In Rome he afflicted his body with extraordinary hardness of living, with watching, and fasting, and so passed his days and nights in prayer, and in the contemplation of heavenly things. He was used to visit the Seven Churches almost every night, a custom which he kept for many years. Having joined several godly Brotherhoods, it was strange how eagerly he relieved the poor by alms and every sort of kindness, choosing especially the sick and the imprisoned. When the city was ravaged by a pestilence, such was the charitable zeal with which he joined in the labours of St. Camillus de Lellis, that besides the great help which he brought to the sick poor, he would even carry the bodies of the dead on his own shoulders to burial. Having understood from God that his call was to bring up children in godliness and good learning, he founded the Order of the Poor Regular Clerks of the Pious Schools of the Mother of God, who profess as the special object of their Institute a singular care for the teaching of the poor. This Institute received the warm approval of Clement VIII, Paul V, and other Popes, and in a short time obtained a marvellous extension through many provinces and kingdoms of Europe. In this work Joseph Calasanctius underwent so many toils, and patiently bore so many griefs, that he was proclaimed by all men a wonder of endurance and a very image of holy Job.
Joseph Calasanctius, called Of the Mother of God, was born of a noble family at Petralta in Aragon. From his tender years he began to shew that fondness for children, and that gift of instructing them for which he was afterwards distinguished. He called them around him when he was still but a child himself, and taught them the mysteries of the faith and godly prayers. He was deeply learned in profane and sacred letters, and it was while he was studying theology at Valencia that he bravely overcame the wiles of a noble and powerful lady and, by a brilliant victory, kept untarnished that virginity which he had vowed to God. He became a Priest in consequence of a vow, and was summoned by many Bishops in the kingdoms of New Castile, Aragon, and Catalonia, to help them in their work, wherein he surpassed the hopes of all, correcting depraved manners, restoring the discipline of the Church, and marvellously putting an end to hatreds and bloody feuds. But in obedience to a vision from heaven and many warnings from the voice of God, he left Spain and went to Rome. In Rome he afflicted his body with extraordinary hardness of living, with watching, and fasting, and so passed his days and nights in prayer, and in the contemplation of heavenly things. He was used to visit the Seven Churches almost every night, a custom which he kept for many years. Having joined several godly Brotherhoods, it was strange how eagerly he relieved the poor by alms and every sort of kindness, choosing especially the sick and the imprisoned. When the city was ravaged by a pestilence, such was the charitable zeal with which he joined in the labours of St. Camillus de Lellis, that besides the great help which he brought to the sick poor, he would even carry the bodies of the dead on his own shoulders to burial. Having understood from God that his call was to bring up children in godliness and good learning, he founded the Order of the Poor Regular Clerks of the Pious Schools of the Mother of God, who profess as the special object of their Institute a singular care for the teaching of the poor. This Institute received the warm approval of Clement VIII, Paul V, and other Popes, and in a short time obtained a marvellous extension through many provinces and kingdoms of Europe. In this work Joseph Calasanctius underwent so many toils, and patiently bore so many griefs, that he was proclaimed by all men a wonder of endurance and a very image of holy Job. Even when he was at the head of his whole Order, and toiling with all his might for the salvation of souls, he never ceased to teach children, especially the poor, to sweep out the school rooms, and to accompany the scholars home. Thus in spite of broken health he worked on for two and fifty years, with the greatest long-suffering and lowliness. He won that God should glorify him by many miracles worked in the presence of his disciples, and that the most blessed Virgin should appear to him, with the Child Jesus in her arms, blessing them as they prayed. He refused wealthy preferments when they were offered to him. He was eminent for the gift of prophecy, for the power of reading the secrets of the heart, of knowing distant events, and of miracles. The Virgin Mother of God, to whom from his childhood he had had an especial love, and other heavenly ones, honoured him by often allowing him to see them. He foretold the day of his own death, and the restoration and growth of his Order, which seemed at that time to be almost entirely destroyed. He fell asleep in the Lord at Rome, upon the 25th day of August, in the year of salvation 1648, and of his own age the 92nd. An hundred years after his death his heart and tongue were found whole and incorrupt. God glorified him by many miracles even after his death, and he was first crowned by Benedict XIV with the honours paid to the Blessed, and then solemnly enrolled by Clement XIII among the Saints.
Feast of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary Franciscan Crown (Or Seraphic Rosary.) A Rosary consisting of seven decades in commemoration of the seven joys of the Blessed Virgin (the Annunciation, Visitation, Birth of our Lord, Adoration of the Magi, Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple, the Resurrection of Our Lord, and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin and her Coronation in heaven), in use among the members of the three orders of St. Francis. The Franciscan Crown dates back to the year 1422. Wadding tells us that a young novice who had that year been received into the Franciscan Order had, previous to his reception, been accustomed to adorn a statue of the Blessed Virgin with a wreath of fresh and beautiful flowers as a mark of his piety and devotion. Not being able to continue this practice in the novitiate, he decided to return to the world. The Blessed Virgin appeared to him and prevented him from carrying out his purpose. She then instructed him how, by reciting daily a rosary of seven decades in honour of her seven joys, he might weave a crown that would be more pleasing to her than the material wreath of flowers he had been wont to place on her statue. From that time the practice of reciting the crown of the seven joys became general in the order. The manner of reciting the Franciscan Rosary is as follows: The Apostles' Creed, the Our Father, and three Hail Marys having been said as usual, the mystery to be meditated upon is introduced after the word Jesus of the first Hail Mary of each decade, thus: "Jesus, whom thou didst joyfully conceive", "Jesus, whom thou didst joyfully carry to Elizabeth", and so on for the remaining five decades, which are given in most manuals of Franciscan devotion. At the end of the seventh decade two Hail Marys are added to complete the number of years (72) that the Blessed Virgin is said to have lived on earth.There are other ways of reciting the Crown but the one given seems to be in more general use. The plenary Indulgence attached to the recitation of the Franciscan Crown, and applicable to the dead, may be gained as often as the crown is recited.It is not required that the beads be blessed, or in fact that beads be used at all, since the Indulgence is not attached to the material rosary, but to the recitation of the prayers as such. In 1905 Pope Pius X, in response to the petition of the Procurator General of the Friars Minor, enriched the Franciscan Crown with several new Indulgences that may be gained by all the faithful. Those who assist at a public recitation of the Franciscan Crown participate in all the Indulgences attached to the Seraphic Rosary that are gained by the members of the Franciscan Order. It is required, however, that beads be used and that they be blessed by a priest having the proper faculties. A translation of the pontifical Brief is given in "St. Anthony's Almanac" for 1909. Feast Day August 26 The icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa has been intimately associated with Poland for the past six hundred years. Its history prior to its arrival in Poland is shrouded in numerous traditions which trace the icon's origin to St. Luke who painted it on a cedar table top from the house of the Holy Family. One of the oldest documents from Jasna Góra states that the picture travelled from Jerusalem, via Constantinople and Belz, to finally reach Częstochowa in August 1382 by Władysław Opolczyk, Duke of Opole. The Black Madonna is credited with miraculously saving the monastery of Jasna Góra from a 17th-century Swedish invasion, The Deluge. The Siege of Jasna Góra took place in the winter of 1655 during the Second Northern War / The Deluge — as the Swedish invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is known. The Swedes were attempting to capture the Jasna Góra monastery in Częstochowa. Their month-long siege however, was ineffective, as a small force consisting of monks from the Jasna Gora monastery led by their Prior and supported by local volunteers, mostly from the szlachta (Polish nobility), fought off the numerically superior invaders, saved their sacred icon and, according to some accounts, turned the course of the war. This event led King John II Casimir Vasa to "crown" Our Lady of Częstochowa ("the Black Madonna") as Queen and Protector of Poland in the cathedral of Lwów on April 1, 1656. Another story concerning the Black Madonna of Częstochowa is that the presence of the holy painting saved its church from being destroyed in a fire, but not before the flames darkened the fleshtone pigments. The story concerning the two scars on the Black Madonna's right cheek is that the Hussites stormed the Pauline monastery in 1430, plundering the sanctuary. Among the items stolen was the icon. After putting it in their wagon, the Hussites tried to get away but their horses refused to move. They threw the portrait down to the ground and one of the plunderers drew his sword upon the image and inflicted two deep strikes. When the robber tried to inflict a third strike, he fell to the ground and squirmed in agony until his death. Despite past attempts to repair these scars, they had difficulty in covering up those slashes (as they found out that the painting was painted with tempera infused with diluted wax). In commemoration of the attack, two slashes on her right cheek were made by a pen. Another story states that, as the robber struck the painting twice, the face of the Virgin Mary started to bleed; in a panic, the scared Hussites retreated and left the painting. Because of the Black Madonna, Częstochowa is regarded as the most popular shrine in Poland, with many Polish Catholics making a pilgrimage there every year. Often, people will line up on the side of the road to hand provisions to the pilgrims as those who walk the distance to Częstochowa walk the entire day and have little means to get things for themselves. As evidenced from the icon on the right, it appears Orthodox Christians were not unaware of the Black Madonna. They too venerate her. In Vodou, it is believed that a common depiction of Erzulie has its roots in copies of the icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, brought to Haiti by Polish soldiers fighting on both sides of the Haitian Revolution from 1802 onwards. In her Petro nation aspect as Erzulie Dantor she is often depicted as a scarred and buxom woman, holding a child protectively in one hand and a knife in the other. She is a warrior and particularly a fierce protector of women and children. In Santeria, this image is referred to as Santa Barbara Africana. Ukrainians also have a special devotion for the Madonna of Częstochowa. Pope Zephyrinus was a Roman, who was called to govern the Church during the reign of the Emperor Severus. It was he who decreed that they who are to be ordained should be ordained only at a fit time, and in the presence of many clerks and laymen, as was indeed already the custom, and that none but learned men and well known and spoken of should be set apart to that office. He decreed also that when the bishop celebrated the Holy Liturgy, all the priests should be present around him. Also he decreed that no patriarch, primate, or metropolitan should pronounce sentence on a bishop, unless they were charged with the authority of the Apostolic See. He lived as Pope eighteen years and eighteen days. He held four December ordinations, wherein he made thirteen priests, seven deacons, and thirteen bishops for divers places. He received the crown of martyrdom under the Emperor Antoninus, and was buried on the Appian Way, near the cemetery of Callistus, upon the 26th day of August. At that time: Jesus said to his disciples: No man can serve two masters. St. Augustine the Bishop No man can serve two masters. And this is further explained: For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. These words we ought carefully to weigh, for the Lord sheweth straightway who be the two masters whom we have choice of; You cannot serve God and Mammon. Mammon is a term which the Hebrews are said to use for riches. It is also a Carthaginian word; for the Punic word for gain is Mammon. He which serveth Mammon, serveth that evil one who hath perversely chosen to be lord of these earthly things, and is called by the Lord the prince of this world. Of these two masters, either a man will hate the one and love the other (that is God), or he will hold to the one and despise the other. He which serveth Mammon holdeth unto a hard and destroying master, for he is led captive by his lust, and sold slave to the devil, and him loveth no man. Is there any man that loveth the devil? And yet there be many that hold to him. Therefore, I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on: for even though such things are not idle, but needful to be sought after, yet the seeking for things even needful may divide the heart; and thus our intention may be corrupted when we do something as it were merciful; that is, we are to beware lest, when we seem to be seeking another's good, we be but seeking profit to ourselves, under the guise of a benefit to him; and in such wise we seem to ourselves not to sin, because we are seeking things not idle, but needful. St Gregory from the Book of Moral Reflections Some there are who have no regard to their own true life; greedy are they of the things which pass away; but as to the things which are eternal, either they understand them not, or, understanding them, they hold them to be but of little moment; so that they seem insenible, and never know how to take wise advice; and, in forgetfulness of the heavenly possessions which they have lost, they deem themselves (alas, poor wretches!) happy in their possession of the things of the world. They make no endeavour to lift up their eyes to the light of truth for which they were created. No keen desire ever maketh them to cast a longing look toward their eternal fatherland. Rather, forsaking the true end for which they were destined, they fall in love with the exile which they are enduring, rather than with their home, and make merry in their blindness which they are suffering, as though it were glorious daylight. But, on the other hand, the understandings of the elect, (since they perceive that all things transitory are as nothing,) do go in search after those things for which they were created. And (since nothing outside God doth fully satisfy them) their hearts, even though wearied by the strain of their search, do find rest in the hope for, and in the contemplation of, their Creator. So are they fain to have their citizenship in heaven. And each one of them, although still placed in the world as concerning his body, does yet in heart and mind to it ascend, and there above do continually dwell. All such do bemoan the hardships of the exile which they are enduring, and do rouse themselves by the constant pricking of their love, to look at their fatherland on high. When therefore such an one seeth that he hath, through sin, lost an eternal inheritance, he grieveth; and then he seeketh (and so he findeth) this healthy counsel, to wit, to reckon but lightly the transitory things through which he is passing. And the more he groweth in understanding of the wise course that he hath chosen, (that is, to abandon perishing things,) the more his longing increaseth to attain unto the things which endure. It is also worthy of notice that they who are given to rash and hasty action are, by the same token, not given to sorrow of heart, but rather are insenible to spiritual things. For they that live without thought, and leave themselves recklessly to the guidance of events, thereby escape the sorrowful weariness which cometh from the effort of thinking. He that ordereth his life by prudent consideration is ever looking carefully round about him before the beginning of any new course. Thus, like a man that, before advancing on an uncertain way, trieth the ground with his foot, so he taketh thought beforehand, lest he come unexpectedly upon some evil thing. On this wise he is ever on the watch; lest panic overtake him when he must do something which requíreth coolness; lest rashness drive him into things which were better put off to another season; lest concupiscence should overcome him in the warfare against his lusts; or lest even good things should undo him by an onslaught of vain glory. In Louis IX of France were united the qualities of a just and upright sovereign, a fearless warrior, and a saint. This crusading king was a living embodiment of the Christianity of the time: he lived for the welfare of his subjects and the glory of God. His father was Louis VIII, of the Capet line, and his mother was the redoubtable Queen Blanche, daughter of King Alfonso of Castile and Eleanor of England. Louis, the oldest son,* was born at Poissy on the Seine, a little below Paris, on April 25,1214, and there was christened. Much of his virtue is attributed to his mother's care, for the Queen devoted herself to her children's education. Louis had tutors who made him a master of Latin, taught him to speak easily in public and write with dignity and grace. He was instructed in the arts of war and government and all other kingly accomplishments. But Blanche's primary concern was to implant in him a deep regard and awe for everything related to religion. She used often to say to him as he was growing up, "I love you my dear son, as much as a mother can love her child; but I would rather see you dead at my feet than that you should commit a mortal sin." In May, 1234, Louis, then twenty, married Margaret, the oldest daughter of Raymond Beranger, Count of Provence. They had eleven children, five sons and six daughters. This line continued in power in France for five hundred years. In 1793, as the guillotine fell on Louis XVI, it will be recalled that the Abbe Edgeworth murmured: "Son of St. Louis, ascend to Heaven!" After taking the government of the realm into his hands, one of the young King's first acts was to build the famous monastery of Royaumont, with funds left for the purpose by his father. Louis gave encouragement to the religious orders, installing the Carthusians in the palace of Vauvert in Paris, and assisting his mother in founding the convent of Maubuisson. Ambitious to make France foremost among Christian nations, Louis was overjoyed at the opportunity to buy the Crown of Thorns and other holy relics from the Eastern Emperor at Constantinople. He sent two Dominican friars to bring these sacred objects to France, and, attended by an impressive train, he met them at Sens on their return. To house the relics, he built on the island in the Seine named for him, the shrine of Sainte-Chapelle, one of the most beautiful examples of Gothic architecture in existence. Since the French Revolution it stands empty of its treasure. Louis loved sermons, heard two Masses daily, and was surrounded, even while traveling, with priests chanting the hours. Though he was happy in the company of priests and other men of wisdom and experience, he did not hesitate to oppose churchmen when they proved unworthy. The usual tourneys and festivities at the creation of new knights were magnificently celebrated, but Louis forbade at his court any diversion dangerous to morals. He allowed no obscenity or profanity. "I was a good twenty-two years in the King's company," writes Joinville, "and never once did I hear him swear, either by God, or His Mother, or His saints. I did not even hear him name the Devil, except if he met the word when reading aloud, or when discussing what had been read." A Dominican who knew Louis well declared that he had never heard him speak ill of anyone. When urged to put to death the rebel son of Hugh de la Marche, he would not do so, saying, "A son cannot refuse to obey his father's orders." On a crusade in in 1270, dysentery and other diseases broke out among the crusaders, and Louis' second son, who had been born at Damietta during the earlier crusade, died. That same day the King and his eldest son, Philip, sickened, and it was soon apparent that Louis would not recover. He was speechless all the next morning, but at three in the afternoon he said, "Into Thy hands I commend my spirit," and quickly breathed his last. His bones and heart were taken back to France and kept enshrined in the abbey-church of St. Denis, until they were scattered at the time of the Revolution. Louis was strong, idealistic, austere, just; his charities and foundations were notable, and he went on two crusades. Little wonder that a quarter of a century after his death the process of canonization was started and quickly completed the man who was "every inch a king" became a saint of the Church in 1297, twenty-seven years after his death. To his son he gave these words "Fair son, the first thing I would teach thee is to set thine heart to love God; for unless he love God none can be saved. Keep thyself from doing aught that is displeasing to God, that is to say, from mortal sin. Contrariwise thou shouldst suffer every manner of torment rather than commit a mortal sin. "If God send thee adversity, receive it in patience and give thanks to our Saviour and bethink thee that thou hast deserved it, and that He will make it turn to thine advantage. If He send thee prosperity, then thank Him humbly, so that thou becomest not worse from pride or any other cause, when thou oughtest to be better. For we should not fight against God with his own gifts. "Confess thyself often and choose for thy confessor a right worthy man who knows how to teach thee what to do, and what not to do; and bear thyself in such sort that thy confessor and thy friends shall dare to reprove thee for thy misdoings. Listen to the services of Holy Church devoutly, and without chattering; and pray to God with thy heart and with thy lips, and especially at Mass when the consecration takes place. Let thy heart be tender and full of pity toward those who are poor, miserable, and afflicted, and comfort and help them to the utmost of thy power."
The Apostle Bartholomew was a Galilean. In the division of the world among the Apostles it fell to his lot to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in India. He went and preached to those nations the coming of the Lord Jesus, according to the Gospel of St. Matthew. When he had turned many in that province to Jesus Christ, and had endured many toils and woes, he came into the Greater Armenia. After converting many to the faith, he was flayed alive by the barbarians, and having his head cut off by order of King Astyages, he fulfilled his martyrdom. His body was buried at the town of Albanopolis in the Greater Armenia, where he had suffered. It was afterwards taken to the Island of Lipari, and thence carried to Benevento. Lastly, the Emperor Otho III brought it to Rome, where it was laid in the Church dedicated to God in his name on the Island in the Tiber where it is venerated by the pious faithful.
RESISTANCE VISION 24 August 2013 A number of Catholic souls today keeping the Catholic Faith are scared by the direction still being taken at present by the leadership of the Society of St Pius X, and since they appreciate just how much they have received from the Society over the last few decades, they desperately wish for a replacement Society to take its place. They are scared by the different vision of a network of independent pockets of resistance being their future. They may be reassured to know that it was the vision of an outstanding prophet and pioneer of the Traditional movement, the French Dominican priest Fr Roger-Thomas Calmel (1914-1975). Here are pages, freely translated and adapted from the French, of his Brief Apology for the Church of all Time (pp. 48-51):-- “However crazily the Catholic hierarchy may behave, priests cannot take the place of bishops, nor can laity take the place of priests. Do we then think of setting up a huge worldwide league or association of priests and Christian layfolk to enter into dialogue with the hierarchy and force them to restore Catholic order ? It is a grand and touching idea, but it is unreal. That is because any such group, wanting to be a Church group but being neither a diocese nor an archdiocese nor a parish nor a religious order, will come under none of the categories over which and for which authority is exercised in the Church. It will be an artificial grouping, an artefact unknown to any of the Church’s real groups which are established and recognized as such. “So, as with every grouping together of men, the problem of leadership and authority will arise, and the huger the group, the sharper the problem. Unfailingly it will come down to this: being an association, the group must solve the problem of authority; being artificial (no kind of natural or supernatural group), it cannot solve the problem of authority. Rival sub-groups will rapidly arise, war will become inevitable, and there will be no canonical way to end or wage such a war. “Are we then condemned to being able to do nothing amidst the chaos, often a sacrilegious chaos? I do not think so. Firstly, the indefectibility of the Church guarantees that down to the end of the world there will be enough of a genuine personal hierarchy to maintain the sacraments, in particular the Eucharist and Holy Orders, and to preach the one and only unchanging doctrine of Salvation. And secondly, whatever be the failings of the real hierarchy, we all of us, priests and laity, have our little part of authority. “Therefore let the priest capable of preaching go to the limits of his power to preach, to absolve sins and to celebrate the true Mass. Let the teaching Sister go to the limits of her grace and her power to form girls in the Faith, good morals, purity and literature. Let every priest and layman, every little group of laity and priests having authority and power over a little fort of the Church and Christendom, go to the limits of their possibilities and powers. Let leaders and inmates of such forts know and be in contact with one another. Let each of the forts protected, defended, trained and directed in its praying and singing by a real authority, become as far as possible a fortress of holiness. That is what will guarantee the continuation of the true Church and will prepare efficaciously for its renewal in God’s good time. “So we need not to be afraid, but to pray with all confidence and to exercise without fear, according to Tradition and in the sphere that is ours, the power we have, preparing thus for the happy time when Rome will come back to being Rome and bishops to being bishops.” Kyrie eleison. © 2011-2013 Richard N. Williamson. All Rights Reserved. A non-exclusive license to print out, forward by email, and/or post this article to the Internet is granted to users who wish to do so provided that no changes are made to the content so reproduced or distributed, to include the retention of this notice with any and all reproductions of content as authorized hereby. Aside from this limited, non-exclusive license, no portion of this article may be reproduced in any other form or by any other electronic or mechanical means without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review, or except in cases where rights to content reproduced herein are retained by its original author(s) or other rights holder(s), and further reproduction is subject to permission otherwise granted thereby. |
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