Marian Saturdays and the First Five Saturdays Devotion

 

Today is the First Saturday of the month of  July, so perhaps it is time to think about the First Five Saturdays Devotion . As http://catholicismpure.wordpress.com eloquently states:-

“I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months shall confess, receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”

It may come as some surprise that this devotion of the first five Saturdays, requested by Heaven through Sister Lucia of Fatima in 1925 at her convent in Pontevedra, was not new; in fact it is an ancient custom in the Church! It fits precisely into the long tradition of Catholic piety that, having devoted Fridays to the remembrance of the Passion of Jesus Christ and to honouring His Sacred Heart, found it very natural to devote Saturdays to His Most Holy Mother.

It is sometimes asked why Our Lady asked for Communions of reparation on five first Saturdays, instead of some other number. On 29th May, 1930 Our Blessed Lord explained to Sr. Lucia in another apparition to her that it was because of five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely: blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, against her perpetual virginity, against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary, blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonouring of her images, and the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother.

“My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning” (Psalm 130:6)
It is also an age-old tradition that Jesus appeared to Mary on the Saturday, the day after His death, whilst the world lay in hushed waiting for the Resurrection. The great theologians of the 12th and 13th centuries, Sts. Bernard, Thomas and Bonaventure, explained the dedication of Saturdays to Mary by pointing to the time of Christ’s rest in the grave. Everyone else had abandoned Christ; only Mary continued to believe, demonstrating her deep faith by never doubting for a moment her Son’s promise of Resurrection. This was her day!

St Peter Damian, one of those who most aided the spread of Mariology in the eleventh century, expresses the same thought in the following manner: “Sabbath signifies rest, for one reads that God himself rested on that day. Is it not then fitting that the same day should be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, in whom the divine Wisdom chose its abode, and rested as on a couch of holiness?”
The liturgical books of the ninth and tenth centuries containing Masses in honour of Mary on Saturday were largely the work of Alcuin (735-804), the Benedictine monk who was “Minister of Education” at the court of Charlemagne and who contributed in a decisive manner to the Carolingian liturgical reform. Alcuin composed six formularies for Votive (i.e. devotional) Masses – one for each day of the week. And he assigned two formularies to Saturday in honour of Our Lady. The practice was quickly and joyously embraced by both clergy and laity.

There were several theological reasons for dedicating this day to Mary. A 15th century missal gives
several of those reasons in a hymn: Saturday is the day when creation was completed, therefore it is also celebrated as the day of the fulfillment of the plan of salvation, which found its realisation through Mary. Sunday is the Lord’s Day, so it seemed appropriate to observe the preceding day as Mary’s day. In addition, as Genesis describes, God rested on the seventh day, Saturday. The seventh day, and the Jewish Sabbath, is Saturday; we rest on Sunday, because we celebrate the Resurrection as our Sabbath Day. In parallel, Jesus rested in the womb and then in the loving arms of Mary from birth until she held His lifeless body at the foot of the Cross; thus the God-head rested in Mary.
St. John of Damascus (d. 754) writings testify to the celebration of Saturdays dedicated to Mary in the Church of the East.

 

Down through the centuries the Marian Saturdays were expressed in several local devotions. This was the day the faithful selected to go on pilgrimages. Sodalities held their meetings on Saturdays and called them Fraternity Saturdays or Sodality Saturdays. The seven colours or sorrows of Mary were in some places commemorated on seven consecutive Saturdays. The 15 Saturdays before the liturgy in honour of Mary as Queen of the Rosary, 7^th October, recalled the fifteen decades of the rosary; in some areas this was the day that the crops and harvests were blessed and celebrated. An Irish version of the Saturday devotions to Mary is known as the Fifteen Saturdays of the Rosary. The devotion consists in receiving Holy Communion and saying at least five decades of the Rosary sometime during the day or evening on fifteen consecutive Saturdays or to meditate in some other way on its mysteries.

The devotion in honour of the Immaculate Conception by the Franciscan Order has also contributed to furthering this pious custom of “the Marian Saturdays”.

H/t to http://catholicismpure.wordpress.com.

RELEASED: Instruction “Universae Ecclesiae” – the text and my initial observations



Released on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima and the 30th anniversary of the attempted assassination of Blessed John Paul II.

PONTIFICAL COMMISSION ECCLESIA DEI

INSTRUCTION

on the application of the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum of

HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI given Motu Proprio


I.


Introduction


1. The Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum of the Sovereign Pontiff Benedict XVI given Motu Proprio on 7 July 2007, which came into effect on 14 September 2007, has made the richness of the Roman Liturgy more accessible to the Universal Church.



2. With this Motu Proprio, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI promulgated a universal law for the Church, intended to establish new regulations for the use of the Roman Liturgy in effect in 1962.



3. The Holy Father, having recalled the concern of the Sovereign Pontiffs in caring for the Sacred Liturgy and in their recognition of liturgical books, reaffirms the traditional principle, recognised from time immemorial and necessary to be maintained into the future, that “each particular Church must be in accord with the universal Church not only regarding the doctrine of the faith and sacramental signs, but also as to the usages universally handed down by apostolic and unbroken tradition. These are to be maintained not only so that errors may be avoided, but also so that the faith may be passed on in its integrity, since the Church's rule of prayer (lex orandi) corresponds to her rule of belief (lex credendi).”

4. The Holy Father recalls also those Roman Pontiffs who, in a particular way, were notable in this task, specifically Saint Gregory the Great and Saint Pius V. The Holy Father stresses moreover that, among the sacred liturgical books, the Missale Romanum has enjoyed a particular prominence in history, and was kept up to date throughout the centuries until the time of Blessed Pope John XXIII. Subsequently in 1970, following the liturgical reform after the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI approved for the Church of the Latin rite a new Missal, which was then translated into various languages. In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II promulgated the third edition of this Missal.



5. Many of the faithful, formed in the spirit of the liturgical forms prior to the Second Vatican Council, expressed a lively desire to maintain the ancient tradition. For this reason, Pope John Paul II with a special Indult Quattuor abhinc annos issued in 1984 by the Congregation for Divine Worship, granted the faculty under certain conditions to restore the use of the Missal promulgated by Blessed Pope John XXIII. Subsequently, Pope John Paul II, with the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei of 1988, exhorted the Bishops to be generous in granting such a faculty for all the faithful who requested it. Pope Benedict continues this policy with the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum regarding certain essential criteria for the Usus Antiquior of the Roman Rite, which are recalled here.



6. The Roman Missal promulgated by Pope Paul VI and the last edition prepared under Pope John XXIII, are two forms of the Roman Liturgy, defined respectively as ordinaria and extraordinaria: they are two usages of the one Roman Rite, one alongside the other. Both are the expression of the same lex orandi of the Church. On account of its venerable and ancient use, the forma extraordinaria is to be maintained with appropriate honor.



7. The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum was accompanied by a letter from the Holy Father to Bishops, with the same date as the Motu Proprio (7 July 2007). This letter gave further explanations regarding the appropriateness and the need for the Motu Proprio; it was a matter of overcoming a lacuna by providing new norms for the use of the Roman Liturgy of 1962. Such norms were needed particularly on account of the fact that, when the new Missal had been introduced under Pope Paul VI, it had not seemed necessary to issue guidelines regulating the use of the 1962 Liturgy. By reason of the increase in the number of those asking to be able to use the forma extraordinaria, it has become necessary to provide certain norms in this area.

Among the statements of the Holy Father was the following: “There is no contradiction between the two editions of the Roman Missal. In the history of the Liturgy growth and progress are found, but not a rupture. What was sacred for prior generations, remains sacred and great for us as well, and cannot be suddenly prohibited altogether or even judged harmful.”



8. The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum constitutes an important expression of the Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff and of his munus of regulating and ordering the Church’s Sacred Liturgy. The Motu Proprio manifests his solicitude as Vicar of Christ and Supreme Pastor of the Universal Church, and has the aim of:

a. offering to all the faithful the Roman Liturgy in the Usus Antiquior, considered as a precious treasure to be preserved;

b. effectively guaranteeing and ensuring the use of the forma extraordinaria for all who ask for it, given that the use of the 1962 Roman Liturgy is a faculty generously granted for the good of the faithful and therefore is to be interpreted in a sense favourable to the faithful who are its principal addressees;

c. promoting reconciliation at the heart of the Church.



II.

The Responsibilities

of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei



9. The Sovereign Pontiff has conferred upon the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei ordinary vicarious power for the matters within its competence, in a particular way for monitoring the observance and application of the provisions of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum (cf. art. 12).



10. § 1. The Pontifical Commission exercises this power, beyond the faculties previously granted by Pope John Paul II and confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI (cf. Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, artt. 11-12), also by means of the power to decide upon recourses legitimately sent to it, as hierarchical Superior, against any possible singular administrative provision of an Ordinary which appears to be contrary to the Motu Proprio.

§ 2. The decrees by which the Pontifical Commission decides recourses may be challenged ad normam iuris before the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.



11. After having received the approval from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei will have the task of looking after future editions of liturgical texts pertaining to the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite.



III.

Specific Norms



12. Following upon the inquiry made among the Bishops of the world, and with the desire to guarantee the proper interpretation and the correct application of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, this Pontifical Commission, by virtue of the authority granted to it and the faculties which it enjoys, issues this Instruction according to can. 34 of the Code of Canon Law.



The Competence of Diocesan Bishops



13. Diocesan Bishops, according to Canon Law, are to monitor liturgical matters in order to guarantee the common good and to ensure that everything is proceeding in peace and serenity in their Dioceses , always in agreement with the mens of the Holy Father clearly expressed by the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. In cases of controversy or well-founded doubt about the celebration in the forma extraordinaria, the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei will adjudicate.



14. It is the task of the Diocesan Bishop to undertake all necessary measures to ensure respect for the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite, according to the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum.



The coetus fidelium (cf. Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, art. 5 § 1)



15. A coetus fidelium (“group of the faithful”) can be said to be stabiliter existens (“existing in a stable manner”), according to the sense of art. 5 § 1 of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, when it is constituted by some people of an individual parish who, even after the publication of the Motu Proprio, come together by reason of their veneration for the Liturgy in the Usus Antiquior, and who ask that it might be celebrated in the parish church or in an oratory or chapel; such a coetus (“group”) can also be composed of persons coming from different parishes or dioceses, who gather together in a specific parish church or in an oratory or chapel for this purpose.



16. In the case of a priest who presents himself occasionally in a parish church or an oratory with some faithful, and wishes to celebrate in the forma extraordinaria, as foreseen by articles 2 and 4 of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, the pastor or rector of the church, or the priest responsible, is to permit such a celebration, while respecting the schedule of liturgical celebrations in that same church.



17. § 1. In deciding individual cases, the pastor or the rector, or the priest responsible for a church, is to be guided by his own prudence, motivated by pastoral zeal and a spirit of generous welcome.

§ 2. In cases of groups which are quite small, they may approach the Ordinary of the place to identify a church in which these faithful may be able to come together for such celebrations, in order to ensure easier participation and a more worthy celebration of the Holy Mass.



18. Even in sanctuaries and places of pilgrimage the possibility to celebrate in the forma extraordinaria is to be offered to groups of pilgrims who request it (cf. Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, art. 5 § 3), if there is a qualified priest.



19. The faithful who ask for the celebration of the forma extraordinaria must not in any way support or belong to groups which show themselves to be against the validity or legitimacy of the Holy Mass or the Sacraments celebrated in the forma ordinaria or against the Roman Pontiff as Supreme Pastor of the Universal Church.



Sacerdos idoneus (“Qualified Priest”) (cf. Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, art 5 § 4)



20. With respect to the question of the necessary requirements for a priest to be held idoneus (“qualified”) to celebrate in the forma extraordinaria, the following is hereby stated:

a. Every Catholic priest who is not impeded by Canon Law is to be considered idoneus (“qualified”) for the celebration of the Holy Mass in the forma extraordinaria.

b. Regarding the use of the Latin language, a basic knowledge is necessary, allowing the priest to pronounce the words correctly and understand their meaning.

c. Regarding knowledge of the execution of the Rite, priests are presumed to be qualified who present themselves spontaneously to celebrate the forma extraordinaria, and have celebrated it previously.



21. Ordinaries are asked to offer their clergy the possibility of acquiring adequate preparation for celebrations in the forma extraordinaria. This applies also to Seminaries, where future priests should be given proper formation, including study of Latin and, where pastoral needs suggest it, the opportunity to learn the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite.



22. In Dioceses without qualified priests, Diocesan Bishops can request assistance from priests of the Institutes erected by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, either to the celebrate the forma extraordinaria or to teach others how to celebrate it.



23. The faculty to celebrate sine populo (or with the participation of only one minister) in the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite is given by the Motu Proprio to all priests, whether secular or religious (cf. Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, art. 2). For such celebrations therefore, priests, by provision of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, do not require any special permission from their Ordinaries or superiors.



Liturgical and Ecclesiastical Discipline



24. The liturgical books of the forma extraordinaria are to be used as they are. All those who wish to celebrate according to the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite must know the pertinent rubrics and are obliged to follow them correctly.



25. New saints and certain of the new prefaces can and ought to be inserted into the 1962 Missal , according to provisions which will be indicated subsequently.



26. As foreseen by article 6 of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, the readings of the Holy Mass of the Missal of 1962 can be proclaimed either solely in the Latin language, or in Latin followed by the vernacular or, in Low Masses, solely in the vernacular.



27. With regard to the disciplinary norms connected to celebration, the ecclesiastical discipline contained in the Code of Canon Law of 1983 applies.



28. Furthermore, by virtue of its character of special law, within its own area, the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum derogates from those provisions of law, connected with the sacred Rites, promulgated from 1962 onwards and incompatible with the rubrics of the liturgical books in effect in 1962.





Confirmation and Holy Orders



29. Permission to use the older formula for the rite of Confirmation was confirmed by the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum (cf. art. 9 § 2). Therefore, in the forma extraordinaria, it is not necessary to use the newer formula of Pope Paul VI as found in the Ordo Confirmationis.



30. As regards tonsure, minor orders and the subdiaconate, the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum does not introduce any change in the discipline of the Code of Canon Law of 1983; consequently, in Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life which are under the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, one who has made solemn profession or who has been definitively incorporated into a clerical institute of apostolic life, becomes incardinated as a cleric in the institute or society upon ordination to the diaconate, in accordance with canon 266 § 2 of the Code of Canon Law.



31. Only in Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life which are under the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, and in those which use the liturgical books of the forma extraordinaria, is the use of the Pontificale Romanum of 1962 for the conferral of minor and major orders permitted.



Breviarium Romanum



32. Art. 9 § 3 of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum gives clerics the faculty to use the Breviarium Romanum in effect in 1962, which is to be prayed entirely and in the Latin language.



The Sacred Triduum



33. If there is a qualified priest, a coetus fidelium (“group of faithful”), which follows the older liturgical tradition, can also celebrate the Sacred Triduum in the forma extraordinaria. When there is no church or oratory designated exclusively for such celebrations, the parish priest or Ordinary, in agreement with the qualified priest, should find some arrangement favourable to the good of souls, not excluding the possibility of a repetition of the celebration of the Sacred Triduum in the same church.



The Rites of Religious Orders



34. The use of the liturgical books proper to the Religious Orders which were in effect in 1962 is permitted.



Pontificale Romanum and the Rituale Romanum



35. The use of the Pontificale Romanum, the Rituale Romanum, as well as the Caeremoniale Episcoporum in effect in 1962, is permitted, in keeping with n. 28 of this Instruction, and always respecting n. 31 of the same Instruction.





The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, in an audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei on 8 April 2011, approved this present Instruction and ordered its publication.







Given at Rome, at the Offices of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, 30 April, 2011, on the memorial of Pope Saint Pius V.







William Cardinal LEVADA

President







Mons. Guido Pozzo

Secretary

Our Lady of the Rosary Apparitions in Argentina Approved

The blog, http://www.pattimaguirearmstrong.com has the story of a new Marian Apparition, which has just been declared as worthy of belief by the local Bishop:-

"On Sunday, May 22, 2016, the local bishop of San Nicolas, Argentina, Most. Reverend Hector Cardelli, announced that the apparitions of Our Lady of the Rosary are “supernatural in character” and “worthy of belief.”

A devout Catholic housewife with no formal education, claimed the Blessed Mother had visited her daily for 6 ½ years and that she also received 68 messages from Jesus Christ.  There were numerous documented miraculous healings and beginning in November 1984, she received the stigmata during Advent and Lent.

The First Appearance

It all began on September 25, 1983, when the Blessed Mother briefly appeared to Gladys Quiroga de Motta, in her room, in San Nicolas de los Arroyos in Argentina. The mother of two grown daughters, a grandmother, and wife to a metallurgical worker, had been in her room praying her rosary at the time.

In the History of Mary of the Rosary of San Nicolas it is explained that Mary was dressed in blue, held Baby Jesus in her arms, and a rosary in her hand. On the previous day, she and some neighbors had seen the rosary hanging in her bedroom glow.  Our Lady appeared again on the 7^th and 12^th of October.   She spoke to Gladys for the first time on October 13, the anniversary of the last appearance at Fatima. 

“You have done well.  Do not be afraid.  Come to see me.  I will take you by the hand and you will travel many paths. Rebels are unjust and humble the servants of the Lord.  Seek help and you will receive it.  Do not fear.  Nothing will happen to you.  The Lord leaves nothing at random.”  Gladys was encouraged by the Blessed Mother to record and share the messages, which she began to receive frequently. 

Our Lady of the Rosary Statue

On November 27, 1983, as Gladys’ confessor, Father Perez listened to Gladys description of the Blessed Mother, he realized that a statue of Our Lady of the Rosary had been stored in the bell tower for many years.  It had originally had been blessed by Pope Leo XIII and put in a place of honor when the cathedral was inaugurated in 1884.  

When Fr. Perez led Gladys to the statue, she immediately identified it as the image of the apparitions.  At that moment, the Virgin Mary appeared across from the statue and referred to Exodus 25: 8, describing a church to be built. “They shall make a sanctuary for me, that I may dwell in their midst." The passage contains the instructions given by God to the Israelites for building the Ark of the Covenant by means of which Yahweh would be present to them.  

After a commission of Inquiry gave approval, construction began on the temple and the statue was renovated and transferred to the new church in 1989.  

A Medal

Gladys was also instructed by Our Blessed Mother to have a medal struck with the invocation of Mary of the Rosary of San Nicolas, and in the reverse the Most Holy Trinity with seven stars.  “My daughter, the meaning of seven stars is seven graces that my Son Jesus Christ will grant to whoever has it on its chest. Praised be the Lord.”  

First Cure

During 1984, the first miraculous healing was reported when seven-year-old Gonzalo Miguel was cured from a brain tumor after it appeared death was imminent. His mother was seven months pregnant with her seventh child

Father Ariel David Busso came on October 30th, to give the young boy his First Holy Communion and administer Last Rites. Fr. Busso placed him under the protection of “Our Lady of the Rosary of San Nicolas.” After receiving Holy Communion, Gonzalo began to improve rapidly.  Within days, he was pronounced inexplicably healed.

Processions

Pilgrims began traveling from around the world to gather for processions on the 25^th of every month, the date of the first apparition. On the 25th anniversary, CNA reported that an estimated 200,000 people participated in the Eucharistic celebration near the Sanctuary of Mary of the Rosary.

At the Mass presided by the Bishop of San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Héctor Cardelli , he said that Mary reminds us to listen to Christ the Teacher. According to CNA, the bishop emphasized that during the 25 years, “her [The Blessed Mother’s] maternal accompaniment has come to us and spoken of her love and fidelity to follow Christ, who is our Way, Truth and Life.  Christ is the point of reunion, because from Him, our steps have a course, our motivations have direction and our lives make sense."

The Messages

In totality, Gladys received more than one thousand eight hundred messages, from October 13 1983 to February 11,1990.  Our Lady’s final message was: "I invite you to live my instructions step by step: pray, repair, trust!"

Against Evil

I want to heal my children of that disease that is the materialism and that many suffer, I want to help them discover Christ, to love Christ and to say to them that Christ prevails above all.  

The prince of evil spills today his poison with all the forces, because he sees that he is concluding his sad reign.  He has little left, his end is near.  Oh my poor children, few of you are those that deepen in Christ, and many of you are highly eroded by sin. 

Make known what I give you, the atheism is flooding the nations, absence of God is everywhere; it is why the word of the Lord must be listened to and not be despised.  The action of His word will do much if the heart is opened.  

It is in fact this time, a precious time that does not have to be wasted but to be taken advantage of.  The Redeemer is offering to the world the way to face the death that is Satan; is offering as He did from the Cross, His Mother, mediator of all grace.  

Faith

The most intense light of Christ will resurge, just as in the Calvary after the crucifixion and death came the resurrection, also the Church will resurge again by the force of love. 

The Lord is revealing to you by means of the messages and the Sacred Scriptures what is expected from men.  Do not close the doors to him.  Commit to Jesus as He committed to us.    

My children must know that I call them to the consecration, because being consecrated to my Heart; they belong to the Mother and to the Son.  

The coming of the Lord is imminent, and as they say in the Scriptures nobody knows the day nor the hour, but it will be; and certainly for that hour the soul of the Christian must be prepared.  

Pray the Rosary

The Holy Rosary is the most feared weapon of the enemy.  Santo Rosario is the weapon to which the enemy fears to him. It is also the refuge for those seeking relief, and is also the door to enter my Heart.  Glory to the Lord for the light that He gives to the world.    

My daughter, at this time there is extreme need of prayer.  The Holy Rosary will be heard by the Lord this day as if coming from my voice.  

The prayer is my request, and is directed to all mankind.  The prayer must come from a willing heart, must also be frequent and be done with love.  It must never be left aside, since the Mother wants that by her the children arrive at God and with which the enemy is defeated. 

Messages on the Eucharist

Eucharistic Jesus is alive and true body.  Adore and love Him.    

My children, it is in the Eucharist where you can feel how He gives Himself to you.  It is in the Eucharist where He returns to be body and blood, and it is from the Eucharist that he wants to save the souls prepared to receive Him.  

Messages of Jesus:  

            Glorious days await you.  Rejoice In Me my beloved children.  

            The creatures must come to Me, because only with Me the souls will live forever.  It is my Mother, the one that will prevent them from drifting aimlessly, the one that will cause them to come directly to Me. 

            Today I forewarn the world that which the world does not want to notice:  the souls are in danger, many will be lost, and salvation will arrive at few if I am not accepted like The Savior.            

           

 I want a renovation of the spirit, a loosening from death and an attachment to life. The Heart of My Mother is the chosen one so that what I request becomes reality.  The souls will find Me through Her Immaculate Heart.  

            Previously the world was saved with Noah's Ark.   Today the Ark is My Mother. By means of Her, the souls will be saved because it will bring them towards Me.  Whoever rejects My Mother, rejects Me.           

Many are ignoring the graces of God these days.   You must go and evangelize.  Do not pay attention where.  Wherever you are, evangelize to your brothers who know nothing about the word of God.  Do not forget.  Evangelize. 

For More Information

Here are some of the first messages published on the Internet, covering Sept 25-December 31 1993, courtesy of Faith Publishing.  The Miracle Hunter gives the sequence of events. "

NLM Interview with Archbishop Sample: Why Young People Are Attracted to Traditional Liturgy

H/t to http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/:-

"NLM is pleased to present the following transcription of an interview conducted by Julian Kwasniewski with the Most Reverend Alexander K. Sample, Archbishop of Portland, in connection with the Sacred Liturgy Conference in Salem, Oregon, June 27–30, 2018. Much of what his Excellency says is highly pertinent to the Youth Synod taking place at the Vatican this month. This interview is published here for the first time.

Celebrating a pontifical Mass in Rolduc

JK: How would you relate this experience of Eucharistic adoration to your episcopal motto: Vultum Christi Contemplari. What does your motto tell us about what you just said?

AS: I took my motto from the writings of St. John Paul II, who I consider my patron saint, quite honestly. I have no connection to him by name, but I really do consider him my patron saint now. He has been a great inspiration to me; I’m not sure I would be a priest today if it was not for him.

This idea of contemplating Christ’s face was something that John Paul II wrote a lot about. In Novo Millenio Ineunte, he recalls the scene in the Gospels where the Greeks come to Philip and they say, “We want to see Jesus.” The Holy Father picks up on that idea and says that this question, “we want to see Jesus,” is a question that is really in the heart of every person in the world today. Even if they don’t know it, they want to see the face of Jesus. He said they don’t want Christians just to talk about Christ — the world wants us to show them Christ. That’s our job: to let the light of Christ’s face shine before the generations of the new millennium. But, he goes on to say, our task would be hopelessly inadequate had we not first contemplated His face.

So he said we must contemplate the face of Christ. We must know Him intimately and deeply, we must cultivate that close personal relationship with the Lord, in order for us to show Him to the world. It’s very close to my own spirituality of prayer and being in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and just contemplating Christ’s presence in His Face. This is where my motto came from.

Later, in his last encyclical, Ecclesia Dei Eucharistia, John Paul II put it very bluntly: This is the task that I have set before the Church at the beginning of the new millennium, Vultum Christi contemplatri, to contemplate the face of Christ. And then he also speaks of the Marian dimension which he develops in his pastoral letter on the Rosary, that we contemplate the Face of Christ through Mary in the praying of the Rosary.

JK: Do you think the pope’s emphasis on contemplation is related to the problem of activism in our times?

AS: Yes. John Paul II is saying, “Church: This is your task. To first contemplate the face of Christ ourselves so that we may then let it shine before the nations.” Since we cannot give to the world what we do not have, we must first know Christ before we bring Him to others. For a Catholic in the world (not a contemplative religious), there must be a balance between contemplation and work, knowing Christ deeply and intimately, adoring him in prayer, in order for one to effectively carry on the apostolic works of the Church.

JK: It seems that many young people these days are rediscovering contemplation and an ability to give themselves joyfully to Christ through loving the Latin Mass and the old liturgical prayer of the Church.

AS: That’s a very good point, and it’s a point I made in the homily I gave at the Solemn Pontifical Mass at the National Shrine in Washington D.C. You know, the Church was filled with young people!

A lot of times, priests expect that if you go to a Traditional Latin Mass according to the 1962 missal, the church will be filled with grey hair, old people filled with nostalgia for days gone by, and that they have a sort of emotional attachment to the liturgy they grew up with.

But more and more, the majority of the people in the church at these masses are people who never lived during the time when this was the ordinary liturgy, that is, before the Council. If you are under a certain age (and that age is getting higher and higher), you never experienced this liturgy growing up. And yet young people — which is something Pope Benedict XVI said in his letter to the world’s bishops when he issued Summorum Pontificum — have discovered this [form] too, and have found it very spiritually nourishing and satisfying. They have come to love and appreciate it.

That is amazing to me: young people who have never experienced this growing up in the postconciliar Church, with the Ordinary Form (sometimes celebrated well, sometimes very poorly with all kinds of aberrations and abuses), have still discovered the Latin Mass and are attracted to it.

JK: What, in your view, accounts for that attraction?

AS: I would say its beauty, its solemnity, the sense of transcendence, of mystery. Not mystery in the sense of “Oh, we don’t know what’s going on,” but rather, that there is a mysterium tremendum celebrated here, a tremendous mystery. The liturgy in the old rite really conveys the essential nature and meaning of the Mass, which is to represent the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ which he offered on the Cross and now sacramentally, in an unbloody manner, in the Holy Mass.

I think young people are drawn to it because it feeds a spiritual need that they have. There is something to this form of the liturgy, in and of itself, that speaks to the heart of youth. Young people will continue to discover this, and they will be the ones who carry forward the Extraordinary Form when the older generation goes to their reward. Certainly this will be young people of your generation, but ... I’m 57. I was baptized in the old rite, but by the time I was aware and cognizant of Mass, we had already come to the new liturgy. So everybody younger than me has no experience really of this liturgy. Anyone under my age could be considered “young” in discovering this beautiful liturgy!

JK: Your Excellency, what would you say is the most important element of tradition for the Catholic youth to hold and cherish at this time?

AS: I think what young people need to do first is to discover — and many have — the Church’s tradition. Many young people have been deprived, in a certain way, of our Catholic heritage, of the great tradition which is ours in the Catholic Church. I know for myself I feel I was ... I don’t want to say cheated because that sounds like someone did it intentionally out of ill will for me ... but I feel like I was deprived of real teaching and appreciation and contact with my Catholic culture and my Catholic tradition and where we come from. I lived in and grew up in an age when there was this attitude that the Church had, in some way, hit a reset button at Vatican II, and that we could let go of all the past, as if the Church needed a new beginning and a fresh start.

You are far too young to have lived through that experience, and you are very blessed to live in the time that you do, because there was nothing like this for me when I was growing up. I grew up in a time when all of those things in the past had to be cast aside. Even something as simple as the Rosary, it was kind of discouraged — or if not discouraged, it was certainly not encouraged. I never saw Eucharistic Exposition and Benediction until I was a college student. I never knew such a thing existed. I grew up when there was a lot of experimentation with the Mass, always trying to make it “fresh and new.” There was a period of time growing up when you came to Mass on Sunday, and you just didn’t know what was going to happen next! The changes were coming so fast, and not just changes but experimentation and aberrations. So I was deprived of any contact with my tradition; I discovered it, on my own, as a college student.

JK: Was the liturgy the only area in which you felt deprived of contact with tradition, or are you speaking more broadly?

AS: In ‘tradition’ I would certainly also include the teachings of the Church that I never learned. I never understood what the Mass was — and I went to 12 years of Catholic school. If you has asked me what the Mass meant, I would probably have told you that it was a reenactment of the Last Supper, the last meal which Jesus shared with His disciples and in which He gave them His Body and Blood ... which is part of the truth. But the idea that the Mass was in any way a sacramental re-presentation of the paschal mystery, that Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary was made truly, sacramentally present at the altar — and that it is an altar, and not just a table! — that would have been a foreign idea to me.

So certainly part of the tradition is that young people need to be deeply in touch with the Faith, what we believe, what the Catechism teaches. Young people must not take it for granted that what they have received in education (whether in a Catholic school or a religious education program) is an adequate formation in the Faith. They need to really delve into the teachings of the Church, the Catechism, they need to read good, solid books and articles, and other media forms, whether internet or movies. So that is part of it.

But of course, a big part of our tradition is our liturgical tradition. It’s in our DNA — and that’s why many are attracted to the traditional forms of the liturgy — because it’s in our Catholic DNA. Young people need to acquaint themselves with the richer, deeper tradition. Vatican II did not hit a reset button. Although, perhaps, the tradition needed to be renewed and refreshed, it never was meant to be destroyed or cast aside.

Pontifical Mass at Rolduc

JK: Would you put sacred music into this category, too?

AS: The rich liturgical tradition of the Church includes her sacred music. We don’t have to have pop music at Mass. The first time I heard Gregorian chant was when I was a college student. I’d never heard of chant before. When I heard it in a music appreciation class at a secular university, I hadn’t a clue what it meant, but it instantly spoke to my heart—instantly. The first time I heard it I was moved, really moved. So there is this rich liturgical, sacred music tradition that we need to recapture, recover, that young people need to learn about.

Moreover, we should all have devotions in our life. Devotions extend what the liturgy begins. Things like the Rosary, the chaplet of Divine Mercy, Eucharistic Adoration, other devotions to the Blessed Virgin, having favorite saints, patron saints that you pray to, Stations of the Cross…All these rich parts of our Catholic devotional tradition feed the life of faith and extend what we experience in the sacred liturgy, but also lead us back to it.

JK: Do you have any additional advice for young traditional Catholics trying to recover their tradition? 

AS: I’d say there is a tendency sometimes to see these things — doctrine, liturgy, devotions — in opposition to things like works of charity, works of mercy. I would emphasize that we must not get to a place where all we are concerned about is being of right doctrine (orthodoxy), having right liturgy (orthopraxy), good sacred music, that we are doing all the right devotions. If we are not doing works of mercy, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, if we are not taking care of the poor and disadvantaged, then we are not living fully our Catholic faith. That’s part of our tradition too!

I think traditional-minded Catholics should not let, perhaps, the more liberal elements in the church co-opt the works of justice and mercy as being “something of the new Church.” Catholics have always been steeped in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. The Church of the ages is the one that built hospitals and took care of the sick and the poor and the dying, built schools to educate poor children without opportunities.

The works of justice and mercy are also very much a part of our tradition, and I would caution young people not to get so focused on the other elements we spoke of that they forget that Jesus teaches us to love, to serve those who are in need. Remember the parable He gives us on the Last Judgment, when he separates the sheep from the goats. He does not separate them based on whether they are praying the traditional prayers or not. He separates them based on “when I was hungry did you feed me, when I was thirsty did you give me to drink, when I was homeless, did you shelter me, when I was sick and in prison did you visit me?” This is the basis of the judgment… it’s not an either/or!

This is a tendency I see: if you are a “progressive Catholic,” you are all about the social justice issues, taking care of the poor, working for justice and everything, but your liturgical worship tends to be a bit off and maybe you reject other moral teachings of the Church, while sometimes traditionally-minded Catholics are characterized as being all about the Mass, and right worship, right music, right devotions, the right vestments, orthodox teaching, and don’t care so much about the poor and works of mercy.

We’ve got to pull this together: it is not an either/or, it is a both/and in the Church. The works of mercy go back to the apostolic times, go back to the Acts of the Apostles; as St. Paul says, we must always take care of the poor. This is deeply traditional in our Church."

Archbishop Sample with prison inmates

Some Good News! New Oratory to Open in Bournemouth

It seems as though England is going to have yet another Oratory, this time in Bournemouth, Fr. Ray Blake writes:-

"From the parish website - A new Oratory in-formation is being inaugurated at Sacred Heart Church in Bournemouth on the 8th of September of this year (2016).Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth has invited Fr Dominic Jacob CO (co-founder of the Oxford Oratory) and Fr Peter Edwards and Fr David Hutton, generously released by the Archbishop of Southwark for this project, to begin an Oratorian Community of St Philip Neri as part of a major evangelisation drive for the diocese.

Fr Peter, Fr Dominic and Fr David will begin their ministry on the feast of Our Lady’s Birthday, at the church which is situated in the heart of Bournemouth, surrounded by students living in university accommodation, many international language schools, diverse ethnic communities, and the homelessness, beside long-standing residents, all within an active town center known its hospitality industry, business and commerce."

For more details see:- http://marymagdalen.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/a-new-oratory-in-bournemouth.html

Our Lady of Fatima to visit Cardiff Cathedral for Centenary Commemorations

Author Therese C.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/

File:Santu%C3%A1rio_de_F%C3%A1tima_(3)_-_Jul_2008.jpg

News from WAF England and Wales:-

"This year the Church celebrates the Centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, Portugal. To mark this great event, the World Apostolate of Fatima England and Wales (WAF), is arranging for the National Pilgrim Statue with the Relics of the seers Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta to travel around Wales and England.

On Saturday 6th May 2017 the Statue and Relics will be welcomed to St David’s Cathedral, Cardiff for the 10.00am Mass and will remain at the Cathedral until the Vigil Mass (5.30pm) and be present for the Sunday Morning Choral Mass (11.00am).

On the Saturday, the Rosary and devotions will take place together with veneration of the Relics and enrolment into the Brown Scapular. At 3.00pm on Sunday 6th May, it is hoped that a procession with the Statue will take place from the Cathedral on Charles Street to the the Gardens of Nazareth House for the annual May Procession, Rosary and Crowning. This will conclude with the 6.00pm University Mass.

The National Pilgrim Statue was crowned by Cardinal Vincent Nichols on 18th February 2017 at Westminster Cathedral to inaugurate the Centenary celebrations. In an over flowing cathedral the Cardinal said:

“The Statue of Our Lady of Fatima is on a journey around the cathedrals of England and Wales in these coming months. I pray that this will be a time of grace for many, as they honour Our Lady of Fatima in this centenary year.”

On Wednesday 10th May at 9.00pm the Statue and relics will be the focus for the annual candlelit procession at Belmont Abbey.

The Month of May will close with the visit of the Statue and Relics to the Welsh National Shrine of Our Lady of the Taper at Cardigan Saturday May 27th 10.00am and then to the Diocese of Menevia and the Cathedral Church of St Joseph for the Vigil Mass and Sunday Masses 27th/28th May.

For Further information please contact Father Jason Jones. Spiritual Director for Wales of the World Apostolate of FatimaChurch of the Sacred Heart, School Rd Morriston Swansea SA6 6HZ.

Tag: Our Lady of Fatima to visit Cardiff Cathedral for Centenary Commemorations.

The Feast of Easter as Described by the The Catholic Encyclopedia (1917).

Easter is the principal feast of the ecclesiastical year. Leo I (Sermo xlvii in Exodum) calls it the greatest feast (festum festorum), and says that Christmas is celebrated only in preparation for Easter. It is the centre of the greater part of the ecclesiastical year. The order of Sundays from Septuagesima to the last Sunday after Pentecost, the feast of the Ascension, Pentecost, Corpus Christi, and all other movable feasts, from that of the Prayer of Jesus in the Garden (Tuesday after Septuagesima) to the feast of the Sacred Heart (Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi), depend upon the Easter date.... The connection between the Jewish Passover and the Christian feast of Easter is real and ideal. Real, since Christ died on the first Jewish Easter Day; ideal, like the relation between type and reality, because Christ's death and Resurrection had its figures and types in the Old Law, particularly in the paschal lamb, which was eaten towards evening of the 14th of Nisan….The connection between the Jewish and the Christian Pasch explains the movable character of this feast. Easter has no fixed date, like Christmas, because the 15th of Nisan of the Semitic calendar was shifting from date to date on the Julian calendar.

The First Council of Nicaea (325) decreed that the Roman practice should be observed throughout the Church. But even at Rome the Easter term was changed repeatedly. Those who continued to keep Easter with the Jews were called Quartodecimans (14 Nisan) and were excluded from the Church. The computus paschalis, the method of determining the date of Easter and the dependent feasts, was of old considered so important that Durandus (Rit. div. off., 8, c.i.) declares a priest unworthy of the name who does not know the computus paschalis. The movable character of Easter (22 March to 25 April) gives rise to inconveniences, especially in modern times. For decades scientists and other people have worked in vain for a simplification of the computus, assigning Easter to the first Sunday in April or to the Sunday nearest the 7th of April. Some even wish to put every Sunday to a certain date of the month, e.g. beginning with New Year's always on a Sunday, etc. [See L. Günther, "Zeitschrift Weltall" (1903); Sandhage and P. Dueren in "Pastor bonus" (Trier, 1906); C. Tondini, "L'Italia e la questione del Calendario" (Florence, 1905).]

From “The Catholic Encyclopedia (1917).

Some Good News Stories from the Fraternity of St. Peter in England

Given on Friday 5th December 2008, Reading.

Portsmouth Diocese:
Bishop Crispian Hollis of Portsmouth has kindly allowed for a second FSSP priest to come and live with Fr de Malleray in Reading. Fr Simon Leworthy, an Australian priest holding a British passport, has studied in Rome and served in Germany and in Australia. He is due to arrive in January.

Northampton Diocese:
Statement from Bishop’s House, Northampton, on Saturday 29 November 2008:
“Having in view the spiritual good of the faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman rite, Bishop Peter Doyle has approved of the relocating of the Sunday Mass offered by priests from the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) from Bedford to Flitwick where better facilities are available (e.g. car park, parish hall). Bishop Doyle thanks the priests from the FSSP for their ministry in that part of the Northampton diocese over the recent years, as well as the parish priests in Bedford and Flitwick who have welcomed this worshipping community. Lastly, Bishop Doyle assures all the faithful attending the EF Mass in Flitwick (starting on the first Sunday of Advent 2008) of his pastoral solicitude and of his prayer.”

Parish website: http://www.sacredheartflitwick.co.uk/
Postal address: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Pope Close, Flitwick MK45 1JP, England
Mass time: every Sunday 5pm (exceptionally 4pm on December 14th due to previous parochial commitment)

Westminster Archdiocese:
By kind permission of the Parish Priest, Rev Mr Matthew Goddard, FSSP, to be ordained a priest on May 30th, 2009, will offer his First Solemn High Mass in St James’ church Spanish Place, London, on Whit Saturday 6th June 2009 at 11am. All are welcome to attend and give thanks to God and support this newly ordained British FSSP priest.

And also:

Christmas:
Sung Traditional Midnight Mass at midnight at St William of York church, Upper Redland Road, Reading, RG1 5JT, preceded with carols from 11.15pm onwards and followed with coffee and cakes in the hall.Rev Mr Matthew Goddard, FSSP will give the homily. You are most welcome to attend and meet with our soon to be ordained future priest on this his last stay at home until he comes back for his First Mass in June 2009.

Retreats:

Advent Retreat by Fr de Malleray, FSSP at Douai Abbey, Berks, 8-11 December: all the 15 places being now booked, please possibly apply for the next two retreats:

Vocation Retreat, 7-9 January 2009, same Retreat Master, same location: some places left;

Lent Retreat, 2-6 March 2009, same Retreat Master, same location: some places left.
All details on http://www.fssp.co.uk/. Booking with Fr de Malleray.

Wishing you a happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception,
Fr de Malleray

Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP
Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in England
E-mail: malleray@fssp.org - http://www.fssp.org.uk/

Attn. Young Catholic Women: What Convent to Join?

 H/t: http://northlandcatholic.blogspot.co.uk/

There are many options for young Catholic women today. The thriving convents tend to be the newer ones.

This short list is a start.

Please share it so that young Catholic women can visit and stay in at least one convent.  It is an important experience.  

Norbertine Canoneses of Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph (http://norbertinesisters.org/)

Carmelite Monastery of the Infant of Prague (https://carmeloftraversecity.org/);

Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles (https://benedictinesofmary.org/home);

Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles (https://carmelitesistersocd.com/);

Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist (https://www.sistersofmary.org/);

Religious Sisters of Mercy (http://www.rsmofalma.org/);

Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration (http://olamnuns.com/);

Abbey of Regina Laudis (http://abbeyofreginalaudis.org/);

Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Church (https://sistersofmarymc.org/);

Sisters of Life (http://www.sistersoflife.org/);

Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist (http://www.fsecommunity.org/);

Dominican Sisters of Saint Joseph (UK) (http://www.dominicansistersofstjoseph.org/)

The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate in Lanherne Cornwall (UK) (http://www.mostholytrinity.co.uk/get-involved/lanherne-monastery/)

H/t to John Sonnen at:- http://orbiscatholicussecundus.blogspot.co.uk/ (for the USA convents).