The pre-1955 Liturgies in Minnesota (Tridium).
The Pre-1955 Traditional Liturgy schedule celebrated Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday here in Minnesota. One of only twenty parish’s in the world with these beautiful liturgies. We are additionally honored to have bishops from Minneapolis and Chicago offering these Masses in the traditional rite!
Iucunda semper expectationeEncyclical of Pope Leo XIII on the Rosary, 8 September 1894.Sections 2-5 The recourse we have to Mary in prayer follows upon the office she continuously fills by the side of the throne of God as Mediatrix of Divine grace; being by worthiness and by merit most acceptable to Him, and, therefore, surpassing in power all the angels and saints in Heaven. Now, this merciful office of hers, perhaps, appears in no other form of prayer so manifestly as it does in the Rosary. For in the Rosary all the part that Mary took as our co-Redemptress comes to us, as it were, set forth, and in such wise as though the facts were even then taking place; and this with much profit to our piety, whether in the contemplation of the succeeding sacred mysteries, or in the prayers which we speak and repeat with the lips. First come the Joyful Mysteries. The Eternal Son of God stoops to mankind, putting on its nature; but with the assent of Mary, who conceives Him by the Holy Ghost. Then St. John the Baptist, by a singular privilege, is sanctified in his mother’s womb and favored with special graces that he might prepare the way of the Lord; and this comes to pass by the greeting of Mary who had been inspired to visit her cousin. At last the expected of nations comes to light, Christ the Savior. The Virgin bears Him. And when the Shepherds and the wise men, first-fruits of the Christian faith, come with longing to His cradle, they find there the young Child, with Mary, His Mother. Then, that He might before men offer Himself as a victim to His Heavenly Father, He desires to be taken to the Temple; and by the hands of Mary He is there presented to the Lord. It is Mary who, in the mysterious losing of her Son, seeks Him sorrowing, and finds Him again with joy. And the same truth is told again in the sorrowful mysteries. In the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus is in an agony; in the judgment-hall, where He is scourged, crowned with thorns, condemned to death, not there do we find Mary. But she knew beforehand all these agonies; she knew and saw them. When she professed herself the handmaid of the Lord for the mother’s office, and when, at the foot of the altar, she offered up her whole self with her Child Jesus–then and thereafter she took her part in the laborious expiation made by her Son for the sins of the world. It is certain, therefore, that she suffered in the very depths of her soul with His most bitter sufferings and with His torments. Moreover, it was before the eyes of Mary that was to be finished the Divine Sacrifice for which she had borne and brought up the Victim. As we contemplate Him in the last and most piteous of those Mysteries, there stood by the Cross of Jesus His Mother, who, in a miracle of charity, so that she might receive us as her sons, offered generously to Divine Justice her own Son, and died in her heart with Him, stabbed with the sword of sorrow. Thence the Rosary takes us on to the Glorious Mysteries, wherein likewise is revealed the mediation of the great Virgin, still more abundant in fruitfulness. She rejoices in heart over the glory of her Son triumphant over death, and follows Him with a mother’s love in His Ascension to His eternal kingdom; but, though worthy of Heaven, she abides a while on earth, so that the infant Church may be directed and comforted by her “who penetrated, beyond all belief, into the deep secrets of Divine wisdom” (St. Bernard). Nevertheless, for the fulfillment of the task of human redemption there remains still the coming of the Holy Ghost, promised by Christ. And behold, Mary is in the room, and there, praying with the Apostles and entreating for them with sobs and tears, she hastens for the Church the coming of the Spirit, the Comforter, the supreme gift of Christ, the treasure that will never fail. And later, without measure and without end will she be able to plead our cause, passing upon a day to the life immortal. Therefore we behold her taken up from this valley of tears into the heavenly Jerusalem, amid choirs of Angels. And we honor her, glorified above all the Saints, crowned with stars by her Divine Son and seated at His side the sovereign Queen of the universe. If in all this series of Mysteries, Venerable Brethren, are developed the counsels of God in regard to us–“counsels of wisdom and of tenderness” (St. Bernard)–not less apparent is the greatness of the benefits for which we are debtors to the Virgin Mother. No man can meditate upon these without feeling a new awakening in his heart of confidence that he will certainly obtain through Mary the fullness of the mercies of God. And to this end vocal prayer chimes well with the Mysteries. First, as is meet and right, comes the Lord’s Prayer, addressed to Our Father in Heaven: and having, with the elect petitions dictated by Our Divine Master, called upon the Father, from the throne of His Majesty we turn our prayerful voices to Mary. Thus is confirmed that law of merciful meditation of which We have spoken, and which St. Bernardine of Siena thus expresses: “Every grace granted to man has three degrees in order; for by God it is communicated to Christ, from Christ it passes to the Virgin, and from the Virgin it descends to us.” And we, by the very form of the Rosary, do linger longest, and, as it were, by preference upon the last and lowest of these steps, repeating by decades the Angelic Salutation, so that with greater confidence we may thence attain to the higher degrees–that is, may rise, by means of Christ, to the Divine Father. For if thus we again and again greet Mary, it is precisely that our failing and defective prayers may be strengthened with the necessary confidence; as though we pledged her to pray for us, and as it were in our name, to God. |
The Offertory is an antiphon: it once was probably a psalm or a collection of psalms, which used to be sung while the faithful made their offerings of bread and wine for the Mass, or of gifts for the use of the clergy. The offerings of bread and wine for the Mass by the faithful began to fall into disuse about the year 1000, but the Offertory and its name are still retained.
At the Offertory we see the oblation of bread and wine by the priest, made after the recitation of the antiphon just mentioned. The Church does not really offer bread and wine absolutely and in themselves, the Church offers them that Christ may convert them into His own Body and Blood.
The antiphon at the Offertory, or as the Missal terms it, “the Offertory,” has necessarily nothing whatever to do with the oblation which it precedes. Thus, on the Fourth Sunday in Advent, the Offertory is the first part of the Hail Mary. The Offertory varies with the season and feast, and is closely connected with the Introit and Gradual, and Communion. The things offered are bread and wine. Both are by the institution of Jesus Christ. The bread used in the Latin Church is made of flour and water without yeast, that is, unleavened bread. In the Greek Church the old custom of using leavened bread is still preserved. Wine, according to the Council of Florence, from the grape alone can be used; thus gooseberry wine is invalid.
By the precept of the Church at least a drop of water, aqua modicissima, says the Council of Florence, is mixed with the wine. The Council of Trent teaches (Sess. xxii.c. 7) that the Church orders a drop or two of water to be mingled with the wine before Consecration, because our Lord is believed to have mingled water with wine at the Last Supper, as also because the mixture of wine and water represents the Blood and Water which flowed from His Side after Death.
The five prayers used at the oblation of bread and wine are of comparatively recent date. The great oblation of Christ’s Body and Blood must be carefully distinguished from the Offertory or anticipatory oblation of bread and wine. The oblation is neither an essential nor an integral portion of the Sacrifice; it is not necessary for its completeness. The oblation is a religious ceremony instituted by the Church to excite the reverence and devotion of the faithful towards the great mystery to be accomplished, while it is the appropriation of the bread and wine to the special service of God.
I proceed to explain these five prayers. The priest raising his eyes to the crucifix and afterwards fixing them on the bread lying on the paten which he holds in his hands, says:
Súscipe, sancte Pater, omnípotens æterne Deus, hanc immaculatam hostiam, quam ego indignus famulus tuus offero tibi, Deo meo vivo et vero, pro innumerabilibus peccátis, et offensiónibus, et negligéntiis meis, et pro ómnibus circumstantibus, sed et pro ómnibus fidélibus christianis vivis atque defúnctis, ut mihi, et illis proficiat ad salútem in vitam ætérnam.
Accept, O Holy Father, Almighty and eternal God, this spotless host, which I, Your unworthy servant, offer to You, my living and true God, to atone for my numberless sins, offenses and negligences; on behalf of all here present and likewise for all faithful Christians living and dead, that it may profit me and them as a means of salvation to life everlasting.
EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER.
Accept, O holy Father, to God the Father, the Sacrifice of His Son is offered, not to the Blessed Virgin, nor to Saint, or Angel to the Father from whom all paternity descends: Almighty, the epithet is very suitable, since the Sacrifice of the Mass is to show God’s supreme dominion and power over all creatures, eternal, is the attribute of the true God only, always was, is, and always will be; this immaculate Host, the bread by anticipation is called the Spotless Host “receive,” says Benedict XIV. (Bk. ii. c. x. n. 2) on the Mass, “this Spotless Host into Whom this bread is soon to be converted,” which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my living and true God, God is the source of all life, without Him only death; for mine innumerable sins, mortal and venial, which the priest may have committed by thought, word, deed, and omission; offences are involuntary faults which, through human weakness one commits, which with greater care might be avoided. You hurt your foot by knocking against the table; take greater care not to knock against the table and you will not hurt your foot.
And negligences, such as want of purity of intention, want of correspondence with the special grace God gives His priest, which mars the beauty of an action. And for all here present; the Mass is offered for all present in a special way, because the congregation assisting at Mass gains more abundant fruit from the Sacrifice. For all faithful Christians, the Mass is offered too, for the members of the true Church in the first place, and for all the baptized who serve God outside the body of the Church according to their con science; living and dead, on earth and in Purgatory, that it may be profitable for mine own and for their salvation unto life eternal. Amen. Then making the sign of the Cross with the paten, the Priest places the Host upon the corporal.
THE OFFERING OF THE CHALICE.
The Chalice is offered to God the Father in the same way as the Host, because to Him the Sacrifice is offered.
The priest pours wine into the chalice, and by the command of the Church adds a drop or two of water, having previously blessed it with the sign of the Cross. The wine is said to represent Jesus Christ and the water the people. The wine is not blessed, since it will soon be changed into the Blood of Christ at the Consecration; the sign of the Cross is made over the water, as representing the people who need to be blessed before they are united with Jesus Christ. The mingling of water with wine is also said to represent the union of the people with Jesus Christ (Council of Trent, Sess. xxii. c. 7.)
Deus, qui humánæ substántiæ dignitátem mirabiliter condidísti, et mirabilius reformásti: da nobis per hujus aquæ et vini mystérium, ejus divinitátis esse consórtes, qui humanitátis nostræ fieri dignátus est párticeps, Jesus Christus Filius tuus Dóminus noster: Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti Deus, per ómnia sæcula sæculórum. Amen.
O God, who established the nature of man in wondrous dignity, and still more admirably restored it, grant that by the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in His Divinity, who humbled himself to share in our humanity, Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.
EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER IN MINGLING THE WATER AND THE WINE.
The drift of the prayer is that we may be sharers in the divine nature, according to these words of St. Peter (2 *. 4): “by whom He hath given us most great and precious promises that by them you may be made partakers of the divine nature.” By sanctifying grace we become the adopted children of God, and are most closely united to Him. We ask the grace “by the mystery of the water and wine,” that is, by the Passion and Death of our Saviour, when blood and water flowed from His side, and He as Man satisfied for us, began and perfected the work of our redemption.
The priest then, having moved to the middle of the altar, takes the Chalice by the knob in one hand and with the other supporting the foot, holds it about the height of his eyes, and fixing them on the crucifix, says:
Offérimus tibi, Dómine, cálicem salutáris tuam deprecántes cleméntiam: ut in conspéctu divinæ majestátis tuæ, pro nostra et totíus mundi salúte cum odóre suavitátis ascéndat. Amen.
We offer You, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, humbly begging of Your mercy that it may arise before Your divine Majesty, with a pleasing fragrance, for our salvation and for that of the whole world. Amen.
EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER IN OFFERING THE CHALICE.
We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the Chalice of salvation the words ” chalice of salvation ” are taken from the ii5th Psalm they refer, by anticipation, to the Blood in the Chalice, after the Consecration, shed for our salvation, just as in the Offering of the Host, ” Spotless Host,” refers, by anticipation, to the Consecrated Host, beseeching Thy clemency, that in the sight of Thy Divine Majesty it may ascend with the odour of sweetness for our salvation and for that of the whole world, for not merely upon Catholics but upon the whole world, graces descend through the power of the Mass.
Why, it may be asked, does the priest say “we” offer and not “I” offer? Because at Solemn Mass or High Mass the assisting deacon joins with the priest in offering the chalice. The Church has only one liturgy, and its form supposes that more solemn celebration of High Mass, which is dearer to her heart. Low Mass differs from High Mass chiefly in omissions.
The priest then makes the sign of the Cross with the chalice, places it upon the corporal, and covers it with the pall. Then with his hands joined upon the altar, and slightly bowing down, he says:
In spíritu humilitátis, et in ánimo contrito suscipiámur a te, Dómine, et sic fiat sacrificium nostrum in conspéctu tuo hódie, ut pláceat tibi, Dómine Deus.
In a humble spirit and with a contrite heart, may we be accepted by You, O Lord, and may our sacrifice so be offered in Your sight this day as to please You, O Lord God.
This prayer is more or less modelled on the prayer of the three children in the fiery furnace as given in Daniel, third chapter, vv. 39, 40. They walked in the midst of the flames praising God, refusing to adore the golden statue set up by Nabuchadonosor. They offered their bodies as victims to obtain mercy for themselves and others. The priest with contrite heart offers the Sacrifice for the sins of the world. Next, the priest raising his eyes and stretching out his hands, which he afterwards joins, makes the sign of the Cross over the Host and Chalice while he says:
Veni, Sanctificátor omnípotens ætérne Deus, et bénedic hoc sacrificum tuo sancto nómini præparátum.
Come, O Sanctifier, Almighty and Eternal God, and bless, this sacrifice prepared for the glory of Your holy Name.
EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER VENI SANCTIFICATOR.
This invocation is addressed to the Holy Ghost. In the language of the Church, the Holy Ghost is called the Sanctifier, and to Him the work of sanctification is specially attributed. Thus we speak of the seven gifts not of the Father and Son, but of the Holy Ghost: all meant for our sanctification. The word “bless” has various meanings. It may mean a prayer as of a father over his child God bless you, which may not take effect. God’s blessing carries infallibly virtue with it. The priest in blessing and in sanctifying by the sign of the Cross the bread and wine on the altar begs the presence in them of the Lamb of God, and implores of the Holy Ghost transubstantiation, which is God’s greatest work.
The priest with his hands joined goes to the Epistle side of the altar, where he washes his fingers, and recites a portion of the 25th Psalm.
The washing of the fingers is the sign of the perfect cleansing of the heart required for the worthy celebration of the Holy Mass.
The tips of the fingers, the thumb and forefinger, which at his ordination were consecrated for the offering of the adorable Sacrifice, and not the hands, are washed to express that the priest should be clean wholly (see St. John xiii. 10). The Lavabo, that is, the verses from the 25th Psalm, run thus:
Glory be to the Father, etc.
EXPLANATION OF THE LAVABO.
David’s prayer to be delivered from exile and to worship God in His tabernacle is placed by the Church in the mouth of the priest. In the first verse David alludes to a custom among the Jews, who before entering into the Tabernacle purified themselves and the victims they offered, and this external washing is the sign of internal purity. David says, I will wash my hands among the innocent, as a sign of real inward purity, as an innocent person would wash them; and not with the hypocrites, who do so with clean hands and unclean hearts.
Such verses as I will wash my hands among the innocent, and as for me, I have walked in my innocence (v. 6), in no sense deny that the priest is a sinner. These words have no boastful tone for the priest adds, redeem me and have mercy on me.
There is a true sense in which every priest striving to serve God may use the words, “I have walked in my innocence.” The priesthood is a state of innocence secured by its obligations against many forms of evil. The priest speaks more or less in the name of his order. The priesthood has a multitude of graces to secure it from sin, and the language of David, a penitent sinner, in the mouth of the priest from the knowledge it implies of the priestly state and of what a priest ought to be, fills any priest with a humbling sense of his unworthiness for such an exalted position.
Returning to the middle of the altar and bowing slightly with hands joined, to imitate, as St. Thomas says, the humility and obedience of Jesus Christ, the priest says:
EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER SUSCIPE SANCTA TRINITAS.
This prayer clearly brings out certain points of doctrine. The preceding prayers of the Offertory are addressed to the Father and Holy Ghost this prayer to the three persons of the Godhead, to whom alone and not to the Blessed Virgin or the Saints the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered. Sacrifice is (1) the supreme act of worship to God alone. The offering is in memory of the Passion, for the Eucharist, especially in the double Consecration of bread and wine, is a memorial of His Passion; (2) in memory of the Resurrection, for the immortal body of Jesus Christ is consecrated; (3) in memory of the Ascension, for Christ who died for us and rose again in the same Body which lies in the Eucharist, has ascended into Heaven to intercede for us. The Sacrifice is offered in honour of our Lady and the Saints; not to them, and the motive is that our Lady and the Saints may intercede for us in Heaven. In honouring His Mother and the Saints we honour our Lord in His best works.
Next the priest kisses the altar as a sign of affection for the relics of the Saints buried there and much more for our Lord, and turning towards the people, extending and joining his hands, he raises his voice a little and says:
Brethren, pray that my Sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the Father Almighty.
“Brethren” is used without distinction of sex. The human race after Baptism is one family, we are baptized children of God, we are strengthened by the same Sacraments, fed by the same food, call God our Father, and are destined for the same reward. The answer of the server is as follows:
May our Lord receive the Sacrifice from thy hands, to the praise and glory of His name, to our benefit, and to that of all His holy Church.
The priest answers in a low voice Amen, and with outstretched hands recites the Secret prayers.
THE SECRET.
The Secret is so-called because the prayers are said in a low voice inaudible to the people.
The number of the Secrets is the same as that of the Collects.
The difference between the Collect and Secret is that the Collect is a special prayer to God or relates to the feast of the day without reference to the Sacrifice at all. The Secrets are in keeping with the name originally given to them, prayers over the offerings (orationes super oblata). In the Offertory we ask God to accept, bless, sanctify, and consecrate the gifts offered, in the Secret we implore of Him the graces we require, as in a certain sense the fruit or effect of the offerings made. Thus, in the Secret for Pentecost, we read: Sanctify, we beg of Thee, O Lord, the gifts we have offered, and cleanse our hearts by the light of the Holy Spirit, and the Secret for Corpus Christi says: We beseech Thee, O Lord, mercifully to grant to Thy Church the gifts of unity and peace which are mystically figured under the gifts we offer, through Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth, world without end.
THE PREFACE.
The Preface, as its name indicates, is the introduction to the Canon, the most solemn portion of the Mass, which includes the Consecration. If we consider the Introit (introitus, entrance) with the preceding prayers as a general introduction to Mass, then the Preface may be considered as the special introduction to the Canon.
The general purport of the Preface is to thank God for all His mercies, to call on the angels to assist at the great Sacrifice, and to place ourselves in communion with them in the songs of adoration and love which they present at the throne of God.
There are in all eleven Prefaces the Common or ordinary Preface, for days to which no other is appropriated, and the special Prefaces for the Nativity, used during the octave of Christmas, for the feasts of the Holy Name, of the Purification, of Corpus Christi, and of the Transfiguration; for the Epiphany, and for Lent; for Passiontide, used on the feasts of the Invention and Exaltation of the Cross, of the Passion of our Lord, on the Fridays of Lent and for the Sacred Heart; for Easter, the Ascension, Whit Sunday; the Preface for Trinity, used on all Sundays in the year which have no Preface of their own; the Preface for the Apostles, said also on the feasts of St. Peter’s Chair at Rome and at Antioch. The Preface for our Lady was fixed by Urban II., at the close of the eleventh century, 1088.
The Preface is divided into three parts. The introduction and conclusion are always the same: the middle changes with the feast and the ecclesiastical year.
Here the Priest uplifts his hands:
He joins his hands, and bows his head while he says:
Vere dignum et justum est aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper, et ubique gratias agere; Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus; per Christum Dominum nos trum. Per quern Majestatem tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates. Coeli, coelorumque vir- tutes,ac beata Seraphim, socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces, ut admitti jubeas deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua. Hosanna in Excelsis. Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in Excelsis.
It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that we should always, and in all places, give thanks to Thee, O Holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God, through Christ our Lord. By whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations adore, the Powers tremble before It. The Heavens and the Heavenly Virtues and the blessed Seraphim do celebrate with united joy. In union with whom we beseech Thee to ordain that our voices be admitted, saying in suppliant accord, Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God of hosts. Full are the heavens and the earth of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
EXPLANATION OF THE INTRODUCTION TO THE PREFACE.
The words Per omnia saecula saeculorum belong to the Secret. The Introduction consists of three versicles with their responses. The priest opens with the customary greeting Dominus vobiscum, without turning as usual towards the people, thereby showing that he is wholly wrapt in the thought of the great action soon to be accomplished. He is conversing with God face to face. The server answers, or at High Mass the choir chants, et cum spiritu tuo may God be with thy spirit, O Priest. The Priest raising his hands, suit ing the action to the word, says the words Sursum corda lift up your hearts as an invitation to raise our thoughts to heavenly things. To this invitation the people respond, we have them lifted up unto the Lord, that is, our hearts are already lifted up and with our Lord. The priest joins his hands and bows his head while he adds Let us give thanks to the Lord our God, a tribute which is due to God for all His benefits and especially for the gift of the Blessed Sacrament which comes to us through the Holy Mass. The word Eucharist, as we have seen, means thanksgiving. The faithful answer through the server, it is meet and just: meet in respect of His manifold benefits, and just on our part who so largely enjoy them.
These words close the introduction which is thought to have been composed by the Apostles.
EXPLANATION OF THE PREFACE.
We now come to the Preface itself and shall select the Common Preface for explanation. The priest begins the Preface by echoing the spirit of the response and repeating it with increased force. It is truly meet and just, right and salutary; meet with respect to God whose benefits we acknowledge by thanking Him for them, while this very act proclaims our own feeling of gratitude; just, for thanksgiving is an obligation of justice; right both on these and ail other accounts; salutary, for it conduces to our salvation; that we should always, and in all places, give thanks to Thee, that is on every conceivable occasion, laughing and weeping, living and dying we should thank God. Holy Lord, Father Almighty, Eternal God, through Christ our Lord. These words are addressed to God the Father. Each epithet, Holy, Almighty, Eternal, is used in the strict sense here and belongs to God alone. By whom the angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations adore, the Powers tremble before It, the Heavens and the Heavenly Virtues and the Blessed Seraphim do celebrate with united joy. The introduction of the Angels into the Preface adds much solemnity to its words. There are nine Choirs of Angels: Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim. It is distinctly said that the angels praise God the Father through our Lord, their Chief and Mediator. The word “angels” is not taken in a general sense, but specifically the first choir. The Dominations seem to annihilate themselves in adoring the Majesty of their Creator the Dominations adore. The Powers, so called says Gregory the Great, because by their strength they overcome the demons, tremble before It, that is, are filled with a reverential fear (tvemunt Potestates). The Heavens, that is, the entire Heavenly Host; the Virtues, perhaps the Choir of Angels through whose agency miraculous signs are made, and the Blessed Seraphim, the highest choir of all, called Blessed because of their incomparable love for God, in common jubilee glorify God’s Majesty.
Here four different emotions or actions are ascribed to the angels in which we are to imitate them: namely, praise, adoration, awe, and joy.
The priest next prays in the name of the faithful and in his own. In union with whom we beseech Thee to ordain that our voices be admitted in suppliant accord (our humble voice of praise) saying: now comes the conclusion of the Preface.
The first verse is taken from the sixth chapter of Isaias, v. 3, where the Prophet describes the glorious vision of the Lord’s throne and the Seraphim “cried one to another, saying Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of His glory.” The three-fold repetition of holy is perhaps in honour of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, distinct in person, the same in nature.
The second verse is the repetition of the cries of joy by the crowd in St. Matthew (xxi. 9) as our Lord entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”
Hosanna means “Save we pray” much like our expression, God save the King, or the French Vive I Empereur. Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord refers to Jesus Christ, who is in the full sense of the word blessed, for He is the source of every blessing.
The words Blessed is He who cometh refer directly to our Lord’s coming in the Eucharist. The Church seems to give this interpretation in her rubric which prescribes these words to be sung by the choir after the Consecration.
Our first Ignatian weekend Men’s retreat was a great success! Over twenty-five men gathered at Christ the King retreat center for a traditional Ignatian retreat in Buffalo Minnesota. The Ignatian retreat was the first to include the Traditional Mass in our area, in over fifty years. We are most grateful to Miles Christi for their great efforts in this retreat. In particular, we would like to thank Father de Soza (MC) for leading this inspiring retreat. If you are interested in next years retreat please contact us!
Good Shepherd Catholic Church
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
MASS IN THE EXTRAORDINARY FORM
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8; 8 A.M.
If you have never been to Mass in the Extraordinary Form, the Missa Contata is a beautiful entry to this timeless worship. We will provide Mass guides for all those who come to participate. The guides include English translations of the readings and prayers as well as instructions for how to participate.
This will be a MISSA CONTATA – a Sung Mass.
Our early Mass on Saturday will be in the Extraordinary Form, which is to say it is a Latin Mass, according to the 1962 Roman Missal. It will be, more or less, Mass as it was celebrated when the Immaculate Conception was solemnized as a Holy Day of Obligation.
We are very pleased to announce that the religious order Miles Christi has agreed to host a traditional Ignatian retreat. The retreat will feature daily Mass in the Traditional Rite. The retreat will be held at the beautiful Christ the King retreat center in Buffalo Minnesota on December 7th through the 9th. The effort is a work of Una Voce Minnesota. Please call John Newman at 248-596-9677 for more information or to register for the this great event.
An Ignatian retreat is a great opportunity of grace with daily talks, meditations, Confession, Benediction, Eucharistic Adoration and daily Mass in the Traditional Rite.
For more information on the incredible value of an Ignatian retreat see these links: https://catholicstrength.com/tag/the-great-value-of-an-ignatian-retreat/
https://onepeterfive.com/spiritual-exercise/.
LAETITIAE SANCTAE
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TO OUR VENERABLE BRETHREN, PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER LOCAL ORDINARIES ENJOYING PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE HOLY SEE VENERABLE BRETHREN, GREETINGS AND APOSTOLIC BENEDICTION! |
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The sacred joy which it has been given to Us to feel in attaining the fiftieth anniversary of our Episcopal consecration has been deepened by the knowledge that it was shared by the people of the whole Catholic world, and that as a father in the midst of his children we have been consoled by the touching testimonies of their loyalty and love. We gratefully accept it and record it as a fresh proof of God’s special providence, and one which is markedly full of bounty to ourselves, and of blessing to the Church. At the same time we delight to offer our thanks for this signal benefit to the august Mother of God, whose powerful intercession we feel to have been exercised in our behalf. For hers is the loving kindness which, throughout the years and in the vicissitudes of life has never failed Us, and which day by day seems to draw nearer to Us than ever, filling Our soul with gladness and strengthening Us with a confidence of which the surety is higher than the things of time. It is as if the voice of the heavenly Queen made itself heard to Us: at one moment graciously consoling Us in the midst of trials; at another guiding Us by her counsel in directing the great work of the salvation of souls; at another, urging Us to admonish the Christian people to advance in piety and in the practice of every virtue. For Us it is once more a joy as well as a duty to respond to her inspirations. Among the happy results that have already rewarded Our exhortations which were due to her prompting, We have to reckon the remarkable impulse given to the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary. This awakening has made itself felt in the increased number of confraternities instituted for the purpose, the voluminous literature of pious and learned works written upon the subject, and the manifold tributes which Christian art has not failed to bring to its service. And now, as if for yet another time listening to the voice of the same zealous Mother, who calls upon Us to “cry out and cease not,” We rejoice to address you again, Venerable Brethren, upon the subject of the Rosary, standing as we do upon the eve of that month of October which, by the granting of special indulgences, We have deemed it well to dedicate to this most popular devotion. Our appeal to you, however, will be intended not so much to add any further recommendation of a method of prayer so praiseworthy in itself, nor yet to press upon the faithful the necessity of practicing it still more fervently, but rather to point out how we may draw from this devotion certain advantages which are especially valuable and needful at the present day. THE ROSARY AND SOCIETY For We are convinced that the Rosary, if devoutly used, is bound to benefit not only the individual but society at large. No one will do Us the injustice to deny that in the discharge of the duties of the Supreme Apostolate We have labored as, God helping, We shall ever continue to labor-to promote the civil prosperity of mankind. Repeatedly have We admonished those who are invested with sovereign power that they should neither make nor execute laws except in conformity with the equity of the Divine mind. On the other hand We have constantly besought citizens who were conspicuous by genius, industry, family, or fortune, to join together in common counsel and action to safeguard and to promote whatever would tend to the strength and well-being of the community. Only too many elements are at work in the present condition of things to loosen the bonds of public order and to draw the people away from sound principles of life and conduct. DISLIKE OF POVERTY – THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES There are three influences which appear to Us to have the chief place in bringing about this downgrade movement of society. These are, first, distaste for a simple life of labor; second, repugnance to suffering of any kind; third, forgetfulness of the future life. We deplore-and those who judge things merely by the light and according to the standard of nature join us in deploring-that society is threatened with a serious danger in the growing contempt of those homely duties and virtues which make up the beauty of humble life. To this cause we may trace in the home the eagerness of children to withdraw themselves from the natural obligation of obedience to the parents, and their impatience of any form of treatment which is not of the indulgent and soft kind. In the workman, it evinces itself in a tendency to desert his trade, to shrink from toil, to become discontented with his lot, to fix his gaze on things that are above him, and to look forward with unthinking hopefulness to some future equalization of property. We may observe the same temper permeating the masses in their eagerness to exchange the life of the rural districts for the excitement and pleasures of the town. Thus the equilibrium between the classes of the community is being destroyed, everything becomes unsettled, men’s minds become a prey to jealousy and corroding envy, rights are openly trampled under foot, and finally, the people, betrayed in their expectations, attack public order and place themselves in opposition to those who are charged to maintain it. For evils such as these let us seek a remedy in the Rosary, which consists in a fixed order of prayer combined with devout meditation on the life of Christ and His Blessed Mother. Here, if the Joyful Mysteries be but clearly brought home in the minds of the people, an object-lesson of the chief virtues is placed before their eyes. Each one will thus be able to see for himself how easy, how abundant, how sweetly attractive, are the lessons to be found therein for the leading of an honest life. Let us take our stand in front of that earthly and Divine home of holiness, the House of Nazareth. How much we have to learn from the daily life which was led within its walls! What an all-perfect model of domestic society! Here we behold simplicity and purity of conduct, perfect agreement and unbroken harmony, mutual respect and love–not of the false and fleeting kind, but that which finds both its life and its charm in devotedness of service. Here is the patient industry which provides what is required for food and raiment; which does so “in the sweat of the brow”; which is contented with little, and seeks rather to diminish the number of its wants than to multiply the sources of its wealth. Better than all, we find here that supreme peace of mind and gladness of soul which never fail to accompany the possession of a tranquil conscience. These are precious examples of goodness, of modesty, of humility, of hard-working endurance, of kindness to others, of diligence in the small duties of daily life, and of other virtues; and once they have made their influence felt, they gradually take root in the soul, and in the course of time fail not to bring about a happy change of mind and conduct. Then will each one begin to feel his work as no longer lowly and irksome, but welcome and delightful, and clothed with a certain joyousness by his sense of duty in discharging it conscientiously. Then will gentler manners prevail everywhere; home life will be loved and esteemed; and the relations of man with man will be hallowed by a larger infusion of respect and charity. And if this betterment should go forth from the individual to the family and to communities and thence to the people at large so that human life should be lifted up to this standard, no one will fail to feel how great and lasting indeed would be the gain achieved for society. REPUGNANCE TO SUFFERING – THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES A second evil, one which is especially pernicious and which, because of the increasing harm which it works to souls, We can never sufficiently deplore, is to be found in repugnance to suffering and in eagerness to escape whatever is hard or painful to endure. The greater number are thus robbed of that peace and freedom of mind which remains the reward of those who do what is right, undismayed by the perils or troubles to be met with in doing so. Rather do they dream of a chimerical civilization in which all that is unpleasant shall be removed, and all that is pleasant shall be supplied. By this passionate and unbridled desire for living a life of pleasure, the minds of men are weakened; and if they do not entirely succumb, they become demoralized and miserably cower and sink under the hardships of the battle of life. In such a contest, example is everything, and a powerful means of renewing our courage will undoubtedly be found in the holy Rosary, if from our earliest years our minds have been trained to dwell upon the Sorrowful Mysteries of Our Lord’s life, and to drink in their meaning by sweet and silent meditation. In them we shall learn how Christ, “the Author and Finisher of faith,”1 began “to do and to teach,”2 in order that we might see written in His example all the lessons that He Himself taught us for the bearing of our burden of labor and sorrow, and mark how those sufferings which were hardest to bear were those which He embraced with the greatest measure of generosity and good will. We behold Him overwhelmed with sadness, so that drops of blood ooze like sweat from His veins. We see Him bound like a malefactor, subjected to the judgment of the unrighteous, laden with insults, covered with shame, assailed with false accusations, torn with scourges, crowned with thorns, nailed to the Cross, accounted unworthy to live, and condemned by the voice of the multitude as of deserving death. Here, too, we contemplate the grief of the Most Holy Mother, whose soul was not merely wounded but pierced by the sword of sorrow, so that she might be called and become in truth the Mother of Sorrows. Witnessing these examples of fortitude, not with sight but by faith, who is there who will not feel his heart grow warm with the desire of imitating them? Then, even though the earth is accursed and brings forth thistles and thorns; even though the soul is saddened with grief and the body with sickness-even so, there will be no evil which the envy of man or the rage of devils can invent, nor calamity which can fall upon the individual or the community, over which we shall not triumph by the patience of suffering. For this reason it has been truly said that it belongs to the Christian to do and to endure great things, for he who deserves to be called a Christian must not shrink from following in the footsteps of Christ. But by this patience we mean, not that empty stoicism in enduring pain which was the ideal of some of the philosophers of old, but rather that patience which is learned from the example of Him Who, “having joy set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame.”3 It is the patience which is obtained by the help of His grace; which does not shirk a trial because it is painful, but accepts it and esteems it as gain, however hard it may be to undergo. The Catholic Church has always had, and happily still has, multitudes of men and women in every rank and condition of life who are glorious disciples of this teaching, and who, following faithfully in the path of Christ suffer injury and hardship for the cause of virtue and religion. They re-echo not with their lips but with their life, the words of St Thomas: “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”4 May such types of admirable constancy be more and more splendidly multiplied in our midst, to the weal of society and to the glory and edification of the Church of God! FORGETFULNESS OF THE FUTURE LIFE – THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES The third evil for which a remedy is needed is one which is chiefly characteristic of the times in which we live. Men in former ages, although they loved the world and loved it far too well, did not usually aggravate their sinful attachment to the things of earth by a contempt of the things of Heaven. Even the right-thinking portion of the pagan world recognized that this life was not a home but a dwelling place, not our destination but a stage in the journey. But men of our day, albeit they have had the advantages of Christian instruction, pursue the false goods of this world in such wise that the thought of their true Fatherland of enduring happiness is not only set aside, but, to their shame be it said, banished and entirely erased from their memory, notwithstanding the warning of St. Paul, “We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one which is to come.”5 When we seek the causes of this forgetfulness, we are confronted in the first place by the fact that many allow themselves to believe that the thought of a future life tends in some way to sap the love of country, and thus militates against the prosperity of the commonwealth. No illusion could be more foolish or detestable. Our future hope is not of a kind which so monopolizes the minds of men as to withdraw their attention from the interest of this life. Christ commends us, it is true, to seek the kingdom of God, and to seek it first6, but not in such a manner as to neglect all things else. For the use of the goods of the present life, and the right enjoyment which they furnish, may serve both to strengthen virtue and to reward it. The splendor and beauty of our earthly habitation, by which human society is ennobled, may mirror the splendor and beauty of our dwelling which is above. Therein we see nothing that is not worthy of the reason of man and of the wisdom of God. For the same God Who is the Author of nature is the Author of grace, and He has willed that one should not collide or conflict with the other but that they should act in friendly alliance, so that under the leadership of both we may the more easily arrive at that immortal happiness for which we mortal men were created. But men of carnal mind, who love nothing but themselves, allow their thoughts to concentrate upon things of earth until they are unable to lift them to that which is higher. Far from using the goods of time as a help toward securing those which are eternal, they lose sight altogether of the world which is to come; and sink to the lowest depths of degradation. We may doubt if God could inflict upon man a more terrible punishment than to allow him to waste his whole life in the pursuit of earthly pleasures, and in forgetfulness of the happiness which alone lasts forever. From this danger they will be happily rescued who, in the pious practice of the Rosary, are wont, by frequent and fervent prayer, to keep before their minds the Glorious Mysteries. These mysteries are the means by which in the soul of a Christian a most clear light is shed upon the good things, hidden to sense but visible to faith “which God has prepared for those who love Him.” From them we learn that death is not an annihilation which ends all things, but merely a migration and passage from life to life. By them we are taught that the path to Heaven lies open to all men, and as we behold Christ ascending thither, we recall the sweet words of His promise, “I go to prepare a place for you.”7 By them we are reminded that a time will come when “God will wipe away every tear from our eyes”; and that “neither mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more,”8 and that “we shall be always with the Lord,”9 and “like to the Lord, for we shall see Him as He is,”10 and “drink of the torrent of His delight” as “fellow-citizens of the saints,” in the blessed companionship of our glorious Queen and Mother. Dwelling upon such a prospect, our hearts are kindled with desire, and we exclaim, in the words of a great saint, “How vile grows the earth when I look up to Heaven!” Then, too, shall we feel the solace of the assurance that “that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us above measure exceedingly as eternal weight of glory.”11 Here alone we discover the true relation between time and eternity, between our life on earth and our life in Heaven; and it is thus alone that are formed strong and noble characters. When such characters can be counted in large numbers, the dignity and well-being of society are assured. All that is beautiful, good, and true will flourish in the measure of its conformity to Him Who is of all beauty, goodness, and truth, the First Principle and the Eternal Source. CONFRATERNITIES OF THE ROSARY These considerations will explain what We have already laid down concerning the fruitful advantages which are to be derived from the use of the Rosary, and the healing power which this devotion possesses for the evils of the age and the fatal sore of society. These advantages, as we may readily conceive, will be secured in a higher and fuller measure by those who band themselves together in the sacred Confraternity of the Rosary, and who are thus more than others united by a special and brotherly bond of devotion to the Most Holy Virgin. In this Confraternity, approved by the Roman Pontiffs and enriched by them with indulgences and privileges, they possess their own rule of government, hold their meetings at stated times, and are provided with ample means of leading a holy life and of laboring for the good of the community. They are, so to speak, the battalions which fight the battle of Christ, armed with His sacred mysteries and under the banner and guidance of the heavenly Queen. How faithfully her intercession is exercised in response to their prayers, processions, and solemnities, is written in the whole experience of the Church not less than in the splendor of the victory of Lepanto. It is, therefore, to be desired that renewed zeal should be called forth in the founding, enlarging, and directing of these confraternities, and that not only by the sons of St. Dominic, to whom by virtue of their Order a leading part in his apostolate belongs, but by all who are charged with the care of souls, and notably in those places in which the Confraternity has not yet been canonically established. We have it especially at heart that those who are engaged in the sacred field of the missions, whether in carrying the Gospel to barbarous nations abroad, or in spreading it among the Christian nations at home, should look upon this work as especially their own. If they will make it the subject of their preaching, we cannot doubt that there will be large numbers of the faithful of Christ who will readily enroll themselves in the Confraternity, and who will earnestly endeavor to avail themselves of those spiritual advantages of which We have spoken, in which consist the very meaning and motive of the Rosary. From the confraternities the rest of the faithful will receive the example of greater esteem and reverence for the practice of the Rosary, and they will be thus encouraged to reap from it, as We heartily desire that they may, the same abundant fruits for their souls’ salvation. CONCLUSION This, then is the hope which, amid the manifold evils which beset society, brightens, consoles, and supports Us. May Mary, the Mother of God and of men, herself the authoress and teacher of the Rosary, procure for Us its happy fulfillment. It will be your part, Venerable Brethren, to provide that by your efforts Our words and Our wishes may go forth on their mission of good for the prosperity of families and the peace of peoples. And as a pledge of Divine favor and of Our own affection, we lovingly bestow upon you, your clergy, and your people, the Apostolic Benediction. Given in Rome, at St. Peter’s, the eighth day of September, in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-three, the sixteenth of our Pontificate. -Leo XIII, Pope |
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We are particularly pleased that our Traditional Mass’s in Minnesota are nearly all preceded by the Holy Rosary. The rosary has been given tremendous power and efficacy at this time. Please review the following promises of the Holy Rosary:
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| 2. | I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. | |
| 3. | The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies | |
| 4. | It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of people from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means. | |
| 5. | The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish. | |
| 6. | Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying Himself to the consideration of its Sacred Mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise Him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life. | |
| 7. | Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. | |
| 8. | Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the Saints in Paradise. | |
| 9. | I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. | |
| 10. | The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven. | |
| 11. | You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. | |
| 12. | All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities. | |
| 13. | I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death | |
| 14. | All who recite the Rosary are my children, and brothers and sisters of my only Son, Jesus Christ. | |
| 15. | Devotion of my Rosary is a great sign of predestination. |
“It is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16: 7).
The Mystery of the Ascension is rightly viewed as the beginning of the Christian Interior Life.
For three years, the Apostles (all except Paul) walked alongside Jesus. They experienced the light and power of His presence. They heard all his teachings. They witnessed Him walking on water, turning water into wine, countless miraculous healings, raisings of the dead, and multiplication of fishes and loaves. Peter, James, and John even witnessed His Transfiguration. And yet all during this period when God was physically and visibly with them, the Gospel reveals their ignorance, their slowness to believe and understand, their competitiveness with one another, their lack of mercy and quickness to judge others, their abandonment of Jesus in the time of His sorrows and Passion, and their slowness and skepticism in believing in His Resurrection. And even after He appeared to them in the flesh after the Resurrection, they cowered in the Upper Room.
An extraordinarily different group of men burst forth from the Upper Room after Pentecost, and after the Holy Spirit had descended into their souls. The speech of fishermen became eloquent. They preached with power, and in the tongues of all the various nations. They immediately converted thousands. They raised persons from the dead, performed many miracles, and healed the sick. They converted whole nations, while treating persecution, imprisonment, and torture as naught. All of them, except St. John (and it is not because the world didn’t try), were martyred in love for Christ and their fellow man.
Christ came visibly in the flesh in order to accomplish man’s redemption on the Cross. In order that the grace of redemption might bear fruit, however, it was necessary that man be deprived of the Visible God, and baptized into the Invisible: the Interior life of the Holy Spirit. In order for this life to bear fruit, however, it is required that man, in imitation of Christ, die to this world.
As St. John explains, the fundamental fruit of original sin in human nature is a threefold concupiscence: “the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes [desire], and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). The overall effect of this threefold concupiscence is that man tends to take all that he has received from God and “consume it on his concupiscences.” In his fallen nature, he always leans towards taking that which is high and dragging it down into his lower nature, consuming God’s gifts in a thousand subtle and deceptive ways, and transforming them into every conceivable form of self-love. In so doing, he becomes a spiritual adulterer who chooses to become a “friend of this world” at the price of being “an enemy of God,” (James 4: 3-4). It is for this reason that it is not only “expedient” that Christ be not visibly with us, but that He also deprive us of many consolations, and not alleviate many of our sufferings. At the end of Mary of Agreda’s visions concerning the Mystery of the Ascension, Our Lady says to her:
“It is in conformity with the inclinations of His Holy and Perfect Will to regale rather than afflict creatures, to console them rather than cause them sorrow, to reward them rather than to chastise them, to rejoice rather than grieve them. But mortals ignore this Divine Science, because they desire from the hands of the Most High such consolations, delights and rewards, as are earthly and dangerous, and they prefer them to the true and more secure blessings. The Divine Love then corrects this fault by the lessons conveyed in tribulations and punishments. Human nature is slow, coarse and uneducated; and if it is not cultivated and softened, it gives no fruit in season, and on account of its evil inclinations, will never of itself become fit for the most loving and sweet intercourse with The Highest Good. Therefore it must be shaped and reduced by the hammer of adversities, refined in the crucible of tribulation, in order that it may become fit and capable of The Divine gifts and favors and may learn to despise terrestrial and fallacious goods, wherein death is concealed.”
St. Paul writes: “But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God.” (1Cor. 2:14). And St. James writes: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners: and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” (James 4:8). What can it mean for God to “draw nigh” unto us except that He answers our prayers and heals our wounds? The work of the Spirit of God within us depends on our not being sensual and double minded. Again, the Apostle James: “You ask, and receive not; because you ask amiss; that you may consume it on your concupiscences.” (Ibid. 4:3).
When, therefore, we consider the present state of the Church – the chaos which exists in relation to such things as the perversions and duplicity of many in the hierarchy, clerical abuse, bad catechetics, widespread denial and perversion of Catholic doctrine – and when we also consider what has seemed to be the ineffectiveness of all our prayers in bringing any sort of solution to this crisis – we should honestly ask ourselves, Why? Pope St. Gregory the Great taught that, “Divine Justice provides Shepherds according to the just desserts of the faithful.” In view of the present crisis among our shepherds, we should therefore logically first ask, “What duplicity, what base sensuality and pride of life, what sort of immersion and attachment to the things of this world, has brought us to such a state that we deserve this sort of punishment and chastisement?
There is a kind of satanic dialectic in the progression of sin in this world which is leading us (and Catholics are very much participants in this dialectic) towards the final ascension of the Antichrist to power. It is similar in many ways to the dialectic which exists in the realm of politics. It might help our understanding of how this dialectical process works if we spend a moment examining this comparison.
One hundred years ago, any Republican who was a Federal representative or senator would have claimed to be “conservative” just as Republicans do now. Back then, this almost universally required a firm public stance against all artificial contraception, against abortion in all cases, against all divorce, against promiscuity, and against homosexuality. The idea of “gay marriage” would have been something so absurd as to not even be a subject for debate. As the world waxed more towards anti-Christian principles in the following decades, the same Republican Party was of course able to continue calling itself “Conservative” (which of course many Catholics equate with “Christian), because the Democratic Party was always two steps ahead of it in its embodiment of the principles of Antichrist. But now we have a Republican Party which is almost universally pro-contraception, weak and divided on abortion (with virtually all members of the senate and congress being pro-abortion in some cases), accepting of divorce, and now increasingly accepting of homosexuality and gay marriage. And yet these members of the senate and congress are still able to call themselves “Conservative”, and even “Christian”. Meanwhile, their leader and President, who claims to be a Christian, proudly proclaims that he has never asked God for forgiveness and has no need to do so.
A very similar process of decay has occurred in Catholic belief and practice. In our article on the First Sorrowful Mystery we quoted all sorts of statistics in regard to current Catholic beliefs concerning abortion, contraception, divorce and remarriage, homosexuality, etc., and reached the conclusion that apparently over 80% of Catholics now receive Holy Communion sacrilegiously.
It is therefore tempting for us whose beliefs remain in accord with the traditional doctrine of the Church on these crucial doctrines and moral teachings to assume the posture of the “remnant” who are faithful to Christ, and therefore hopefully assured of salvation. After all, we can rightly claim that we are guilty of none of these individual mortal sins. And we therefore feel fully justified in pointing our fingers at others – those bad members of the hierarchy, or those Catholics who are in explicit denial of the Catholic Faith and its moral teachings.
The question needs to be asked, however, whether there is not a deeper and more all-pervasive adultery to this world existing even among those of us who might consider ourselves faithful Catholics – an adultery which, while not involving guilt in regard to any one of the mortal “sins of the flesh” mentioned above, nor being guilty of rejection of any doctrine of the Faith, has yet sunk us so deeply into the pleasures, possessions, pretentions, and preoccupations of our modern world so as to have it constitute a form of the most severe duplicity towards God. In other words, we also need to ask whether such duplicity can exist even within the souls of those who might pride themselves on fully accepting all of the Catholic Faith, who attend Mass regularly, pray the Rosary daily and participate in all sorts of Catholic devotional practices, including Eucharistic Adoration. Is it possible that even in the midst of so much Catholicity, our hearts might be far from God, and that this is why our requests and prayers to God go unfulfilled? We quote again the words of St. Paul: “But the sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God.” Is it possible that through the dialectical process of cultural decay working upon our minds and hearts over the past decades, and even centuries, we have become so immersed in our lower natures through compromise with the sensuality and affluence of the modern world, that it has become virtually impossible that God should draw nigh to us and answer our prayers?
In order to help us answer this question, we wish to offer here an analysis of just one example of such immersion of Catholics in the sensuality and paganism of the modern world. It involves that event which is surely the largest simultaneous and collective mass-descent of persons in this country (including Catholics) into the crudity, vulgarity, and luxury of man’s lower appetites. It occurs this coming year on February 3, 2019, one day after the next Rosary to the Interior: For the Purification of the Church. It is the Super Bowl.
It is estimated that in 2018, 188.5 million adult American viewers of the Super Bowl spent 15.3 billion dollars on this event (National Retail Federation). This expenditure included everything from the tickets, travel, hotel, and other expenses incurred by those who actually attended the game, to home TV- parties, attendance at bars and restaurants, etc. in order to view and party during the game. It does not include the expenses of the event itself. Each 30 second commercial, for instance, cost 5 million dollars, and it is estimated that the insurance alone for the Half-Time event cost 100 million dollars.
None of these statistics touch on what interior states of mind and heart motivate such massive enthusiasm and passion for this event. We leave that up to the self-examination of those who participate. There of course can be nothing spiritually elevating in it. It was the Roman poet Juvenal who said that, in the age of the decline of Roman civilization, the people were kept from revolution by providing them with “bread and circuses”. The word “circus” is defined as a “large, oblong, unroofed enclosure used for performances and contests”.
What we do know with a certain amount of accuracy is that 815 million people in the world will go to bed hungry that same Sunday night, and that the next morning 66 million primary school-age children will attend classes hungry in the so-called “developing world”. It is estimated by the WFP (World Food Program) that it would take 3.2 billion dollars per year to insure that these children were fed. This tallies out to the fact that what is spent by consumers on just one Super Bowl would eliminate hunger for all of these 66 million children for slightly less than 5 years.
We also know from statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that, worldwide, 780 million people do not have access to an improved water source, and that 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation, and that because of these privations, 801,000 children under the age of 5 die from diarrhea each year. Meanwhile, according to Nielsen statistics, Americans spent 1.3 billion dollars on beer and cider, 979 million on soft drinks, and 597 million on wine for consumption during the 2018 Super Bowl.
St. Paul writes, “For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die”. (Romans 8: 13). The Super Bowl, while indeed seeming to represent that event which constitutes the most massive and communal descent of Americans into the world of the flesh, is of course only one example of our profound abandonment of that poverty of spirit (and of the flesh) which is the First of the Beatitudes, and the foundation of all spiritual life. This abandonment of the Christian spirit of poverty exists everywhere in developed countries, and in all the various facets of our lives – in economics, in our massive and suffocating system of usury, in all the various forms of money speculation (including the stock market), in the way we recreate and entertain ourselves, in every sector of advertizing, selling, buying, and consumption, and even in such sacramental occasions such as marriages and funerals. We are as immersed in this anti-Christian spirit as fish are in water.
The Gospel demands simplicity both in regard to our living in this world, and simplicity of intention towards God: “If thy eye be single, thy whole body shall be lightsome.” (Mt. 6: 22). The Christian interior life can only exist where there is exterior mortification. It may indeed be difficult for any of us to see how we can possibly reverse our present immersion in this world “which is an enemy of God”. However, if we do not set our foot on the path of return it is impossible to believe that God will honor our prayers for purification of the Church, no matter how many Masses we offer, Rosaries we pray, or hours we spend in Adoration Chapels.
We therefore propose as a beginning, that all faithful Catholics absolutely resolve not to participate in any way in the upcoming Super Bowl. We cannot expect Our Lord to answer our prayers as long as we continue to participate in such a thing.
We ask that all Catholics participate in, and promote, the Rosary to the Interior: For the Purification of the Church on the Feast of the Purification and Presentation, February 2, 2019. We are also asking that people copy off the one-page Handout promoting this event, which is available here: http://rosarytotheinterior.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Handout.pdf, and distribute these at every Catholic venue conceivable – parish churches, Rosary Marches, Catholic Conferences, etc.
In addition, we ask that each person consider the following:
Lord, What Wilt Thou Have Me to Do?
After Our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven, and during the nine days preceding the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Mary and the Apostles and other faithful gathered in the Cenacle in prayer. The following is taken from Mary of Agreda concerning this “Novena”:
“They were so unanimous and united in charity, that during all these days none of them had any thought, affection or inclination contrary to those of the rest. They were of one heart and soul in thought and action…into this holy congregation no discord found entrance, because they were united in prayer, in fasting and in the expectation of the Holy Ghost, who does not seek repose in discordant and unyielding hearts. In order that it may be inferred, how powerful was this union in charity, not only for disposing them toward the reception of the Holy Ghost, but for overcoming and dispersing the evil spirits, I will say: that the demons, who since the death of the Savior had lain prostrate in hell, felt in themselves a new kind of oppression and terror, resulting from the virtues of those assembled in the Cenacle. Although they could not explain it to themselves, they perceived a new terrifying force, emanating from that place, and when they perceived the effects of the doctrine and example of Christ in the behavior of the disciples, they feared the ruin of their dominion.”
Through the grace of God we may also become vessels of this “terrifying force” which is capable of driving the demons from ourselves, and out of the Church. But we must begin with ourselves: “Wherefore, Go out from them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.” (2 Cor. 6: 17).
It is in such a spirit that we need to prepare for the Rosary to the Interior: For the Purification of the Church. Providentially, nine days before this event, on January 25, occurs the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. While bathed in the light of Christ, and lying on the ground in confusion and humility, Paul raised his eyes heart to Christ, and said, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” (Acts 9: 6).
In a world now arrayed against us, and in the midst also of our own personal infidelities, we therefore ask that, in preparation for the Rosary to the Interior: For the Purification of the Church, all of us pray a Novena of Rosaries beginning on January 25 with this simple prayer as our intention: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?”
We are convinced that Our Lord does not now expect perfection in order to bless this prayer, and begin the process of our purification. He simply wants us to be honest, and to begin.
Please join us in praying for the good people of the Diocese of Winona. Catholic’s in the Winona area lost Monsignor Schmitz who passed away in May and Monsignor Cook who was called to Rome for more studies.
You are invited to say this prayer for the Catholic’s of Winona diocese who attend the Extraordinary Form:
A Prayer for Priests
By St. Therese of Lisieux
O Jesus, eternal Priest,
keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart,
where none may touch them.
Keep unstained their anointed hands,
which daily touch Your Sacred Body.
Keep unsullied their lips,
daily purpled with your Precious Blood.
Keep pure and unearthly their hearts,
sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.
Let Your holy love surround them and
shield them from the world’s contagion.
Bless their labors with abundant fruit and
may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here and in heaven their beautiful and
everlasting crown. Amen.