Vol 14 Issue 48 ~ Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
November 27, 2021 ~ Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
1. Sacrament of Penance
2. First Sunday in Advent
3. Saint Catherine Laboure
4. Family and Marriage
5. Articles and notices
Dear Reader:
Since Vatican II there have been many officials, theologians and writers of the Conciliar Church that claim Purgatory is not a dogmatic teaching of the Church, but just a pious popular belief one may disregard. This may be true of their Church, but the Roman Catholic Church has always held the belief in Purgatory and, at the very least, the Council of Trent confirms it as a dogmatic teaching of the Church.
The Liturgy, which is a constant source of the true Faith, has always had a Mass and Rite for the funeral of a deceased member of the Church. The use of the passages from IV Esdras shows that the liturgy pre-dates when the Church solemnly declared which Sacred Books were Divinely Inspired and contained in the Old Testament, because III and IV Esdras are not in the Canon of Biblical Texts, yet they are to be found in the Liturgy of the Dead. This expresses that the Church held these specific passages as congruent to her universal faith before 382 when the Church, at the Council of Rome, under Pope Saint Damasus I (366-84), set the Canon of Sacred Scripture. Tertullian (+220) writes: We celebrate the anniversary of the triumph of the martyrs, and according to the tradition of our Fathers, we offer the Holy Sacrifice for the departed on the anniversary of their death (De Corona, c. 5). This is later confirmed by Saint Augustine (+430) who writes in his Confessions (Bk. ix, c. 11, 12):
It is here [said St. Monica] that you will have to give burial to your mother. The one thing I ask of is that you will be mindful of me at the altar of the Lord. . . .
May I [Augustine] be pardoned for the tears I then shed, for that death should not be mourned which was but the entrance to true life. Yet, considering with the eyes of faith the miseries of our fallen nature, I might shed before you, O Lord, other tears than those of the flesh, tears which flow at the thought of the peril to which every soul is exposed that has sinned in Adam.
It is certain that my mother lived in such a manner as to give glory to your Name, by the activity of her faith and the purity of her morals; yet dare I affirm that no word contrary to Thy law has ever escaped her lips? Alas! what will become of the holiest life if Thou dost examine it in all the rigors of Thy justice? For this reason, O God of my heart, I leave aside the good works which my mother has performed to ask of Thee only the pardon of her sins. Hear me, by the wounds of Him who died for us upon the cross, and who, now seated at Thy right hand, is our Mediator.
. . . And Thou, O my God, inspire Thy servants, who are my brethren, inspire all those who read these lines to remember at Thy altar Monica, Thy servant, and Patricius, who was her spouse. . .
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed was not universally celebrated on the day after the Feast of All Saints (Gregory IV—827-844) until the thirteenth century; but a Mass for all the faithful departed was celebrated on various dates since at least the beginning of the seventh century in Benedictine Monasteries and by the beginning of the eleventh, placed on November 2.
The Church later confirmed her belief in purgatory and explained that same belief when questions arose or heretics attacked her teaching. Innocent IV (1243-1254) wrote his letter, Sub Catholicae (March 6, 1254) to the Bishop of Tusculum, Legate of the Apostolic See among the Greeks, which included an explanation of this doctrine:
Finally, since Truth in the Gospel asserts that “if anyone shall utter blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, neither in this life nor in the future will it be forgiven him” [cf. Matt. 12:32], by this it is granted that certain sins of the present be understood which, however, are forgiven in the future life, and since the Apostle says that “fire will test the work of each one, of what kind it is,” and ” if any man’s work burn, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire” [1 Cor 3:13,15], and since these same Greeks truly and undoubtedly are said to believe and to affirm that the souls of those who after a penance has been received yet not performed, or who, without mortal sin yet die with venial and slight sin, can be cleansed after death and can be helped by the suffrages of the Church, we, since they say a place of purgation of this kind has not been indicated to them with a certain and proper name by their teachers, we indeed, calling it purgatory according to the traditions and authority of the Holy Fathers, wish that in the future it be called by that name in their area. For in that transitory fire certainly sins, though not criminal or capital, which before have not been remitted through penance but were small and minor sins, are cleansed, and these weigh heavily even after death, if they have been forgiven in this life. (Cf. D 453)
In response to questions about souls who depart this present life, Benedict XII (1334-1342) wrote the edict, Benedictus Deus, on January 29, 1336:
By this edict which will prevail forever, with apostolic authority we declare: that according to the common arrangement of God, souls of all the saints who departed from this world before the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ; also of the holy apostles, the martyrs, the confessors, virgins, and the other faithful who died after the holy baptism of Christ had been received by them, in whom nothing was to be purged, when they departed, nor will there be when they shall depart also in the future; or if then there was or there will be anything to be purged in these when after their death they have been purged; and the souls of children departing before the use of free will, reborn and baptized in that same baptism of Christ, when all have been baptized, immediately after their death and that aforesaid purgation in those who were in need of a purgation of this kind, even before the resumption of their bodies and the general judgment after the ascension of our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, into heaven, have been, are, and will be in heaven, in the kingdom of heaven and in celestial paradise with Christ, united in the company of the holy angels, and after the passion and death of our Lord Jesus Christ have seen and see the divine essence by intuitive vision, and even face to face, with no mediating creature, serving in the capacity of an object seen, but divine essence immediately revealing itself plainly, clearly, and openly, to them, and seeing thus they enjoy the same divine essence, and also that from such vision and enjoyment their souls, which now have departed, are truly blessed and they have eternal life and rest; and also [the souls] of those who afterwards will depart, will see that same divine essence, and will enjoy it before the general judgment; and that such vision of the divine essence and its enjoyment makes void the acts of faith and hope in them, inasmuch as faith and hope are proper theological virtues; and that after there has begun or will be such intuitive and face-to-face vision and enjoyment in these, the same vision and enjoyment without any interruption [intermission] or departure of the aforesaid vision and enjoyment exist continuously and will continue even up to the last judgment and from then even unto eternity. (Cf. D530)
The same faith in Purgatory he expressed in his letter Super quibusdam to the Consolator, the Catholicon of the Armenians, on September 20, 1351:
We ask if you have believed and now believe that there is a purgatory to which depart the souls of those dying in grace who have not yet made complete satisfaction for their sins. Also, if you have believed and now believe that they will be tortured by fire for a time and that as soon as they are cleansed, even before the day of judgment, they may come to the true and eternal beatitude which consists in the vision of God face to face and in love. (Cf. D570s)
A century later it was asked by the Council of Florence (1438-1445), held while Eugenius IV (1431-1447) was Pope. In the Decree, Laetentur coeli, of July 6, 1439, the Greek Hierarchy was asked to accept as Catholic Faith:
And that the souls of those, who after the reception of baptism have incurred no stain of sin at all, and also those, who after the contraction of the stain of sin whether in their bodies, or when released from the same bodies, as we have said before, are purged, are immediately received into heaven, and see clearly the one and triune God Himself just as He is, yet according to the diversity of merits, one more perfectly than another. (Cf. D 693)
Finally, for the sake of brevity, the Council of Trent, in Session XXV (held December 3-4, 1563), decreed:
Since the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Spirit, in conformity with the sacred writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers in sacred councils, and very recently in this ecumenical Synod, has taught that there is a purgatory, and that the souls detained there are assisted by the suffrages of the faithful, and especially by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar, the holy Synod commands the bishops that they insist that the sound doctrine of purgatory, which has been transmitted by the holy Fathers and holy Councils, be believed by the faithful of Christ, be maintained, taught, and everywhere preached. Let the more difficult and subtle “questions,” however, and those which do not make for “edification” [cf.1 Tim. 1:4], and from which there is very often no increase in piety, be excluded from popular discourses to uneducated people. Likewise, let them not permit uncertain matters, or those that have the appearance of falsehood, to be brought out and discussed publicly. Those matters on the contrary, which tend to a certain curiosity or superstition, or that savor of filthy lucre, let them prohibit as scandals and stumbling blocks to the faithful. (Cf. D983)
I hope these few commentaries this month will suffice to settle any doubts that Catholic devotions for the relief of the faithful souls departed is consistent to Catholic Faith as November, dedicated to the Faithful Departed, concludes.
Thy eyes are too pure to behold evil, and thou canst not look on iniquity (Hab. i. 13).
And I say to you, make friends for yourselves with the mammon of wickedness, so that when you fail they may receive you into the everlasting dwellings (Luke xvi. 9).
As always, enjoy the readings provided for your benefit.—The Editor
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WHAT IS THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
What is the Sacrament of Penance?
An Outward Sign, Instituted by Christ, to Give Grace
To Give Grace
As Baierl wrote above, the Sacrament of Penance remits sins and restores the friendship of God. It is the possession of justification, of sanctification that reconciles one to the friendship of God that is the especial grace of this Sacrament. To put it in a similitude a person comes into this world in exile, condemned to be the servant of Satan in this life and a slave in the next. The devil seems to offer a comfortable life with pleasures to convince one to stay in his realm—ignoring the conditions of the next life. Christ comes and offers redemption, and one who believes in Him receives His friendship by a baptismal ritual giving him a mark. But one still remains in the realm of this world despised by the devil and his followers who try to tempt the person to betray Christ by giving up the mark in order to partaking in the comfortable life of the realm. If one gives up the token Christ bestowed and joins in the life of the servants of the Prince of this World, Christ invites the person to obtain that token of friendship again, with the condition that the person tell Him he or she will not do it again through His emissary (the priest) by a penitential ritual. That token of friendship allows the person to depart with Christ at death for His kingdom. Without it, the prince of this world claims one for his own.
As Baierl wrote above, the Sacrament of Penance remits sins and restores the friendship of God. It is the possession of justification, of sanctification that reconciles one to the friendship of God that is the especial grace of this Sacrament. To put it in other words a person comes into this world in exile, condemned to be the servant of Satan in this life and a slave in the next. The devil seems to offer a comfortable life with pleasures to convince one to stay in his realm—ignoring the conditions of the next life—knowing that Christ comes and offers redemption from servitude in this life and in the next if one who believes in Him receives His friendship by a baptismal ritual giving him a mark of that redemption. If one chooses to receive the friendship of Christ one will still remain for a time in the realm of this world despised by the devil and his followers who try to tempt the person to betray Christ by giving up the mark in order to partaking in the comfortable life of the realm and forget the next—because now one must serve Christ. If one gives up the token Christ bestowed and re-joins in the life of the servants of the Prince of this World, Christ still provides the person the opportunity to regain the token of redemption again, but with the condition that the person tell Him he or she will not betray Him again. This is done through His emissary (the priest) by a penitential ritual. That token of friendship allows the person to depart with Christ at the time appointed for entering His kingdom. Without the token, the Prince of this world claims one for his own for all eternity in his domain.
The grace given in the Sacrament of Penance, therefore, is first a restoration of sanctifying grace if lost. If sanctifying grace was not lost by mortal sin, sanctifying grace is increased since, according to one’s dispositions, Christ increases in the soul one’s love for God and a greater desire to be united with Him by freeing oneself from sin. Secondly, the sins confessed with true sorrow are forgiven, taken away. Thirdly, if mortal sin merited eternal punishment, it is remitted along with a portion of temporal punishment corresponding to one’s disposition and penance. Fourthly, the sacramental grace is given to assist one in avoiding sin in the future—and why it is expedient to go to confession frequently if one is trying to overcome sin. Fifthly, and finally, all of one’s merits (spiritual value of good works) is restored—one continues, so to say, in the spiritual life where one left off.
It should be noted that true contrition for all mortal sins is necessary. Also, if no mortal sins, true contrition for at least one venial sin must be present, not just an enumeration—that is, one be sorry and striving to remove that sin from one’s life. A repetition of a previous mortal sin one is truly
contrite suffices also to receive the Sacrament validly. For the Sacrament of Penance one must receive the Sacrament validly and fruitfully—unrepentance means no Penance.
Regarding the effects of the Sacrament of Penance one can witness this in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32):
A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father: Father, give me the portion of substance that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his substance. And not many days after, the younger son, gathering all together, went abroad into a far country: and there wasted his substance, living riotously. And after he had spent all, there came a mighty famine in that country; and he began to be in want. And he went and cleaved to one of the citizens of that country. And he sent him into his farm to feed swine.
And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him. And returning to himself, he said: How many hired servants in my father’s house abound with bread, and I here perish with hunger? I will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee: I am not worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And rising up he came to his father. And when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and running to him fell upon his neck, and kissed him.
And the son said to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, I am not now worthy to be called thy son. And the father said to his servants: Bring forth quickly the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and make merry: Because this my son was dead, and is come to life again: was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field, and when he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing:
And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said to him: Thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe. And he was angry, and would not go in. His father therefore coming out began to entreat him. And he answering, said to his father: Behold, for so many years do I serve thee, and I have never transgressed thy commandment, and yet thou hast never given me a kid to make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son is come, who hath devoured his substance with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
But he said to him: Son, thou art always with me, and all I have is thine. But it was fit that we should make merry and be glad, for this thy brother was dead and is come to life again; he was lost, and is found.
For the audience Christ was addressing, the once rich young man was reduced to feeding the most unclean animal that was now considered of more value then he was. Such a contrast wakes his soul to his condition and he repents. He has to admit his sin and accept his penance.
So, returning the prodigal son is embraced and kissed by the Father: Love and friendship is restored in reconciliation.
The son confesses his sin and the father gives him a ring, restoring him the right to enjoy sonship and thereby remitting eternal punishment.
The Father gives his son the robe of baptismal innocence, covering his soul in sanctifying grace.
The son is given shoes for his feet, the grace to now walk in the path of grace.
A meal is prepared to celebrate as all in the soul becomes what it was before in a restoration of merit.
Such is the grace of Confession. There is even more. Confession is where one visits the physician for the soul. One who goes into the Confessional should have the intention of having their spiritual health examined and receive the remedies the Confessor offers to cure the infirmities of the soul. Too many look at “shriving” their sins (think of Shrove Tuesday) as taking off a dirty garment but not changing their life style. But confession should be looked upon as directing one’s life along the way to sanctity. It is true that today there is not the availability necessarily to choose a confessor besides the one who is also the priest who teaches me my catechism, or offers Mass and gives me Holy Communion, and who gives the sermons on Sunday. There are two considerations one must consider, first, there is the seal of Confession; second, all human aspects aside, he is the one God placed in one’s life to help one reach holiness. Just as one knows it takes humility to confess one’s sins, it also takes humility to recognize that this priest is appointed to guide his parishioners to holiness.
Therefore, the Catechism of the Council of Trent instructs:
To the faithful, however, nothing will be found more advantageous, nothing better calculated to animate them to frequent the sacrament of penance with alacrity, than the frequent exposition of the inestimable advantages which it confers. They will then see, that of penance it may be truly said: that ” its root is bitter, but its fruit sweet.” [I.] The great efficacy of penance is, therefore, that it restores us to the favour of God, and unites us to him in the closest bonds of friendship. [II.] From this reconciliation with God, the devout soul, who approaches the sacrament with deep sentiments of piety and religion, sometimes experiences the greatest tranquillity and peace of conscience, [III.] a tranquillity and peace accompanied with the sweetest spiritual joy. [IV.] There is no sin, however grievous, no crime however enormous or however frequently repeated, which penance does not remit: “If,” says the Almighty, by the mouth of his prophet, “the wicked do penance for all his sins, which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment and justice, living he shall live and shall not die; I will not remember all his iniquities which he hath done.” [Ezek. xviii. 21, 22.] “If,” says St. John, “we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins;” [I John i. 9.] and a little after he adds: “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the just; and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” [I John ii. 1,2.] If, therefore, we read in the pages of inspiration, of some who earnestly implored the mercy of God, but implored it in vain, it is because they did not repent sincerely and from their hearts. [2 Mach. ix. 13.] (Rom. Cat., II, 5) (To be continued)
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The Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers
M. F. Toal
LUKE xxi. 25-33
At that time, Jesus said to His Disciples: There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves; men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of heaven shall be moved; and then they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand. And He spoke to them a similitude. See the fig tree, and all the trees: when they now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh; so you also, when you shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. Amen, I say to you, this generation shall not pass away, till all things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
ST EPHRAEM, CONFESSOR AND DOCTOR
On Patience, the Second Coming, and the Last Judgment
Shining is the life of the Just, but in what does it shine if not in patience? Love this virtue, O Christian, as the mother of fortitude. For the psalmist admonishes us, saying: Expect the Lord and keep his way (Ps. xxxvi. 34). Paul also says, teaching us the way in which we must acquire virtue: tribulation worketh patience (Rom. v. 3). Exercising patience you will discover hope, the source of every good: and hope confoundeth not. Be subject therefore to the Lord, and pray to him, and you will then find that he will give thee the request of thy heart (Ps. xxxvi. 7, 4). What more blessed than this, to obtain hearing from such a King? Who does not eagerly wish that the ears of his judge shall be accessible and gracious? Thou art a worker virtue, O Brother, and Christ has brought thee into His vineyard; therefore while you have time, do good.
Hear Paul saying: For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap (Gal. vi. 8); sow in the spirit, so that you shall reap life everlasting. For he that soweth in his flesh, he says, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. Hear the good exhorter reminding us: sow for yourselves in justice, and reap in the mouth of mercy (Osee x. 12). Be not then neglectful in striving, setting before your eyes the fruit of hope. Where there are contests, there are rewards. Where there are wars, there are also victories; and where there is warfare, there is likewise a crown. Look to this end, anoint thyself with patience. Say to thyself at all times the holy words: Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord (Ps. xxvi. 14).
Get ready to go forth to thy work, and gird thyself to cultivate thy field. The field is your present life, and for a hoe take with you the Old together with the New Testament. Put a hedge of thorns about your field and your soil, by prayer and fasting together with instruction. If you are protected by this enclosure, the wild beast shall not invade thee, by which I mean the devil. Tend thy soul after the manner of a beautiful vineyard. And as the guardians of the vineyard strike at the thieves with their fists, and call out to them with warnings, and keep them at a distance with stones, so you cry out in prayer, and shout with the song of psalmody, and put to flight the thieving fox, that is, the devil, of whom the Scripture says: catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines (Cant. ii. 15).
Be watchful of thy enemy, lest he pierce your heart with some obstinate and unfitting desire. If he seeks to possess your soul as a field, and places there his unclean thoughts, resist and oppose him with the shield of faith. Put on the helmet of hope. Draw the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. And so armed against the enemy, stand fast, and be not unwatchful in the battle, but show yourself sober and vigilant in all things. For we are not ignorant of his designs. Rejoice always in the Lord, as it is written. Let your modesty be known to all men (Phil. iv. 4-5). Let the fear of the Lord have place in your heart. But be not a timid soldier, nor a slothful, lazy workman. Do not reject thy crown. Time is short, but judgment is long.
To what do you look back, O Monk; admonish thy heart, and speak to it with the Holy One and say: Do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord. Imitate David and with one stone prostrate thy adversary. The angels stand beside thee as spectators of thy courage; for we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men (I Cor. iv. 9). Should they behold you victor in a good work, they will rejoice; and if they behold you overcome, since they cannot endure this, they depart unhappy; but the demons will rejoice over thee.
For thy sword and thy weapon, take hold of the fear of the Lord. For the fear of the Lord is like a two-edged sword, cutting off every wicked desire. Keep therefore ever in thy mind the fear of the Lord, being mindful at all times of that last and dreadful day, when the heavens shall be consumed by the heat of fire, and the earth and all that is upon it shall perish. When the stars shall fall like leaves, the sun and the moon shall be darkened, nor shall they give forth light. When the Son of man shall appear, and shall descend from heaven upon the earth, the Powers of heaven shall be troubled. When the appearance of the Angels, and the sound of their trumpets, shall prevail, then fire shall burn before Him, and hastening on, it will consume the earth.
Mighty tempests will rise about Him, and dreadful earthquakes and lightnings such as have never before been seen, nor will be, until that day; so that the very powers of heaven will be seized with a great trembling.
We, too, my Brothers, in what state shall we be then? What fear and dread shall fall upon us? Recall to mind, Brother, the Israelites in the desert, and how they were unable to endure the dark and obscurity, the sound of trumpets, and the voice of the Lord speaking from the midst of the flames (Ex. xx). And they pleaded that the Voice of the Lord should not come nigh to them. For they were unable to endure it, and what was being done there, though He had not descended in wrath, neither had He spoken directly to them, but rather as though comforting them, He had let them know that God was with them.
What then, dearest Brethren, if they could not even with this alleviation endure His descent amongst them, when the heavens were not consumed by fire, nor the earth, and all things upon the face of it? And there was no sound of trumpet, such as that future trumpet will make, to awaken all who from the beginning have slept. Nor had there then taken place any of these dreadful future events, and yet they could not endure it.
But what shall we do, I ask you, when God will come down in anger, and dread wrath, and sit on the Throne of His Glory, and summon to Him all the earth from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof, and all the ends of the earth, so that He may judge His people, and render to each according to his works? Oh, Woe! Woe! What kind of people shall we be then? In what state of mind shall we be, when naked and fearful we shall appear there, delivered to that dread tribunal? Woe! Woe! Woe is me! Where now is the pride of the flesh? Where now is vain and useless beauty? Where, all human delight? Where then, shameless and impudent boldness? Where the delight of sin, sordid and unclean? What then of those who wallow in the wickedness of lust, of that which is filthy? (Rom. i. 27.) Where then will they be who worship (Cybele) with drum and wine and dance, but the works of the Lord they have not considered? What then of those who have passed their lives in sloth and disorder? Where then will be the enticements of pleasure? All these things shall have passed away, and like a little cloud shall have been dissolved.
Where then shall avarice be, the desire of earthly possessions, from which rises up hardness of heart? Where the monstrous pride that disposes all things, and thinks to itself that it alone exists? Where now the vain and fleeting success and glory of men? Where then human might? Where now is the Tyrant? Where the King? Where the Prince? Where the Leader? Where the Magistrate? Where are they who revelled in luxury, who glorified in the multitude of their riches, and despised God? In that moment, look up; they shall be struck dumb, they shall be utterly confused and shaken. Fear will seize them; their pains as of a woman in labour (Osee xiii. 13; Ps. xlvii. 8). With a vehement wind thou shalt break them in pieces.
Where then will be the wisdom of the wise? Where all their vain cleverness? Woe! Woe! they are terrified; and they were troubled and reeled like a drunken man; and all their wisdom was swallowed up (Ps. cvi, 27). Where now the learned? Where the scribe? Where the recruiting officer of this foolish world? My Brother, what shall we be then, and in what state of soul, as we render an account of all things, big and little, that we have done, even to the least; for even for an idle word we shall render account to the Just Judge? What must we do, that in that hour we may find mercy before Him?
And with what joy shall we be filled, if we are directed to the right hand of the King? What must we be like when the Just embrace us there? When, I repeat, they shall embrace thee there, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Noah, Job, Daniel, the Holy Prophets, the Apostles, the Martyrs, who all were pleasing to God in the days of the flesh? And whomsoever you have heard of, and whose life you have admired, and whom you now wish to look upon, they will come to thee, and embrace thee, rejoicing in thy salvation. What manner of men must we then be? Of what kind shall be that unspeakable delight which we are to receive, when the king shall with joyfulness say to those who will be on His right hand: Come ye blessed of my father, possess the kingdom prepared for· you from the foundation of the world (Mt. xxiii).
Then, my Brother, then will you receive the kingdom of beauty, the crown of all your desires, from the Hand of the Lord, and reign with Christ for ever. Then you will receive for your inheritance the gifts, which God has promised to those who love and serve him (Jas. i. 2). From thenceforward you will be secure, no longer filled with anxiety. Be mindful, my Brother, of what kind of a person it must be, to whom it will be given to reign with Christ in heaven. Reflect upon what it means to dwell for ever in the light of His Countenance, to possess the source of all light. For then you shall no more have the sun for thy light by day, neither shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee (Is. Ix. 19), but Christ will be thy unfailing Light, and God thy glory. Behold, my Brother, what glory He has laid up for those who fear Him, observing His commandments.
Then think upon the end of sinners as they are led before that tremendous tribunal. What terror will lay hold of them in the presence of that just Judge, having now no way to escape His presence? What shame will seize them as they are turned towards the left hand of the King? What dread gloom shall fall upon them, when in His anger He shall speak to them, and trouble them in His mge, saying: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels? (Mt. xxv. 41.)
Alas! Alas! with what torment and oppression of spirit shall they be afflicted, when that cry of woe shall rise up and all have heard it: The wicked shall be turned into hell, all the nations that forget God (Ps. ix. 18). Alas! Alas! what cries and groans they will give forth, as they are being led away to be tormented bitterly forever?
Alas! Of what kind is that place of wailing and of gnashing of teeth that is called Tartarus, at which even Satan shudders? O Woe! What kind of place is it, where the unsleeping worm dieth not? What dread misery to be sent into outer darkness? Of what kind are the angels placed over these torments, who, pitiless and frightful, punish by casting in there, while at the same time they reproach most grievously? Then shall those already in the midst of the torments cry out with pleading voices, and there will be no one to speak for them to the Lord, and they shall not be heard. Then they will learn that the things which happened to them in this life were as nothing; and those that here seemed sweet, were more bitter than gall and wormwood.
Where then shall be the pleasure falsely named of sin? Since there is no other joy than to fear the Lord and love Him, in this alone is there happiness. This indeed fills the soul as with marrow andfatness. Then they shall curse themselves and the evil they have done. Then they will confess that the judgment of God is just, and say: We used to hear of these things, but we would not cease from evil-doing. But then it will avail nothing thus to speak of the past.
Woe! Woe is me! Crush me with these unspeakable offences; for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea, and I am stooped with them as with many iron chains. I do not dare to raise
my eyes to the glory of heaven. To whom then shall I turn but to Thee, Most Kind, Most Merciful? Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy; and according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my iniquities. Wash me yet morefrom my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sins. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. To Thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before Thee (Ps. l).
Since therefore I have sinned, to Thee do I come because of Thy great mercy. I have provoked Thee to wrath, and because of Thy clemency to Thee do I fly. I have spurned Thee, yet because of Thy supreme goodness and kindness to Thee do I return; and beseeching Thee I cry: Turn away Thyfacefrom my sins, and blot out all my iniquities, for Thy name’s sake alone. I have nothing I may offer Thee; no good work, nor a clean heart. Relying solely on Thy mercies, I cast myself upon them, that Thou may create a clean heart in me, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit lest I speedily fall back into sin. From this day I shall serve Thee, in holiness and iustice all the days of my life. Therefore, let all the Powers of heaven praise Thee. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Majesty, for ever and ever. Amen.
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ST CATHERINE LABOURE, VIRGIN (A.D. 1876)
ZOE LABOURE was the daughter of a yeoman-farmer at Fain-les-Moutiers in the Cote d’Or, where she was born in 1806. She was the only one of a large family not to go to school and did not learn to read and write. Her mother died when Zoe was eight, and when her elder sister, Louisa, left home to become a Sister of Charity the duties of housekeeper and helper to her father devolved upon her. From the age of fourteen or so she also heard a call to the religious life, and after some opposition M. Laboure allowed her to join the Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul at Chatillon-sur-Seine in 1830. She took the name of Catherine, and after her postulancy was sent to the convent in the rue du Bac at Paris, where she arrived four days before the translation of the relics of St Vincent from Notre-Dame to the Lazarist church in the rue de Sevres. On the evening of the day of those festivities began the series of visions which were to make the name of Catherine Laboure famous. The first of the three principal ones took place three months later, on the night of July 18, when at about 11:30 p.m. she was woken up suddenly by the appearance of a “shining child”, who led her down to the sisters’ chapel. There our Lady appeared and talked with her for over two hours, telling her that she would have to undertake a difficult task and also, it is said, speaking of the future and the violent death of an archbishop of Paris forty years later (Mgr Darbay, in the Commune of 1871). On November 27 following, our Lady appeared to Sister Catherine in the same chapel, in the form of a picture and as it were standing on a globe with shafts of light streaming from her hands towards it, surrounded by the words: “O Mary, conceived free from sin, pray for us who turn to thee!” Then the picture turned about, and Sister Catherine saw on the reverse side a capital M, with a cross above it and two hearts, one thorn-crowned and the other pierced with a sword, below. And she seemed to herself to hear a voice telling her to have a medal struck representing these things, and promising that all who wore it with devotion should receive great graces by the intercession of the Mother of God. This or a similar vision was repeated in the following month and on several other occasions up to September 1831.
Sister Catherine confided in her confessor, M. Aladel, and he, after making very careful investigations, was given permission by the archbishop of Paris, Mgr de Quelen, to have the medal struck. In June 1832 the first 1500 were issued the medal now known to Catholics throughout the world as “miraculous”. This epithet seems to be due to the circumstances of its origin rather than, as is commonly supposed, to miracles connected with its pious use. In 1834 M. Aladel published a Notice historique sur l’origine et l’effets de la Medaille Miraculeuse, of which 130,000 copies were sold in six years. It was translated into seven languages, including Chinese. The archbishop of Paris instituted a canonical inquiry into the alleged visions in 1836, before which, however, Sister Catherine could not be induced to appear. The precautions she had taken to keep herself unknown, the promise she had wrung from M. Aladel not to tell anybody who she was, the secrecy she had kept towards everyone except her confessor, her constant unwillingness to appear before an ecclesiastical authority, account for this inquiry not being extended to the young sister herself. The tribunal decided in favour of the authenticity of the visions, taking into consideration the circumstances, the character of the sister concerned, and the prudence and level-headedness of M. Aladel. The popularity of the medal increased daily, especially after the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne in 1842. He was an Alsatian Jew who, having reluctantly agreed to wear the medal, received a vision of our Lady in that form in the church of Sant’ Andrea delle Frate at Rome, whereupon he became a Christian and was later a priest and founder of a religious congregation, the Fathers and Sisters of Zion.
This vision of Ratisbonne also was the subject of a canonical inquiry, and the reports of this and of the archbishop of Paris’s were extensively used in the process of beatification of Catherine Laboure, of whose personal life very little is recorded. Her superiors speak of her as “rather insignificant”, “matter-of-fact and unexcitable”, “cold, almost apathetic”. From 1831 until her death on December 31, 1876, she lived unobtrusively among the community at Enghien-Reuilly, as portress, in charge of the poultry, and looking after the aged who were supported in the hospice. Not until eight months before her death did she speak to anyone except her confessor of the extraordinary graces she had received, and then she revealed them only to her superior, Sister Dufes. Her funeral was the occasion of an outburst of popular veneration, and a child of twelve, crippled from birth. was instantaneously cured at her grave soon after. St Catherine Laboure was canonized in 1947, and this day appointed for her feast.
(Benedict Baur)
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LETTERS TO JACK
WRITTEN BY A PRIEST TO HIS NEPHEW
By the
RIGHT REV. FRANCIS C. KELLEY, D.D., LL.D.
(1917)
XX
DREAMERS
WE do not need to “scratch a Russian” to “find a Tartar.” We might scratch ourselves and find the same sort of a wild rover any time.
So far as the eye can see, the stars were not placed in the heavens by rule of thumb; but they are there by rule nevertheless.
My dear Jack:
When I praised the Enthusiast it might have seemed to you that I was pleading for dreamers, and, in a way, I was. But I was rather apologizing than pleading. I was like the judge whom stern duty bid sentence a miserable wretch to prison; but who yet knew the extenuating circumstances that, outside the law, made this man less guilty than many of his accusers. Dreamers have usually been themselves failures; or unsuccessful till success meant nothing to them. If John Boyle O’Reilly was right in saying that “the dreamer lives forever but the toiler dies in a day,” his immortality has been a good thing for the dreamer; for only after he has passed from bodily life does he actually begin to live. In the life of this world a salesman must have something to sell, something that men can see and touch and enjoy. So it is the hard, cold, matter-of-fact fellow who counts for the day. The dreamer, the “rainbow-chaser,” the lovable wanderer, is one of Bob Service’s “men that don’t fit in.” How well he describes these men we all know:
“If they just went straight they might go far;
They are strong and brave and true;
But they’re always tired of things that are,
And they want the strange and new.
They say: ‘Could I find my proper groove
What a deep mark I would make!’
So they chop and change, and each fresh move
Is only a fresh mistake.”
I am sorry, deeply sorry, for these men—and so are you. Why? Because they are our kin, as they are kin to all the world. There is some of the same spirit and failing in all of us. If there were not we wouldn’t ourselves be worth anything. But the rest of us have the spirit under control, or think we have. As a matter of fact, we sometimes discover that we have not the control we so fondly credited to our strength of character. We do not need to “scratch a Russian” to “find a Tartar.” We might scratch ourselves and find the same sort of a wild rover any time. The difference between ourselves and the other is, while he
” . . . forgets that his youth has fled,
Forgets that his prime is past,
Till he stands one day, with a hope that’s dead,
In the glare of the truth at last,”
we had that searching glare on us early. The real difference is only in the time of the revelation. Why not love the dreamers? We were once of the tribe, and there are always memories.
But, Jack, it would be an awful calamity had we left that tribe and also the memories that bind us to it. It is the dreamer in most men that makes them fit for human companionship. For the scientific mind, I have use only in my argumentative moods; and from the mathematician, “Good Lord, deliver me.” I would walk miles to spend an evening with a dreamer, the less he “fits in” the greater my pleasure in his company; while I would run the same distance from the fifteen minute visit of the “pure intellect.” There never was anything but monotony in the squared and the concreted. God laid out no blocks in His universe; may He be thanked for that. So far as the eye can see, the stars were not placed in the heavens by rule of thumb; but they are there by rule nevertheless.
There is enough worldly wisdom in avoiding the danger of being a dreamer, to justify one’s trying hard to keep from drifting entirely that way. There is enough spiritual wisdom in law and order to justify suspecting one’s tendency to dreaming. But there is also enough pure joy in dreaming, to assure one that dreams have a right to be, and dreamers a place in God’s universe. Our greatest fights with ourselves are not fights to keep from going to extremes. They are fights to keep in the middle; and, at that, most of us have had rather indifferent success. History records that General Wolfe murmured lines from Gray’s Elegy on his way to the plains of Abraham, and said that he would rather have written them than take Quebec. Scratched was the Wolfe, and a lamb of Arcadia was found—a dreamer who “fitted in,” and yet was gloriously unsatisfied. If I look at the whole world’s population as it now is, I cannot see a place for the dreamer; but I cannot think of the world and its people that way. I must look at it as it was, as it is, and as it will be. Those who live in it now are but a handful of those who, at the end, will be written down as its citizens. The time will come when there shall be no dead, but a thronging multitude of the living, made up of all who once dwelt here on earth. Then we shall have the true perspective and find that, perhaps, Wolfe was right.
Of one thing I feel sure: for the here and now it is better to “fit in,” to be no dreamer, and to forget the rainbows. But to live in the future, to court the immortality of fame, to be a great citizen of the world in a day that stretches from Adam to—whom? it will prove best to have been one who loved rather than hated, who dreamed than schemed; who prayed rather than preyed; who smiled in joy rather than frowned in anger; who looked up at the stars rather than fixed eyes on the earth; and such a one is the true dreamer.
(To be continued.)
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Father Krier will be in Pahrump, NV, (Our Lady of the Snows) December 9. He will be in Eureka, Nevada (Saint Joseph, Patron of Families) on December 30.