"There is one God, and one Christ, and one Church, and one chair, by our Lord's voice founded upon Peter. To set up another altar, or to constitute another priesthood, besides the one altar and the one priesthood, is impossible. Whosever gathereth elsewhere scattereth. It is adulterous, it is impious, it is sacrilegious, whatsoever is instituted by man to the breach of God's disposition. Get ye far from such men: they are blind, and leaders of the blind..."

St. Cyprian

 

Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the
earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like
transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating
about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that
issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now
falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or
equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which
horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be
distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and
unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an
instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother,
who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take
us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.

Lucia's Vision of Hell

 Fr. Martin Von Cochem (1900): “It has now been made clear that the damned will one day be cast, body and soul, into the huge and awful furnace of hell, into the immense lake of fire, where they will be surrounded by flames. There will be fire below them, fire above them, fire round about them. Every breath will be the scorching breath of a furnace. These infernal flames will penetrate every portion of the body, so that there will be no part or member, within or without, that is not steeped in fire.” (The Four Last Things., p. 120)

The Rosary of the Seven Sorrows 
The Rosary of the Seven Sorrows consists of 7 groups of 7 beads, with 3 additional beads and a Crucifix. Say each of the sorrow below followed by 7 Hail Mary's. The 7 groups of 7 Hail Mary's are recited in remembrance of the 7 Sorrows of Mary:

1. The prophecy of Simeon.

2. The flight into Egypt.

3. The loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple

.4. Mary meets Jesus carrying His cross.

5. The Crucifixion

6. Mary received the Body of Jesus from the cross

7. The Body of Jesus is placed in a tomb.

3 Hail Mary's are added in remembrance of the tears Mary shed because of the suffering of her Divine Son. These are said to obtain true sorrow for our sins.

The concluding prayer follows:

V/. Pray for us, O most sorrowful Virgin.

R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, we now implore, both for the present and for the hour of our death, the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose holy soul was pierced at the time of Thy passion by a sword of grief. Grant us this favor, O Saviour of the world, Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost , forever and ever. Amen.

O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of Your presence, Your love, and Your strength. Help us to have perfect trust in Your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to You, we shall see Your hand, Your purpose, Your will through all things.

- St. Ignatius of Loyola

When we say that Mary is the Mother of God, we speak of a dignity that is above every other dignity that can be named, or thought of, after that of God. Nothing equals Mary, for all is either above her, and this is God, or beneath her, and this is all that is not God.

St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109AD)

April 19 – Blessed Conrad of Ascoli

Friar Minor and missionary, born at Ascoli in the March of Ancona in 1234; died there, 19 April, 1289.
He belonged to the noble family of Milliano and from his earliest years made penance the predominating element of his life.

He entered the Order of Friars Minor at Ascoli together with his townsman and lifelong friend, Girolamo d’Ascoli, afterwards minister general, and later pope under the title of Nicholas IV. Having completed his studies at Perugia, Conrad was sent to Rome to teach theology. Later he obtained permission to go to Africa, where he preached with much fruit through the different provinces of Libya and worked numerous miracles. He was recalled from Africa to go on a mission to the King of France, then at war with Spain, and subsequently he became lector of theology at Paris.

The Incorrupt body of Blessed Conrad of Ascoli in the Church of San Francesco in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. Photo by Revares

When not engaged in teaching, Conrad preached to the people or ministered to the sick in hospitals. In 1288 he was summoned to Rome by the new pope, Nicholas IV, who wished to make him cardinal, but Conrad died on the way after reaching his native city, being then fifty-five years of age.

Nicholas IV was deeply grieved at the loss of his saintly friend, on whose counsel and zeal he had counted so much, and declared that Conrad’s death was a great loss to the Church. The people of Ascoli erected a splendid tomb over the remains of Blessed Conrad. In 1371, when his body was removed to the new church of the Franciscans, it was found incorrupt and gave forth a sweet odour. Pius VI approved the cultus of Blessed Conrad. His feast is kept in the Order of Friars Minor on 19 April.
STEPHEN M. DONOVAN

Picture from St. Thomas Aquinas Book Club

“Never will anyone who prays his Rosary every day be led astray.” St. Louis de Montfort