What is this invaluable treasure? It is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Traditional Latin Mass. One of my greatest joys in being a Catholic is receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist at Mass, the Traditional Latin Mass. Holy Mass was the divinely ordained way in which God designed for us to worship Him. What matters is the fact that the Mass is Heaven on earth, the one sacrifice of Christ on Calvary re-enacted, made present again, for us, such that we are kneeling at the foot of the Cross of our Lord at Calvary. According to Britannica, the mass is at once a memorial and a sacrifice. In the Eucharistic prayer, the church commemorates Jesus Christ and his redeeming work, especially His sacrifice for the sake of all humankind through his crucifixion (passion and death on the cross). Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is the only worthy sacrifice to God because Jesus the only Son of God is also God and like God is infinite and divine in nature, therefore Jesus’ sacrifice is the ultimate sacrifice acceptable to God. It is through the traditional Latin Mass that this sacrifice is re-enacted for our redemption, and not the Mass of today in Catholic Churches since the 1970s - the Novus Ordo / New Mass, which is not a sacrifice but the Last Supper. Problems with the New Mass Why is it invaluable? It is the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Pope Benedict XVI wished that the treasure of the traditional Roman liturgy, which was celebrated without change for centuries and centuries, should be preserved for all generations. With his milestone document “Summorum Pontificum,” Pope Benedict XVI, restored to priests the freedom to celebrate the “extraordinary form” of the Roman rite. Many do not realise that the Traditional Latin Mass was the exclusive form celebrated during the Second Vatican Council. As a matter of fact, most of the changes that have been introduced by the 1960’s liturgical reform took place in the years after the Second Vatican Council. The Council itself never abolished the traditional liturgy, and its famous document about the Liturgy of the Church, “Sacrosanctum Concillium,” mentions only the possibility of some adaptations but never called for the change of language nor the rite of the Holy Mass as a whole. It is, therefore, very desirable that all the faithful should know the traditional liturgy and should be able to understand its significance and its importance for the future of Holy Mother Church. More and more young people, who have never before experienced the profoundness and beauty of the traditional liturgy, are deeply touched by their first contact with it and are everywhere requesting its wider use. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is like a diamond that needs a dignified, beautiful setting to show even more its value and brilliance. For this reason, at the Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we strive to surround the Holy Sacrifice with the perfectly traditional Catholic teaching and the utmost beauty and solemnity of the rite. Truth, liturgy, and charity should form an ever-greater harmony to render evident the sacramental power and riches of grace present in the Holy Mass. The integration of these elements in celebration of the Traditional Liturgy becomes the highlight and the climax of what our priests and faithful are living in their commitment to our Roman Catholic faith. The Words, Gestures, and other details The moment of Consecration, where the mystery of Transubstantiation takes place, is like a peak of a majestic mountain from which the streams of Paradise flow down into our daily life. Our relationship with God is profoundly linked to the presence of our Savior in the Holy Eucharist, made possible through the Holy Mass and received with awe during Communion. In a human relationship, every word, every gesture, and every detail is important — how much more in our relationship with God! Therefore, to secure this relationship, on which our life and salvation is depending, the Church has always taken the greatest care with the words, gestures, and details of the Sacred Liturgy. God Himself, by the power of the Holy Ghost, has instituted the Holy Eucharist in such a way that, even after 2000 years, we can be sure of His Divine Presence if we do what the Church does and has always done. The Liturgy, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, has developed such words, gestures, and details that God Himself has esteemed worthy to express the right kind of worship that is due to Him. No individual has permission to change these rubrics and formulas at will. The more we are faithful to the liturgy that has grown under the influence of God’s Almighty Spirit for centuries and celebrated by the Church for much more than a thousand years, the more we will become faithful to the Church itself and worship with Her the presence of the Holy One whose glory is our redemption. The traditional priests of our chapel are very aware of the fact that the rubrics of the Mass, inspired by the Holy Ghost, are to be observed with loving care if we want to maintain the treasure of the Catholic Faith. The famous sentence stating “Lex orandi, lex credendi ” “the law of prayer [is] the law of the faith.” meaning that “the way that we pray and worship informs the way that we believe.” Which gives to the exact and careful celebration of the liturgy’s great importance. He who changes words or gestures of the Liturgy endangers the faith of those for whom he celebrates and becomes responsible for diminishing the integrity of their belief. Not only the ceremony in itself with its beautiful rubrics, the dignified Latin language, and the profound expression of theological truth is important, but other details matter when it comes to making every single person understand how important the liturgy is for our lives. The vestments, the altar cloths, the candlesticks, the cruets, the garments of the servers—all of these and many other items used during the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass have to show that we care to give the Lord only the most beautiful things that we have. Through Sacred Liturgy is the Path to God The Lord has left us the Holy Liturgy to make sure that we can remain in contact with Him. It has been the aim of the Church to bring as many people as possible to the liturgical celebration of the Sacrifice of the Lord. As a matter of fact, we could say that the only aim of the Church is to bring people in contact with the Lord through the celebration of the Sacraments, especially through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is the center of the Church, and at the same time, Her nourishment, Her protection, and Her goal because therein is the Lord. What could we do more than to strive with all our forces to make it clear to every single person that without the assistance at this holy celebration it remains very difficult, if not impossible, to stay with the Lord. What graces are derived from assisting (assisting means attending) at Mass (the traditional Latin Mass)?
St. Padre Pio - "While assisting at Holy Mass renew your faith. Have your mind elevated to the mystery that is happening before your eyes." The community of the Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, where I am a member, live for the Liturgy, which is the source of everything else when it comes to the Faith. Liturgical matters are not minor details, but they are and they have always been one of the main preoccupations of Holy Mother Church. If not for the Liturgy, many people would not know about the doctrine, and if not for the Liturgy many people would never have met the Lord. It is a worthy task and a highly important aim to maintain the fullness of the liturgical tradition to safeguard the meaning of its mystical gestures and to defend the right to do today what the Church has always done. In total obedience to Holy Mother Church, the Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is proud and happy to serve the Lord present in the Holy Mysteries of the Liturgy and to give all the energy of its members to this decisive liturgical apostolate. This care for the Liturgy includes care for a complete Catholic lifestyle and for the integrity of Roman Catholic Doctrine. It is never an end to itself, but it always guides us to Him who is the beginning and the end of everything: Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We have often heard the phrase “active participation in the Mass” numerous times, and with the Latin Mass, you could actively participate in the Mass without doing any of those things. Instead, you participate through silent adoration and worship, joining your heart and mind to that of the priest who was offering the holy sacrifice of the Mass. This is active participation at the Latin Mass. In other words, you could participate with your whole being, without having to speak a bunch of words or make a bunch of hand gestures. Latin Mass attendees relish the silence, the incense, the somewhat dim lighting, creating an atmosphere of holy somnolence. Almost all the people at the Latin Mass wore modest, respectful clothing. Many of the women wore veils. Veils were worn in church by Catholic women since time immemorial, and it was only a recent change to canon law that removed the requirement for women to wear veils. In the minds of many N.O. Catholics, the people who went to the Latin Mass were the radical traditionalist Catholics. It is wrong to assume this before one has even researched on it. Instead, one would discover that the people going to the Latin Mass were kind, warm, welcoming, and, like many, did not grow up with the Latin Mass at all but came to it from a desire for something deeper in the faith, thinking that there must be something more, and then discovering this hidden jewel. In most traditional Latin Mass communities there is a good community spirit; I have experienced with European communities and they welcome any visitor like a family member, and likewise the parish of this Chapel. The families that gather here are not perfect, but we share the same desire in embracing traditional Catholicism, to be reverent as we should be, at Mass, to worship God like the saints of the old did, to receive guidance and graces to become saints, as we ought to, to attain heaven. By embracing traditional Catholicism and having the Latin Mass at this Chapel, it is a way of “doing something” about the crisis in the Church by having the real presence of the Holy Eucharist in this Chapel, the Sacred Heart of JESUS, He will draw more souls to Him thereby countering the effects of the crisis, the key aspect of the Latin Mass. In this Chapel, with the presence of the Holy Eucharist, it is a haven, a sanctuary, a hospital where our tired, busy, frenetic modern souls can have an hour of silence, and beauty, and worship that transcends our natural human world. “Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” Matthew 11:28 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition. The chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus recently hosted, for a week, an annual priestly meeting, of a group of traditional priests whom the community had benefited regularly the traditional Latin Mass. For 5 consecutive days 11 priests offered Masses daily at this chapel. What a great grace compared to having no Mass for almost two years during the lock-downs. Thanks be to God. Below are some quotes of Saints, the greatest lovers of God and of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We invite you to meditate upon the words of the saints prayerfully, converse with the saints as your dear friends, and strive to imitate their love for God and Holy Mass. “For this is the Mass that St. Gregory the Great inherited, developed, and solidified. This is the Mass that St. Thomas Aquinas celebrated, lovingly wrote about, and contributed to (he composed the Mass Propers and Office for the Feast of Corpus Christi). Inspired Words of the Saints and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. “Man should tremble, the world should quake, and Heaven should be deeply moved when the Son of God appears on the altar in the hands of the priest.” (St. Francis of Assisi)
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1/2/2024 Why it is wrong for Pope Francis to formally permit Roman Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples.Read Now Why are blessings important to Catholics? Blessings are called "sacramentals" because they prepare us to receive the grace of the sacraments and help us to grow to be more like Christ (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1670). Therefore, the blessings being sacramental is as such, held to produce the following specific effects: Excitation of pious emotions and affections of the heart and, by means of these, remission of venial sin and of the temporal punishment due to it. Freedom from power of evil spirits. Preservation and restoration of bodily health temporal or spiritual. In the ordination of a priest, the anointing of the priest’s hands signifies that the hands of the newly ordained priest are being prepared for the sacred duties whereby he receives the power of consecrating the bread and the wine, anointing the sick and blessing people. A constitutive blessing, invoked by a bishop, priest or deacon, signifies the permanent sanctification and dedication of a person or thing for some sacred purpose. Here the person or object takes on a sacred character and would not be returned to non-sacred or profane use. If there was nothing wrong, with blessing of a same-sex couple, why was there furor about it and why does the Vatican have to come up with a new document: Fiducia Supplicans to explain the blessings. Based on Divine Law. The rejection of homosexual behavior that is found in the Old Testament is well known. In Genesis 19, two angels in disguise visit the city of Sodom and are offered hospitality and shelter by Lot. During the night, the men of Sodom demand that Lot hand over his guests for homosexual intercourse. Lot refuses, and the angels blind the men of Sodom. Lot and his household escape, and the town is destroyed by fire “because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord” (Gen. 19:13). Natural Law People have a basic, ethical intuition that certain behaviors are wrong because they are unnatural. We perceive intuitively that the natural sex partner of a human is another human, not an animal. The same reasoning applies to the case of homosexual behavior. The natural sex partner for a man is a woman, and the natural sex partner for a woman is a man. Thus, people have the corresponding intuition concerning homosexuality that they do about bestiality—that it is wrong because it is unnatural. “Basing itself on sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2357). This declaration (Fiducia Supplicans) by the Church has been described as being part of Pope Francis's efforts at greater LGBT inclusion in the Catholic Church, and viewed by many theologians and commentators as a dramatic stepping stone to future marriage equality. After this declaration, there was widespread blessings of same-sex couples by priests. The German Church stated that the decision was an important stepping stone towards sacramental recognition of same-sex marriages within Catholicism, and Bishop Johan Bonny praised the decision as "moving towards" this goal. “Sacramental recognition” God forbid! The Liberals and Modernists do not see that these blessings are based on false charity and that it only encourages the LGBT groups to continue to dwell in their sinfulness. In Fiducia supplicans, it explains that it does not provide for changes with respect to the institution of marriage in the Catholic Church. Marriage is still understood only as the union between a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all kind of marriages that are not heterosexual and monogamous, such as same-sex marriage, as well as any kind of heterosexual or bisexual bigamy and polygamy. The aim of marriage is pro-creation to have children to build a family. Therefore a same-sex marriage should not be condoned or encouraged. The informal and spontaneous blessing is neither a sacrament nor a rite of the Catholic Church, it may be an act out of charity for fellow man but if the same-sex couple fail to respond in thought, word, and deed to that grace, not only shall they not be saved, but they shall be more severely judged. A same-sex couple, if they, have the desire to entrust themselves to the Lord and his mercy, to invoke his help, and to be guided to a greater understanding of his plan of love and of truth, then they are worthy of a blessing. Otherwise then the act of blessing in public becomes scandalous as the impression that a priest approves of a same-sex couple which will further encourage other such couples, which contradicts the Church’s pastoral intent to guide and save souls. Then the power given to a priest to bless is degraded too as the graces from the blessing would be in vain. In a case of a same-sex couple, according to the Church’s teachings, it is an unusual situation when such a couple asks for a blessing. It would be better that such blessings be made in private to avoid scandal or undue attention, after a consultation and guidance of a priest. A priest who knows the value of a blessing (whether liturgical or pastoral), which calls on God’s blessing, giving graces, upon this couple; he should check to see if they have good intention i.e. who acknowledge themselves humbly as sinners, to want to change their lives, to only continue in a platonic relationship; and if they are baptized Catholics or not, if the couple intend to repent and conform their lives according to Church teachings, to open their lives to God, to ask for his help to live better, and also to invoke the Holy Spirit so that the values of the Gospel may be lived with greater faithfulness; if this is so, then a priest should guide them accordingly, teaching them to pray and to pray for the couple. (As we ought to entrust our lives in the power of prayer.) In this way it is pastoral. A priest should not just simply give blessings to such a couple since at the last judgement, they will be more severely judged if they did not have the intention to conform to the grace given to them. Then it would seem that God’s blessing was taken too frivolously. “Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and through sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection” (CCC 2357– 2359). For the Catholic Church marriage only between a baptised man and a woman is a sacrament. Therefore, there is no chance to recognise same-sex marriage by the Church. Definition and the meaning of the marriage is written in the Holy Scripture. There is room for everyone in the Church, but there is no consent for same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is inconsistent with the Holy Scripture as marriage is based on God’s natural law. The natural law cannot be changed by the human unlike church law. For this reason there is no chance for recognition of same-sex marriage by the Catholic Church. The official interpretation of Scripture, provided by the Magisterium of the Church, is binding for all Catholics who are supposed to listen to this teaching. It is difficult to reconcile the official teaching of the Church with the recognition of same-sex marriage. Secular law should take precedence over natural law as not everyone belongs to a religious community. So what is the intention of Pope Francis in allowing this? Is this to pervert the teaching of the Church? Is it the intention to destroy the sacredness of marriage which will consequently be the destruction of the family? Aren’t these additional consequences of Vatican Council II?
Here are 4 significant short sermons on pride and the sins of the tongue : YOUR HEART IS BUT A MASS OF PRIDE You will tell me, perhaps, that you never judge people except by what you see or after you have actually heard or been the witness of some action: "I saw him doing this action, so I am sure. I heard what he said with my own ears. After that, I could not be mistaken." But I shall reply by telling you to begin by entering into your own heart, which is but a mass of pride wherein everything is dried up. You will find yourself infinitely more guilty than the person whom you are so boldly judging, and you have plenty of room for fear, lest one day you will see him going to Heaven while you are being dragged down to Hell by the demons." Oh, unfortunate pride," says St. Augustine to us, "you dare to judge your brother on the slightest appearance of evil, and how do you know that he has not repented of his fault and that he is not numbered among God's friends? Take care rather that he does not take the place which your pride is putting you in great danger of losing." Yes, my dear brethren, all these rash judgments and all these interpretations come only from a person who has a secret pride, who does not know himself, and who dares to wish to know the interior life of his neighbour, something which is known to God alone. If only, my dear children, we were able to arrive at the stage of eradicating this first of the capital sins from our hearts, our neighbour would never do any wrong according to us. We should never amuse ourselves by examining his conduct. We should be content to do nothing else save weep for our own sins and work as hard as we could to correct them. THE TONGUE OF THE SCANDAL-MONGER Anyone who is unfortunate enough to come under the tongue of the scandalmonger is like a grain of corn under the grinding stone in a mill: he is torn, crushed, entirely destroyed. People like these will fasten onto you intentions that you never had; they will poison all your actions and your movements. If you have enough piety to wish to fulfil your religious duties, you are only a hypocrite, an angel in the church and a demon in the house. If you do any good or charitable works, they will think that this is just through pride and so that you may gain notice. If you are not worldly and not interested in worldly affairs, you are said to be odd and singular and to have no spirit. If you look after your own affairs carefully, you are nothing but a miser. Let me go further, my dear brethren, and say that the tongue of the scandalmonger is like the worm which gnaws at the good fruit -- that is, the best actions that people do -- and tries to turn all to bad account. The tongue of the scandalmonger is a grub which taints the most beautiful of the flowers and upon them leaves behind it the disgusting trace of is own slime. OH, EVERYONE SAYS SO! Have you ever listened to someone speaking well of a young woman and recounting her good qualities? Someone else will certainly tell you that if this young woman has good qualities, she has plenty of bad ones, too.... She is frequenting the company of So-and-So, who does not have a good reputation.... I am very full sure they are not seeing each other for any good purpose.... And what about this other woman, who is always so well dressed and who keeps her children dressed up, too? .... She would do much better to pay her debts.... And then there is this other one: she always seems good and pleasant to everyone, but if you knew her as well as I do, you would have a different opinion.... She only puts on all these smiles as a blind.... Such and such a man is going to ask her to marry him, but if he asked my advice, I could tell him a few things he doesn't know.... "Who is that person going past?" asks someone else. "Ah, well, if you don't know her, it's no great loss. I won't say any more about her. Keep out of her company -- it's a cause of scandal. Everyone thinks so. Listen, the very worst people are ones like her who put up to be good and holy. Anyway, it's always the way that the people who want to pass for virtuous or pious are the most wicked and spiteful." "She must have done you some grave harm. Has she?" "Oh, no! But you know well that they are all the same. I happened to be with one of my oldest acquaintances one day, and I discovered that he was quite a heavy drinker and a real blackguard." "Maybe he did something which angered you?" the other will say. "Ah, no, he never said anything to me which shouldn't have been said, but everyone thinks that of him." "If it weren't you who told me, I would never have believed" "When he's with people who do not know him, he knows very well how to act the hypocrite in order to make people believe that he is a very decent fellow. It's like one day I happened to be with So-and-So, whom you know very well -- he is another virtuous man. If he doesn't do anyone any harm, he doesn't deserve any credit for that. It is just that he is not in a position to do so. I assure you that I would not like to find myself alone with him." "He did you some harm sometime perhaps?" "He did not indeed, because I have never had anything to do with him." "And how do you know, then, that he is so bad?" "Oh, it's not hard to find that out. Everyone says he is. He is just like that one who was with you one day -- to hear him talk you would say that he is the most charitable man in the world and that he would never refuse anything to anyone who asked him for help. And all the time he would travel ten miles to gain two pennies. I assure you that nowadays you can't know people at all; you can't trust anyone. It is just the same with that fellow you were talking to just now. He looks after his affairs very well; he keeps up a good appearance always, and all his family look well turned out, too.... It's not so very difficult, really-he works at night, you know." "Have you seen him taking anything, then?" "Oh, no, I have never seen him taking anything. But I was told that one fine night he went back into his house well loaded with stuff. In any case, he has none too good a reputation." And the speaker concludes: "I'm not saying that I have no faults myself, but I would be eternally sorry to be as worthless as some of these people." In all of this you can see the notorious Pharisee, who fasts twice a week, who pays tithes of all he possesses, and who thanks God that he is not as the rest of men -- extortioners, unjust, adulterers! Here you can see this pride, this hatred, this jealousy! ST. NICHOLAS AND THE THREE DAUGHTERS
Tell me, now, my brethren, on what foundation are rash judgments and sentences based? Alas! They are based upon very slight evidence only, and most often upon what "someone said." But perhaps you are going to tell me that you have seen and heard this and that. Unfortunately, you could be mistaken in the testimony of both your sight and hearing, as you are going to see.... Here is an example which will show you, better than anything else can, how easily we can be mistaken and how we are nearly always wrong. What would you have said, my dear brethren, if you had been living during the time of St. Nicholas and you had seen him coming in the middle of the night, walking around the house of three young girls, watching carefully and taking good care that no one saw him. Just look at that bishop, you would have thought at once, degrading and dishonouring his calling; he is a dreadful hypocrite. He seems to be a saint when he is in church, and look at him now, in the middle of the night, at the door of three girls who do not have a very good reputation! And yet, my dear brethren, this bishop, who would certainly have been condemned by you, was indeed a very great saint and most dear to God. What he was doing was the best deed in the world. In order to spare these young persons the shame of begging, he came in the night and threw money in to them through their window because he feared that it was poverty which had made them abandon themselves to sin. This should teach us never to judge the actions of our neighbour without having reflected very well beforehand. Even then, of course, we are only entitled to make such judgments if we are responsible for the behaviour of the people concerned, that is, if we are parents or employers, and so on. As far as all others are concerned, we are nearly always wrong. Yes indeed, my brethren, I have seen people making wrong judgments about the intentions of their neighbour when I have known perfectly well that these intentions were good. I have tried in vain to make them understand, but it was no good. Oh! Cursed pride, what evil you do and how many souls do you lead to Hell! Answer me this, my dear brethren. Are the judgments which we make about the actions of our neighbour any better founded than those which would have been made by anyone who might have seen St. Nicholas walking around that house and trying to find the window of the room wherein were the three girls? It is not to us that other people will have to render an account of their lives, but to God alone. But we wish to set ourselves up as judges of what does not concern us. The sins of others are for others, that is, for themselves, and our sins are our own business. God will not ask us to render an account of what others have done but solely of what we ourselves have done. Let us watch over ourselves, then, and not torment ourselves so much about others, thinking over and talking about what they have done or said. All that, my dear brethren, is just so much labor lost, and it can only arise from a pride comparable to that of the Pharisee who concerned himself solely with thinking about and misjudging his neighbour instead of occupying himself with thoughts of his own sins and weeping for his own poor efforts. Let us leave the conduct of our neighbour on one side, my dear brethren, and content ourselves with saying, like the holy King David: Lord, give me the grace to know myself as I really am, so that I may see what displeases Thee, and how to correct it, repent, and obtain pardon. No, my dear brethren, while anyone passes his time in watching the conduct of other people, he will neither know nor belong to God. Who is St. John Vianney? St. John Vianey was born in 1786, the fourth of six children to devout Catholic parents in the region of Lyon, France. Vianney’s early life coincided with the horrendous and anti-Catholic French Revolution, so he grew up attending clandestine Masses offered in private residences and on farms by priests in hiding. This heroic, defiant dedication made a profound impression on the faith of the young Vianney. In 1815, he was ordained to the priesthood as a sort of exception, having struggled to shine in his seminary / academic studies. His evident holiness superseded these weaknesses. John Vianney, was a humble parish priest, and was regarded by the Church as one of its great figures simply because he was faithful. He was known for his devotion to the Virgin Mary and to St. Philomena and was dedicated to the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) for his parishioners. John Vianney was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925. He is the only diocesan priest ever to be canonized. He is the patron saint of clergy throughout the world. He was beloved by popes: He is the patron saint of priests, as officially declared in 1929 by Pope Pius XI. His process of canonization formally began in 1874 when Pope Pius IX proclaimed him Venerable. In 1905, Pope Pius X declared him Blessed, and twenty years later he was canonized a Saint by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Pope St. John XXIII issued a beautiful encyclical, Sacertotii Nostri Primordia, in 1959, on the subject of St. John Vianney, a tribute to his holiness. In 1986, Pope St. John Paul II paid a visit to Ars for the bicentenary of Vianney’s birth, and proclaimed the Curé a “rare example of a pastor.. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI issued two letters pertaining to the Curé of Ars… IF MAN KNEW HIS RELIGION Neither wealth, nor honours, nor vanity can make a man happy during his life on earth, but only attachment to the service of God, when we are fortune enough to realise that and to carry it out properly. The woman who is held in contempt by her husband is not unhappy in her state because she is held in contempt but because she does not know her religion or because she does not practice what her religion tells her she should do. Teach her religion, and from the moment that you see her practice it, she will cease to complain and to consider herself unhappy. Oh! How happy man would be, even on this earth, if he knew his religion! .... What power that person who is near to God possesses when he loves Him and serves Him faithfully! Alas, my dear brethren, anyone who is despised by worldly people, who appears to be unimportant and humble, look at him when he masters the very will and power of God Himself. Look at a Moses, who compels the Lord to grant pardon to three hundred thousand men who were indeed guilty. Look at Josue, who commanded the sun to stand still and the sun became immobile, a thing which never happened before and which perhaps will never happen again. Look at the Apostles: simply because they loved God, the devils fled before them, the lame walked, the blind saw, the dead arose to life. Look at St. Benedict, who commanded the rocks to stop in their course and they remained hanging in midair. Look at him who multiplied bread, who made water come out of rocks, and who disposed of the stones and the forest as easily as if they were wisps of straw. Look at a St. Francis of Paula who commands the fish to come to hear the word of God and they respond to his call with such loyalty that they applaud his words. Look at a St. John who commands the birds to keep silent and they obey him. Look at many others who walk the seas without any human aid. Very well! Now take a look at all those impious people and all those famous ones of the world with all their wit and all their knowledge for achieving everything. Alas! Of what are they really capable? Nothing at all. And why not? Unless it is because they are not attached to the service of God. But how powerful and how happy at the same time is the person who knows his religion and who practices what it commands. Alas, my dear brethren, the man who lives according to the direction of his passions and abandons the service of God is both unhappy and capable of so little! Put an army of one hundred thousand men around a dead man and let them employ all their power to bring him back to life. No, no, my dear children, he will not come to life again. But let someone who is despised by the world, but who enjoys the friendship of God, command this dead man to take up life again; immediately you will see him arise and walk. We have other proofs of this, too. If it were necessary to be wealthy or to be very learned to serve God, a great many people would be unable to do it. But, no, my dear children, extensive learning or great wealth are not at all necessary for the service of God. On the contrary, they are often a very big obstacle to it. Yes, my dear brethren, let us be rich or poor, in whatever state we may be, learned or otherwise, we can please God and save our souls.... Listen to me for one moment and you will see that only the service of God will console us and make us happy in the midst of all the miseries of life. To accomplish it, you do not need to leave either your belongings, or your parents, or even your friends, unless they are leading you to sin. You have no need to go and spend the rest of your lives in the desert to weep there for your sins. If that were necessary for us, indeed, we should be very happy to have such a remedy for our ills. But no, a father and a mother of a family can serve God by living with their children and bringing them up in a Christian way. A servant can very easily serve God and his master, with nothing to stop him. No, my dear brethren, the way of life which means serving God changes nothing in all that we have to do. On the contrary, we simply do better all the things we must do. MODEL YOUR DEATH UPON THAT OF JESUS CHRIST
If we were required to die twice, we could jettison one death. But man dies once only, and upon his death depends his eternity. Where the tree falls, there shall it lie. If, at the hour of his death, someone is living in some bad habit, his poor soul will fall on the side of Hell. If, on the other hand, he is in the state of grace, it will take the road for heaven. Oh, happy road! .... Generally speaking, one dies as one has lived. That is one of the great truths which Holy Scripture and the Fathers repeat in many different places. If you live as good Christians, you will be sure to die as good Christians, but if you live badly, you will be sure to die a bad death. The prophet Isaias warns us that the impious man who thinks only of doing evil is in a woeful state, for he will be treated as he deserves. At death he will receive the reward for the work he has done. It is true, however, that sometimes, by a kind of miracle, one may begin badly and finish well, but that happens so rarely that, as St. Jerome puts it, death is generally the echo of life. You think that you will return then to God? No, you will perish in sin.... The Holy Ghost tells us that if we have a friend, we should do him some good before we die. Well, my dear brethren, could one have a better friend than one's soul? Let us do all the good for it that we can, for at the moment when we would like to do our souls good, we shall be able to do no more! .... Life is short. If you defer changing your ways until the hour of your death, you are blind, for you do not know either the time or the place where you will die, perhaps without any assistance. Who knows if you will not go this night, covered in your sins, before the tribunal of Jesus Christ? .... Yes, my dear brethren, as life is, so is death. Do not hope for a miracle, which God but rarely performs. You are living in sin; very well, you will die in sin.... If we desire to die a good death, we must lead a Christian life. And the way for us to prepare for a good death is to model our deaths upon the death of Jesus Christ. Can the life of the good Christian be anything other than that of a man nailed to the Cross with Jesus Christ? Who is St. John Vianney? St. John Vianey was born in 1786, the fourth of six children to devout Catholic parents in the region of Lyon, France. Vianney’s early life coincided with the horrendous and anti-Catholic French Revolution, so he grew up attending clandestine Masses offered in private residences and on farms by priests in hiding. This heroic, defiant dedication made a profound impression on the faith of the young Vianney. In 1815, he was ordained to the priesthood as a sort of exception, having struggled to shine in his seminary / academic studies. His evident holiness superseded these weaknesses. John Vianney, was a humble parish priest, and was regarded by the Church as one of its great figures simply because he was faithful. He was known for his devotion to the Virgin Mary and to St. Philomena and was dedicated to the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) for his parishioners. John Vianney was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925. He is the only diocesan priest ever to be canonized. He is the patron saint of clergy throughout the world. He was beloved by popes: He is the patron saint of priests, as officially declared in 1929 by Pope Pius XI. His process of canonization formally began in 1874 when Pope Pius IX proclaimed him Venerable. In 1905, Pope Pius X declared him Blessed, and twenty years later he was canonized a Saint by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Pope St. John XXIII issued a beautiful encyclical, Sacertotii Nostri Primordia, in 1959, on the subject of St. John Vianney, a tribute to his holiness. In 1986, Pope St. John Paul II paid a visit to Ars for the bicentenary of Vianney’s birth, and proclaimed the Curé a “rare example of a pastor.. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI issued two letters pertaining to the Curé of Ars… Sermon on: LOVE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR All of our religion is but a false religion and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God if we have not that universal charity for everyone, for the good and for the bad, for the poor people as well as for the rich, for all those who do us harm as much as for those who do us good. No, my dear brethren, there is no virtue which will let us know better whether we are the children or God than charity. The obligation we have to love our neighbour is so important that Jesus Christ put it into a Commandment which He placed immediately after that by which He commands us to love Him with all our hearts. He tells us that all the law and the prophets are included in this commandment to love our neighbour. Yes, my dear brethren, we must regard this obligation as the most universal, the most necessary and the most essential to religion and to our salvation. In fulfilling this Commandment, we are fulfilling all others. St. Paul tells us that the other Commandments forbid us to commit adultery, robbery, injuries, false testimonies. If we love our neighbour, we shall not do any of these things because the love we have for our neighbour would not allow us to do him any harm. Sermon on: WHO HAS CHARITY?
Ah, dear Lord, how Christians are damned through lack of charity! No, no, my dear brethren, even if you could perform miracles, you will never be saved if you have not charity. Not to have charity is not to know your religion; it is to have a religion of whim, mood, and inclination. Carry on, carry on, you are only hypocrites and outcasts! Without charity you will never see God, you will never go to Heaven! .... Give away your wealth, give generous alms to those who love you or who please you, go to Mass every day, go to Holy Communion every day if you wish: you are only hypocrites and outcasts. Continue on your way and you will shortly be in Hell! .... You cannot endure the faults of your neighbour because he is too tiresome; you do not like his company. Go away, unhappy people, you are but hypocrites, you have only a false religion, which, whatever good you are doing, will lead you to Hell. Oh my God! How rare this virtue is! Alas! It is so rare that they are rare, too, who will be going to Heaven! I don't want even to see them, you will say. At the church they distract me with all their mannerisms. Ah, unhappy sinner, say rather that you have no charity and that you are but a miserable creature who loves only those who agree with your sentiments and enter into your interests, who never go against you in anything, who flatter you on the subject of your good works, who love to thank you for your kindnesses, and who give you plenty of attention and recognition. You will do everything for such as these; you do not even mind depriving yourself of some necessity to help them. But if they treated you with contempt or returned your kindness with ingratitude, you would no longer love them. You would never wish to lay eyes upon them. You would avoid their company. You would be very happy to cut short any dealings you have with them. Ah, dear God, what false devotions these are which can only lead us to a place among the outcasts. If you have any doubt of this, my dear brethren, listen to St. Paul, who will not lead you astray. If, he tells us, I should give my wealth to the poor, if I should work miracles by raising the dead to life, and have not charity, I am nothing other than a hypocrite. But to convince you even more firmly of it, go over the whole of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Consult all the lives of the saints; you will find nothing in them which does not conform with this virtue. No, you will not find one of them who did not choose to do good to someone who had done them harm. Look at St. Francis de Sales, who tells us that if he had only one good work to do, he would choose to do it for someone who had done him some wrong rather than for someone who had done him some good service. Alas, my dear brethren, the person who has no charity goes far afield for evil! If someone does him some harm, you see him examining all his actions then. He judges them. He condemns them. He turns them all to evil and is always quite certain that he is right. But, you will tell me, there are plenty of times when you see people doing wrong and you cannot think otherwise. My good friend, because you have no charity, you think that they are doing wrong. If you had charity, you would think quite otherwise because you would always think that you could have been mistaken, as so often happens. And to convince you of this, here is an example which I beg of you never to efface from your minds, above all when you think that your neighbour is doing wrong. It is recounted in the history of the Fathers of the Desert that a hermit named Simeon had remained for many years in solitude when he got the idea of returning to the world. But he asked God that men should never know his intentions during his lifetime. God granted him this grace and he went into the world. He used to pretend to be a fool, and he delivered the possessed from the Devil and he cured the sick. He used to go into the houses of women of evil life and make them swear that they would love him alone, and then he would give them all the money he had. Everyone looked upon him just as a hermit who had become eccentric. They saw him every day, this old man of more than seventy years of age, playing with the children in the streets. At other times he plunged himself into the midst of the public dances, moving around with the crowd while he spoke to them and telling them clearly what wrong they were really doing. But they only looked upon what he said as coming from a fool and simply despised him. At other times he climbed onto the stage and threw stones at all those who were down below. When he saw people who were possessed of the devil he fell in with them and imitated the possessed as if he also were one of them. He was to be seen hurrying into the inns and mixing with the drunkards. In the markets he rolled around on the ground and did a thousand other things which were very extravagant and extraordinary. Everyone condemned and scorned him. Some looked upon him as a fool. Others thought him a libertine and a bad character who deserved only to be locked up. And yet, my dear children, despite all this, he was actually a saint who sought only scorn to win souls to God, even though everyone judged him to be bad. This shows us that although the very actions of our neighbour appear bad to us, we must not, ourselves, judge them to be bad. Often we judge things to be bad while in the sight of God they are not so.... Yes, my dear children, anyone who has charity does not see the faults of his neighbour.... Whoever possesses charity is sure that Heaven is for him! .... That is the happiness which I desire for you. Prayer for the Triumph of the Catholic Faith. |
Who is Bishop Athanasius Schneider? Athanasius Schneider, ORC (born Anton Schneider on 7 April 1961) is a Catholic prelate, serving as the Auxiliary Bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan. He is a member of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra. He is known for championing the pre-Vatican II liturgical traditions and practices of the Church and for protesting certain current policies, including some associated with Pope Francis. |
Schneider speaks German, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, English, French and Italian, and he reads Latin and Ancient Greek.
Schneider is known for his traditionalism. He has criticized clergy members who he believes do not fully adhere to the faith and instead surrender to what he calls a "cruel pagan world." In 2014, he compared them to "members of the clergy and even bishops who put grains of incense in front of the statue of the emperor or of a pagan idol or who delivered the books of the Holy Scripture to be burned." He alleged that the present Catholic Church is beset by "traitors of the Faith."
Increase in us the gift of the Catholic Faith. By Your grace, may it be strengthened and made unshakable. Daily increase in us the understanding of the beauty and profoundness of the Catholic Faith, that we might live in the deep joy of Your divine truth and be ready to sacrifice all things rather than compromise on or betray this faith. Grant us the grace to be resolved to undergo a thousand deaths for even one article of the Creed.
We firmly believe that the Catholic Faith is the one true faith and religion, which you invite every person freely to embrace. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the destroyer of all heresies, and the great Martyrs and Confessors of the faith, may the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith triumph again in the Church and the world, so that no soul may be lost but rather come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of mankind, and through a right faith and righteous life attain eternal beatitude in You, O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To You be given all honour and glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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But the main reason we know there’s only one God is because He has revealed this great truth to us. We aren’t left to guess what God is like, or to try to create Him out of our imaginations — because God has shown us what He is like. He has shown us that He alone is God, and that there are no other gods or goddesses besides Him. As the Bible says, “Before me there was no God formed, and after me there shall be none.…I am, I am the Lord: and there is no saviour besides me.” (Isaiah 43:10-11).
When the ancient Israelites were about to enter the land that God had promised them, He repeatedly warned that they would be surrounded by nations that worshipped many gods. But they weren’t to be influenced by them or misled by them. Instead, they must worship God alone, for He alone is the one true God: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. (Deuteronomy 6:4).
What we need to recognize is that there is only One God. He is ONE God, in three divine Persons, the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.)and his name is YHWH or Yahweh. “He is the one true and living God, creator and lord of heaven and earth, almighty, eternal, immeasurable, incomprehensible, infinite in will, understanding and in every perfection.” He is pure spirit and divine. His domain in heaven is thus pure and divine like unto Him. Therefore nothing defiled can enter it.
As His creatures, we are finite. We cannot compare to His infinity, and His divinity.
Many scholars believe that the most proper meaning of Yahweh may be “He Brings into Existence Whatever Exists,” which implies that Yahweh (in the Old Testament — it is written as “LORD”) is the self-existent, eternal God the Creator.
The gates of heaven was closed to us when Adam and Eve was driven away from Paradise.
Our souls were then stained with the mark of original sin. This is the reason why Baptism is necessary to cleanse us from the stain of original sin.
Therefore in God’s merciful love, He sent His only Son, Jesus, to us on Earth to set the precedent of the need of Baptism, by being baptized by St. John the Baptist, even though Jesus need not be baptized.
Jesus then redeemed us through His Passion and death on the Cross, shedding His Precious Blood, in order to open the gates of heaven and setting up the Church and the Sacraments to help us to attain entry into heaven.
It was only Jesus’ being also God, only He could atone for our sins thus His sacrifice on the Cross was true sacrifice worthy of God’s acceptance.
The Sacraments of the Church, are to help us to re-unite ourselves with God after having committed sins against Him. Without these Sacraments especially Baptism, Confirmation and the Sacrament of Penance - Confession, we as finite creatures of God have no way to cleanse/purify our souls to regain our friendship with God.
Therefore, please appreciate these facts and become a child of God as out of His love He desires us to be and united with Him in His kingdom, our true home.
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An artist, entrepreneur, a loving family man, 30 years a Catholic traditionalist upholding traditions for the love of God.
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