The Battle of Lepanto, the Catholic victory over Mohammedanism
Vol 8 Issue 40 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
October 3, 2015 ~ Thérèse of Lisieux, opn!

1. Baptism: Means of Salvation (36)
2. Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
3. Sts. Francis of Assisi
4. Christ in the Home (11)
5. Articles and notices

Dear Reader:

After the world leaders have decided the fate of the people this past week Catholics have an added reason to take the month of October, the month of the Holy Rosary, more earnestly. Starting with the Feast of the Holy Rosary on October 7 which commemorates the Battle of Lepanto, the Catholic victory over Mohammedanism and its incessant attempts to invade Christian (Catholic) Europe, the faithful are reminded that the spiritual power of the Rosary is able to overcome the enemies of Mary’s Divine Son. On the feast of the Divine Maternity, October 11, which commemorates the anniversary of the Council of Ephesus and the acceptance of the universal (Catholic) cry Holy Mary, Mother of God! against those who would deny her dignity and role in the salvation of mankind, the faithful turn to Mary in the Rosary repeating 153 times Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Then those Catholics who are grateful of having learned about Fatima and, because of their devotion to Our Lady have been brought back to the Catholic Church through recognizing the errors of the Conciliar Church which propagates sin rather than makes reparation for sin, remember the anniversary of the October 13 apparition with a miracle that should have convinced an unbelieving scientific world but showed these scientists were blind and leaders of the blind. Let me remonstrate the importance of the Rosary—certainly not to supplant the infinite Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but which draws one to Mass—and that the faithful pray this devotion given to Saint Dominic by Mary herself. This will decide the fate of mankind more tersely than all the world leaders and their connivance to dominate, whose feeble attempts will falter when Christ Himself returns.

As always, enjoy the readings and commentaries provided for your benefit.—The Editor

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Baptism

Means of Salvation

Sacrament of Baptism

Baptism Commanded by Christ (b)

The beginning of the public life of Christ begins with His Baptism and it was shown that He had His disciples baptizing the people (cf. John 3:22 and4:1-3). Again, in explaining baptism, Christ told Nicodemus: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (3:3). In response Nicodemus asked for an explanation: How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother’ s womb, and be born again? (v. 4). Jesus provides that clarification, implying that it should be evident as was elucidated in the section: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (v. 5). That is, Nicodemus should have known the prophecies of Isaias, Ezechiel, and Zacharias who all speak of Baptism. Isaias invites us to Baptism: All you that thirst, come to the waters (Isa. 55:1; cf. also 1:16 ff and 4:4). Ezechiel foresaw the abundance of this water issuing from the Church (Ezech. 47:1 ff). Zacharias prophesies when there shall be a fountain open to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: for the washing of the sinner and of the unclean woman (Zach. 13:1). Therefore, Christ repeats His declaration and then goes on to remind Nicodemus not to think of earthly thoughts, but of the spiritual reality:

That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit. Wonder not, that I said to thee, you must be born again. The Spirit breatheth where he will; and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not whence he cometh, and whither he goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (John 3:6-7)

Regarding the words, born again, as Jerome translates the Greek, Thomas Aquinas reminds us:

. . . [T]he Greek reading is not “again,” but anothe, i.e., “from above,” which Jerome translated as “again,” in order to suggest addition. And this is the way Jerome understood the saying, unless one is born again. It is as if he were saying: Unless one is reborn once more through a fraternal generation.

Chrysostom, however, says that to be “born from above” is  peculiar to the Son of God, because he alone is born from above: “The one who came from above is above all things” (below 3:31). And Christ is said to be born from above both as to time (if we may speak thus), because he was begotten from eternity: “Before the daystar I begot you” (Ps 109:3), and as to the principle of his generation, because he proceeds from the heavenly Father: “I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (below 6:38). Therefore, because our regeneration is in the likeness of the Son of God, inasmuch as “Those whom he foreknew he predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8: 29), and because that generation is from above, our generation also is from above: both as to the time, because of our eternal predestination, “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4), and as to its being a gift of God, as we read below (6:44), “No one can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him”; and “You have been saved by the grace of God” (Eph 2:5). (184-85, 435)

Nicodemus seemed to disbelieve Christ’s claim to be the Messias—though not directly, but in skepticism asking: How can these things be done? And Jesus answered reproves him, plainly telling Nicodemus that He, Jesus, is the Christ:

Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things? Amen, amen I say to thee, that we speak what we know, and we testify what we have seen, and you receive not our testimony. If I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not; how will you believe, if I shall speak to you heavenly things? And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven (ibid. 3:10-13)

Saint Thomas, in his commentary on this passage writes: 

Nicodemus, having an imperfect opinion about Christ, affirmed that he was a teacher and performed these signs as a mere man. And so the Lord wishes to show Nicodemus how he might arrive at a deeper understanding of him. And as a matter of fact, the Lord might have done so with an argument, but because this might have resulted in a quarrel—the opposite of which was prophesied about him: “He will not quarrel” (Is 42: 2)—he wished to lead him to a true understanding with gentleness. As if to say: It is not strange that you regard me as a mere man, because one cannot know these secrets of the divinity unless he has achieved a spiritual regeneration. And this is what he says: unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (431, 184)

Christ then tells how He will redeem the world:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him, may not perish; but may have life everlasting.  For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not his Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by him. (ibid. 14-17)

And then Christ begins the act of saving through water: After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea: and there he abode with them, and baptized (ibid. 3:22).

These words read in John’s Gospel express the precept by Christ.

What is born of flesh is itself flesh, he proves by reason that it is necessary to be born of water and the Holy Spirit. And the reasoning is this: No one can reach the kingdom unless he is made spiritual; but no one is made spiritual except by the Holy Spirit; therefore, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again of the Holy Spirit.

So he says, what is born of flesh (ex carne) is itself flesh, i.e., birth according to the flesh makes one be born into the life of the flesh: “The first man was from the earth, earthly” (1 Cor 15:47); and what is born of Spirit (ex Spiritus , i.e., from the power of the Holy Spirit, is itself spirit, i.e., spiritual. (190, 447) 

But the command to baptize all men becomes a precept before the Ascension when Christ gave the universal mandate to baptize in these words: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 28:19). In Mark, the mandate is less clear but still present: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned (Mark 16:15-16). The conjunction implies that both must be present (An issue discussed above and will be brought out again later.): Faith and Baptism. Now, in Matthew Christ precedes these words with: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth (v. 18). Christ, having accomplished the redemption, now institutes the universal means of receiving the fruits of the redemption as receiving that power to do so from His Father, not as by not having it before as God, but as both God and Man, reminding His disciples that His kingdom has been established:  For the Lord God said to Solomon: I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as I promised David thy father, saying: There shall not fail a man of thy race upon the throne of Israel (3 Kings 9:5). And when Solomon departed from God, The Lord therefore said to Solomon: Because thou hast done this, and hast not kept my covenant, and my precepts, which I have commanded thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom, and will give it to thy servant. (Ibid. 11:11) Christ is the Servant (cf. Isa. 41:9 and 42:1) who re-establishes the kingdom of David: He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 32-33). That servant is, as St Paul says in Philippians, Christ, for He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man (2:7). Therefore, Christ is setting this command as both God and Man which, according to the Fathers of Church, St Thomas quotes in his Catena Aurea:

JEROME: Power is given to Him Who a little while before was crucified and buried in the sepulchre; Who afterwards rose again. RHABANUS (or BEDE): He does not say this of His Divinity Co-eternal with the Father, but of the humanity He assumed, in which he was made a little lower than the angels (Heb. ii. 9).

CHRYSOLOGUS, Serm. 80: The Son of God brought to the son of the Virgin, God brought to man, Divinity to flesh, that which He possessed forever with the Father. JEROME: Power is given in heaven and on earth, so that He Who before reigned in heaven might now reign on earth through the faith of those who believed in Him.

REMIGIUS: That which the psalmist says of the Lord rising again from the dead: Thou hast set him over all the works of thy hands (viii. 7), this the Lord now says of Himself: All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. And here we should note, that even before His Resurrection the angels knew they were the subjects of the Man Christ. Willing therefore that it should be known to all men, that He was given all power in heaven and on earth, He sent preachers who would make known the Word of Life to all nations.

Taking into consideration all these passages concerning Baptism in the Gospels,  Ludwig Ott takes the position of St. Bonaventure (Com. in loan. c. 3. n. 19), who:

. . . [S]eeks to unify the various opinions in the following fashion. According to the matter (materialiter) Baptism was instituted when Christ was baptised; according to the form (formaliter) when He rose from the dead and gave the form (Mt. 28, 19); according to the effect (effective), when He suffered, for it received its power from the Passion; according to the purpose (finaliter), when He foretold its necessity and its benefit (John 3, 5) (Ott, 351-52)

This is supported by Thomas Aquinas, for when speaking of the institution of Baptism he writes:

. . . Augustine says in a sermon on the Epiphany (Append. Serm., clxxxv): “As soon as Christ was plunged into the waters, the waters washed away the sins of all.” But this was before Christ’s Passion. Therefore Baptism was instituted before Christ’s Passion.

. . . As stated above (Question 62, Article 1), sacraments derive from their institution the power of conferring grace. Wherefore it seems that a sacrament is then instituted, when it receives the power of producing its effect. Now Baptism received this power when Christ was baptized. Consequently Baptism was truly instituted then, if we consider it as a sacrament. But the obligation of receiving this sacrament was proclaimed to mankind after the Passion and Resurrection. First, because Christ’s Passion put an end to the figurative sacraments, which were supplanted by Baptism and the other sacraments of the New Law. Secondly, because by Baptism man is “made conformable” to Christ’s Passion and Resurrection, in so far as he dies to sin and begins to live anew unto righteousness. Consequently it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise again, before proclaiming to man his obligation of conforming himself to Christ’s Death and Resurrection. 

And just as in the Old Testament sanctifying grace was bestowed in view of the Redemption (and as one accepts the Immaculate Conception of Mary was also in view of the Redemption) so the baptism administered by the disciples of Christ bestowed sanctifying grace not just in view of the Redemption, but as the means Christ would impart that grace in the New Testament, so Thomas replies:

Even before Christ’s Passion, Baptism, inasmuch as it foreshadowed it, derived its efficacy therefrom; but not in the same way as the sacraments of the Old Law. For these were mere figures: whereas Baptism derived the power of justifying from Christ Himself, to Whose power the Passion itself owed its saving virtue. 

As the New Covenant was not yet instituted when Christ first had His disciples baptize, the laws of the New Covenant could not be imposed as a command. Once the New Covenant was established by Christ’s death on the Cross, the law was then imposed. Thomas Aquinas says in regards to this:

It was not meet that men should be restricted to a number of figures by Christ, Who came to fulfil and replace the figure by His reality. Therefore before His Passion He did not make Baptism obligatory as soon as it was instituted; but wished men to become accustomed to its use; especially in regard to the Jews, to whom all things were figurative, as Augustine says (Contra Faust. iv). But after His Passion and Resurrection He made Baptism obligatory, not only on the Jews, but also on the Gentiles, when He gave the commandment: “Going, teach ye all nations.”

Sacraments are not obligatory except when we are commanded to receive them. And this was not before the Passion, as stated above. For our Lord’s words to Nicodemus (John 3:5), “Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, seem to refer to the future rather than to the present.” (S.T. III, Q. 66, a. 2)

(To be continued)

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Week of Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Benedict Baur, O.S.B.

Sacred nuptials

1. The king makes a marriage feast for his son and calls the guests, but those whom he invited do not come. They despise the wedding dinner that the king has prepared for them and turn to other occupations. One goes to his farm, another to his business; and thus they are excluded from the wedding dinner of the king.
2. “All things are ready; come ye to the marriage” (Gospel). The King is God the Father. He makes a marriage feast for His only-begotten Son, whom He has sent into the world that He, too, may become a man. The Son of God assumes our human nature in the womb of the Virgin, and draws our human nature into an intimate union with His divine person. Through the human nature which He assumed at His incarnation, we also, in a certain sense, share the nature of Christ. Through His union with the human nature which He received from Mary, He wedded Himself to the whole of mankind and to each one of us. Thus we are espoused to the Son of God. He has espoused us with an infinite love, and He will pour out the riches of His Godhead upon us and upon all mankind.

“Come ye to the marriage.” The primary purpose of man’s life on earth is to seek Christ and to become daily more intimately united to Him through faith and love. The King “sent His servants,” the teachers, the priests, the Church, outward tribulations and inward lights and graces, “to call them that were invited to the marriage, and they would not come.” He called again. “But they neglected, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise” (Gospel). Poor wayward humanity of antiquity! Poor wayward men of today! They go their own way, disregarding the invitation of the King. The besetting sin of our day is indifference. Men speak, write, and rule without Christ, without God. The world is emancipated from its God; it is godless. Men have lost their supernatural center and have turned to what is not God. Indeed, many even actively preach and promote hatred of God and Christ. What a privilege, if we understand the intentions of God, is this invitation to the marriage feast! What a grace to be allowed to enter into so intimate a union with Christ, the spouse of the soul!

“Come ye to the marriage.” The wedding feast of the King is presented to us Catholics at the time of Holy Communion. Holy Communion is essentially a wedding feast. Its object is to establish a unity of love between ourselves and Christ and the other members of His Church. Its end is our living, fruitful growth in Christ, the vine. At Holy Communion the Lord is the sole spouse of our soul, yielding Himself up with the most complete and intimate surrender to us, embracing our soul and penetrating our very essence. This wedding feast rejoices, consoles, and strengthens us every morning anew and inflames us with fervent mutual love: love for love, heart for heart, sacrifice for sacrifice. We know that today is our wedding day, and tomorrow is our wedding day. But not all understand this word, but only they to whom it is given (Matt. 19: 11). Many Catholics, unfortunately despise this wedding feast “and [go] their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise.” They do not understand that Communion is a wedding banquet of the King; they have other interests. We on our part must, therefore, welcome the invitation of Jesus the more eagerly.

3. The incarnation of the Son of God and Holy Communion were both prepared for us by the King who makes a wedding feast for His Son. We are the ones invited to the marriage. We accept the invitation every day with still deeper faith, with greater appreciation and deeper humility, with more fervent love. Let it never be said of us: “They neglected, and went their ways.” Daily we must work for the renewal of our spirit and mind that we may put on the new man, that we may appear, at the wedding banquet in the “wedding garment” of grace, virtue, love, and holiness.

PRAYER

O Lord, my God, Thou art my salvation! “Whom have I in heaven but thee? And if I am with thee the earth does not delight me. For behold, they who go far from thee perish, thou destroyest all who are disloyal to thee. But it is good for me to be near to God, to put my trust in the Lord God” (Ps. 72:25 f.). What is there to interest me outside of God? What can anything else mean to me if I have not God? Only He can satisfy the longing of my soul.

Almighty and merciful God, in Thy loving kindness shield us from all adversity, that being prepared in soul and body, we may with free minds perform the works that are Thine. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A union of love

1. “The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who made a marriage for his son” (Gospel). The King, God the Father, sends His Son into the world that He may become our spouse. The union is fulfilled most perfectly in a union of love effected through Holy Communion, when we are bodily united with Him and He with us.
2. “He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me and I in him” (John 6:57). The primary object of this union with the flesh and blood of Christ is the union of spirit and heart. From the mouth to the heart! Such a sublime union should result in an intimate union of body and spirit in a union of love. The Lord, therefore, nourishes us with the bread of the Eucharist that He may lower Himself to our level and fill us with His spirit. In this way our spirit should be strengthened, filled with the fullness of God. But all growth in grace and virtue, all union of man with Christ, are conditioned by the increase and growth of charity. It is charity that changes us into Christ; it is the fire that purges all worldliness from our soul. Holy Communion aims at the increase, purification, and perfection of charity, which is the most beautiful and most precious gift of Holy Communion. Under the warm rays of the sun the hard green berries become soft and sweet; in like manner the Sun of the Eucharist brings about a tremendous change of the inner man in us, because of Christ’s limitless love poured forth upon us. The thoughts, acts, sentiments, and endeavors of the natural man give way to those of Jesus. His truth becomes the light of our spirit; His love becomes the life-stream of our heart. We go out of ourselves, forsake ourselves, and enter into Him, united to Him as to a spouse.

At the moment of Holy Communion we become Christ-bearers, absorbing His flesh and His blood in our veins; and thus we partake of the divine nature (St. Cyril of Jerusalem). This partaking of the divine nature is true not only as long as the Eucharistic gifts are present in us, but even when they are gone He remains in us as God, knowing all about us, watching over us, giving us His love and grace. His love, the love of His divine-human heart, remains with us. The union of His heart with our heart is the real purpose of Holy Communion. If the hearts of earthly lovers remain united even when they are physically separated, if they are always near each other, thinking of each other and longing for each other in love, then it must be clear that the loving heart of Jesus must continue to love us even when we are physically separated. It is His desire to espouse our soul according to His human nature also. “With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you” (Luke 22:15). “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). The Eucharist unites us with Christ in a durable bond of unity, a community of interests, a mutual possession, which will be knitted firmly by the power of love. How fortunate we should consider ourselves to be thus so closely united to our God!

3. “He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me and I in him” in a holy espousal. Love draws the beloved to itself and changes him into itself. What is more natural than that as often as we receive Holy Communion worthily, we are renewed in our thinking and become new men who are created after God and Christ in true justice and holiness. “Thou hast commanded Thy commandments to be kept most diligently. Oh that my ways may be directed to keep Thy justifications” (Communion). The espoused soul knows only what will please the Lord. It has become one spirit with Him, one in desire and endeavor. That is the fruit of Holy Communion.

PRAYER

Almighty and merciful God, in Thy loving kindness shield us from all adversity, that being prepared in soul and body, we may with free minds perform the works that are Thine. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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OCTOBER 4

St. Francis of Assisi, Confessor

1. In young Francis there lived the bold, ambitious spirit of his century, a time of knighthood, chivalry, aspiring citizenry, and of effervescent life in game and song. When the youth was twenty-four, he fell ill; that sickness brought him sense and he began to think about himself and his previous life. Having recovered he tried to escape God’s hand, but God was stronger than Francis. On February 24, 1209, he heard the words of the gospel: “You are to have neither gold nor silver in your purse, nor a staff nor shoes” (cf. Luke 10:4). Francis took off his garments, shoes, and leather belt; he put on a gray smock, girded himself with a rope, and wore sandals on his feet. “That was what I had long sought; now my wish was fulfilled.” He lived as an apostolic, itinerant preacher, in humility and utter poverty. Soon other men joined him, and he founded the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of Poor Clares, and the Third Order (1221). He died on the evening of October 5, 1226, at the age of forty-four. Two years later he was canonized by Pope Gregory IX.
2. “God forbid that I should make a display of anything, except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world stands crucified to me, and I to the world” (Introit and Epistle). Francis hung a large crucifix in the oratory of his monastery and led his brethren to it saying: “That is your meditation book.” By gazing upon the cross Francis had come to understand the nothingness of all worldly things. Things he had formerly prized were now sources of temptation, objects of contempt and annoyance. Only the cross still had meaning for him; it was his only title to fame. In him the words of St. Paul were fulfilled: “Peace and pardon to all those who follow this rule, to God’s true Israel” (Epistle). He took the Cross of Christ as the standard by which all things are to be measured. So intimately was he united to the Crucified that he received the grace to “bear the scars of the Lord Jesus printed on [his] body.” The stigmata marked him unmistakably as, a disciple and “slave of Christ” (Gal. 1:10), who had become conformed to Him both internally and externally. In a certain sense Francis could say with Jesus: “If only I am lifted up from the earth, I will attract all men to myself” (John 12:32). He was not a priest but he founded an Order that circles the world; he effected so great a transformation in the religious and social realms of society that no one can fail to marvel at his success. He has attracted by the charm of his personality the noblest spirits of the centuries so that all do him honor, believers and nonbelievers alike, high and low. His great secret was devotion to the Crucified and a noble-minded rejection of all that the world had to offer; thus did he achieve interior liberty.

“Francis, poor and humble, enters heaven a rich man” (Alleluia verse). Because his profound understanding of the crucified Savior was so practical, he chose the way of poverty and humility. Poverty was the bride and queen of his heart and roused in him such a passion that he envied beggars in their rags. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matt. 5:3). He founded a mendicant Order that was to live on small contributions, thus challenging an age that was in danger of being submerged in earthly dross because of its growing avarice and love of ease. His love of poverty was the more perfect because it was joined to simplicity and humility. His were not empty words when he said: “God has seen no more miserable man and sinner in the world than me.” Admired and honored by everyone, Francis yet remained true to his standards: “I consider myself as nothing and give God credit for everything. I keep nothing for myself but the nothingness of my origin.” What gives full brilliance to the picture of the Saint is his generous charity, the only thing that could make poverty and humility beget happiness. Francis loved God; he loved the Redeemer in His various mysteries, especially in His crucifixion; he loved the Church of Christ; he loved Christ’s brothers and sisters; he loved the poor, the little, the children. He loved the sun, the flowers, the trees, and the birds. All were for him messengers of God. How rich the poor little man of Assisi was! And how greatly he enriched others!

3. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” those who are inwardly free from all earthly desires and possessions. «If thou hast a mind to be perfect, go home and sell all that belongs to thee . . . then come back and follow me” (Matt. 19: 21 ). If only we realized what inexhaustible treasures we possess in Christ, we would empty ourselves and gladly sacrifice everything to gain Him. How imperfectly we understand the words of our Lord blessing the poor in spirit; yes, we who day after day offer ourselves as sacrifice in the celebration of the Eucharist. Our offertory is still too much a matter of formality, of words without deeds.

St. Francis can teach us much on this subject. Let us beg him to obtain for us the grace to love the cross and to despise earthly goods, according to his own example.

Collect: O, God, who through the merits of blessed Francis didst enrich Thy Church with a new offspring, grant that after his example we may despise earthly things and ever find joy in partaking of the gifts of heaven. Amen.

CHRIST IN THE HOME

BY RAOUL PLUS, S.J.(1951)

MARRIAGE

UNITED STRIVING FOR SANCTITY

A BEAUTIFUL work which husband and wife can pursue together is the mutual effort to correct their faults. Maurice Retour, an industrialist and one of the youngest captains of World War I of which he was a victim, suggested this to the woman he loved even during their engagement. He wrote to her, “I must confess something to you . . . I became aware of your imperfections and I thought how pained I should have been if I had not been able to see clearly into your soul . . .

You see how frank I want to be with you. We are just engaged and yet instead of paying you compliments, I do not fear to speak to you of your imperfections which my love for you

cannot hide . . . Tell me you will pardon me.”

Another time he wrote, “In general, engaged persons strive to shine in each other’s eyes. We, on the contrary, began by showing each other all our faults . . .You have acknowledged all your faults to me; I confessed to you all my weakness . . . Thank you for your great confidence in me. But never forget that if I permit myself to give you advice which seems good to me, I can always be mistaken and you ought to discuss it with me. Otherwise I shall never dare to give you my opinions.”

In a later letter he said to her, “I have already abused the liberty you gave me. I have told you frankly all I thought about you, nor was I afraid to recognize before you what you call your great faults. It was, I must confess, most difficult for me to tell you because I love you so much that I dread causing you the least pain.” He added, “The interior life is what we need to correct our failings and we shall work from now on, if you wish, to grow in it.”

This mutual effort of husband and wife to correct themselves of their faults may be much, but it is not enough. Something more beautiful remains—to strive positively for sanctity through mutual instruction, loving encouragement and a united and confiding zeal for each other’s perfection.

“Why should we not live a saintly life?” asked Maurice Retour of his bride-to-be. And they decided upon some very definite principles for themselves.

“Let us put no faith in fortune, in pleasures, even in our self-love which always increases and makes us run the risk of becoming blind . . . . The one who receives the most grace will make the other profit by it. What do we care what the world says! It will say what it pleases, but it never will be able to say that we are not true Catholics . . . Our life will be holy and simple.”

“As far as jewels are concerned,” commented Maurice, “I understand you perfectly. If you had loved them, I should never have opposed your tastes, but I tell you frankly, I should have suffered. We shall not fail by excesses on this score. We can do so much good with money that it would be wrong, in spite of my desire to spoil you, to spend it only on you. We shall save all we can to enable us to give more to charity. We shall always go straight to our goal and make no concessions to worldliness.”

There is however, nothing admirable in a gloomy life. “Our interior life must be so intense that it remains alive in all our exterior actions, our pleasures, our work, our joys and our sorrows. I do not mean an interior life which makes us withdraw into ourselves and become bores for other people.

On the contrary, we ought to spread our gaiety generously about us and spend all the activity of our youth to attract those who meet us. But, in order to be saints, we must be able to conserv

…

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