In Valpariso, Chile, at the beginning of the 20th century, Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey SS, CC., well known as the great Apostle of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was a young priest. Fr. Mateo told this story wherever he preached and he found that where people were prepared to earn "three golden coins" with love, many graces were obtained and many conversions followed.

He relates that one day an 8 year old girl told him that Jesus spoke to her every time she received Holy Communion. Father was somewhat skeptical and requested her to ask Jesus to give him proof. The proof Father requested was the sudden conversion of a certain man who was a big sinner, a fallen away Catholic, and enemy of the Church ... and also that this man should come to him for Confession.

About a week later when Fr. Mateo was hearing confessions, the young girl told him that this sinner was coming up to the church. As the priest was leaving the confessional, the fallen away Catholic came into the church and walked over to Fr. Mateo and asked him to help him with his confession. He said that it was the first one since he was baptized. He did not know what came over him that morning but he suddenly understood the necessity of going to confession. Father realized that he had received the proof he requested.

The young girl told the priest that Our Lord revealed to her that He would give the graces to repent and mend his ways to this fallen away Catholic, and also to many other souls. He said, "Always ask Me for souls and I will give them to you, and tell Father Mateo to ask Me for souls. I will give them to him, too, but first you must become My missionary."

She thought she was too young to be a missionary. Our Lord assured her that He would make her His missionary and that she would have to pay a certain price for souls. "I want you," said Jesus, "to earn three golden coins a day." Our Lord then explained what He meant by golden coins.

     1) The first golden coin was her prayers to Him for souls.

     2) The second golden coin was her little sacrifices, especially acts of obedience.

     3) The third golden coin was a promise: "never to miss Mass or Holy Communion through your own fault and to visit Me often in the Blessed Sacrament."

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

Born in 1577, at Sigmaringen, Prussia, of which town his father Johannes Rey was burgomaster; died at Sevis, 24 April, 1622.

On the paternal side he was of Flemish ancestry. He pursued his studies at the University of Freiburg in the Breisgau, and in 1604 became tutor to Wilhelm von Stotzingen, with whom he travelled in France and Italy. In the process for Fidelis’s canonization Wilhelm von Stotzingen bore witness to the severe mortifications his tutor practised on these journeys. In 1611 he returned to Freiburg to take the doctorate in canon and civil law, and at once began to practise as an advocate. But the open corruption which found place in the law courts determined him to relinquish that profession and to enter the Church.
He was ordained priest the following year, and immediately afterwards was received into the Order of Friars Minor of the Capuchin Reform at Freiburg, taking the name of Fidelis. He has left an interesting memorial of his novitiate and of his spiritual development at that time in a book of spiritual exercises which he wrote for himself. This work was re-edited by Father Michael Hetzenauer, O.F.M. Cap., and republished in 1893 at Stuttgart under the title: “S. Fidelis a Sigmaringen exercitia seraphicae devotionis”. From the novitiate he was sent to Constance to finish his studies in theology under Father John Baptist, a Polish friar of great repute for learning and holiness.

Saint Fidelis of Sigmarigen with Saint Joseph of Leonessa

At the conclusion of his theological studies Fidelis was appointed guardian first of the community at Rheinfelden, and afterwards at Freiburg and Feldkirch. As a preacher his burning zeal earned for him a great reputation.
From the beginning of his apostolic career he was untiring in his efforts to convert heretics nor did he confine his efforts in this direction to the pulpit, but also used his pen. He wrote many pamphlets against Calvinism and Zwinglianism though he would never put his name to his writings. Unfortunately these publications have long been lost. Fidelis was still guardian of the community at Feldkirch when in 1621 he was appointed to undertake a mission in the country of the Grisons with the purpose of bringing back that district to the Catholic Faith. The people there had almost all gone over to Calvinism, owing partly to the ignorance of the priests and their lack of zeal. In 1614 the Bishop of Coire had requested the Capuchins to undertake missions amongst the heretics in his diocese, but it was not until 1621 that the general of the order was able to send friars there. In that year Father Ignatius of Bergamo was commissioned with several other friars to place himself at the disposal of this bishop for missionary work, and a similar commission was given to Fidelis who however still remained guardian of Feldkirche. Before setting out on this mission Fidelis was appointed by authority of the papal nuncio to reform the Benedictine monastery at Pfafers. He entered upon his new labours in the true apostolic spirit. Since he first entered the order he had constantly prayed, as he confided to a fellow-friar, for two favours: one, that he might never fall into mortal sin; the other, that he might die for the Faith. In this Spirit he now set out, ready to give his life in preaching the Faith. He took with him his crucifix, Bible, Breviary, and the book of the rule of his order; for the rest, he went in absolute poverty, trusting to Divine Providence for his daily sustenance.

He arrived in Mayenfeld in time for Advent and began at once preaching and catechizing; often preaching in several places the same day. His coming aroused strong opposition and he was frequently threatened and insulted. He not only preached in the Catholic churches and in the public streets, but occasionally in the conventicles of the heretics. At Zizers one of the principal centres of his activity, he held conferences with the magistrates and chief townsmen, often far into the night. They resulted in the conversion of Rudolph de Salis, the most influential man in the town, whose public recantation was followed by many conversions.

Throughout the winter Fidelis laboured indefatigably and with such success that the heretic preachers were seriously alarmed and set themselves to inflame the people against him by representing that his mission was political rather than religious and that he was preparing the way for the subjugation of the country by the Austrians. During the Lent of 1622 he preached with especial fervour. At Easter he returned to Feldkirch to attend a chapter of the order and settle some affairs of his community.
By this time the Congregation of the Propaganda had been established in Rome, and Fidelis was formally constituted by the Congregation, superior of the mission in the Grisons. He had, however, a presentiment that his laborers would shortly be brought to a close by a martyr’s death. Preaching a farewell sermon at Feldkirch he said as much.

Statue of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

On re-entering the country of the Grisons he was met everywhere with the cry: “Death to the Capuchins!” On 24 April, being then at Grusch, he made his confession and afterwards celebrated Mass and preached. Then he set out for Sevis. On the way his companions noticed that he was particularly cheerful. At Sevis he entered the church and began to preach, but was interrupted by a sudden tumult both within and without the church. Several Austrian soldiers who were guarding the doors of the church were killed and Fidelis himself was struck. A Calvinist present offered to lead him to a place of security. Fidelis thanked the man but said his life was in the hands of God. Outside the church he was surrounded by a crowd led by the preachers who offered to save his life if he would apostatize. Fidelis replied: “I came to extirpate heresy, not to embrace it”, whereupon he was struck down. He was the first martyr of the Congregation of Propaganda.
His body was afterwards taken to Feldkirch and buried in the church of his order, except his head and left arm, which were placed in the cathedral at Coire. He was beatified in 1729, and canonized in 1745. St. Fidelis is usually represented in art with a crucifix and with a wound in the head; his emblem is a bludgeon. His feast is kept on 24 April.
FATHER CUTHBERT (Catholic Encyclopedia)

 


Audio sermon for Easter Sunday. The Resurrection is a reminder to us that each day we are given another chance to start anew. We must pick ourselves up from our sins, faults, and failings with a renewed vigor and strive to increase the love of God in our hearts. Charity is not something that just happens, it is something that we must consciously cultivate and develop. Let us put off the old man as St. Paul tells us and put on the new man in Christ Jesus today and every day forward so that we may not be found lacking on that Last Day.

  
 


The greater part of men will set no value on the blood of Christ, and will go on offending Him.

St. Isidore of Seville:

April 13 – Born blind, lame, deformed, hunchbacked and dwarfed

Blessed Margaret of Castello (1287–1320) is the patroness of the poor, crippled, and the unwanted. She was born blind, lame, deformed, hunchbacked and a dwarf, into a family of nobles in the castle of Metola, in southeast of Florence. As a child, her parents Parisio and Emilia imprisoned her for 14 years so no one would see her, though she could attend Mass and receive the sacraments.  Her parents took her to the tomb in Citta di Castello of a holy man named Fra Giacomo, where miracles were reportedly being wrought, to pray for a cure for her birth defects. When no miracle happened, they abandoned her. She lived in prayer and charity, helping the poor. When she died at the age of 33, crowds at her funeral demanded she be buried inside the church. After a crippled girl was miraculously cured at the funeral, the priest allowed Margaret’s burial inside.

In 1558, Margaret’s remains were transferred because her coffin was rotten. Her clothes were also rotten, but her body was preserved. She was beatified on October 19, 1609 by Pope Paul V.

He excommunicated the king, who murdered him as he celebrated Mass

Saint Stanislaus of Cracow

Martyrdom of St. Stanislaus of Cracow from Anjou legendarium of the Kings of Hungary (XIV century)

In pictures he is given the episcopal insignia and the sword. Larger paintings represent him in a court or kneeling before the altar and receiving the fatal blow. His parents, Belislaus and Bogna, pious and noble Catholics, gave him a religious education. After the death of his parents he distributed his ample inheritance among the poor. Lambert Zula, Bishop of Cracow, ordained him priest and made him pastor of Czembocz near Cracow, canon and preacher at the cathedral, and later, vicar-general. After the death of Lambert he was elected bishop, but accepted only on explicit command of Pope Alexander II.

Miniature painted by Stanisław Samostrzelnik of Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów as the patron saint of Poland, venerated by King Sigismund I and Tomicki himself together with church and secular dignitaries.

He worked with his wonted energy for his diocese, and inveighed against vices among high and low, regardless of consequences. Boleslaw II had become King of Poland. the renown he had gained by his successful wars he now sullied by atrocious cruelty and unbridled lust. Moreover the bishop had several serious disputes with the king about a piece of land belonging to the Church which was unjustly claimed by Boleslaw, and about some nobles, who had left their homes to ward off various evils threatening their families and who were in consequence cruelly treated by the king.

Stanislaus spared neither tears nor prayers and admonitions to bring the king to lead a more Christian life. All being in vain, Boleslaw was excommunicated and the canons of the cathedral were instructed to discontinue the Divine Offices in case the king should attempt to enter. Stanislaus retired to the Chapel of St. Michael in a suburb of Cracow. The king was furious and followed the bishop with his guards, some of whom he sent to kill the saint. These dared not obey, so Boleslaw slew him during the Holy Sacrifice. The body was at first buried in the chapel, but in 1088 it was transferred to the cathedral by Bishop Lambert II. St. Stanislaus was canonized 1253 by Innocent IV at Assisi.

Tomb of St. Stanislaus in the Wawel Cathedral, photo by Bogitor.

(cfr. FRANCIS MERSHMAN, Catholic Encyclopedia)

 WISE FRANCISCAN ADVISE:


 “The sin of detraction is the impediment to the very source of piety and grace; it is abominable in the sight of God, because the detractor feeds on the blood of the souls which he has murdered with the sword of his tongue.”

The malice of the detractor is far greater than that of the thief, because the law of Christ, which is fulfilled by showing mercy, commands us to desire more ardently the salvation of the soul than the safety of the body.”

 “The tongue is the instrument of life and death to man, not on account of the food it takes, but on account of the words it utters.”
St. Francis of Assisi

 “Detraction is the poison of conversation. Never let any one who is given to this fault meet with any applause or approbation from you. On the contrary, do what you can to justify your neighbor or else show your displeasure by a significant silence, or by turning the conversation, where this is practicable.”
St. Leonard of Port Maurice


 “Use your ears oftener than your tongue. One often repents of having spoken, and scarcely ever of having been silent.”  
 St. Anthony of Padua

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH Her Doctrine and Morals Passion Sunday 6 April 2014

The Sunday Sermon

Dear Friend,

It has been said that each generation must save itself. The Sacrifice of Jesus Christ took place once and for all at a certain time and place in history. We, however, who live more than two-thousand years later must somehow connect and benefit from this infinite Sacrifice. 

It has also been shown that history repeats itself. We tragically see that the mistakes of previous generations continue to be repeated in our own. It is true that we don't keep re-inventing the wheel. We are assiduous to hold on to and advance our leisure and pleasure. The mistakes that are repeated specifically refer to moral sins. 

Each generation seems to think that it has a right to commit the same sins their parents did, and that they somehow have an obligation to go even further in sin than their parents have done. With this mentality our world has grown further away from Christ not only, in time but also spiritually. 

Our Holy Mother Church seeing this and seeking to halt and reverse this process (if it is at all possible) recalls to our mind the physical passion of Jesus. Today begins a heightened intensity in Her efforts to bring us to the spiritual state where the merits of the Passion may be applied to us. 

We see the blindness of the people in rejecting Jesus and even hating Him to the point of forcing His Sacrifice. Jesus is patient with them and hides His divinity from them and even the devils. God made use of these evil desires of creatures, to bring forth the greater good of His Sacrifice. Today we see something that appears even worse than this hatred of Jesus and a desire to drive Him out of the world and our lives. The sins of those who called out for His Blood, pale in significance to the coldness and indifferentism in the world today. Spiritual apathy seems to be the only way for us to sin more greatly than our ancestors have done. 

Those who hate Jesus and persecute Him and His Mystical Body (The Church), can be converted. Their evil can be turned into great good. It is for these that we see that Jesus prayed as He hung upon the cross: "Father, forgive them. For they know not what they are doing." We witness the conversion of Saul, as he persecuted the Church, transformed into St. Paul the Apostle. 

Jesus asks them why they hate Him. Is it because He does good? With the application of truth and reason these enemies of Jesus can be later converted as we see from the multitudes, who were later converted by the preaching of St. Peter. The apathetic reply that they don't hate Jesus. They imagine that they are good because they don't hate anyone or anything. They hate nothing but they similarly love nothing either. 

Our world today seems surfeited with souls who think all is well. There is no real concern for objective Truth. Truth to the world today appears to be focused upon subjective value rather than objective fact. In other words, truth becomes whatever is advantageous to the individual person at this particular moment in time. Our society does not seem to grasp the falsity of conflicting and changing "truth." It is this attitude that brings forth such a cliche' as: "We all believe in the same God." The so called "Christian" religions have degenerated not to the point of the open hatred of God, but rather to the creation of a subjective "god" that fits their needs or desires for the moment. It is common for us to hear the truths of Faith given to us by God Himself referred to as "myths." The "myths" of Christianity are then given "equal" recognition and acceptance as all other myths. The Greek and Roman mythology appears to the modern world as just as valid as the "myths" of the Church. 

Our children are fed a steady diet of mythology both ancient and new in their entertainments. There are put before them the wildest fictions created by the minds of men and demons; representing to them beings with supernatural powers. Then our children read the accounts of Jesus or the miracles of the saints and are left to conclude that they too are like the fictions that they have been feeding on. And with an indifferent shrug of the shoulder the truths of God are quickly dismissed. Not hated or despised; but neither are they believed, loved and cherished. 

Our modern "science" adds fuel to this fire constantly dismissing all that is above their own feeble reason and intellect as fiction. The only "truths" that they will admit of is what they can understand. They have made themselves the measure of truth: the measure of God. The atheistic attitude of "science" increases this spiritual apathy from one generation to the next. We are witnessing today the cumulative effect of several generations of atheistic "science" "education." It is now easier to doubt the Word of God than it is to doubt the "scientists" who have done their "studies" and experiments to "prove" their "theories." 

Today, we are called upon to set aside the apathy and indifferentism of the world; we are asked to avoid the open hatred we see in today's gospel. We are asked to open our minds to objective and real truth that is spoken to us by God and preserved and handed down to us through His Mystical Body the Church. In this manner, we can follow Jesus in His Suffering and Death; and then rise glorious with Him on the Last Day.

Vespers for Passion Sunday

Audio Sermons for the weekend: Passion Sunday First Saturday April 5 First Friday April 4