To Anonymous:
Thank you for your interest in times for Holy Mass.  I can publish times but I need to know where you are located.  If you are in the Milwaukee area and would be attending Our Lady of the Rosary in Waubeka, Mass will be on Jan 1 at 5:00 pm.  If you are elsewhere, please contact Bishop Giles at father@friarsminor.org and ask about the different locations.  Thank you also for reading our humble little blog!  Blessed Christmas Season to you!

Behold the dear Infant Jesus, and adore Him fervently. Contemplate
His poverty, and humility, in imitation of His most holy Mother and of
Saint Joseph. Repose near Him as sweetly as you can, He will not fail to love
your heart, void as you find it of tenderness and feeling. Nothing will be
wanting to you, since you will be in the presence of that holy Infant.
Abide there, and learn of Him how meek and humble He is, how simple
and amiable. See how lovingly He has written your name in the
depth of His Divine Heart, which beats on that couch of straw from the
impassioned zeal it has for our advancement, and heaves not one single sigh
unto His Father in which you have not a part, nor a single movement of His
spirit except for your happiness.
                                                                         
--Saint Francis de Sales

The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
From “The St. Andrew Daily Missal” (1937)


 
    Having decided from all eternity to make Mary Mother of the Incarnate
Word (Epistle), God willed that she should crush the head of the serpent
from the moment of her conception. He covered her “with a  mantle of
holiness” (Introit) and, “preserving her soul from all stain, He made
her a worthy dwelling place for His Son” (Collect). The feast of the
“Conception” of the Virgin was, from the eighth century, celebrated in
the East on December 9th, from the ninth century in Ireland and May 3rd,
and in the eleventh century in England on December 8th. The Benedictines
with St. Anselm, and the Franciscans with Duns Scotus (1308) favoured the
feast of the “Immaculate Conception,” which in 1128 was kept in
Anglo-Saxon monasteries. In the fifteenth century Pope Sixtus IV, a
Franciscan, erected at the Vatican the Sistine Chapel in honour of the
Conception of the Virgin. And on December 8th, 1854, Pius IX officially
proclaimed this great dogma, making himself the mouthpiece of all the
Christian tradition summed up in the words of the Angel: “Hail Mary, full
of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women: (Gospel) “
Thou art all beautiful, O Mary, and the original stain is not in thee “
says in truth the alleluia verse. Like the dawn which announces the day,
Mary precedes the Sun of Justice which will soon illumine the world of
souls. Bringing to us her Son, it is she who first appears in the
liturgical cycle. Let us ask God “to heal us and to deliver us from all
our sins” (Secret, Postcommunion) in order that by the graces which
specially belong to the feast of the “Immaculate” we may become more
worthy of receiving Jesus in our hearts when He comes into them on December
25.

On Protestant Proselytism in Rome (1900)

Apostolic Letter of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII, in which he laments and condemns the preaching and proselytism of Protestants in the city of Rome, Italy.

---

To M. Pietro Cardinal Respighi, our Vicar General,

Lord Cardinal,

Already, from the first moments of Our Pontificate, We had to indicate, as one of the most deplorable harm that is the change in the order of things in this capital of the Catholic world, the ardent proselytism of heresy and, consequently, the peril which the Faith of Our people was exposed to. And on this subject, We having put forward to Our Cardinal Vicar [1], We have on numerous occasions imparted exhortations, counsels and warnings to the faithful, to warn them against the multiple attempts that sects of all kinds, coming from foreign lands, would exercise here under the umbrella of public laws, in order to spread in the souls of the faithful the poison of denial and error.

However, if on the one hand, We are happy to recognize that Our word, assisted by uninterrupted attention, did not fail to yield good results, on the other hand, We are constrained to confess that — the boldness of the enemies of the Catholic religion having redoubled, thanks to the support that came to them from outside — the evil, far from diminishing, went on increasing, especially in these latter times. It is thus necessary, Lord Cardinal, to revisit this most unpleasant and important subject, which is so intimately linked to the duties and to the rights of Our apostolic ministry and to the loving and paternal love We feel towards Our people of Rome.

It is now well known to everyone by the evidence of the facts that the plan conceived by the heretical sects, multiform emanations of Protestantism, is to raise the standard of discord and religious rebellion in the peninsula [of Italy], but mostly in this noble city [of Rome] which God Himself, admirably ordaining the events, established as the center of this fecund and sublime unity, the object of which was the prayer addressed by our divine Savior to His heavenly Father (John 17:11,21), which was jealously guarded by the Popes, even unto the price of their life, despite the oppositions of men and the vicissitudes of time. After having destroyed in their respective homeland, by opposite and discordant systems, the venerable and ancient beliefs that were part of the sacred deposit of revelation; after having scattered the icy breath of doubt in the souls of their spectators, of division and incredulity — immense ruin that We deplore and of which We are touched by compassion in the bottom of Our heart, for We see in each of these creatures the sons of the same Father, redeemed by the same Blood — these sects have thus introduced themselves into the chosen vineyard of the Lord, with the objective to pursue their disastrous task. Not being able to count on the strength of truth, they reap the benefit, in order to extinguish or at least to reduce the Catholic faith in souls, in the young and helpless, the culturally inadequate, the distressed and the needy, simple people who are accessible to flatteries, to lures, and to seductions.

Being made aware of this fact, before anything We suffer the need to confess, as We have done so on other occasions, just how exasperating is the condition imposed upon the head of the Catholic Church, forced to observe the free and progressive development of the heresy in this holy city, from which must shine forth on the world the light of truth and of good example, and which should be the respected See of the Vicar of Jesus Christ. As if this didn’t suffice, to corrupt the mind and heart of the people, from a torrent of unwholesome doctrines and depravations that spring forth with impunity on a daily basis, from professor’s chairs, from theaters, from newspapers, there had to be addedd to all these causes of perversion the insidious labor of heretical men which, fighting amongst themselves, are but of one accord to inveigh against the Supreme Pontifical Magisterium, the Catholic clergy, and the dogmas of our holy religion, of which they know not the meaning and much less appreciate its august beauty. 
From which it follows that the faithful, who, from all regions, even the most remote, flock in pilgrimage to Rome to find comfort to their piety and to their Faith, must remain profoundly saddened as they gaze down on the ground, soaked as it is by the blood of martyrs, invaded by sects of all kinds, whose sole worry is to tear away from the soul of the people this religion that was declared the religion of the state and that is the principal object of their love and worship.

You will thus easily understand, Lord Cardinal, how painful this sad state of affairs is to Our heart and how keen is Our desire to witness the appropriate remedies that will, if not entirely extricate the evil, at least severely diminish its gravity and its bitterness. This is why We were greatly comforted by the founding of a distinguished organization, to which We have Ourselves given the inspiration and impetus and which is called Preservation of the Faith, even more so by the satisfying results that it started to gain, thanks to the inextinguishable zeal of both those who lead it and are part of it.

It is Our wish, Lord Cardinal, counting on your usual and well-known activity, that this salutary work, so well adapted to the present needs, should sustain, reinforce, and propagate to the point of constituting an efficient and powerful defense against the aforementioned peril. First of all, a firm and constant support will have to be supplied by the parochial clergy of Rome; hard-working, zealous, and modest, upon whom the care and responsibility of souls is chiefly incumbent; vitality, strength, and expansion will be further added, thanks to the Catholic laity of this town, which are always ready to bring their intelligent and charitable contributions wherever the interests of religion and the material and moral well-being of their neighbor is at stake.

For everyone, may the principal worry be to strengthen the character of the Catholic people, inspiring noble and holy intentions, at the same time preventing carelessness in which, under the guise of innocent assemblies for young people, conferences for young girls, foreign-language courses, growth of culture, and subsidies to poor families, lies hidden a criminal purpose to insinuate in the minds and hearts the reprobate maxims of heresy.

May all the faithful be thoroughly imbued with this truth that nothing can be more precious to them than this treasure that is their Faith, for which their forefathers confronted without fear, not only miseries and deprivations, but also often violent persecutions and even death. Such a sense of strength cannot but be natural and profound in our population that knows all too well that, not only does the Catholic Church possess the divine seal that distinguishes it as the only true one, the only one which received the promises of life immortal, but has spread again at all times her incomparable blessings on Rome, on Italy, and on all the world, subduing the onslaught of barbarism with the justice of her laws and the meekness of her mores, spreading, as St. Leo the Great (Serm. I, in Natali SS. Petri et Pauli) said so well, the dominion of Christian peace well beyond the explored confines by the Roman eagles, salvaging literature, libraries, intellectual culture, monuments; inspiring all orders of science and art; coming to the aid of the weak, the poor, the oppressed, with the generosity of love and with magnanimity of sacrifice and of heroism.

It is why We nourish the confidence that none of the Romans, who are the most privileged sons of the Catholic Church, will ever want, for any human interest whatsoever, to separate himself from this most tender Mother that, after having given him birth in grace, never ceased to surround him by her most affectionate solicitudes: of which we are also equally persuaded that those generous Catholics who founded and propagated the aforementioned organization called Preservation of the Faith, will never give themselves to respite or rest as long as eternal salvation is in jeopardy, should it be so for one soul, showing thusly by the very fact, if the enemies of the religion are stronger by the quantity of riches, the former will vanquish by the fullness of their charity.

As a token of divine favor for bringing this grave task to a happy end, We grant with all our heart, Lord Cardinal, to the promoters of this pious endeavor and to all those who will favor it, the Apostolic Benediction.

Leo XIII, Pope.
From the Vatican, this 19th day of August, 1900.

---

[1] A reference made to the Pontifical Letters addressed to the Cardinal Vicar, on June 26, 1878 and March 25, 1879.

Source: “Lettre de S.S. Léon XIII sur le prosélytisme protestant à Rome”, August 19, 1900. [“Letter of His Holiness Leo XIII on Protestant Proselytism in Rome.”] Taken from Lettres Apostoliques de S.S. Léon XIII: Encycliques, Brefs, etc., Book VI (Paris: Maison de la Bonne Presse, n.d.), pp. 142-145. Translation into English by Novus Ordo Watch.

6 Interesting Catholic Thanksgiving Facts You Need to Know

by Dr Taylor Marshall

When you’re sitting down for that wonderful feast on Thursday, here are 6 interesting Catholic Thanksgiving Facts you can share with your family. Print them out and read them aloud over some pumpkin (or pecan) pie!

The history books will tell you that the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Protestant pilgrims of Massachusetts in 1621. Not so. There was the Catholic Thanksgiving of 1565 in Florida and another Catholic Thanksgiving of 1589 in Texas.

1. The first American Thanksgiving was actually celebrated on September 8 (feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin) in 1565 in St. Augustine, Florida. The Native Americans and Spanish settlers held a feast and the Holy Mass was offered. This was 56 years before the Puritan pilgrims of Massachusetts.Don Pedro Menendez came ashore amid the sounding of trumpets, artillery salutes and the firing of cannons to claim the land for King Philip II and Spain. The ship chaplain Fr. Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales chanted the Te Deum and presented a crucifix that Menendez ceremoniously kissed. Then the 500 soldiers, 200 sailors and 100 families and artisans, along with the Timucuan Indians celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in gratitude to God.
2. The second American Thanksgiving happened on April 30, 1598, when Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate requested the friars to say a Mass of Thanksgiving, after which he formally proclaimed “La Toma”, claiming the land north of the Rio Grande for the King of Spain. The men feasted on duck, goose, and fish from the river. The actors among them dressed and presented a play. All this took place twenty-three years before the Pilgrims set sail from England on the Mayflower.
3. The Puritan pilgrims were violently anti-Catholic. They left England because they thought that the Church of England was too Catholic. These Puritans were strict Calvinists. The pilgrims also opposed celebrating Christmas, dancing, musical instruments in church, and even hymns as papistical.
   
4. Squanto, the beloved hero of Thanksgiving at Plymouth Rock, was Catholic! (Here’s my full article on the Catholicism of Squanto.) Squanto had been enslaved by the English but he was freed by Spanish Franciscans. Squanto thus received baptism and became a Catholic. So it was a baptized Catholic Native American who orchestrated what became known as Thanksgiving.
   

   Catholic Squanto teaches the lame English Puritans how to play limbo.
   “How low can you go?!”
5. So while Thanksgiving may celebrate the Calvinist Separatists who fled England, Catholics might remember the same unjust laws that granted the crown of martyrdom to Thomas More, John Fisher, Edmund Campion, et al. are the same injustices that led the Pilgrims to Plymouth.
6. And let everyone remember that “Thanksgiving” in Greek is Eucharistia. Thus, the Body and Blood of Christ is the true “Thanksgiving Meal”.

And don’t forget to raise your wine glass and recite the wonderful limerick of Hilaire Belloc:

“Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
There’s always laughter and good red wine.
At least I’ve always found it so.
Benedicamus Domino!”

― Hilaire Belloc

 



 “In the first place, silence is a great means of acquiring the spirit of prayer, and of disposing the soul to converse continually with God.  We rarely find a spiritual soul that speaks much.  All souls of prayer are lovers of silence that is called the guardian of innocence, the shield against temptations, and the fountain of prayer.  For by silence devotion is preserved, and in silence good thoughts spring up in the soul.”

St. Alphonsus (c. 1755)

October 17 – St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Religious of the Visitation Order. Apostle of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, born at Lhautecour, France, 22 July, 1647; died at Paray-le-Monial, 17 October, 1690.
Her parents, Claude Alacoque and Philiberte Lamyn, were distinguished less for temporal possessions than for their virtue, which gave them an honourable position. From early childhood Margaret showed intense love for the Blessed Sacrament, and preferred silence and prayer to childish amusements. After her first communion at the age of nine, she practised in secret severe corporal mortifications, until paralysis confined her to bed for four years. At the end of this period, having made a vow to the Blessed Virgin to consecrate herself to religious life, she was instantly restored to perfect health. The death of her father and the injustice of a relative plunged the family in poverty and humiliation, after which more than ever Margaret found consolation in the Blessed Sacrament, and Christ made her sensible of His presence and protection. He usually appeared to her as the Crucified or the Ecce Homo, and this did not surprise her, as she thought others had the same Divine assistance. When Margaret was seventeen, the family property was recovered, and her mother besought her to establish herself in the world. Her filial tenderness made her believe that the vow of childhood was not binding, and that she could serve God at home by penance and charity to the poor. Then, still bleeding from her self-imposed austerities, she began to take part in the pleasures of the world. One night upon her return from a ball, she had a vision of Christ as He was during the scourging, reproaching her for infidelity after He had given her so many proofs of His love. During her entire life Margaret mourned over two faults committed at this time—the wearing of some superfluous ornaments and a mask at the carnival to please her brothers.

Our Lord appearing to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.

On 25 May, 1671, she entered the Visitation Convent at Paray, where she was subjected to many trials to prove her vocation, and in November, 1672, pronounced her final vows. She had a delicate constitution, but was gifted with intelligence and good judgement, and in the cloister she chose for herself what was most repugnant to her nature, making her life one of inconceivable sufferings, which were often relieved or instantly cured by our Lord, Who acted as her Director, appeared to her frequently and conversed with her, confiding to her the mission to establish the devotion to His Sacred Heart. These extraordinary occurrences drew upon her the adverse criticism of the community, who treated her as a visionary, and her superior commanded her to live the common life. But her obedience, her humility, and invariable charity towards those who persecuted her, finally prevailed, and her mission, accomplished in the crucible of suffering, was recognized even by those who had shown her the most bitter opposition.

A relief of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, part of the choir stalls in St. Gordian and St. Epimachus Church in Bavaria. Photo by Andreas Praefcke

.

Margaret Mary was inspired by Christ to establish the Holy Hour and to pray lying prostrate with her face to the ground from eleven till midnight on the eve of the first Friday of each month, to share in the mortal sadness He endured when abandoned by His Apostles in His Agony, and to receive holy Communion on the first Friday of every month. In the first great revelation, He made known to her His ardent desire to be loved by men and His design of manifesting His Heart with all Its treasures of love and mercy, of sanctification and salvation. He appointed the Friday after the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi as the feast of the Sacred Heart; He called her “the Beloved Disciple of the Sacred Heart”, and the heiress of all Its treasures. The love of the Sacred Heart was the fire which consumed her, and devotion to the Sacred Heart is the refrain of all her writings. In her last illness she refused all alleviation, repeating frequently: “What have I in heaven and what do I desire on earth, but Thee alone, O my God”, and died pronouncing the Holy Name of Jesus.

The discussion of the mission and virtues of Margaret Mary continued for years. All her actions, her revelations, her spiritual maxims, her teachings regarding the devotion to the Sacred Heart, of which she was the chief exponent as well as the apostle, were subjected to the most severe and minute examination, and finally the Sacred Congregation of rites passed a favourable vote on the heroic virtues of this servant of God. In March, 1824, Leo XII pronounced her Venerable, and on 18 September, 1864, Pius IX declared her Blessed. When her tomb was canonically opened in July, 1830, two instantaneous cures took place. Her body rests under the altar in the chapel at Paray, and many striking favours have been obtained by pilgrims attracted thither from all parts of the world. Her feast is celebrated on 17 October. 
Her incorrupt body rests above the side altar in the Chapel of the Apparitions, located at the Visitation Monastery in Paray-le-Monial
[Note: She was canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920.]
SISTER MARY BERNARD DOLL (Catholic Encyclopedia)

From the Writings of St. Anthony Mary Claret

The sensation of pain in Hell is essentially very dreadful. Picture yourself, my soul, on a dark night on the summit of a high mountain. Beneath you is a deep valley, and the earth opens so that with your gaze you can see Hell in the cavity of it. Picture it as a prison situated in the center of the earth, many leagues down, all full of fire, hemmed in so impenetrably that for all eternity not even the smoke can escape. In this prison the damned are packed so tightly one on the other like bricks in a kiln... Consider the quality of the fire in which they burn.

First, the fire is all-extensive and tortures the whole body and the whole soul. A damned person lies in Hell forever in the same spot, which he was assigned by divine justice, without being able to move, as a prisoner in stocks.

The fire, in which he is totally enveloped, as a fish in water, burns around him, on his left, his right, above and below. His head, his breast, his shoulders, his arms, his hands, and his feet are all penetrated with fire, so that he completely resembles a glowing hot piece of iron, which has just been withdrawn from an oven. The roof beneath which the damned person dwells is fire; the food he takes is fire; the drink he tastes is fire; the air he breathes is fire; whatever he sees and touches is all fire....

But this fire is not merely outside him; it also passes within the condemned person. It penetrates his brain, his teeth, his tongue, his throat, his liver, his lungs, his bowels, his belly, his heart, his veins, his nerves, his bones, even to the marrow, and even his blood.

"In Hell," according to St. Gregory the Great, "there will be a fire that cannot be put out, a worm which cannot die, a stench one cannot bear, a darkness one can feel, a scourging by savage hands, with those present despairing of anything good."

A most dreadful fact is that by the divine power this fire goes so far as to work on the very faculties of the soul, burning them and tormenting them. Suppose I were to find myself placed at the oven of a smith so that my whole body was in the open air but for one arm placed in the fire, and that God were to preserve my life for a thousand years in this position. Would this not be an unbearable torture? What, then, would it be like to be completely penetrated and surrounded by fire, which would affect not just an arm, but even all the faculties of the soul?

More Dreadful than Man Can Imagine

Secondly, this fire is far more dreadful than man can imagine. The natural fire that we see during this life has great power to burn and torment. Yet this is not even a shadow of the fire of Hell. There are two reasons why the fire of Hell is more dreadful beyond all comparison than the fire of this life.

The first reason is the justice of God, which the fire serves as an instrument in order to punish the infinite wrong done to his supreme majesty, which has been despised by a creature. Therefore, justice supplies this element with a burning power, which almost reaches the infinite....

The second reason is the malice of sin. As God knows that the fire of this world is not enough to punish sin, as it deserves, He has given the fire of Hell a power so strong that it can never be comprehended by any human mind.   Now, how powerfully does this fire burn?

It burns so powerfully, O my soul, that, according to the ascetical masters, if a mere spark of it fell on a millstone; it would reduce it in a moment to powder. If it fell on a ball of bronze, it would melt it in an instant as if it were wax. If it landed on a frozen lake, it would make it boil in an instant.

Pause here briefly, my soul, and answer a few questions I will put. First, I ask you: If a special furnace were fired up as was customarily done to torment the holy martyrs, and then men placed before you all kinds of good things that the human heart might want, and added the offer of a prosperous kingdom –  if all this were promised you on condition that for just a half-hour you enclose yourself within the furnace, what would you choose?

A Hundred Kingdoms

"Ah!" you would say, "If you offered me a hundred kingdoms I would never be so foolish as to accept your brutal terms, regardless of how grand your offer might be, even if I were sure that God would preserve my life during those moments of suffering."

Second, I ask you: If you already had possession of a great kingdom and were swimming in a sea of wealth so that nothing was wanting to you, and then you were attacked by an enemy, were imprisoned and put in chains and obliged to either renounce your kingdom or else spend a half-hour in a hot furnace, what would you choose? "Ah!" you would say, "I would prefer to spend my whole life in extreme poverty and submit to any other hardship and misfortune, than suffer such a great torment!"

A Prison of Eternal Fire

Now turn your thoughts from the temporal to the eternal. To avoid the torment of a hot furnace, which would last but a half-hour, you would forgo all your property, even things you are most fond of; you would suffer any other temporal loss, however burdensome. Then why do you not think the same way when you are dealing of eternal torments? God threatens you not just with a half-hour in a furnace, but with a prison of eternal fire. To escape it, should you not forgo whatever He has forbidden, no matter how pleasant it can be for you, and gladly embrace whatever He commands, even if it be extremely unpleasant?

A most terrible thing about Hell is its duration. The condemned person loses God and loses Him for all eternity. Now, what is eternity? O my soul, up to now there has not been any angel who has been able to comprehend what eternity is. So how can you comprehend it? Yet, to form some idea of it, consider the following truths:

Eternity never ends. This is the truth that has made even the great saints tremble. The final judgment will come, the world will be destroyed, the earth will swallow up those who are damned, and they will be cast into Hell. Then, with His almighty hand, God will shut them up in that most unhappy prison.

From then on, as many years will pass as there are leaves on the trees and plants on all the earth, as many thousands of years as there are drops of water in all seas and rivers, as many thousands of years as there are atoms in the air, as there are grains of sand on all the shores of all seas. Then, after the passage of this countless number of years, what will eternity be? Up to then there will not even have been a hundredth part of it, nor a thousandth – nothing. It then begins again and will last as long again, even after this has been repeated a thousand times, and a thousand million times again. And then, after so long a period, not even a half will have passed, not even a hundredth part nor a thousandth, not even any part of eternity. For all this time there is no interruption in the burnings of those who are damned, and it begins all over again.

Oh, a deep mystery indeed! A terror above all terrors! O eternity! Who can comprehend thee?

The Tears of Cain

Suppose that, in the case of unhappy Cain, weeping in Hell, he shed in every thousand years just one tear. Now, O my soul, recollect your thoughts and suppose this case: For six thousand years at least Cain has been in Hell and shed only six tears, which God miraculously preserves. How many years would pass for his tears to fill all the valleys of the earth and flood all the cities and towns and villages and cover all the mountains so as to flood the whole earth? We understand the distance from the earth to the sun is thirty-four million leagues. How many years would be necessary for Cain's tears to fill that immense space? From the earth to the firmament is, let us suppose, a distance of a hundred and sixty million leagues.

O God! What number of years might one imagine to be sufficient to fill with these tears this immense space? And yet – O truth so incomprehensible – be sure of it, as that God cannot lie – a time will arrive in which these tears of Cain would be sufficient to flood the world, to reach even the sun, to touch the firmament, and fill all the space between earth and the highest heaven. But that is not all.

If God dried up all these tears to the last drop and Cain began again to weep, he would again fill the same entire space with them and fill it a thousands times and a million times in succession, and after all those countless years, not even half of eternity would have passed, not even a fraction. After all that time burning in Hell, Cain's sufferings will be just beginning.

This eternity is also without relief. It would indeed be a small consolation and of little benefit for the condemned persons to be able to receive a brief respite once every thousand years.

No Relief

Picture in Hell a place where there are three reprobates. The first is plunged in a lake of sulfuric fire, the second is chained to a large rock and is being tormented by two devils, one of whom continually pours molten lead down his throat while the other spills it all over his body, covering him from head to foot. The third reprobate is being tortured by two serpents, one of which wraps around the man's body and cruelly gnaws on it, while the other enters within the body and attacks the heart. Suppose God is moved to pity and grants a short respite.

The first man, after the passage of a thousand years is drawn from the lake and receives the relief of a drink of cool water, and at the end of an hour is cast again into the lake. The second, after a thousand years, is released from his place and allowed to rest, but after an hour is again returned to the same torment. The third, after a thousand years, is delivered from the serpents; but after an hour of relief, is again abused and tormented by them. Ah, how little this consolation would be – to suffer a thousand years and to rest only one hour.

However, Hell does not even have that much relief. One burns always in those dreadful flames and never receives any relief for all eternity. He is forever gnawed and stricken with remorse, and will never have a rest for all eternity. He will suffer always a very ardent thirst and never receive the refreshment of a sip of water for all eternity. He will see himself always abhorred by God and will never enjoy a single tender glance from Him for all eternity. He will find himself forever cursed by heaven and Hell, and will never receive a single gesture of friendship.

It is an essential misfortune of Hell that everything will be without relief, without remedy, without interruption, without end, eternal.

The Kindness of His Mercy

Now I understand in part, O my God, what Hell is. It is a place of extreme pain, of extreme despair. It is where I deserve to be for my sins, where I would have been confined for some years already if your immense mercy had not delivered me. I will keep repeating a thousand times: The Heart of Jesus has loved me, or else I would now be in Hell! The mercy of Jesus has pitied me, for otherwise I would be in Hell! The Blood of Jesus has reconciled me with the heavenly Father, or my dwelling place would be Hell. This shall be the hymn that I want to sing to Thee, my God, for all eternity. Yes, from now on my intention is to repeat these words as many times as there are moments that have passed since that unhappy hour in which I first offended You.

What has been my gratitude to God for his kind mercy that He showed me? He delivered me from Hell. O, immense charity! O, infinite goodness! After a benefit so great, should I not have given Him my whole heart and loved Him with the love of the most ardent Seraphim? Should I not have directed all my actions to Him and in everything sought only His divine pleasure, accepting all contradictions with joy, in order to return to Him my love? Could I do less than that after a kindness that was so great? And yet, what is it that I have done? Oh, ingratitude worthy of another Hell! I cast You aside, O my God! I reacted to Your mercy by committing new sins and offenses. I know that I have done evil, O my God, and I repent with my whole heart. Ah, would that I could shed a sea of tears for such outrageous ingratitude! O Jesus, have mercy on me; for I now resolve to rather suffer a thousand deaths than offend You again.

The Urgency of Hell

It is of faith that Heaven exists for the good and Hell for the wicked. Faith teaches that the pains of Hell are eternal, and it also warns us that one single mortal sin suffices to condemn a soul forever because of the infinite malice by which it offends an infinite God. With these most positive principles in mind, how can I remain indifferent when I see the ease with which sins are committed, sins that occur as frequently as one takes a glass of water, sins and offenses that are perpetrated out of levity or diversion? How can I rest when so many are to be seen living continually in mortal sin and rushing in this blind manner to their eternal destruction? No indeed, I cannot rest, but must needs run and shout a warning to them. If I saw anyone about to fall into a pit or a fire, would I not run up to him and warn him, and do all in my power to help him from falling in? Why should I not do this much to keep sinners from falling into the pit and fires of Hell?

Neither can I understand why other priests who believe the selfsame truths as I do, as we all must do, do not preach or exhort their flock so that they might avoid this unbearable eternity of Hell. It is still a source of wonder to me how the laity – those men and women blessed with the Faith – do not give warning to those who need it. If a house were to catch fire in the middle of the night, and if the inhabitants of the same house and the other townsfolk were asleep and did not see the danger, would not the one who first noticed it shout and run along the streets, exclaiming: "Fire! Fire! In that house over there!" Then why should there not be a warning of eternal fire to waken those who are drifting in the sleep of sin in such a way that when they open their eyes they will find themselves burning in the eternal flames of Hell?

---

Zeal for the salvation of souls spurred St. Anthony Mary Claret to preach an estimated 25,000 sermons, write 144 books, found three religious orders, preach countless missions, and in six years as a bishop, confirm over 300,000 and validate more than 9,000 marriages. Starting as a missionary in Spain and the Canary Islands, he was later appointed Archbishop of Santiago, Cuba, and thereafter confessor to the Queen of Spain. But in all he did, he labored so ceaselessly, so tirelessly, and so fruitfully for the cause of Christ and His Church that he is simply called a “Modern Apostle.”

Miracles surrounded his work, and he possessed the gifts of prophecy and the reading of hearts. He often saw Our Lord and Our Lady (to whom he was especially devoted), receiving from them instruction, encouragement, and prophecies. Driven by the overwhelming motivation of saving immortal souls from eternal damnation, St. Anthony Mary Claret directed all his energies to this end, finding all other goals worthless in comparison.

www.olrl.org

The Dauphin Kneels for the Blessed Sacrament

September 25, 2014

Louis, son of Louis XV and Dauphin of France, was riding in a carriage with his sisters and wife on one of Paris’s boulevards, when he came across a small procession that was bringing the Blessed Sacrament to the house of a sick person. The prince ordered his carriage to stop, and joined by the other passengers he got out and followed the procession on foot. Arriving at the house, Prince Louis knelt devoutly at the sick person’s side, staying on his knees until the Viaticum had been administered.

 Jacques Necker, Galerie de l’ancienne cour (Maestricht: J. E. Dufour, 1787), Vol. 3, p. 157

FOUR SPECIAL FAVORS

    The graces which Our Lord promises to those who are devoted to the
sorrows of His Blessed Mother are very great. St. Alphonsus, in his
discourse on the dolors of Mary, states: It was revealed to St. Elizabeth
[of Hungary] that some years after the Blessed Virgin was assumed into
Heaven, St. John, the beloved disciple, was seized with an ardent desire to
see her again. This favor was granted him. His dear Mother appeared to him
in company with our Divine Lord. Then St. John heard Mary asking of her Son
some special graces for those who were devoted to her dolors. Our Lord
promise the four following graces:

1. Those who invoke the Heavenly Mother through her sorrows will obtain
true sorrow for their sins before death.
2. Our Saviour will protect them in their tribulations, especially at the
hour of death.
3. He will impress upon them the memory of His Passion, and will reward
them for it in Heaven.
4. He will commit such devout servants to the hands of Mary, that she may
dispose of them according to her pleasure, and obtain for them all the
graces she desires.

    Besides these great graces, Father Faber enumerates others which are
obtained through devotion to Mary's sorrows:

    This devotion has a remarkable connection with great interior holiness.

    It reveals the emptiness of worldly joys. Worldliness finds no soul
harder to attack than one entrenched in the sorrows of our Blessed Lady.
The world can graft itself upon nothing in this devotion.

    It gives us a permanent share in the sorrow for sin which Jesus and
Mary felt.

    It keeps our thoughts close to Jesus Christ, and to Him Crucified.

    It communicates to our souls the spirit of the Cross and gives us
strength to endure our own sufferings with resignation to the holy Will of
God.

    This devotion is wholly covered with the Precious Blood of Jesus and
leads us directly into the depths of the Heart of our Saviour.

    Anyone who during his lifetime has cherished compassion for this
afflicted Mother may consider this as a most assured sign of
predestination.

The above is taken from Chapter 2 of the booklet "Devotion to the Sorrowful
Mother" published by TAN

“A dark mass that half fills a hermetically sealed four-inch glass container, and is preserved in a double reliquary in the Naples cathedral as the blood of St. Januarius, liquefies 18 times during the year.... This phenomenon goes back to the 14th century.... Tradition connects it with a certain Eusebia, who had allegedly collected the blood after the martyrdom.... The ceremony accompanying the liquefaction is performed by holding the reliquary close to the altar on which is located what is believed to be the martyr's head. While the people pray, often tumultuously, the priest turns the reliquary up and down in the full sight of the onlookers until the liquefaction takes place.... Various experiments have been applied, but the phenomenon eludes natural explanation. There are, however, similar miraculous claims made for the blood of John the Baptist, Stephen, Pantaleon, Patricia, Nicholas of Tolentino and Aloysius Gonzaga—nearly all in the neighborhood of Naples” (Catholic Encyclopedia).

 


"Clearly, what God wants above all is our will which we received as a free gift from God in creation and possess as though our own. When a man trains himself to acts of virtue, it is with the help of grace from God from whom all good things come that he does this. The will is what man has as his unique possession" (St. Joseph of Cupertino, from the reading for his feast in the Franciscan breviary).

THE CONSOLER OF THE SUFFERING SOULS

    Dominica Clara of the Holy Cross, who died in the reputation of
sanctity in 1897, was often favored with apparitions of the souls in
Purgatory. One of these souls told the servant of God that she (the soul)
owed her salvation solely to her devotion to the sorrows of Mary. Her life
had been so wicked that without a special grace from God she could not
possibly have been saved, but Mary leaves nothing unrewarded that is done
in her honor.

    During life this person had felt a tender compassion for the Mother of
Sorrows, and whenever she beheld an image representing the Dolorous Mother,
she prayed the Hail Mary seven times in her honor. She admitted, however,
that often she had practiced this devotion more from custom than from
interior devotion; for her pious mother had implanted it so deeply in her
heart that, despite her wayward life, she had always remained faithful to
it. As a reward for this slight veneration, the Mother of God showed
special maternal solicitude for her at the hour of death, recalling to her
mind the image of her Seven Sorrows in so vivid a manner that in her last
moments the penitent was seized with most profound contrition for her
sinful life. For this reason she obtained the remission of all her sins.
    According to the information imparted by this soul, the sorrow she felt
for her sins, through the intercession of the Mother of Sorrows, was so
great that it expiated not only her sins but also a great part of the
temporal punishment due to them. In addition to this incomparably great
grace, the soul, while in Purgatory, was consoled by frequent visits of the
Mother of God, each of which mitigated her sufferings. Her torments ceased
entirely during the time the Blessed Virgin was personally present.

    Thousands and thousands of souls, she asserted, who had not committed
one twentieth as much evil as she, were eternally lost. "Ah," she
exclaimed, "how lively are my sentiments of gratitude when I consider what
our dear Heavenly Mother did for me in the last moments of my life! Had it
not been for Mary, I too should have shared the fate of the reprobates. For
all eternity shall my tongue proclaim the love, the goodness, the
solicitude of this sweet Virgin; unceasingly shall my voice glorify her
with canticles of praise and thanksgiving."

    Dominica Clara of the Holy Cross writes further that many who are
especially devoted to the Sorrowful Mother are scarcely detained in
Purgatory at all, and are deprived only for a short time of the vision of
God.

---------
The above is taken from Chapter 2 of the booklet "Devotion to the Sorrowful
Mother" published by TAN Books

 

THE MOTHER OF MERCY

    Devotion to the sorrows of Mary should be practiced especially by souls
who wish to rid themselves of sinful habits. This devotion nourishes the
spirit of compunction, affords great consolation, strengthens confidence in
God's mercy, draws down the special protection of the Blessed Mother in the hour of temptation, and preserves the converted sinner from relapsing into sin.

    The Mother of God once said to her faithful servant St. Bridget: "No
matter how numerous a person's sins may be, if he turns to me with a
sincere purpose of amendment I am prepared forthwith to  receive him
graciously, for I do not regard the number of sins he has committed, but
look only upon the dispositions with which he comes to me; for I feel no
aversion in healing his wounds, because I am called and am in truth the
Mother of Mercy."

    "Poor abandoned sinners," exclaims St. Alphonsus Liguori, "do not
despair! Raise your eyes to Mary and be comforted, trusting in the clemency of this good Mother. For she will rescue you from the shipwreck you have suffered and conduct you to the haven of salvation."

    The Mother of Sorrows likewise lends her gracious assistance in
bringing back to the True Fold those who, unhappily, have been separated
from the household of the Faith.

    The great apostleship of prayer which was organized in England for the
conversion of that country invoked Mary as the Mother of Sorrows. The
fruits of that society were formerly so great that annually ten thousand or
more Protestants returned to the True Fold. Anyone who will but try this
devotion will experience that the Blessed Virgin will not leave a single
Hail Mary unrewarded.

    Those who implore her aid in virtue of her sufferings may confidently
expect her assistance. It seems that this devotion is destined by Heaven to avert God's punishment from sinful mankind, or at least to mitigate it.

---------

The above is taken from Chapter 2 of the booklet "Devotion to the Sorrowful
Mother"

 ST. ROSE OF VITERBO:

Rose achieved sainthood in only 18 years of life. Even as a child Rose had a great desire to pray and to aid the poor. While still very young, she began a life of penance in her parents’ house. She was as generous to the poor as she was strict with herself. At the age of 10 she became a Secular Franciscan and soon began preaching in the streets about sin and the sufferings of Jesus.

Viterbo, her native city, was then in revolt against the pope. When Rose took the pope’s side against the emperor, she and her family were exiled from the city. When the pope’s side won in Viterbo, Rose was allowed to return. Her attempt at age 15 to found a religious community failed, and she returned to a life of prayer and penance in her father’s home, where she died in 1251. Rose was canonized in 1457.

Comment:
The list of Franciscan saints seems to have quite a few men and women who accomplished nothing very extraordinary. Rose is one of them. She did not influence popes and kings, did not multiply bread for the hungry and never established the religious order of her dreams. But she made a place in her life for God’s grace, and like St. Francis before her, saw death as the gateway to new life.

Quote:
Rose's dying words to her parents were: "I die with joy, for I desire to be united to my God. Live so as not to fear death. For those who live well in the world, death is not frightening, but sweet and precious."

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
August Fifteenth

(From: "Divine Intimacy" by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.)

Presence of God - O most Blessed Virgin Mary, assumed into heaven, I beg
you to purify my senses so that I may begin to enjoy God even while I am on
earth.

Meditation

1. The Blessed Virgin Mary, whom we contemplate today assumed body and soul
into heaven, reminds us very definitely that our permanent abode is not on
earth but in heaven where she, with her divine Son, has preceded us in all
the fulness of her human nature. This is the dominant thought in today's
liturgy. "O Almighty and everlasting God, who hast taken up body and soul
into heavenly glory the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of Thy Son: grant,
we beseech Thee, that, ever intent upon heavenly things, we may be worthy
to be partakers of her glory" (Collect).

The Feast of the Assumption is a strong appeal to us to live "ever intent
upon heavenly things," and not allow ourselves to be carried away by the
vicissitudes and seductions of the world. Not only was our soul created for
heaven, but also our body, which, after the resurrection, will be welcomed
into our heavenly home and admitted to a participation in the glory of the
spirit. Today we contemplate in Mary, our Mother, this total glorification
of our humanity. That which has been wholly realized in her, will be
realized for us, as well as for all the saints, only at the end of time.
This privilege was very fitting for her, the all-pure, the all-holy one,
whose body was never touched by even the faintest shadow of sin, but was
always the temple of the Holy Spirit, and became the immaculate tabernacle
of the Son of God. It is a reminder to us to ennoble our whole life, not
only that of the spirit, but also that of the senses, elevating it to the
heights of the celestial life which awaits us. "O Mother of God and of
men," exclaims Pius XII in his beautiful prayer for the Assumption, "we beg
you to purify our senses, so that we may begin to enjoy God here on earth
and Him alone, in the beauty of creatures."

2. Mary's Assumption shows us the route we must follow in our spiritual
ascent : detachment from the earth, flight toward God, and union with God.

Our Lady was assumed body and soul into heaven because she was Immaculate;
she was all-pure -- free not only from every shadow of sin, but even from
the slightest attachment to the things of earth, so that she "never had the
form of any creature imprinted in her soul, nor was moved by such, but was
invariably guided by the Holy Spirit" (J.C. AS III, 2,10).

The first requirement for attaining God is this total purity, the fruit of
total detachment. The Blessed Virgin, who lived her earthly life in
absolute detachment from every created thing, teaches us not to allow
ourselves to be captivated by the fascination of creatures, but to live
among them, occupying ourselves with them with much charity, but without
ever letting our heart become attached to them, without ever seeking our
satisfaction in them.

In her Assumption Mary speaks to us of flight toward heaven, toward God. It
is not enough to purify our heart from sin and all attachment to creatures,
we must at the same time direct it toward God, tending toward Him with all
our strength. The Church has us pray in today's Mass, "O Lord, through the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary who was assumed into heaven, may
our hearts, enkindled by the fire of Thy love, continually aspire toward
Thee" (Secret). Our earthly life has value for eternal life insofar as it
is a flight toward God, a continual seeking after Him, a continual
adherence to His grace. When this flight fails, the supernatural value of
our existence lessens.

Mary has been taken up to heaven because she is the Mother of God. This is
the greatest of her privileges, the root of all the others and the reason
for them; it speaks to us, in a very special way, of intimate union with
God, as the fact of her Assumption speaks to us of the beatific union of
heaven. Mary herself stretches out her maternal hand to guide us to the
attainment of this high ideal. If we keep our eyes fixed on her, we shall
advance more easily; she will be our guide, our strength, and our
consolation in every trial and difficulty.

-------------------------------------------------

"Divine Intimacy" by Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D.

 

 David Isaac Boniface Strandt was baptized and joined the Mystical Body of Christ yesterday.  Since I didn't know much about St. Boniface (which is his baptismal name) I found this short piece on him. 

St. Boniface

Boniface, known as the apostle of the Germans, was an English Benedictine monk who gave up being elected abbot to devote his life to the conversion of the Germanic tribes. Two characteristics stand out: his Christian orthodoxy and his fidelity to the pope of Rome.

How absolutely necessary this orthodoxy and fidelity were is borne out by the conditions he found on his first missionary journey in 719 at the request of Pope Gregory II. Paganism was a way of life. What Christianity he did find had either lapsed into paganism or was mixed with error. The clergy were mainly responsible for these latter conditions since they were in many instances uneducated, lax and questionably obedient to their bishops. In particular instances their very ordination was questionable.

These are the conditions that Boniface was to report in 722 on his first return visit to Rome. The Holy Father instructed him to reform the German Church. The pope sent letters of recommendation to religious and civil leaders. Boniface later admitted that his work would have been unsuccessful, from a human viewpoint, without a letter of safe-conduct from Charles Martel, the powerful Frankish ruler, grandfather of Charlemagne. Boniface was finally made a regional bishop and authorized to organize the whole German Church. He was eminently successful.

In the Frankish kingdom, he met great problems because of lay interference in bishops’ elections, the worldliness of the clergy and lack of papal control.

During a final mission to the Frisians, he and 53 companions were massacred while he was preparing converts for Confirmation.

In order to restore the Germanic Church to its fidelity to Rome and to convert the pagans, he had been guided by two principles. The first was to restore the obedience of the clergy to their bishops in union with the pope of Rome. The second was the establishment of many houses of prayer which took the form of Benedictine monasteries. A great number of Anglo-Saxon monks and nuns followed him to the continent. He introduced Benedictine nuns to the active apostolate of education.

Stories:

Boniface literally struck a blow for Christianity in his attempt to destroy pagan superstitions. On a day previously announced, in the presense of a tense crowd, he attacked with an ax Donar's sacred oak on Mount Gudenburg. The huge tree crashed, splitting into four parts. The people waited for the gods to strike Boniface dead—then realized their gods were powerless, nonexistent. He used planks from the tree to build a chapel.

Comment:

Boniface bears out the Christian rule: To follow Christ is to follow the way of the cross. For Boniface, it was not only physical suffering or death, but the painful, thankless, bewildering task of Church reform. Missionary glory is often thought of in terms of bringing new persons to Christ. It seems—but is not—less glorious to heal the household of the faith.

Patron Saint of:

Germany

 

Your Cross

 The everlasting God has in His wisdom foreseen from eternity the cross that He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost heart. This cross He now sends you He has considered with His all-knowing eyes, understood with His divine mind, tested with His wise justice, warmed with loving arms and weighed with His own hands to see that it be not one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy for you. He has blessed it with His holy Name, anointed it with His consolation, taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then sent it to you from heaven, a special greeting from God to you, an alms of the all-merciful love of God. 

-St. Francis DeSales

CHAPTER XXV
HOW ST FRANCIS HEALED MIRACULOUSLY A LEPER BOTH IN HIS BODY AND IN HIS SOUL, AND WHAT THE SOUL SAID TO HIM ON GOING UP TO HEAVEN
The true disciple of Christ, St Francis, as long as he lived in this miserable life, endeavoured with all his might to follow the example of Christ the perfect Master; whence it happened often, through the operation of grace, that he healed the soul at the same time as the body, as we read of Jesus Christ himself; and not only did he willingly serve the lepers himself, but he willed that all the brethren of his Order, both when they were travelling about the world and when they were halting on their way, should serve the lepers for the love of Christ, who for our sake was willing to be treated as a leper. It happened once, that in a convent near the one in which St Francis then resided there was a hospital for leprosy and other infirmities, served by the brethren; and one of the patients was a leper so impatient, so insupportable, and so insolent, that many believed of a certainty that he was possessed of the devil (as indeed he was) for he ill-treated with blows and words all those who served him; and, what was worse, he blasphemed so dreadfully our Blessed Lord and his most holy Mother the Blessed Virgin Mary, that none was found who could or would serve him. The brethren, indeed, to gain merit, endeavoured to accept with patience the injuries and violences committed against themselves, but their consciences would not allow them to submit to those addressed to Christ and to his Mother, wherefore they determined to abandon this leper, but this they would not do until they had signified their intention to St Francis, according to the Rule. On learning this, St Francis, who was not far distant, himself visited this perverse leper, and said to him: "May God give thee peace, my beloved brother!" To this the leper answered: "What peace can I look for from God, who has taken from me peace and every other blessing, and made me a putrid and disgusting object?" St Francis answered: "My son, be patient; for the infirmities of the body are given by God in this world for the salvation of the soul in the next; there is great merit in them when they are patiently endured." The sick man answered: "How can I bear patiently the pain which afflicts me night and day? For not only am I greatly afflicted by my infirmity, but the friars thou hast sent to serve me make it even worse, for they do not serve me as they ought." Then St Francis, knowing through divine revelation that the leper was possessed by the malignant spirit, began to pray, interceding most earnestly for him. Having finished his prayer, he returned to the leper and said to him: "My son, I myself will serve thee, seeing thou art not satisfied with the others." "Willingly," answered the leper; "but what canst thou do more than they have done?" "Whatsoever thou wishest I will do for thee," answered St Francis. "I will then," said he, "that thou wash me all over; for I am so disgusting that I cannot bear myself." Then St Francis heated some water, putting therein many odoriferous herbs; he then undressed him, and began to wash him with his own hands, whilst another brother threw the water upon him, and, by a divine miracle, wherever St Francis touched him with his holy hands the leprosy disappeared, and his flesh was perfectly healed also. On this the leper, seeing his leprosy beginning to vanish, felt great sorrow and repentance for his sins, and began to weep bitterly. While his body was being purified externally of the leprosy through the cleansing of the water, so his soul internally was purified from sin by the washing of tears and repentance; and feeling himself completely healed both in his body and his soul, he humbly confessed his sins, crying out in a loud voice, with many tears: "Unhappy me! I am worthy of hell for the wickedness of my conduct to the brethren, and the impatience and blasphemy I have uttered against the Lord"; and for fifteen days he ceased not to weep bitterly for his sins, imploring the Lord to have mercy on him, and them made a general confession to a priest. St Francis, perceiving this evident miracle which the Lord had enabled him to work, returned thanks to God, and set out for a distant country; for out of humility he wished to avoid all glory, and in all his actions he sought only the glory of God, and not his own. It pleased God that the leper, who had been healed both in his body and in his soul, after having done penance for fifteen days, should fall ill of another infirmity; and having received the sacraments of the Church, he died a most holy death. His soul on its way to heaven appeared in the air to St Francis, who was praying in a forest, and said to him: "Dost thou know me?" "Who art thou?" asked the saint. Said he: "I am that leper whom our Blessed Lord healed through thy merits, and to-day I am going to life eternal, for which I return thanks to God and to thee. Blessed by thy soul and thy body, blessed by thy holy words and works, for through thee many souls are saved in the world; and know that there is not a single day in which the angels and other saints do not return thanks to God for the holy fruits of thy preaching and that of thy Order in various parts of the world. Be comforted, then, and thank the Lord, and may his blessing rest on thee." Having said these words, he went up to heaven, leaving St Francis much consoled.

---

July 17 – Martyred in the Name of Equality

The Sixteen Blessed Teresian Martyrs of Compiègne

Guillotined at the Place du Trône Renversé (now called Place de la Nation), Paris, 17 July, 1794. They are the first sufferers under the French Revolution on whom the Holy See has passed judgment, and were solemnly beatified 27 May, 1906. Before their execution they knelt and chanted the “Veni Creator”, as at a profession, after which they all renewed aloud their baptismal and religious vows. The novice was executed first and the prioress last. Absolute silence prevailed the whole time that the executions were proceeding. The heads and bodies of the martyrs were interred in a deep sand-pit about thirty feet square in a cemetery at Picpus. As this sand-pit was the receptacle of the bodies of 1298 victims of the Revolution, there seems to be no hope of their relics being recovered. Their names are as follows:

Plaque at the Picpus Cemetery in Paris in memory of the 16 Martyrs of Compiègne, guillotined on July 17, 1794 and beatified by Pope Pius X on May 27, 1906. Photo by Mu

• Madeleine-Claudine Ledoine (Mother Teresa of St. Augustine), prioress, b. in Paris, 22 Sept., 1752, professed 16 or 17 May, 1775;

• Marie-Anne (or Antoinette) Brideau (Mother St. Louis), sub-prioress, b. at Belfort, 7 Dec., 1752, professed 3 Sept, 1771;

• Marie-Anne Piedcourt (Sister of Jesus Crucified), choir-nun, b. 1715, professed 1737; on mounting the scaffold she said “I forgive you as heartily as I wish God to forgive me”;

• Anne-Marie-Madeleine Thouret (Sister Charlotte of the Resurrection), sacristan, b. at Mouy, 16 Sept., 1715, professed 19 Aug., 1740, twice sub-prioress in 1764 and 1778. Her portrait is reproduced opposite p. 2 of Miss Willson’s work cited below;

• Marie-Antoniette or Anne Hanisset (Sister Teresa of the Holy Heart of Mary), b. at Rheims in 1740 or 1742, professed in 1764;

• Marie-Françoise Gabrielle de Croissy (Mother Henriette of Jesus), b. in Paris, 18 June, 1745, professed 22 Feb., 1764, prioress from 1779 to 1785;

• Marie-Gabrielle Trézel (Sister Teresa of St. Ignatius), choir-nun, b. at Compiègne, 4 April, 1743, professed 12 Dec., 1771;

• Rose-Chrétien de la Neuville, widow, choir-nun (Sister Julia Louisa of Jesus), b. at Loreau (or Evreux), in 1741, professed probably in 1777;

• Anne Petras (Sister Mary Henrietta of Providence), choir-nun, b. at Cajarc (Lot), 17 June, 1760, professed 22 Oct., 1786.

• Concerning Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception accounts vary. Miss Willson says that her name was Marie Claude Cyprienne Brard, and that she was born 12 May, 1736; Pierre, that her name was Catherine Charlotte Brard, and that she was born 7 Sept., 1736. She was born at Bourth, and professed in 1757;

• Marie-Geneviève Meunier (Sister Constance), novice, b. 28 May, 1765, or 1766, at St. Denis, received the habit 16 Dec., 1788. She mounted the scaffold singing “Laudate Dominum”. In addition to the above, three lay sisters suffered and two tourières. The lay sisters are:

• Angélique Roussel (Sister Mary of the Holy Ghost), lay sister, b. at Fresnes, 4 August, 1742, professed 14 May, 1769;

• Marie Dufour (Sister St. Martha), lay sister, b. at Beaune, 1 or 2 Oct., 1742, entered the community in 1772;

• Julie or Juliette Vérolot (Sister St. Francis Xavier), lay sister, b. at Laignes or Lignières, 11 Jan., 1764, professed 12 Jan., 1789.

The two tourières, who were not Carmelites at all, but merely servants of the nunnery were: Catherine and Teresa Soiron, b. respectively on 2 Feb., 1742 and 23 Jan., 1748 at Compiègne, both of whom had been in the service of the community since 1772.
The miracles proved during the process of beatification were

• The cure of Sister Clare of St. Joseph, a Carmelite lay sister of New Orleans, when on the point of death from cancer, in June, 1897;

• The cure of the Abbé Roussarie, of the seminary at Brive, when at the point of death, 7 March, 1897;

• The cure of Sister St. Martha of St. Joseph, a Carmelite lay Sister of Vans, of tuberculosis and an abcess in the right leg, 1 Dec., 1897;

• The cure of Sister St. Michael, a Franciscan of Montmorillon, 9 April, 1898.

Five secondary relics are in the possession of the Benedictines of Stanbrook, Worcestershire.



PIERRE, Les Seize Carmélites de Compiègne (Paris, 1906); WILLSON, The Martyrs of Compiègne (Westminster, 1907).
JOHN B. WAINEWRIGHT (Catholic Encyclopedia)

 

There's nothing so great, my children, as the Eucharist. If you were to put all the good actions in the world against a Communion well made, it would be like a grain of dust against a mountain.

St. John Vianney (1786-1859AD) on the Eucharist

CHAPTER XXIV
HOW ST FRANCIS CONVERTED TO THE FAITH THE SULTAN OF BABYLON
St Francis, urged by zeal for the faith of Christ and by a wish to suffer martyrdom, took with him one day twelve of his most holy brethren, and went beyond the sea with the intention of going straight to the Sultan of Babylon. They arrived in a province belonging to the Saracens, where all the passes were guarded by men so cruel, that no Christian who passed that way could escape being put to death. Now it pleased God that St Francis and his companions should not meet with the same fate; but they were taken prisoners, and after being bound and ill-treated, were led before the Sultan. Then St Francis standing before him, inspired by the Holy Spirit, preached most divinely the faith of Christ; and to prove the truth of what he said, professed himself ready to enter into the fire. Now the Sultan began to feel a great devotion towards him, both because of the constancy of his faith, and because he despised the things of this world (for he had refused to accept any of the presents which he had offered to him), and also because of his ardent wish to suffer martyrdom. From that moment he listened to him willingly, and begged him to come back often, giving both him and his companions leave to preach wheresoever they pleased; he likewise gave them a token of his protection, which would preserve them from all molestation.
At length St Francis, seeing he could do no more good in those parts, was warned by God to return with his brethren to the land of the faithful. Having assembled his companions, they went together to the Sultan to take leave of him. The Sultan said to him: "Brother Francis, most willingly would I be converted to the faith of Christ; but I fear to do so now, for if the people knew it, they would kill both me and thee and all thy companions. As thou mayest still do much good, and I have certain affairs of great importance to conclude, I will not at present be the cause of thy death and of mine. But teach me how I can be saved, and I am ready to do as thou shalt order." On this St Francis made answer: "My lord, I will take leave of thee for the present; but after I have returned to my own country, when I shall be dead and gone to heaven, by the grace of God, I will send thee two of my friars, who will administer to thee the holy baptism of Christ, and thou shalt be saved, as the Lord Jesus has revealed to me; and thou in the meantime shalt free thyself from every hindrance, so that, when the grace of God arrives, thou mayest be found well disposed to faith and devotion." The Sultan promised so to do; and did as he had promised. Then St Francis returned with his company of venerable and saintly brethren, and after a few years ending his mortal life, he gave up his soul to God. The Sultan, having fallen ill, awaited the fulfillment of the promise of St Francis, and placed guards in all the passes, ordering them if they met two brothers in the habit of St Francis to conduct them immediately to him. At the same time St Francis appeared to two of his friars, and ordered them without delay to go to the Sultan and save his soul, according to the promise he had made him. The two set out, and having crossed the sea, were conducted to the Sultan by the guards he had sent out to meet them. The Sultan, when he saw them arrive, rejoiced greatly, and exclaimed: "Now I know of a truth that God has sent his servants to save my soul, according to the promise which St Francis made me through divine revelation." Having received the faith of Christ and holy baptism from the said friars, he was regenerated in the Lord Jesus Christ; and having died of his disease, his soul was saved, through the merits and prayers of St Francis.

 

Now let us listen to St. Anselm, Bishop, Confessor and Doctor of the Church, on this matter of salvation:

 "If you want to be certain of being in the number of the Elect, strive to be one of the few, not one of the many.  And if you would be quite sure of your salvation, strive to be among the fewest of the few; that is to say: do not follow the great majority of mankind, but follow those who enter upon the narrow way, who renounce the world, who give themselves to prayer, and who never relax their efforts by day or night, so that they may attain everlasting blessedness."