Today
White indicates light, innocence, purity, joy, triumph, and glory.
Feb 08 2010
St. John of Matha: Confessor
February is dedicated to the Holy Family.
Mondays are dedicated to the Holy Ghost & the Suffering Souls.
Next Sunday: Quinquagesima Sunday.
Daily Spiritual Food
Beware of false prophets: by their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Not every one that saith to Me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father Who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:15–21).
Maxims from Holy Scripture for every day of the month.
From My Prayer-Book, by Fr. F. Lasance.
With the Rosary, pray much for the Holy Father.
The usual intentions of the Vicar of Christ are defined as:
· the increase of the Catholic Faith;
· the triumph of Holy Church;
· the conversion of sinners;
· peace and concord among Christian princes and rulers; and
· the extirpation of heresies.
The Liturgical Calendar—Living the Mass
“It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than without Holy Mass” (St. Padre Pio). The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is how grace enters the natural world of time and space. The Mass is the world's only fountain of grace, and the source of all our strength. Just as our Father in heaven has lavished on us the rhythm of seasons in the natural world, our Holy Mother the Church, by the guiding hand of the Holy Ghost, has given rhythm to our spiritual lives by weaving all the mysteries of the life, death, and resurrection of our Savior Christ Jesus into the liturgical cycle. It is the air we breath—good, Catholic air.
The liturgical calendar of the Roman Rite, promulgated October, 1958 by Pope Pius XII. Goffine's Devout Instructions on the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and Holy-Days, 1896. Originally published in 1690 in German as A Manual.
The Holy Rule of St. Benedict
The Benedictine monasteries built Europe, and the Holy Rule of St. Benedict built the monasteries. For this reason, Pope Pius XII acclaimed St. Benedict, “the Father of Europe.” His Holy Rule is filled with the light of Eternal Wisdom, and may be applied, mutatis mutandis, to families.
The Holy Rule of St. Benedict, 1949 Edition. Translated by Rev. Boniface Verheyen, OSB. St. Benedict's Abbey, Atchison, Kansas.
The Roman Martyrology
“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Our Catholic altars house their relics—still pulsating with supernatural strength—, and their commemoration is an important part of the liturgy. By remembering them regularly and meditating on their sacrifices and heroism, we little-by-little develop the supernatural outlook summarized by our Saviour: “Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
The Roman Martyrology, published by order of Gregory XIII, revised by the authority of Urban VIII and Clement X, augmented and corrected in the year 1749 by Benedict XIV, translated into English with the Imprimatur of J. Cardinal Gibbons, the Most Reverend Archbishop of Baltimore in 1916.
The Catechism of the Council of Trent
The Roman Catechism is a treasure, universally praised for five centuries by innumerable popes, councils, and saints. It is still the most clear, exact, and authoritative summary of all we must believe. It, alongside Sacred Scripture and the Summa Theologica, are our guiding lights. The content presented here moves along with the liturgical season so that the entire Christian faith is presented through the course of the year. Indespensible for fathers and mothers.
The front of the Roman Catechism, 1923 McHugh and Callan edition, contains an outline of topics recommended for each Sunday and major feast of the liturgical year. Presented here are the passages outlined. The entire catechism is not covered, but it covers the fullness of the Christian faith over the course of a year in a way that is in harmony with the rhythm of the liturgical year.
The Secret of Mary
From the introduction: “Chosen soul, living image of God and redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, God wants you to become holy like him in this life, and glorious like him in the next. It is certain that growth in the holiness of God is your vocation. All your thoughts, words, actions, everything you suffer or undertake must lead you towards that end. Otherwise you are resisting God in not doing the work for which he created you and for which he is even now keeping you in being.”
Cycles through every month.
Lives of the Saints
St. Ignatius of Loyola was the founder of the Society of Jesus. A great military leader, he was so changed after reading about the Saints, that he gave up all his power to become a man of the Church. He renounced the glories and honors of the world and entered into the spiritual warfare under the standard of Christ. For St. Ignatius and for us, the saints are our heroes and inspiration. They are also still alive and active and a constant source of guidance, companionship, and assistance. Read about them, emulate them, and constantly ask yourself, “Could I not do what they do?”
Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints with Reflections for Every Day of the Year, Compiled from “Butler’s Lives” and other Approved Sources, 1894.
Mass
Readings from Holy Mass
— St. John of Matha: Confessor —
Note: When there is no entry from Goffine's Instructions on the Epistle and Gospel of the Mass, the readings of Mass are presently simply as they are.
Rule
The Holy Rule of St. Benedict
Incline the ear of thy heart, and faithfully execute the admonitions of thy loving Father...
—The 8th Day of February—
Continuation of Chapter VII
Of Humility
The eleventh degree of humility is, that, when a monk speaketh, he speak gently and without laughter, humbly and with gravity, with few and sensible words, and that he be not loud of voice, as it is written: “The wise man is known by the fewness of his words.”
Martyrology
The Roman Martyrology
Read at the Hour of Prime, One Day in Advance
The 9th Day of February
Tomorrow Were Born into the Better Life...
And elsewhere in divers places, many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.
THE ROMAN MARTYROLOGY. Published by Order of GREGORY XIII. Revised by the Authority of URBAN VIII, and CLEMENT X. Afterwards, in the year 1749, Augmented and Corrected by BENEDICT XIV. Last Edition, according to the Copy Printed at Rome in 1914.
IMPRIMATUR
James Cardinal Gibbons
Archbishop of Baltimore
Doctrine
The Catechism of the Holy Council of Trent
“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you besides
that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema” (Galatians 1:8).
— Sexagesima Sunday —
The lesson for today is unavailable. Please reflect on this, from the Introduction to the Catechism:
Need of an Authoritative Catholic Catechism
But while the preaching of the divine Word should never be interrupted in the Church, surely in these, our days, it becomes necessary to labour with more than ordinary zeal and piety to nourish and strengthen the faithful with sound and wholesome doctrine, as with the food of life. For false prophets have gone forth into the world, to corrupt the minds of the faithful with various and strange doctrines, of whom the Lord has said: I did not send prophets, yet they ran; I spoke not to them, yet they prophesied.
In this work, to such extremes has their impiety, practiced in all the arts of Satan, been carried, that it would seem almost impossible to confine it within any bounds; and did we not rely on the splendid promises of the Saviour, who declared that He had built His Church on so solid a foundation that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, we should have good reason to fear lest, beset on every side by such a host of enemies and assailed and attacked by so many machinations, it would, in these days, fall to the ground.
For—to say nothing of those illustrious States which heretofore professed, in piety and holiness, the true Catholic faith transmitted to them by their ancestors, but are now gone astray wandering from the paths of truth and openly declaring that their best claims to piety are founded on a total abandonment of the faith of their fathers—there is no region, however remote, no place, however securely guarded, no corner of Christendom, into which this pestilence has not sought secretly to insinuate itself.
For those who intended to corrupt the minds of the faithful, knowing that they could not hold immediate personal intercourse with all, and thus pour into their ears their poisoned doctrines, adopted another plan which enabled them to disseminate error and impiety more easily and extensively. Besides those voluminous works by which they sought the subversion of the Catholic faith—to guard against which (volumes) required perhaps little labour or circumspection, since their contents were clearly heretical—they also composed innumerable smaller books, which, veiling their errors under the semblance of piety, deceived with incredible facility the unsuspecting minds of simple folk.
The Ends of Religious Instruction
Knowledge Of Christ
The first thing is ever to recollect that all Christian knowledge is reduced to one single head, or rather, to use the words of the Apostle, this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. A teacher in the Church should, therefore, use his best endeavours that the faithful earnestly desire to know Jesus Christ, and him crucified, that they be firmly convinced, and with the most heartfelt piety and devotion believe, that there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved, for he is the propitiation for our sins.
Observance Of The Commandments
But since by this we know that we have known him, if we keep his commandments, the next consideration, and one intimately connected with the preceding, is to press also upon the attention of the faithful that their lives are not to be wasted in ease and indolence, but that we are to walk even as he walked, and pursue with all earnestness, justice, godliness, faith, charity, patience, mildness; for He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works. These things the Apostle commands pastors to speak and exhort.
Love Of God
But as our Lord and Saviour has not only declared, but has also proved by His own example, that the Law and the Prophets depend on love, and as, according to the Apostle, charity is the end of the commandment, and the fulfilment of the law, it is unquestionably a chief duty of the pastor to use the utmost diligence to excite the faithful to a love of the infinite goodness of God towards us, that, burning with a sort of divine ardour, they may be powerfully attracted to the supreme and all-perfect good, to adhere to which is true and solid happiness, as is fully experienced by him who can say with the Prophet: What have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth?
This, assuredly, is that more excellent way pointed out by the Apostle when he sums up all his doctrines and instructions in charity, which never falleth away. For whatever is proposed by the pastor, whether it be the exercise of faith, of hope, or of some moral virtue, the love of our Lord should at the same time be so strongly insisted upon as to show clearly that all the works of perfect Christian virtue can have no other origin, no other end than divine love.
Christ
The Imitation of Christ
“He who follows Me, walks not in darkness,” says the Lord.
Thoughts Helpful in the Life of the Soul
Shunning Over-Familiarity
Do not open your heart to every man, but discuss your affairs with one who is wise and who fears God. Do not keep company with young people and strangers. Do not fawn upon the rich, and do not be fond of mingling with the great. Associate with the humble and the simple, with the devout and virtuous, and with them speak of edifying things. Be not intimate with any woman, but generally commend all good women to God. Seek only the intimacy of God and of His angels, and avoid the notice of men.
We ought to have charity for all men but familiarity with all is not expedient. Sometimes it happens that a person enjoys a good reputation among those who do not know him, but at the same time is held in slight regard by those who do. Frequently we think we are pleasing others by our presence and we begin rather to displease them by the faults they find in us.
THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. By Thomas à Kempis. Translated from the Latin into modern English by Aloysius Croft and Harold Bolton.
Mary
The Secret of Mary
“Chosen soul, living image of God and redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ,
God wants you to become holy like him in this life, and glorious like him in the next.”
B. To Find the Grace of God, We Must Discover Mary
Let us not imagine, then, as some misguided teachers do, that Mary being simply a creature would be a hindrance to union with the Creator. Far from it, for it is no longer Mary who lives but Jesus Christ himself, God alone, who lives in her. Her transformation into God far surpasses that experienced by St Paul and other saints, more than heaven surpasses the earth. Mary was created only for God, and it is unthinkable that she should reserve even one soul for herself. On the contrary she leads every soul to God and to union with him. Mary is the wonderful echo of God. The more a person joins himself to her, the more effectively she unites him to God. When we say “Mary,” she re-echoes “God.” When, like St Elizabeth, we call her blessed, she gives the honour to God. If those misguided ones who were so sadly led astray by the devil, even in their prayer-life, had known how to discover Mary, and Jesus through her, and God through Jesus, they would not have had such terrible falls. The saints tell us that when we have once found Mary, and through Mary Jesus, and through Jesus God the Father, then we have discovered every good. When we say “every good,” we except nothing. “Every good” includes every grace, continuous friendship with God, every protection against the enemies of God, possession of truth to counter every falsehood, endless benefits and unfailing headway against the hazards we meet on the way to salvation, and finally every consolation and joy amid the bitter afflictions of life.
This does not mean that one who has discovered Mary through a genuine devotion is exempt from crosses and sufferings. Far from it! One is tried even more than others, because Mary, as Mother of the living, gives to all her children splinters of the tree of life, which is the Cross of Jesus. But while meting out crosses to them she gives the grace to bear them with patience, and even with joy. In this way, the crosses she sends to those who trust themselves to her are rather like sweetmeats, i.e. “sweetened” crosses rather than “bitter” ones. If from time to time they do taste the bitterness of the chalice from which we must drink to become proven friends of God, the consolation and joy which their Mother sends in the wake of their sorrows creates in them a strong desire to carry even heavier and still more bitter crosses.
Read the whole work here: The Secret of Mary
Saints
Pictorial Lives of the Saints
“If other men like me have attained to such sanctity, why not I ?”—Saint Augustine
—The 8th Day of February—
LITTLE PICTORIAL LIVES OF THE SAINTS with Reflections for Every Day of the Year Compiled from “Butler’s Lives” and Other Approved Sources. Edited by John Gilmary Shea, LL.D.
IMPRIMATUR
John, Cardinal McCloskey
ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK
New York, June 3, 1878
IMPRIMATUR
Michael Augustine
ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK
New York, January 21, 1887
