an immediate objection: what kind of justice is this where the just man dies for the guilty and the guilty receives in return the blessing due to the just one? Would this not mean that each one receives the contrary of his “due”? In reality, here we discover divine justice, which is so profoundly different from its human counterpart. God has paid for us the price of the exchange in His Son, a price that is truly exorbitant. Before the justice of the Cross, man may rebel for this reveals how man is not a self-sufficient being, but in need of Another in order to realize himself fully. Conversion to Christ, believing in the Gospel, ultimately means this: to exit the illusion of self-sufficiency in order to discover and accept one’s own need – the need of others and God, the need of His forgiveness and His friendship. So we understand how faith is altogether different from a natural, good-feeling, obvious fact: humility is required to accept that I need Another to free me from “what is mine,” to give me gratuitously “what is His.” This happens especially in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Thanks to Christ’s action, we may enter into the “greatest” justice, which is that of love (cf. Rm 13, 8-10), the justice that recognises itself in every case more a debtor than a creditor, because it has received more than could ever have been expected. Strengthened by this very experience, the Christian is moved to contribute to creating just societies, where all receive what is necessary to live according to the dignity proper to the human person and where justice is enlivened by love.

Dear brothers and sisters, Lent culminates in the Paschal Triduum, in which this year, too, we shall celebrate divine justice – the fullness of charity, gift, salvation. May this penitential season be for every Christian a time of authentic conversion and intense knowledge of the mystery of Christ, who came to fulfill every justice. With these sentiments, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.

Les valeurs du rugby

2010-02-07T08:06:00.004-05:00

Par Daniel Bouthier

« Le rugby : école de la vie », l’affirmation est fréquente, c’est même devenu l’un des slogans au sein de la Fédération Française de Rugby. Pour autant il est judicieux d’examiner plus finement qu’elles sont les valeurs véhiculées par le rugby et à quelles conditions toutes ou parties de celles-ci ont lieux d’être visées et peuvent être développées dans une perspective éducative à l’école.
Le rugby dans sa forme moderne a émergé et s’est développé comme outil d’éducation dans les collèges anglais avant de dépasser le cadre scolaire et de se « sportiviser ». Inspiré de jeux ancestraux, dont on retrouve des traces dès l’antiquité, et subissant des variations selon les époques et les cultures, le rugby dans sa forme initiale renvoie à un « esprit du jeu ».

L’esprit du jeu

Ce dernier reste plus ou moins implicite, mais l’analyse socio-historique de l’évolution du règlement qui matérialise cet esprit et, des discours des dirigeants de l’International Rugby Board, qui légifèrent à ce propos, permet de l’expliciter :
- se confronter à la variété et la rudesse des oppositions guerrières. Affronter l’ennemi par les fantassins, le contourner par la cavalerie, ou l’atteindre sur ses arrières par l’artillerie comme au temps des romains, mais encore des troupes napoléoniennes, reste l’une des trois modalités collectives d’attaque en rugby (jeu à la main groupé ou déployé et jeu au pied) ;
- préserver l’intégrité physique des pratiquants. Le seuil de tolérance des dommages acceptables évoluant avec la société (de la fracture osseuse au XIXème siècle à l’hématome aujourd’hui) et les institutions de pratique (école, club) ;
- conserver le caractère ludique du jeu, du fait de l’égalité des chances (assurée par l’application uniforme du règlement) et, de l’incertitude du résultat (supposant un relatif équilibre des équipes en opposition).
Même si la mondialisation en cours du jeu (instauration de la Coupe du monde), sa marchandisation (avènement du professionnalisme), sa spectacularisation (influence des exigences télévisuelles) viennent aujourd’hui accélérer et orienter les évolutions à venir.

Quelles valeurs sont alors mises en exergue par ce jeu.

Sport collectif d’opposition frontale, le rugby suppose la coopération entre partenaires, mais aussi le respect d’autrui à travers l’arbitre et les adversaires (on joue contre mais aussi avec eux). Le combat collectif et les possibilités d’affrontement physique supposent le courage individuel et la solidarité, ce que Daniel Herrero décrit comme le fait de devoir « donner et partager dans le rude ». Accepter donc le choc et la chute pour démarquer un partenaire, conserver ou recouvrer la possession de la balle. L’intelligence tactique pour choisir les solutions individuelles et collectives les plus adaptées au rapport d’opposition du contexte momentané de jeu et la prise d’initiative pour sortir à bon escient des schémas de jeu préétablis. Le goût de l’effort et de l’activité de plein air, pour soutenir malgré la durée des matches, les aléas du score et les intempéries, donc effectivement à nouveau une certaine rudesse ou rusticité. La convivialité qui se manifeste après le match et constitue une véritable « troisième mi-temps », poursuite de la rencontre des autres à travers l’échange souvent festif.

A quelles conditions faire jouer les vertus éducatives du rugby

Comme toutes pratiques sociales, a fortiori lorsque celles-ci deviennent des enjeux lourds de profit (professionnalisation, marchandisation, spectacle sportif télévisuel, etc.), le rugby donne lieu aussi à des comportements dévoyés (tricherie, dopage, brutalité, intolérance, etc.), peu conformes aux finalités éducatives de l’école et aux visées plus générale de développement humain. L’utilisation du rugby dans une perspective éducative suppose donc, une attitude vigilante et critique par rapport aux différentes formes sociales et usages sociaux des pratiques susceptibles de servir de référence aux activités scolaires.Le rugby n’est pas formatif en soi ; mais il peut le devenir dans le cadre d’une stratégie d’enseignement éclairée et maîtrisée.

Celle-ci doit permettre de confronter le pratiquant à l’essence, la spécificité, l’authenticité de la pratique de référence (se sacrifier à travers le choc et la chute au bénéfice du partenaire, se jouer de l’adversaire sur sa dimension faible) dont on va se garantir par la mise en jeu d’un règlement adapté, réduit à quelques règles matérialisant l’esprit du jeu. La règle délimitant ici des degrés de liberté (et de contraintes) collectivement compris et acceptés pour faire jouer la dynamique du jeu et permettre l’engagement de chacun.

Elle doit favoriser l’appropriation de genres techniques socialement accumulés pour :
- choisir en contexte les réalisations motrices les plus adaptées à l’opposition,
- gérer au mieux ses possibilités athlétiques et ses émotions,
- analyser le jeu par la maîtrise des instruments conceptuels et matériels spécifiques,
- participer selon différents rôles sociaux à la vie du jeu (joueur, arbitre, conseiller),
et pour dégager progressivement son propre style de jeu, en fonction de ses goûts et des
ses possibilités.

La Coupe du Monde de Rugby, au-delà de l’impression superficielle
d’uniformisation du jeu, est l’occasion de constater à la fois des évolutions communes (temps de jeu augmentés, « athlétisation » des joueurs, organisation des défenses, etc.) et des traductions différenciées selon les nations .
Ce ne sont pas ainsi les mêmes phases de jeu, formes de jeu, utilisations des joueurs qui sont privilégiées par les uns et par les autres selon leur culture et leur conception de la préparation. Certaines nations vont s’appuyer principalement sur l’organisation en système de jeu a priori et ce sur la succession des différentes phases, tentant de pré-programmer la quasi-totalité de leurs actions, d’autres vont accorder plus d’importance aux adaptations tactiques en jeu aux aléas de celui-ci qui ne manquent pas de survenir.
L’enjeu étant sans doute de parvenir non seulement à un équilibre mais aussi à une articulation optimale entre organisation et adaptation. C'est-à-dire une formation à des systèmes de jeu constituant des trames de variance laissant des espaces aux adaptations tactiques, avec des retours possibles de ces dernières vers les systèmes.

Jeûne pour le sacerdoce

2010-02-01T12:42:00.001-05:00

En ce dimanche de la Septuagésime, et alors que s'ouvre le cycle de Pâques, la Fraternité Saint-Pierre ouvre les inscriptions pour sa grande initiative de carême 2010 : offrir des carême au pape et à l'Eglise, pour le sacerdoce catholique.

Inscrivez-vous et faites connaître cette grande initiative : http://www.fssp.fr/careme.html

Sermon for Septuagesima Sunday

2010-02-01T12:19:00.002-05:00

For many are called, but few chosen!

This is a serious statement from Our Lord. Many theologians have reflected on these words but are also divided on this point. There is no doubt that, in this sentence, the chosen ones are the elects, the members of the triumphant Church who are saved in Heaven. Catholic Encyclopedia explains: There is some doubt as to whether it refers to mere membership, or to a more exalted degree. This distinction is important; if the word implies mere membership in the Church Triumphant, then the chosen ones, or those who will be saved, are few, and the non-members in the Church Triumphant are many; if the word denotes a special degree of glory, then few will attain this rank, and many will fail to do so, though many are called to it.

If we accept the first interpretation, then we can draw a terrible conclusion, which is that the great majority of men go to hell, with the danger that God may appear as a cruel and avenging God. The second term of the alternative is less frightening. It is not about being saved or reproved, but just about reaching a higher degree of glory in heaven. The danger here would be to consider God as a loving and tender God who cannot send anybody in hell, and who forgives everyone.

In matter of faith, which t is an important matter, because it is precisely a matter of salvation as we have seen it last Sunday, it is extremely important to be as much objective as we can and to not jump on immediate conclusions. Faith is nor a feeling neither a personal interpretation of God, but the act of the intellect assenting to a Divine truth owing to the movement of the will, which is itself moved by the grace of God. ( St Thomas) Now, we can give our assent to a Divine truth only if it has been revealed by God Himself. There are different degrees of assent based on different degrees of revelations or of authority. The highest degree is De fide divina et catholica that includes all the truths contained in the written words of God or tradition that have been taught by the ordinary or extraordinary teaching authority of the Church as divinely revealed. The denial of such a truth constitutes a sin of heresy as we said last Sunday.

Now, theology is a science as it proceeds from principles established by the light of a higher science. (St Thomas) In this case these principles are revealed by God. The principles have to be accepted by everyone, as they have been taught by God Himself, but not all the theological conclusions are object of faith.

In our present discussion, we know for sure that the number of the predestined is certain and can neither be increased nor diminished, as Saint Augustine says. The number of the elect is known, but only by God. The end of the world will come when this number will be complete. We also know that this number in itself is very great. Saint John saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. Yet, we do not know what this number is. Father Garrigou-Lagrange says: When we speak of men exclusively, we do not know, first of all, if among the worlds scattered in space the earth is the only one that is habitable. But if we restrict our question to men on our planet, the number of the elect remains a matter of controversy.

Many Fathers and Doctors think that those who are saved do not represent the greater number. Among them we can mention with Father Garrigou-Lagrange Saints Basil, John Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen, Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Leo the Great, Bernard, Thomas Aquinas. Then, nearer to our own times: Molina, St. Robert Bellarmine, Suarez, Vasquez, Lessius, and St. Alphonsus. We certainly have to highly value this opinion as it is the one of great theologians, Doctors and Saints. Yet we do not have to over-value it. All of these great theologians give this view as opinion, not as revealed truth, not as certain conclusion, Father Garrigou-Lagrange says.

With Father Monsabre, we can also say: Remark that Our Lord does not tell us definitely the number of the good and of the wicked. To those who demanded a clear pronouncement, He was content to reply: 'Strive to enter by the narrow gate; for many . . . shall seek to enter and shall not be able.' The rigorists will tell me possibly that Jesus here hides the mystery of His justice, in order not to frighten timorous souls. As for myself, I prefer to think that He hides here the mystery of His mercy, that we may avoid presumption.

Finally, since the number of the elect remains unknown to us, let us conclude with Father Garrigou-Lagrange that since we cannot arrive at certitude in this question it is better to acknowledge our ignorance than to discourage the faithful by a doctrine which is too rigid, to expose them to danger by a doctrine which is too superficial. For each one of us, the important question is not how many will be saved, but rather, shall I be saved? The Council of Trent, quoting Saint Augustine, says: God never commands the impossible. But He warns us to do what we can, and to ask of Him the grace to accomplish what we of ourselves cannot do, and He aids us to fulfill what He commands. What I know for sure is that God gives me what I need to go to heaven. What would be the point of arguing on the number of the elect while you are even not working to become one of them? One day we will know this number. We would better know it, being in heaven rather than in hell.

May Our Lady of Prompt Succor help us to keep the Grace of God and to arrive safe in Heaven.

Pray the Holy Mass

2010-01-22T13:26:00.002-05:00

Don’t pray at Holy Mass, but pray the Holy Mass. The Holy Mass is a prayer itself, even the highest prayer that exists. It is the Sacrifice, dedicated by our Redeemer at the Cross, and repeated every day on the Altar. If you wish to hear Mass as it should be heard, you must follow with eye, heart, and mouth all that happens at the Altar. Further, you must pray with the Priest the holy words said by him. You have to associate your heart with the holy feelings which are contained in these words and in this manner you ought to follow all that happens on the Altar. When acting in this way, you have prayed Holy Mass. (Saint Pius X)

This can help you!

Robert E. Lee's birthday

2010-01-18T14:23:00.005-05:00

The unveiling of the monument to General Lee

By Father Abram Joseph Ryan

(May 29, 1890)

At noon, or a little after, General Early, who presided, in the absence of General Joseph E. Johnston, called the assemblage to order and introduced the orator of the day, Major Daniel. He rose amid deafening cheers – a man strikingly handsome, with soul power in his face. He combines in face and manner the powers of Edwin Booth and John McCullough, the actors. He began his oration in a simple, yet striking way, alluding to the home of Lee before the war. His power of description is strong. It was only the preface to a glorious oration. He rose as he proceeded as a man who is climbing the slopes of a mountain to see the setting sun when he reaches its summit. And his hearers followed him. Half-way up the slope of his oration he seemed to rest, but you could see in his face and hear in the tremor of his voice and his graceful swaying gestures that he rested for a purpose. I think it was the glory-hour of his address. When he flung back his classic head and alluded to President Davis, with his heart in his voice, and in words that were royal, he stilled the crowd for a few minutes; but when he closed his glorious eulogy on him who suffered vicariously for every Confederate man, woman and child, and who is still disfranchised by the Federal Government, the stillness was broken by such grand thunders of applause that the orator was obliged to pause. It was the grand Southern Amen to words grand as they were, and grandly spoken of a man grander than any words. Some eyes were moist with tears then – tributes to our President, who suffered for us all. God bless him. The orator went on, rising higher and higher in his eloquence, and when he concluded, there was one man in that audience who said to himself: “The orator equals the occasion.”

Then General Early. His words were brief, but he commanded your humble servant to come forward and face a crowd already entranced with glorious eloquence. I obeyed: said a few words, recited the “Sword of Robert Lee” and stole away. Stonewall Jackson’s daughter, Julia, unveiled the statue. Crowds went in and came out, and the faces of most were sad. Clouds were gathering away over on the mountains. The sun went down, and Lexington will never see such a day again, because the world will never know another Robert Lee.

Equestrian statue of Robert Lee by French sculptor Jean Antonin Mercié.

The Sword of Robert Lee

Forth from its scabbard, pure and bright,
Flashed the sword of Lee!
Far in the front of the deadly fight,
High o'er the brave in the cause of Right
Its stainless sheen, like a beacon light,
Led us to Victory!

Out of its scabbard, where, full long,
It slumbered peacefully,
Roused from its rest by the battle's song,
Shielding the feeble, smiting the strong,
Guarding the right, avenging the wrong,
Gleamed the sword of Lee!

Forth from its scabbard, high in the air
Beneath Virginia's sky--
And they who saw it gleaming there,
And knew who bore it, knelt to swear
That where that sword led they would dare
To follow--and to die!

Out of its scabbard! Never hand
Waved sword from stain as free,
Nor purer sword led braver band,
Nor braver bled for a brighter land,
Nor brighter land had a cause so grand,
Nor cause a chief like Lee!

Forth from its scabbard! How we prayed
That sword might victor be;
And when our triumph was delayed,
And many a heart grew sore afraid,
We still hoped on while gleamed the blade
Of noble Robert Lee!

Forth from its scabbard all in vain
Bright flashed the sword of Lee;
'Tis shrouded now in its sheath again,
It sleeps the sleep of our noble slain,
Defeated, yet without stain,
Proudly and peacefully!

The true Religion

2010-01-17T09:22:00.002-05:00

By Blaise Pascal

"The sign of the true Religion must be that it obliges men to love God. That is quite right, yet while none enjoined it, ours has done so. It must also have understood about concupiscence and weaknesses; ours has done so. It must have provided the remedies; one is prayer. No other religion has asked God to make us love and follow Him."

"True Religion teaches us our duties, our weaknesses, pride and concupiscence, and the remedies, humility and mortification."

Sermon for the Feast of the Epiphany

2010-01-06T12:57:00.004-05:00

The proclamation of Moveable Feasts, or Noveritis, that we have just heard is a very ancient tradition of the Church that certainly comes from Alexandria, great city of culture and of knowledge. There were astronomers who were asked by the Patriarch to find out the date of Easter for each year. Remember that the date of Eastern is determined by the lunar calendar, which has been definitively established by the First Council of Nicaea on the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the equinox of spring. Keep also in your mind that at this time, not everybody had a calendar, and that internet was not yet invented. What seems obvious for us was certainly not in the old days. So it was necessary to let know all the different churches of the dates of the major feasts of the liturgical year.

Once the Patriarch of Alexandria was notified of the date of Easter, he sent the news to the other Patriarchs of the Eastern Churches and to the Pope who could then notify the Patriarchs of the Western Churches. The Bishops made a custom of sending an epistola festivalis which was a pastoral letter announcing the dates of Easter and of all the major moveable feasts of the year. The whole Church could then celebrate the great mysteries of our Faith at the same time. This custom even became a canonical obligation in certain places. We have for example a canon from the Council of Orléans in 541 that commands the priests to send delegates to their bishops before the Feast of the Epiphany in order to enquire about the date of the liturgical Feasts and to inform their parishioners on the day of the Epiphany.

The choice of the day of the Epiphany for such an announcement is certainly due to some practical reason. The Epiphany of Our Lord is a major Feast and was attended by all the faithful; and it takes place at the beginning of the year. But as often, some spiritual motives are joined to the practical ones. The date of Easter was told by the astronomers who study the movement of the stars. It is precisely a star that led the Wise Men to the Baby Jesus.

Dom Guéranger also says that this custom shows both the mysterious connection which unites the great Solemnities of the year one with another, and the importance the Faithful ought to attach to the celebration of that which is the greatest of all, and the centre of all Religion. After having honored the King of the universe on the Epiphany, we shall have to celebrate him, on the day which is now announced to us, as the conjuror of death.

The Feast of the Epiphany is the feast of the manifestations of the Divinity of Our Lord, the Sun of Justice that shines now into the world. The Wise Men, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost came to adore the Baby Jesus; at the time of His Baptism, the Father Himself gave testimony of the Divinity of His Son; and in Cana of Galilee the Incarnate Word performed His first public miracle. As the mystery of the Epiphany brings upon us three magnificent rays of the Sun of Justice (Dom Guéranger), the celebration of this mystery brings a light on the whole liturgical calendar. The Epiphany is indeed great Feast, and the joy caused us by the Birth of our Jesus must be renewed on it, for, as though it were a second Christmas Day. The Epiphany shares with the Feasts of Christmas, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost, the honor of being called, in the Canon of the Mass, a Day most holy. It is also one of the cardinal Feasts, that is, one of those on which the arrangement of the Christian Year is based; for, as we have Sundays after Easter, and Sundays after Pentecost, so also we count six Sundays after the Epiphany.

So dear brethren, it is with a great solemnity and religious feeling that we ought to spend this holy day. Let us remember with joy and gratitude the gift of the Incarnation. May the light of Christ shine in our hearts and in our lives! Let us keep it throughout the year so that 2010 can really be a year of grace, marked by the celebration of the mysteries of Our Savior Jesus Christ. Let us go in spirit to the manger of Bethlehem with the Wise Men and adore our Redeemer. And may our Blessed Mother be always with us, so that we can recognize the signs of her Divine Son.

Traditional Catholic Music at Batesville

2010-01-05T10:04:00.005-05:00

With for the First time since the foundation of Batesville (around 1810)

A Corsican Tantum Ergo

(I mean, THE Corsican Tantum Ergo, now famous in Cherokee Village)

Humm... I cannot have a better picture of the announcement, so you can click below to read it in PDF file... Sorry for my lack of computeur mastery !

http://father.demets.googlepages.com/Choeurbat.pdf

Christmas schedule

2009-12-23T07:24:00.004-05:00

At Cherokee Village

December 24th:

- 9:30 pm: Matins followed by the chant of the Genealogy of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

December 25th:

- Midnight: Midnight Mass (High Mass)

- Réveillon (Christmas party) after Midnight Mass

-7 am Mass at Dawn ( Low Mass)

At Mountain Home

December 25th:

- 5 pm: Mass of the Day (High Mass)

Keep Christ in Christmas also means keep Christmas in Christmas time!

(Christmas time begins on December 24th with the First Vespers and ends on January 13th. It gives 3 weeks to celebrate the Nativity of Our Saviour. It is not appropriate to celebrate it and have "Christmas" party durind Advent that is a time of preparation and of penance)

Donec dies elucescat

2009-12-13T11:07:00.002-05:00

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent

(with my gratitude to Cardinal Newman)

We continue today our meditation on Antichrist. We have seen last week, with the help of Cardinal Newman, how Antichrist has been preparing the field for his coming throughout the History. We have looked upon the Modernist heresy that dissolves Christ and destroys the Church of Christ from inside as certainly one of his greatest victory, though we know that the final victory will be for Christ.
Now let us be prudent when we speak about his coming. The fact that we are in the midst of the greatest heresy of all time does not necessarily mean that Antichrist is coming soon. The first Christians already thought they would see it and it was announced many times at different periods. Saint Hilary in the IV century said that his coming was imminent. Saint Bernard, looking at the impiety of his time was expecting to see the Man of sin and Son of perdition announced by Saint Paul. Yet none of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church have dared to announce a precise date as the Scripture itself does not mention any. In fact, Saint John says that Antichrist is now already in the world. The city of Antichrist, like the City of God, progresses and develops as History unfolds. We know that Antichrist will come, and this will be when apostasy will come. So he is preparing his coming as Christ has prepared His. Now is this time of Apostasy is his time or not, we do not know. It might be! But it can be just a great shadow that announces the final apostasy.
We also know that it will be a time of persecution. In fact persecutions certainly are a characteristic mark of the Church. “They are not indeed the necessary lot of the Church, Cardinal Newman says, but at least one of her appropriate badges; so that on the whole, looking at the course of history, you might set down persecution as one of the peculiarities by which you recognize her. And our Lord seems to intimate how becoming, how natural persecution is to the Church, by placing it among His Beatitudes.
"Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

They have been some persecution here or there throughout the history of the Church, but we are expecting a great persecution to come, as there was a great persecution at her beginning. It is precisely what the liturgy tells us every year on the first Sunday of Advent and on the last Sunday of the year. The city of Antichrist is a city of irreligion and of hatred. The modern times looks like the ancient times in many aspects, though there are many differences. Irreligion and hatred: the executioners and barbarians of the French Revolution killing priests, religious, women and children with a satisfaction that they even did not hide have nothing to envy at Nero, Diocletian and the Romans who knew how to display a great refinement in the art of torture. Rome was precisely considered as the city of Antichrist.
But Rome must fall before the coming of Antichrist. The Roman Empire has disappeared and has been replaced by kingdoms. But according to the prophet Daniel, a new king will come and crush the other kings and he shall speak words against the High One, and shall crush the saints of the most High: and he shall think himself able to change times and laws. Again we must be prudent when we try to interpret the prophecies. What I personally retain is that this king – is he a physical person or an ideology or a regime? – shall think himself able to change times and laws. This is precisely the agenda of the Revolution. And wherever the Revolution takes place in the world, Christians are persecuted: France, Mexico, Russia, Spain and so forth.

Now, brethren, let us consider these words spoken by Cardinal Newman in 1835 – he was not yet a Cardinal; he was even not yet a Catholic, but he already had a clear understanding of the situation. “Is the enemy of CHRIST, and His Church, to arise out of a certain special falling away from GOD? And is there no reason to fear that some such Apostasy is gradually preparing, gathering, hastening on in this very day? For is there not at this very time a special effort made almost all over the world, that is, every here and there, more or less, in sight or out of sight, in this or that place, but most visibly or formidably in its most civilized and powerful parts, an effort to do without religion? Is there not an opinion avowed and growing, that a nation has nothing to do with religion; that it is merely a matter for each man's own conscience,-which is all one with saying that we may let the truth fail from the earth without trying to continue it? Is there not a vigorous and united movement in all countries to cast down the Church of Christ from power and place? Is there not a feverish and ever busy endeavour to get rid of the necessity of religion in public transactions? an attempt to educate without religion? an attempt to make expedience, and not truth the end and the rule of measures of state and the enactments of law an attempt to make numbers, and not truth, the ground of maintaining, or not maintaining this or that creed, as if we had any reason whatever in Scripture for thinking that the many will be in the right, and the few in the wrong? an attempt in fact, to destroy religion?”

Surely, there is at this day a confederacy of evil, marshalling its hosts from all parts of the world, organizing itself, taking its measures, enclosing the Church of Christ as in a net, and preparing the way for a general apostasy from it. Whether this very apostasy is to give birth to Antichrist, or whether he is still to be delayed, we cannot know; but at any rate this apostasy, and all its tokens, and instruments, are of the Evil One and saviour of death. Far be it from any of us to be of those simple ones, who are taken in that snare which is circling around us! Far be it from us to be seduced with the fair promises in which Satan is sure to hide his poison! Do you think he is so unskillful in his craft, as to ask you openly and plainly to join him in his warfare against the Truth? No; he offers you baits to tempt you. He promises you civil liberty; he promises you equality; he promises you trade and wealth; he promises you a remission of taxes; he promises you reform. This is the way in which he conceals from you the kind of work to which he is putting you; he tempts you to rail against your rulers and superiors; he does so himself, and induces you to imitate him; or he promises you illumination,-he offers you knowledge, science, philosophy, enlargement of mind. He scoffs at times gone by; he scoffs at every institution which reveres them. He prompts you what to say, and then listens to you, and praises you, and encourages you. He bids you mount aloft. He shows you how to become as gods. Then he laughs and jokes with you, and gets intimate with you; he takes your hand, and gets his fingers between yours, and grasps them, and then you are his.”
The situation today is certainly worst than it was 170 years ago. Yet it is not a reason to despair. After he spoke about Antichrist in his letter to the Thessalonians, Saint Paul told them, and he tells us now: For we have heard there are some among you who walk disorderly: working not at all, but curiously meddling. Now we charge them that are such and beseech them by the Lord Jesus Christ that, working with silence, they would eat their own bread.
Be aware of the situation, of the trickeries of Satan and of the world, but let them not be a motive of distraction to you. It is on Our Lord Jesus Christ that we have to focus. Being a Christian is much more than fighting evil. It is first becoming a Saint, and precisely by being a Saint you would fight evil better. Let us listen to the wise admonestation that Cardinal Newman gives at the end of his four sermons on Antichrist:
"I will say, in conclusion, as I have already said several times, that such meditations as these may be turned to good account. What a curb upon our self-willed, selfish hearts, to believe that a persecution is in store for the Church, whether or not it comes in our days! Surely with this thought before us, we cannot bear to give ourselves up to thoughts of ease and comfort, of making money, settling well, or rising in the world. Surely with this thought before us, we cannot but feel that we are, what all Christians really are in the best estate, (nay rather would wish to be had they their will, if they be Christians in heart) pilgrims, watchers waiting for the morning, waiting for the light, eagerly straining our eyes for the first dawn of day—looking out for our Savior’s coming, His glorious advent, when He will end the reign of sin and wickedness, accomplish the number of His elect, and perfect those who at present struggle with infirmity, yet in their hearts love and obey Him."

And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. (2Peter 1,19)

Sermon for the feast of the Immaculate Conception

2009-12-09T09:04:00.002-05:00

The Mass of the feast of the Immaculate Conception begins with the Introit “Gaudens gaudebo” in the third mode, which is the “mysticus modus” – mode of mysticism and contemplation. This beautiful piece is also marked with a deep and intense joy. This piece is assuredly an invitation to enter into the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to feel and to taste the joy that she would express so admirably when she would sing her Magnificat. The Immaculate Conception has received the fullness of the grace of God that envelops her like a coat. God has clothed her with the garment of salvation – vestimentum salutis – and this is the reason of her unspeakable joy. This is precisely on these words that the Gregorian melody reaches its peak, telling us that there is not greater joy than being covered by the grace of God.

After original sin, Adam and Eve were ashamed of their nudity. Their eyes were opened, as the book of Genesis reports it. They began to look at some realities that had not attracted their attention until then. Concupiscence had turned their hearts, but in the same time, they realized that they were deprived of the grace of God. Their bodies became subject to death, sickness and other infirmities. They became object of sins – what Saint Paul would call later the works of the flesh. Once you have abandoned your reason in order to sin and that the grace of God covers you no longer, you are like an animal. Man has been defined as a rational animal. But is he still rational he who sins? He might be still rational as he can still use his reason to understand his condition and be ashamed of it. He is certainly no longer reasonable. The order of the Divine grace is different than the order of nature, but one cannot separate them. By trespassing against the first one, men corrupt the other one. Original sin is truly a sin of nature – peccatum naturae – not only because it has affected the whole human nature and in a certain way all the whole nature, but also because it is a revolt of the nature and a sin against nature. Therefore the punishment would fall on the nature and would strike anyone who shares in it by virtue of descent from Adam.
The great theologians of the Middle Ages, following Saint Augustine, had well understood this reality. Universality of sin is a truth that we cannot omit. Mary, as a descendant of Adam and Eve must have been affected too. And she would have been without a unique and particular privilege given to her by God. It took 19 centuries to finally realize this great privilege. If today the name of Immaculate Conception sounds familiar to all the faithful, it was not the case 150 years ago. Bernadette Soubirous did not understand the words of Our Lady when she told her name: “I am the Immaculate Conception.” How deep are the mysteries of God and of our salvation! But how beautiful they are!
Mary, the Immaculate Conception is the response of God to original sin. It is His most beautiful work after the humanity of Our Savior; and precisely the Immaculate Conception of Mary is the jewel case that receives the humanity of the Redeemer. The first Eve, by her own work had uncovered the grace of God. The new Eve, without any merits from her part, has been recovered in a more admirable manner. She has been raised above all the creatures, and for this she is the humblest of all as Dom Delatte says. This is the condition of any creature. This is the grace of the Immaculate Conception. Our Lady had never belonged to the enemy. She had never belonged to herself neither. She is entirely to God: Totus Tuus!

The Immaculate Conception is, according to Dom Delatte, the exercise of all the faculties submitted to the reason; interior harmony; sovereignty; modesty; this measure and this perfect peace; the full possession by God; the quiet and grave march of a creature that is in the hand of God.

This is what is expressed by today’s Introit that is an invitation to follow the Immaculate Conception toward God. We are invited to share the shame peace and harmony, the same sovereignty and modesty. This is the gift of Christmas that is anticipated by the grace of the Immaculate Conception: a grace that was given to Mary, but that is for all men!

Press release form the Fraternity of Saint Peter

2009-11-14T08:36:00.000-05:00

Watch a Solemn High Tridentine Mass Broadcast Live on EWTN

DENTON, Nebraska (13 November 2009) On Saturday, 21 November 2009, the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady, Father Laurent Demets, a member of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, will celebrate a Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. To be televised live on EWTN at 7:00AM (CST), this special Mass will take place at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.

About the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
Established in 1988 by Pope John Paul II, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right. The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter serves the Catholic Church by means of its own particular objective, i.e. the sanctification of priests through the faithful celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Through the spiritual riches of the Church’s ancient Roman liturgy, the priests of the Fraternity seek to sanctify those entrusted to their care. The Priestly Fraternity instructs and trains priests to preserve, promote, and protect the Church's authentic liturgical and spiritual traditions. The Fraternity has over 200 priests worldwide. Over 125 seminarians study in its two international seminaries in Bavaria, Germany and Denton, Nebraska.

About EWTN
Founded by Mother Angelica, the EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 28th year, is available in more than 150 million television households in 144 countries and territories. EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world.

Watch The Mass Live Online!
www.ewtn.com/audiovideo

Media Contact
Father Joseph Lee, FSSP
Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary
7880 West Denton Road
Denton, Nebraska 68339
402-570-2707
emailjlee@gmail.com

Music and Liturgy on EWTN

2009-11-04T00:52:00.000-05:00

Fr. Fromageot, FSSP of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska will be appearing on EWTN’s Life on the Rock with Father Mark Mary and Doug Barry.

Father will be discussing Gregorian Chant and how it helps the liturgy fulfill its twofold end; namely, the worship of God and the sanctification of souls.

Channel: EWTN Global Catholic Network
Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009
Time: 8:00PM

Lead us not into the zone of dissimilarity

2009-10-24T07:46:00.003-04:00

Sermon for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost

Be ye filled with the Holy Spirit speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord.
Dear Brethren, Saint Paul invites the Christians to praise God by speaking and singing. This is not the first time the Sacred Scriptures call us to sing. Saint Paul in the first epistle to the Corinthians says: I will sing with the spirit, I will sing with the understanding. Certain English translations say ‘pray’ instead of ‘sing’ but the latin word of the Vulgat is ‘psallam’ which means I will sing the Psalms. This verse of Saint Paul seems to refer precisely to a Psalm: Psalm 48 that says: Sing praises to our God, sing praises to our King: For God is the King of all the earth, sing wisely.
About the fact that we have to sing to proclaim the glory of God, it is pretty obvious and it is certainly the only thing all the Christians of all denominations agree, except some "traditional" Catholics in the United States of America! But not singing is certainly not the tradition, and I would dare to say, it is even a kind of resistance to the grace of God. Saint Paul relates the fact of being filled with the Holy Spirit and singing and making melody. One causes the other. Because you are filled with the Holy Spirit, as a result, you sing to the Lord. Singing is also a spontaneous way of giving thanks to God, as we see when God has delivered David out of his enemies in the second book of Samuel: the entire chapter 22 is a tribute to God, and after recalling all His works, David said: Therefore will I give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name.
Psalm 22 also says: I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee. It happens that these two quotes from King David are applied to Our Lord in 1 Co 15,9 and Hb 2,12. The Apostles and disciples have seen and heard Our Lord sing the Psalms. And it is Him who teaches us how to sing wisely with the understanding.

Singing is one thing. Singing wisely with the understanding is another thing. All the Christians of all the denominations – except some “traditional” Catholics in the United States of America – sing, but they certainly don’t sing wisely with the understanding. Apparently there were some charismatic brethren in Corinth and Saint Paul had to bring them back on the right way. It is at this occasion that he said: What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, I will pray also with the understanding, I will sing with the spirit, I will sing also with the understanding.

Singing wisely with the understanding is after all not difficult. You just have to follow the rules of the Church, Mater et Magistra, who tells her children how to pray. It is with humility that we should receive her teaching, knowing that whatever we can think or imagine is certainly not better than what she teaches. The Liturgy is precisely one area – among others – where we can easily put into practice the “sentire cum Ecclesia” of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Many times, the Church has called the faithful to sing. As Pope Benedict XVI recalled last year during his journey in France, Christian worship is an invitation to sing with the angels, and thus to lead the word to its highest destination.
For Saint Benedict, the words of the Psalm: coram angelis psallam Tibi, Domine – in the presence of the angels, I will sing your praise (cf. 138:1) – are the decisive rule governing the prayer and chant of the monks. – (Saint Benedict wrote his rule for the monks, but what is said about the chant also applies for all the faithful.) What this expresses is the awareness that in communal prayer one is singing in the presence of the entire heavenly court, and is thereby measured according to the very highest standards: that one is praying and singing in such a way as to harmonize with the music of the noble spirits who were considered the originators of the harmony of the cosmos, the music of the spheres. From this perspective one can understand the seriousness of a remark by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, who used an expression from the Platonic tradition handed down by Augustine, to pass judgement on the poor singing of monks, which for him was evidently very far from being a mishap of only minor importance. He describes the confusion resulting from a poorly executed chant as a falling into the “zone of dissimilarity” – the regio dissimilitudinis. Augustine had borrowed this phrase from Platonic philosophy, in order to designate his condition prior to conversion (cf. Confessions, VII, 10.16): man, who is created in God’s likeness, falls in his godforsakenness into the “zone of dissimilarity” – into a remoteness from God, in which he no longer reflects him, and so has become dissimilar not only to God, but to himself, to what being human truly is. Bernard is certainly putting it strongly when he uses this phrase, which indicates man’s falling away from himself, to describe bad singing by monks. But it shows how seriously he viewed the matter. It shows that the culture of singing is also the culture of being, and that the monks have to pray and sing in a manner commensurate with the grandeur of the word handed down to them, with its claim on true beauty. This intrinsic requirement of speaking with God and singing of him with words he himself has given, is what gave rise to the great tradition of Western music. It was not a form of private “creativity”, in which the individual leaves a memorial to himself and makes self-representation his essential criterion. Rather it is about vigilantly recognizing with the “ears of the heart” the inner laws of the music of creation, the archetypes of music that the Creator built into his world and into men, and thus discovering music that is worthy of God, and at the same time truly worthy of man, music whose worthiness resounds in purity.

Zone of dissimilarity

Singing wisely with the understanding (The choir and the congregation alternate the Kyrie)

Sermon for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

2009-10-06T11:12:00.001-04:00

If only we knew the gifts of God! They are so marvelous, so beautiful and so powerful, and yet we do not value them as we should, because we are men of little faith. Among all the gifts of God, there is one that is a priceless treasure as Saint Louis de Montfort says. It is the rosary that Almighty God has given to you because he wants you to use it as a means to convert the most hardened sinners and the most obstinate heretics. He has attached to it grace in this life and glory in the next. The saints have said it faithfully and the Popes have endorsed it.
Blessed Alain de la Roche tells us the story of the origin of the Holy Rosary : Saint Dominic, seeing that the gravity of people's sins was hindering the conversion of the Albigensians, withdrew into a forest near Toulouse, where he prayed continuously for three days and three nights. During this time he did nothing but weep and do harsh penances in order to appease the anger of God. He used his discipline so much that his body was lacerated, and finally he fell into a coma.
At this point our Lady appeared to him, accompanied by three angels, and she said, "Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?"
"Oh, my Lady," answered Saint Dominic, "you know far better than I do, because next to your Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation."
Then our Lady replied, "I want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the principal weapon has always been the Angelic Psalter, which is the foundation-stone of the New Testament. Therefore, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter."

So he arose, comforted, and burning with zeal for the conversion of the people in that district, he made straight for the cathedral. At once unseen angels rang the bells to gather the people together, and Saint Dominic began to preach.
At the very beginning of his sermon, an appalling storm broke out, the earth shook, the sun was darkened, and there was so much thunder and lightning that all were very much afraid. Even greater was their fear when, looking at a picture of our Lady exposed in a prominent place, they saw her raise her arms to heaven three times to call down God's vengeance upon them if they failed to be converted, to amend their lives, and seek the protection of the holy Mother of God.
God wished, by means of these supernatural phenomena, to spread the new devotion of the holy Rosary and to make it more widely known.
At last, at the prayer of Saint Dominic, the storm came to an end, and he went on preaching. So fervently and compellingly did he explain the importance and value of the Rosary that almost all the people of Toulouse embraced it and renounced their false beliefs. In a very short time a great improvement was seen in the town; people began leading Christian lives and gave up their former bad habits.
In 1917, Our Lady asked the children of Fatima to say the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war. How powerful is this prayer when it is offered with the right intention and a good disposition of heart! It has defeated the Muslims at the battle of Lepanto on October 7th 1571. It can defeat many more enemies today if we say it well. Pope Leo XIII, who wrote eleven encyclical letters on the rosary, says that the three sets of mysteries, joyful, sorrowful and glorious correspond to three evils that are commonly spread among men: distaste for the sanctification of daily duty of state, aversion for suffering and oblivion of the future joy of the eternity. (Explain how the rosary can make us overcome these evils)
You see, we can conquer the world with the rosary – there is no doubt about that. But how can we conquer the world for Christ if we even did not conquer ourselves first? Many Christians want to reform the world, the societies, the national and international organizations that bring a culture of death as Pope John Paul II often said. Blessed are them for this. But many forgot that they are to reform themselves first. A militant Catholicism would never success without a spirit of sacrifice and renouncement and a true spirit of prayer. It is precisely what the daily meditation of the rosary can give.
Those who have followed the spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius know what it is about. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a valiant Spaniard Knight wanted to conquer the world to Christ. The purpose of his exercises, inspired by Our Lady, is the conquest of self and the regulation of one’s life. The call for a temporal King comes only after the exercitants have reformed themselves.
We have to pray the rosary with the right intention and a good disposition of heart. The angel of Portugal told the children of Fatima: Pray! Pray very much! The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have merciful designs for you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High... In every way you can offer sacrifice to God in reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners... Above all, accept and endure with submission the sufferings which the Lord will send you. Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by sinful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God.
Right intention and good disposition: importance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, daily communion, spirit of sacrifice and of reparation (First Fridays and Saturdays) : Devotion to the Eucharist and devotion to Our Lady are united and supposes each other.
Our Lady: Here you see hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart... Pray, pray a great deal and make sacrifices for sinners. So many souls go to hell because there is no one to pray and sacrifice for them.
The daily prayer of the Rosary is a sacrifice. Let us offer it with generosity.

Visit our new website

2009-09-29T11:47:00.001-04:00

Saint John the Baptist Community at Cherokee Village

http://www.arlatinmass.com/

Saint John Bosco Academy

http://www.saintjohnboscoacademy.net/

Cantate Domino canticum novum

2009-08-18T19:36:00.001-04:00

Sermon for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost

Deus in loco sancto suo – God in His holy place! Today’s Mass begins with this joyful acclamation that is well interpreted by the fifth Gregorian mode of the Introit. For memory, there are eight modes in Gregorian chant and each one usually expresses a feeling, a sentiment or an attitude of soul.
The first mode is often called ‘gravis’ as it is a mode of gravity that brings an impression of solidity and of stability. The second mode is ‘tristis’. It expresses sorrow and melancholy. We have a very good example with the Graduale and the Offertory of the Requiem Mass. The third mode is ‘mysticus’ as it expresses mysticism and contemplation. The fourth mode is ‘harmonicus’ and evokes interior prayer when the soul reaches a certain harmony and concord with God. The fifth mode, as we said, expresses joy and is the ‘Laetus’ mode.
The sixth mode is ‘devotus.’ This is the mode of the simple and ingenuous prayer of the children and God marked by simplicity and joy. Today’s antiphon of communion is a good example: Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first of all thy fruits: and thy barns shall be filled with abundance, and thy presses shall run over with wine.
The seventh mode is ‘angelicus’. It is a mode of brightness and of keenness, in the image of the angels. The famous Introit of Christmas, Puer natus est, is a perfect example with its melodic flights toward the high notes sol – re. And the eight and last mode is ‘perfectus’. It is called perfectus – perfect, certainly because it is the eighth, number of perfection and number of Christ. Eight signifies achievement and fullness, which are well expressed by the eighth mode. It is a very solemn mode that expresses respect, certainty and majesty.
The eight modes offer us a palette of chant that allows us to sing a new canticle to God as the Scriptures invite us often: cantate Domino canticum novum –sing to the Lord a new song! When we sing to God, especially with Gregorian chant, we pray and we communicate with Him. And we pray as human persons with feelings and emotions, with our body, with our mouth – semper laus ejus in ore meo, Psalm 33 says: His prays shall ever be in my mouth –and with our soul.
The idea that there is a connection between the states of soul and the musical expression is not new. Plato had already well explained this fact. The Greek philosophers used to speak about “Ethos” to describe the moral aspect of music. The aestheticism comes from there. In Greek it means to feel.
Gregorian chant is very human as it is sung by men and it expresses our human feelings. It is also very divine, as it is certainly inspired by the Holy Spirit – the Pneuma or Breath of God. The word ‘neume’,that is the word for the Gregorian notes, comes from there. The Gregorian chant is a breath that comes from God and returns to God. In Gregorian chant, we find this descendant and ascendant movements, - the ladder of Jacob - that is precisely expressed by the Introit Puer Natus est. God descend on earth and men are raised to heaven. The crossroad is Our Lord, the Pontiff, the Bridge between earth and heaven. In Christ, earth and heaven meet, which is also expressed by the number eight with its two circles that are linked: the above circle that is heaven and the below circle that is earth.
Because it is human and divine, the Gregorian chant is our chant, the proper chant of the Catholic Church as the second Vatican Council reminded us. It cannot be and should not be a piece of museum, but the noblest and highest expression of our faith and of our prayers to God. It cannot be simply heard but it must be sung by the faithful during Mass, or even at home during family prayers. Singing is the expression of our love and as such we should not only sing it but rather live it. For many decades, the Church has expressed her desired that Gregorian chant must be restored where it has been lost or abandoned. And this should not be the only concern of the priests or of the monks but of every member of the Church. It is the patrimony that we have received and that we have to deliver to the next generation. Let everybody open his soul and his heart to God and sing a new canticle to the Lord for His glory and the edification of His Church.

Sermon for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost

2009-08-03T08:22:00.003-04:00

It is quite touching to see in today’s gospel Our Lord who weeps. It reminds us that our religion is the religion of the heart, and if sometimes it happens that we intellectualize it too much – the too much would be the excess and not the fact that we intellectualize – it is good for us to look at Our Lord and to consider his human nature, his emotions and his feelings. It shows how much God loves us and that he wants our Salvation. As Saint Cyril explains, the tears of Jesus are the visible proof that God sincerely desires our salvation.
Our Lord weeps over Jerusalem. Would you remain unemotional when thinking about this? Would your heart remain untouched? Would you not weep with your Savior over Jerusalem? But what is Jerusalem? Jerusalem is the City of Peace according to the Assyrian etymology of the name. City of Peace? It is what she is supposed to be. But she denied her vocation and ignored it. If thou also hadst known, and that in this day, the things that are to thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes.
We read in the second book of Samuel that David took the castle of Sion and dwelt in the castle, and called it, the city of David. The Ark of the Covenant would be brought to the city soon he would become the glory of Jerusalem and the joy of Israel, title given to Judith and then to Our Lady, the Ark of the New Covenant. But the strength and the peace of the Holy City would be threatened. The Kings of Syria and of Israel marched against her. They could not prevail over her but they shook the faith of the King Achaz. It is at this time that God sent the prophet Isaiah who gave this great prophecy: Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel. The story of Jerusalem tells us about the infidelity of men and the care of God that sends His prophets to revive her faith and her love. Jerusalem, Jerusalem convertere ad Dominum Deum tuum! – Jerusalem, Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord thy God!

We know the rest of the story from the captivity to the Roman domination at the time when the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. Christ, the Son of David, the Great Prophet would suffer and would die in Jerusalem. But before His Passion, He made this terrible prophecy: For the days shall come upon thee: and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round and straiten thee on every side, And beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee. And they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.

The day of the Passover of the year 70, Titus, son of the Roman Emperor Vespasian began the siege of Jerusalem with four Legions. After 143 days, the City fell and the prophecy of Our Lord fulfilled. Flavius Joseph reports in The Jewish War that Titus would have said: It is not I who have conquered. God, in His wrath against the Jews, has made use of my arm.

These historical events certainly are a moral teaching for us. First, they may help us to realize that beyond the History of men that unfolds in our time, there is something greater that happens. This fact has been well explained by Saint Augustine in the City of God, one of the most remarkable writing of all times. There is a Providence and God rules the world and its event, even though His Providence does not suppress our liberty. It is certainly a mystery, but precisely because it is a mystery it is worthy to think about in order to invigorate our faith, our hope and our love. Ultimately, what truly matters is to be in the right and good side, in the City of God, whatever are the historical conditions in which we live.

The other thing that we should consider is that Jerusalem is a figure of our soul. Origen says that the Savior weeps over Jerusalem, which is our soul. Our soul is supposed to be a city of peace, the interior city of the peace that God encourages us to seek in Psalm 33: seek after peace and pursue it. You can read this Psalm and make the comparison between your soul and the city of Jerusalem. I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and he delivered me from all my troubles. (verse 5) But the countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil things: to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. (verse 11)

The Temple of Jerusalem has been destroyed. Now we have a new temple where we can worship in truth and spirit, and this is the temple of our soul. In the general audience of January 7th of this year, Pope Benedict XVI reminded the importance of this true worship in Spirit and quoted the words of the Prophet Daniel said when the Temple was destroyed:
Neither is there at this time prince, or leader, or prophet, or holocaust, or sacrifice, or oblation, or incense, or place of first fruits before thee, That we may find thy mercy: nevertheless, in a contrite heart and humble spirit let us be accepted.
As in holocausts of rams, and bullocks, and as in thousands of fat lambs: so let our sacrifice be made in thy sight this day, that it may please thee: for there is no confusion to them that trust in thee.
And now we follow thee with all our heart, and we fear thee, and seek thy face. Put us not to confusion, but deal with us according to thy meekness, and according to the multitude of thy mercies.
And deliver us, according to thy wonderful works, and give glory to thy name, O Lord: And let all them be confounded that show evils to thy servants, let them be confounded in all thy might, and let their strength be broken: And let them know that thou art the Lord, the only God, and glorious over all the world.

Today, we live in a kind of same situation and in a time of desolation, but what truly matters is finally to be worshipers in truth and spirit. The enemies of God will be confounded, but we, if we remain faithful will find the consolations of God. They can destroy our churches of stones; they will never be able to destroy the interior temple of our soul. There is only one person that can destroy it: it is yourself!
The great lesson of today is simply to recognize the time of the visitation of God by accepting all His graces. May Our Blessed Mother help us!

Matrimony 3

2009-07-30T11:21:00.002-04:00

The Great Sacrament

Saint Paul: "This is a great sacrament." (Eph 5,32)

Tertullian: “How can I ever express the happiness of the marriage that is joined together by the Church strengthened by an offering, sealed by a blessing, announced by angels and ratified by the Father? ...How wonderful the bond between two believers with a single hope, a single desire, a single observance, a single service! They are both brethren and both fellow-servants; there is no separation between them in spirit or flesh; in fact they are truly two in one flesh and where the flesh is one, one is the spirit.”

Our Lord raised Matrimony to the rank of a Sacrament.

The theologians of the Middle-Ages have distinguished three things in the Sacraments:
- Sacramentum tantum - the sacramental sign: The consecrated material sign taken in the context of a form or rite but not itself caused or signified in the rite and not remaining permanently in the subject following completion of the rite ( except perhaps in marriage with the rings). The water in Baptism and the consecrated bread and wine would be good examples of this element
- Sacramentum et res - the sacramental reality: The symbolic reality or mystery whose presence is caused or signified by the Sacramentum Tantum and also signifies and causes the res tantum. This element remains in the subject permanently in the indelible Sacraments. In Baptism this would be the initiating seal of The Holy Spirit, and in The Eucharist this would be The Real Presence.

- res tantum - the reality that the sacrament pointed to: The inward and spiritual grace which is signified and caused by the res et Sacramentum but does not itself signify or cause.

In the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, the sacramental sign is the exchange of the consents.
The sacramental reality is the bond that unites the spouses.
The res tantum is the production of the grace and the union of Christ with the Church. This union is signified by the union between the spouses but obviously not created by it.

For two Christians who marry together, Matrimony is and can only be sacramental.

John Paul II: “He reveals the original truth of marriage, the truth of the "beginning," and, freeing man from his hardness of heart, He makes man capable of realizing this truth in its entirety.
This revelation reaches its definitive fullness in the gift of love which the Word of God makes to humanity in assuming a human nature, and in the sacrifice which Jesus Christ makes of Himself on the Cross for His bride, the Church. In this sacrifice there is entirely revealed that plan which God has imprinted on the humanity of man and woman since their creation; the marriage of baptized persons thus becomes a real symbol of that new and eternal covenant sanctioned in the blood of Christ. The Spirit which the Lord pours forth gives a new heart, and renders man and woman capable of loving one another as Christ has loved us. Conjugal love reaches that fullness to which it is interiorly ordained, conjugal charity, which is the proper and specific way in which the spouses participate in and are called to live the very charity of Christ who gave Himself on the Cross.
Indeed, by means of baptism, man and woman are definitively placed within the new and eternal covenant, in the spousal covenant of Christ with the Church. And it is because of this indestructible insertion that the intimate community of conjugal life and love, founded by the Creator, is elevated and assumed into the spousal charity of Christ, sustained and enriched by His redeeming power.”

The Sacramental character is the third blessings of Matrimony described by St Augustine – the first one is the offspring and the second is fidelity. St Augustine says: “Sacrament signifies that the bond of wedlock shall never be broken, and that neither party, if separated shall form a union with another, even for the sake of offspring.” We have seen that even a natural marriage is indissoluble. The sacramental dimension of Matrimony does not change its nature but reinforces the bond of unity. It gives the spouses the grace in order to be faithful and united together until death.

John Paul II: “By virtue of the sacramentality of their marriage, spouses are bound to one another in the most profoundly indissoluble manner. Their belonging to each other is the real representation, by means of the sacramental sign, of the very relationship of Christ with the Church.”

Pius XI: “If we wish with all reverence to inquire into the intimate reason of this divine decree, Venerable Brethren, we shall easily see it in the mystical signification of Christian marriage which is fully and perfectly verified in consummated marriage between Christians. For, as the Apostle says in his Epistle to the Ephesians the marriage of Christians recalls that most perfect union which exists between Christ and the Church: " This is a great sacrament: but I speak in Christ and in the church." which union, as long as Christ shall live and the Church through Him, can never be dissolved by any separation. And this St. Augustine clearly declares in these words: "This is safeguarded in Christ and the Church, which, living with Christ who lives for ever may never be divorced from Him. The observance of this sacrament is such in the City of God . . . that is, in the Church of Christ, that when for the sake of begetting children, women marry or are taken to wife, it is wrong to leave a wife that is sterile in order to take another by whom children may be hand. Anyone doing this is guilty of adultery, just as if he married another, guilty not by the law of the day, according to which when one's partner is put away another may be taken, which the Lord allowed in the law of Moses because of the hardness of the hearts of the people of Israel; but by the law of the Gospel."

It is only by considering the sacramental dimension of Matrimony that we can understand the verses of Saint Paul: "Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord: Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the saviour of his body. Therefore as the church is subject to Christ: so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things." This has nothing to do with certain social conventions and customs of the time of Saint Paul or with his supposedly misogyny as some feminist or modernist would believe, but it lies in the very essence of the Sacrament of matrimony. It would not be a sign of the union of Christ and the Church is the wife would not be submit to her husband, as well as if the husband would not love his wife as Christ loves the Church.

There are moral and juridical consequences that we shall see later.

Let us say also that as a Sacrament, Matrimony is ordained to the Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is also a Sacrament that is for the benefit of the common good: the human society on earth and ultimately the people of God and the elect in heaven.

Matrimony 2

2009-07-29T07:30:00.004-04:00

Dogmatic Part: Definition - Nature

CCC 1601: The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.

CCT: Matrimony, according to the general opinion of theologians, is defined: The conjugal union of man and woman, contracted between two qualified persons, which obliges them to live together throughout life.

It is a conjugal union. Jugum in Latin means yoke. By this union the spouses are yoked, joined together. It is a contract, a pact between a man and a woman that is different than any other contracts. Saint Augustine in his treatise on Matrimony De bono Conjugali – The Good of marriage says that the union of the man of the woman is the first natural bond of human society. Then he adds that another bond is formed by the children with is a worthy fruit of the sexual intercourse between the spouses.
This is established in our nature by the Creator as it is expressed in the narrative of the Creation as Saint Augustine points it out: Nor did God create these each by himself, and join them together as alien by birth: but He created the one out of the other, setting a sign also of the power of the union in the side, whence she was drawn, was formed.

First narrative (Gn1): "And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it."

Second narrative (Gn2): "And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself.

Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it. And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam. And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh."

In his commentary on Genesis, Saint Augustine explains that it is for the reproduction of human species that the woman was given to man. This is expressed by the Commandment of God given to Adam and Eve right after their creation: Male and female He created them. Then He blessed them and said: Increase and multiply.
Motherhood is in the very nature of woman and finds its perfect realization in the Divine motherhood of Our Lady. We shall speak about this later.

Divine institution
The Church has always proclaimed this truth: marriage has been instituted by God Himself even in its original state of nature. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, quoting the Council says: The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by Him with its own proper laws… God Himself is the author of marriage. (CCC 1603)

God has given authority to men in order to subdue the earth. It is a sign of his dignity and a call to collaborate with the Creator to the work of creation. But men cannot change the nature of things. Attempting this means desiring to be like God. Here is the sin of the creatures who want to be like the Creator. Regarding marriage men cannot change its very nature.

Casti Connubii: And to begin with that same Encyclical, which is wholly concerned in vindicating the divine institution of matrimony, its sacramental dignity, and its perpetual stability, let it be repeated as an immutable and inviolable fundamental doctrine that matrimony was not instituted or restored by man but by God; not by man were the laws made to strengthen and confirm and elevate it but by God, the Author of nature, and by Christ Our Lord by Whom nature was redeemed, and hence these laws cannot be subject to any human decrees or to any contrary pact even of the spouses themselves. This is the doctrine of Holy Scripture this is the constant tradition of the Universal Church; this the solemn definition of the sacred Council of Trent, which declares and establishes from the words of Holy Writ itself that God is the Author of the perpetual stability of the marriage bond, its unity and its firmness.

Ends of marriage
- Procreation and education of children: Thus amongst the blessings of marriage, the child holds the first place. And indeed the Creator of the human race Himself, Who in His goodness wishes to use men as His helpers in the propagation of life, taught this when, instituting marriage in Paradise, He said to our first parents, and through them to all future spouses: "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth." As St. Augustine admirably deduces from the words of the holy Apostle Saint Paul to Timothy when he says: "The Apostle himself is therefore a witness that marriage is for the sake of generation: 'I wish,' he says, 'young girls to marry.' And, as if someone said to him, 'Why?,' he immediately adds: 'To bear children, to be mothers of families'." (Casti Connubii.. cf 1 Tim 5,14)

- Mutual assistance and quieting of concupiscence:
CCT: We have now to explain why man and woman should be joined in marriage. First of all, nature itself by an instinct implanted in both sexes impels them to such companionship, and this is further encouraged by the hope of mutual assistance in bearing more easily the discomforts of life and the infirmities of old age.
A second reason for marriage is the desire of family, not so much, however, with a view to leave after us heirs to inherit our property and fortune, as to bring up children in the true faith and in the service of God. That such was the principal object of the holy Patriarchs when they married is clear from Scripture. Hence the Angel, when informing Tobias of the means of repelling the violent assaults of the evil demon, says: I will show thee who they are over whom the devil can prevail; for they who in such manner receive matrimony as to shut out God from themselves and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule which have not understanding, over them the devil hath power. He then adds: Thou shalt take the virgin with the fear of the Lord, moved rather for love of children than for lust, that in the seed of Abraham thou mayest obtain a blessing in children. It was also for this reason that God instituted marriage from the beginning; and therefore married persons who, to prevent conception or procure abortion, have recourse to medicine, are guilty of a most heinous crime nothing less than wicked conspiracy to commit murder.
A third reason has been added, as a consequence of the fall of our first parents. On account of the loss of original innocence the passions began to rise in rebellion against right reason; and man, conscious of his own frailty and unwilling to fight the battles of the flesh, is supplied by marriage with an antidote by which to avoid sins of lust. For fear of fornication, says the Apostle, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband; and a little after, having recommended to married persons a temporary abstinence from the marriage debt, to give themselves to prayer, he adds: Return together again, lest Satan tempt you for your incontinency. (Cf 1 Co 7,9: But if they do not contain themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to be burnt.)
These are ends, some one of which, those who desire to contract marriage piously and religiously, as becomes the children of the Saints, should propose to themselves. If to these we add other causes which induce to contract marriage, and, in choosing a wife, to prefer one person to another, such as the desire of leaving an heir, wealth, beauty, illustrious descent, congeniality of disposition such motives, because not inconsistent with the holiness of marriage, are not to be condemned. We do not find that the Sacred Scriptures condemn the Patriarch Jacob for having chosen Rachel for her beauty, in preference to Lia.

Properties of marriage: Indissolubility and unity
CCC 1644 The love of the spouses requires, of its very nature, the unity and indissolubility of the spouses' community of persons, which embraces their entire life: "so they are no longer two, but one flesh." They "are called to grow continually in their communion through day-to-day fidelity to their marriage promise of total mutual self-giving." This human communion is confirmed, purified, and completed by communion in Jesus Christ, given through the sacrament of Matrimony. It is deepened by lives of the common faith and by the Eucharist received together.

CCC 1645 The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal personal dignity which must be accorded to man and wife in mutual and unreserved affection." Polygamy is contrary to conjugal love which is undivided and exclusive.

Matrimony 1

2009-07-28T10:30:00.005-04:00

This post and those that will follow are the framework of the Recollection on the Sacrament of Matrimony given at Cherokee Village in July 2009.

Introduction

In 1930, Pope Pius XI gave the Church an encyclical letter on the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. This is an important text on this topic as it is a magisterial document that teaches the faithful on such an important subject. The Pope began by recalling the dignity of Matrimony, but right after he expressed his sorrow for “a great number of men, forgetful of that divine work of redemption, either entirely ignore or shamelessly deny the great sanctity of Christian wedlock, or relying on the false principles of a new and utterly perverse morality, too often trample it under foot. And since these most pernicious errors and depraved morals have begun to spread even amongst the faithful and are gradually gaining ground, in Our office as Christ's Vicar upon earth and Supreme Shepherd and Teacher We consider it Our duty to raise Our voice to keep the flock committed to Our care from poisoned pastures and, as far as in Us lies, to preserve it from harm.”(Casti Connubii)
In spite of the great renewal promised with the Council of the Vatican, we can notice that today the situation is certainly worst that in 1930. Religious ignorance is wildly spread among the people of God and is more devastating than ever. It is the greatest enemy of faith and consequently of life – the supernal and divine life of God in our souls and even natural life. The Sacrament of Matrimony establishes the spouse in a state of life that is the most common state of life in the Church. Yet, the truth about Matrimony is ignored by a great majority of the faithful who come to the church for their wedding with a vague notion of its nature, of its dignity and of the rights and obligations of the spouses. Many chose this state of life only because of a natural love for their spouse. It is certainly not a bad motive, but it cannot be sufficient in order to establish a stable state of life whose purpose is first to gain eternal life. According to the Principle and foundation given by Saint Ignatius of Loyola - Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul – one should carefully chose only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created. In other words, one should not chose the state of marriage only because he fell in love with someone but first because of a moral certitude that it is the way wanted by God for his eternal salvation.
The danger of founding a marriage only on a natural love is that if this natural love fades or vanishes – and this can happen with time – is that the temptation of divorcing is great. Unfortunately many Catholics couples come to a divorce. Imbued with the spirit of the world they come to this conclusion that the world considers as wise and good but that is in fact is totally opposed to the will of God: “Well, obviously we love each other no longer. It is better for each of us to separate and to continue our lives on our own separated ways.”
Another sign of the crisis of marriage is the great number of annulments that we can see nowadays. An annulment is a legal procedure of the Church for declaring a marriage null and void. It is a statement from a competent authority that states that a marriage has never existed. It was null and void from the very beginning. This can happen and the Church has always contemplated this possibility. But the Church can only make a statement and declare if this marriage is valid or not. In any case, she can make a valid marriage null. A famous and sad example is given by Henry VIII, king of England. If the Church could make a marriage null, she would have accepted the case of Henry VIII in order to avoid a schism. But this was impossible simply because “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” (Mc 10,9)

Annulments are possible, yet there is an abuse of this practice today. Pope Benedict XVI in an address to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota in January 2009, deplored and condemned this abuse. “One can still perceive the urgent need to which my venerable Predecessor pointed: that of preserving the ecclesial community "from the scandal of seeing the value of Christian marriage being destroyed in practice by the exaggerated and almost automatic multiplication of declarations of nullity, in cases of the failure of marriage, on the pretext of some immaturity or psychic weakness on the part of the contracting parties” (Quote from the Address to the Roman Rota, 5 February 1987 by John Paul II)
Benedict XVI, and already John Paul II before him, gave some remedies against this abuse.
"In this regard it is helpful to recall several clear-cut distinctions. First of all, the distinction between "the psychic maturity which is seen as the goal of human development" and, on the other hand, "the canonical maturity which is the basic minimum required for establishing the validity of marriage" (Address to the Roman Rota, 5 February 1987, n. 6). Second, the distinction between incapacity and difficulty, inasmuch as "incapacity alone, and not difficulty in giving consent and in realizing a true community of life and love, invalidates a marriage" (ibid., n. 7). Third, the distinction between the canonical approach to normality, which, based on an integral vision of the human person, "also includes moderate forms of psychological difficulty", and the clinical approach, which excludes from the concept of normality every limitation of maturity and "every form of psychic illness" (Address to the Roman Rota, 25 January 1988, n. 5). And finally, the distinction between the "minimum capacity sufficient for valid consent" and the ideal capacity "of full maturity in relation to happy married life"
Basically, what the Popes say is that difficulties in living the state or marriage do not make the marriage null. Difficulty does not mean incapacity and cases of incapacity are rare. Benedict XVI says: “there is a need for a new and positive appreciation of the capacity to marry belonging in principle to every human person by virtue of his or her very nature as a man or a woman. We tend in fact to risk falling into a kind of anthropological pessimism which, in the light of today’s cultural context, would consider marriage as practically impossible. Apart from the fact that this context is not uniform in the various parts of the world, genuine incapacity to consent cannot be confused with the real difficulties facing many people, especially the young, which lead them to conclude that marital union is, as a rule, inconceivable and impracticable. Rather, a reaffirmation of the innate human capacity for marriage is itself the starting point for enabling couples to discover the natural reality of marriage and its importance for salvation.”
Man and woman have a natural capacity to marry, because it is in our human nature. Sometimes there are exceptions, accidents, but they are rare. In order to understand well the nature of marriage, it is important to understand the human nature. Now, Matrimony is also for the baptized people a Sacrament. In order to understand it, we have to understand the plan of God for mankind, what we call the Economy of Salvation.