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The Sunday Within the Octave of the Epiphany - Feast of the Holy Family

1/9/2022

The Church has chosen the Sunday within the octave of Epiphany as
the Feast of the Holy Family and as a day for the restoration of
the true spirit of family life. Americans and Canadians should be
rightly proud of this feast. It is North American in origin,
founded in Montreal in 1663. The Mass and Office of the day give
Christian parents an opportunity to pray that their family life
may be sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Family life becomes
sanctified when parents carry out St. John Chrysostom's plea to
make each home a family church. This idea may seem far-fetched.
Yet Christians fulfill the sacrament of Matrimony in their homes.
Penance and Holy Eucharist are administered in the home in times
of sickness, as is Extreme Unction. In danger of death, a newborn
baby may receive Baptism at home.

It is in today's Epistle that families will find norms for
shaping Christ-like lives. "Brethren, put on therefore, as God's
chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of mercy, kindness,
humility, meekness, patience. Bear with one another and forgive
one another, if anyone has a grievance against any other; even as
the Lord has forgiven you, so also do you forgive. But above all
these things have charity which is the bond of perfection. And
may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts; unto that peace,
indeed, you were called in one body. Show yourselves thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly; in all wisdom
teach and admonish one another by psalms, hymns, and spiritual
songs, singing in your hearts to God by his grace. Whatever you
do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him."

On this Feast of the Holy Family, we vary the usual Christmastide
prayers by using the following hymn. The sentiments expressed
make it peculiarly appropriate as a Christian family song.

{Musical notation cannot be displayed in ASCII text.}

UBI CARITAS ET AMOR[14]

"Where Abideth Charity and Love"

Where abideth charity and love, God is ever there.
All together one in love of Christ, our blessed Lord.
Let us sing in exsultation of one accord.
Live we in holy fear and gentle love our life in God.
And give we to one another our hearts truly. (Repeat first line)

And whenever we come together in mind heart
There is no fear of quarreling among us to drive apart.
Cease all angry thoughts and bitter words, all evils end.
And Christ, our Brother, comes to live among us, our Guest and Friend.
Where abideth charity and love, God is ever there.

Saint Catherine's Academy Gazette - Issue 56 - January 2022

1/1/2022

Finally, after over a year and a half we've been able to put together another Gazette. Please feel free to download and or print it either from the SCRIBD file below or a PDF which can be found here.

MAY GOD GRANT TO ALL OUR READERS A NEW YEAR FULL OF
HIS LOVE, GRACE AND MERCY!

The Circumcision of Our Lord - January 1st

12/31/2021

GOSPEL. Luke ii. 21. At that time: After eight days were accomplished that the child should be circumcised: his name was called Jesus, which was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Here we are, my dear young friends, at the beginning of a new year. When we look back on the days that have been vouchsafed to us, so full of graces and blessings, we feel that we ought to be filled with gratitude. But when we look at the past, we find that we have frequently done our work badly; that we have outraged God by our carelessness, coldness, and sinfulness. When we consider all this wasted and misspent time, we begin to feel some concern for the future.

How ungrateful we have been to God! Many of us have to bewail lost time, time spent in idleness, pastimes, recreations, and useless occupations; yes, even time spent in sin. Let us now correct all this; be sorry for the past and make firm resolutions for the future. As St. Paul tells us, "See how you walk circumspectly, not as unwise but as wise, redeeming the time." In order that you may be convinced of your great ingratitude to God's kindness, and that you may be determined to remedy the past days of the year, let us examine ourselves a little further. How have you spent all the days of your life? How much good might you have done, and yet have omitted it! How many prayers could you have said, but you were careless about them! How often could you have listened to a sermon and you did not make the effort! You could have frequented the sacraments of confession and communion, but your undevotion and coldness kept you away. How many charitable works could you have done! The opportunities for acts of kindness to others are so frequent, and so pleasing to almighty God and yet you did not perform them. Many and many a day we have lost in looking for recreation, and in performing mere human actions which have no merit attached to them. We read in the Book of Proverbs, "The way of the slothful is as a hedge of thorns."

How have you accomplished the little good you have done? You have said prayers, but in a distracted way and carelessly. You have been to church, but you never thought of the presence of God. You went to hear the word of God, but very little good did you derive from it. And then your sins: of how many have you been guilty? I hope you have not sullied your souls with awful, wicked crimes that make the soul of the youth like hell itself. Can you tell how often you have been disobedient to your superiors; the number of impudent answers given them; the curses, blasphemies against God, the bad example to your companions, those many willful thoughts against purity? Can you give an account of those wicked words by which you have taught sin to others? What a multitude of sins have you not committed! We read in St. Luke that a gardener had planted a fig-tree in his garden; one day he went to look at the plants and shrubs and trees with which his garden was stocked. He came to this tree, and saw that it bore no fruit; it was a healthy, green, luxuriant tree, and yet it bore no fruit; like a lazy, well fed, careless man who takes everything given to him, but makes no return. "Well," said the master, "just look at this tree; for the past three years I have come here and expected at least a little fruit; but there has never been any. Why does this tree take up good space uselessly? Cut it down, and throw it into the fire, and let us have done with it." But the servant said, "Ought you not to try this tree one year more? I will dig about it and cultivate it carefully; perhaps it will surprise us next year."

You, my dear young people, are trees planted by almighty God in the garden of His holy Catholic Church, that you may produce good fruit. Here is a three-year-old tree, and the farmer is tired of waiting. How old are you? You are old enough to have done something long ago. Instead of fruit you have produced thorns. St. Augustine says, "Up to the present I have lived my years badly; they are years lost to me; when I cast a glance on what I have done, my heart fails me, for I see nothing but sin, that cries out against me and rebukes me. My former years have been useless.''

All the creatures of the universe, ministers of divine justice, at the sight of your wickedness have been calling on God to be allowed to vindicate His outraged goodness and mercy by inflicting on you death or sickness. But again the goodness of Our Lord put it off. "Allow that tree to stand one year more." Yes, let him have another year; perhaps he will change his mode of life, will sin no more, but will be converted; will become a good tree and produce beautiful fruit. In the meanwhile, however, the good are injured to a certain extent by this delay; that bad tree ruins the good ones. A youth who neglects devotions, no longer goes to the sacraments, and gives scandal to others, gets into a habit of cursing and swearing, is a tree that produces such unwholesome fruit that other souls are brought to death; why should it not be cut down at once? Yes, the divine Justice says, that tree ought indeed to be cut down; but where there is life there is hope. Our Lord says He desires not the death of the sinner, but that he be converted from his ways and live. In the meantime years and months pass by; he continues at enmity with God; but the divine mercy never deserts him; it follows him always, is about him with heavenly inspirations and clear light, which makes him understand that interior voice which is sometimes amiable, sometimes severe: if amiable, it invites him to Our Lord's embrace and promises reward, consolation and peace; if, on the contrary, it is severe, it threatens punishment and death. His pleasures are turned into bitterness; his conscience gives him no rest, but fills him with a thousand fears; his memory constantly recalls the years of his childish happiness, when he went to church joyfully, and when he prayed to the Blessed Virgin. What joys did he not experience in his prayers! what consolation did he not find in going to holy communion! it was like the peace and happiness of paradise. Such were the means which the divine goodness used to gain the sinner to God, and perhaps all that time he was hard and obstinate in his sins. Perhaps this may even be your case. And if it is, will you not give over your obstinacy and practice Christian virtue? Go to your Father, your tender Friend, to the loving Jesus who has been waiting for you with such a love and who has stretched out His arms to you, to press you to His bosom. Should there be some among you who ought to think of doing better, they are foolish if they do not profit by the time which God has set for them; for that time will soon pass away and then will come the time of reckoning. "For time shall be no more." Oh, have a little sense, and use it for the purpose of your highest interest, the salvation of your soul. "Whilst we have time let us do good.'' "Blessed," says St. Philip Neri, " are ye young people that have a long time before you in which to do good." What great good you can do in your youth and strength; the old man has but a short time before him. Do not wait for the night when you cannot work. "The night cometh when no man can work."

St. Anthony says that if the damned had the time we throw away, and had another chance to live, they would become saints. If they could return to the earth, would they sleep and fool their time away? No; with the experience gathered in the other world they would work day and night, for they know the value of these occasions to gain merits. Thank divine providence that has watched over you with so great care; pray to the Holy Ghost that He may send into your soul that ray of light which will make known to you how important this opportunity of conversion is; that you may be inspired by Him with a strong will to persevere in good. With St. Augustine let us exclaim, "Too late, infinite goodness, too late have we begun to love Thee! infinite love of God, what did we love, when we did not love Thee? Too late have we known Thee and loved Thee, infinite loveliness of God! "

And you, my good young friends, for good I can consider the most of you to be, who constantly endeavor to conquer your bad inclinations and the temptations of the devil; rejoice on this day, for you have cause to be glad at the merits you have gained and which have been laid up for you in heaven; continue to pray to the Holy Ghost that He may give you the grace of perseverance.
Source: Sermons for Children's Masses, Imprimatur 1900

The Sixth Day of Christmas - St. Sylvester

12/30/2021

December 31st
*Sylvester was born in Rome toward the close of the third century. He was a young priest when the persecution of the Christians broke out under the tyrant Diocletian. Idols were erected at the corners of the streets, in the market-places, and over the public fountains, so that it was scarcely possible for a Christian to go abroad without being put to the test of offering sacrifice, with the alternative of apostasy or death. During this fiery trial, Sylvester strengthened the confessors and martyrs, God preserving his life from many dangers. In 312 a new era set in. Constantine, having triumphed under the "standard of the Cross," declared himself the protector of the Christians, and built them splendid churches. At this juncture Sylvester was elected to the chair of Peter, and was thus the first of the Roman Pontiffs to rule the flock of Christ in security and peace. He profited by these blessings to renew the discipline of the Church, and in two great Councils confirmed her sacred truths. In the Council of Arles he condemned the schism of the Donatists; and in that of Nicaea, the first general Council of the Church, he dealt Arianism its death-blow by declaring that Jesus Christ is the true and very God. Sylvester died in A.D. 335.

Reflection: - Never forget to thank God daily for having made you a member of His undying Church, and grow daily in your attachment, devotion, and loyalty to the Vicar of Christ.

A coloring picture can be found below.

sylvester_2_~_december_31st.pdf
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Saints of Christmastide - St. Thomas a' Becket - December29th

12/29/2021

IN the year 1117, upon the 21st of December, a child was born in our own city of London whose name was destined to shine in the long list of martyrs who have laid down their lives for the love of God. This child was Thomas—the son of Gilbert-a-Becket and his pious wife Matilda, who sought to train him in the fear of God and reverence to the Blessed Virgin, under whose special patronage he was placed. His mother would often weigh St. Thomas during his infancy, putting meat, clothing, and bread into the opposite scale, which were to be distributed amongst the poor, so that her alms increased with his growth and were all offered to bring down heavenly blessings upon the child's life.

While still very little, St. Thomas was seized with fever, and when he was getting better, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him in the form of a beautiful lady, who bent over his bedside, and, promising him that he would soon be well, gave him two golden keys, which she said were the keys of paradise, of which he was to have charge. Thomas went to a school in the city when first his studies began, but he was soon given into the care of the Prior of Merton, who was afterwards his confessor and friend, and witnessed his martyrdom.

Gilbert-a-Becket was a native of Normandy, and so many of his own countrymen came to visit him in London; one of them called Richier de l'Egle, was very fond of hunting and hawking, and often took St. Thomas as a companion. One of these times they had reached afoot-bridge across a mill-stream, which the knight crossed safely, but Thomas, taking less care, managed to tumble with his horse into the stream, and being unable to swim, he was rapidly borne along in the direction of the mill-wheel, which would certainly have crushed him to pieces. But at the cry for help the miller heard, the mill was stopped in time for the boy to be saved, and dragged out of the water almost insensible.

After finishing his education in England, St. Thomas was sent to Paris for a short time, when he returned to London and became clerk to the sheriffs until he was about one and twenty; then his parents died within a short interval, leaving their family very ill provided for. St. Thomas next entered the service of a relation who was a rich merchant, and thus learnt habits of business which were very useful to him afterwards, when he was raised to a high place in the Church. Many times Thomas had been advised to offer himself to the service of Theobald, the Archbishop of Canterbury, but his humility kept him back until he was five and twenty, when he was persuaded to do so by a friend of his father's, who felt sure that a higher vocation awaited him than the business of the world.

Theobald received the young man with much kindness, and St. Thomas at once set to work to make up for the deficiencies he quickly discovered in himself, and succeeded in gaining the esteem and confidence of the archbishop so entirely, that when Henry Plantagenet came to be king, Theobald obtained for a-Becket the place of Lord High Chancellor of England. This office was a very important one; he who held it was the keeper of the king's seal, and took charge of the royal chapel, and had the disposal of all the abbeys and bishoprics which were vacant and belonging to the king's right of patronage'; many other privileges belonged to the position which St. Thomas had been given, and which he filled with such great discretion. His life now was full of the whirl of state business, and yet his heart was not in it; often he would speak of his weariness and longing for a quiet and retired place where he might serve God only; but he used his power for the good of the Church and country, and for the divine glory, influencing the king to many acts of mercy and justice. But whilst he was surrounded by luxury and grandeur, his own fare was as simple as it could be. Under his splendid clothing he wore a hair-shirt, and after passing a day in royal pleasures, he would lie upon the floor during the night, doing many acts of humiliation and penance, and thus he remained unharmed by the world in which he had to live, keeping his heart fixed upon God.

Archbishop Theobald died during the month of April, 1161, so Henry II. fixed upon Thomas-a-Becket to succeed him, and in June, 1162, he was consecrated in the Cathedral of Canterbury, in the presence of an immense assemblage. A different life began for St. Thomas now—one which he had long desired. Every night he rose to say Divine Office with his monks, and then he washed the feet of thirteen poor men, to whom he gave a good meal before sending them away. At the dawn of day, he slept for a short time, and then rose to study the Scriptures; after which, he gave himself to prayer before saying Mass, or assisting at it During dinner, he had some spiritual book read aloud, but he did not force his soldiers to be present lest they might grow weary. Seats were always kept for a number of poor people, but afterwards a large quantity of food was given away to the crowds who came asking alms.

After a time, the king's great friendship for St. Thomas began to grow cooler, and the first
signs of his displeasure arose in several ways. One was a sermon which St. Thomas preached before Henry, in which he said that spiritual power was nobler and higher than that which is temporal; another was, that the archbishop objected to and succeeded in preventing an unfair tax being laid upon the people. Then, Henry encouraged an abbot in refusing to take the oath of obedience to the archbishop, and it became a struggle whether the Church should be governed as our Lord Jesus Christ had appointed, or whether a king was to be its ruler. Great difficulties seemed hanging over England, for Henry wished to begin reforms and changes which St. Thomas refused to agree too, but when the king pledged himself never to do anything to the injury of the Church, the Saint believed his word, and said that upon that condition he would not oppose the royal power.

A council of bishops and nobles was called to meet, so that St. Thomas should be forced to repeat this promise in public, and a paper was drawn up, upon which these "customs," as they were called, had been written, to which he was required now to affix his signature and seal. The Saint, who saw now what he was being made to consent to, refused to sign until he had communicated with the Pope, and no rage of Henry's could induce him to swerve from this decision; but his heart was sad and heavy, for he feared that by his first general promise to accede to the king's wishes, he had been weak instead of strong in the cause of the Church which it was his duty to guard and protect. So tender was his conscience, that for this fault which he deemed so serious, St. Thomas performed severe penance, and deprived himself of the right to say Mass until he had received the forgiveness of the Pope. The Pope wrote to comfort him, and assure him that for any fault there had been of weakness in yielding to the king, God would grant forgiveness, and supported him in his determination not to sign the royal papers which contained such alterations in the government of the Church.

From that time, St. Thomas began to prepare for his martyr's crown, for Henry Plantagenet sought to annoy and persecute him in every possible way—he was ordered to give up his property, called upon to pay an impossible sum of money, and summoned to appear before the court which had judged him. On the first day, the archbishop was confined at home by sickness, but on the Tuesday he rose, said Mass at his own altar, in which he offered up himself in union with the Divine Sacrifice, to suffer according to God's holy Will; then, as the custom of the time was, in any special trial, he placed the Blessed Sacrament in his breast and set out for the court, carrying his own cross, in token of his sacred office. When the king heard of his arrival, he was awe-struck, and stayed in an inner room, for he feared to face the representative of God, and there his nobles followed him, leaving St. Thomas and his bishops alone in the council chamber. The Earl of Leicester at last returned to pass judgment, but the archbishop refused to hear him, reminding him that he had no power over one who was the spiritual father of the king, the nobles and people, and then rising, he left the court, saying, "I put my cause and the cause of the Church under the protection of God and the Holy Father."

On reaching the gate, St. Thomas mounted his horse, but they found themselves locked in; however, one of his followers saw a bunch of keys hanging on a nail in the wall, and, fortunately, the first which he tried opened the gate. When the king heard how the archbishop had left, he was frightened lest some terrible judgments from Heaven should befall him, so he thought to protect himself from God's punishment by sending a herald through the town to order that no one should do St. Thomas any injury; but his command was unnecessary, for the people loved our Saint so warmly that they were rejoicing over- his safe return from the council. They crowded round him, so that he could scarcely get through their midst, kneeling for his blessing, and the sight of their devotion gave him great joy in the midst of his troubles.

Many of his followers had deserted the holy archbishop, but the poor whom he loved were invited to fill their vacant places at his table. When supper was ended, St. Thomas desired to remain the whole night in the Church, but after Office had been sung, he escaped from the monastery with three faithful friends upon strong horses which had been prepared in case a flight was necessary. It was a wet night, and they rode unobserved along the streets, reaching a village half-way to Lincoln before morning, where they rested a short time, and then started again for Lincoln. Here St. Thomas with one of his followers took a boat and went by water to an island on which stood a convent belonging to the canonesses of St. Gilbert of Sempringham, whilst the others journeyed there by land. They rested three days, and then set forth once more, travelling on foot towards Kent, from whence they crossed to the Flemish coast, landing after a stormy passage near Gravelines. But here the Saint was so weary, that his friends tried to get a horse for him; however, when the boy who had been sent for one returned, it was with a miserable ass, without a saddle, and with a halter of straw; so they threw a cloak over it, and S. Thomas mounted and rode a couple of miles, but he found it was more wearisome than walking, so he dismounted and dragged his weary steps along with great difficulty. A poor woman, struck with his noble appearance and evident fatigue, ran into her house and fetched him a rough stick to help him on his way, which he accepted with many thanks.

Soon after they met a party of young men, one of whom carried a hawk on his wrist; and as the archbishop's eyes rested upon the bird, one of them recognized him, and exclaimed, "I believe that is the Archbishop of Canterbury." But as one of his followers retorted, "You simpleton, did ever you see an archbishop travel in such a guise ?" they were allowed to pass on without further remark, and at length, after many difficulties, arrived safely at St. Berlin's monastery, where a trusty follower was waiting for St. Thomas, with a portion of the plate and money he had secured from Canterbury.' But they could not remain long where they were, in the territory of the Count of Flanders, so once again they journeyed on, until they were safe in the dominions of Louis, King of France.

For seven years the Saint remained in exile—years in which he lived as a simple monk at Fontigny, in the community which received him with great delight, joining the brethren in their out-door occupations, assisting at their Office in choir, and keeping to a course of mortification and penance. Now the quiet and leisure he had often desired was his. It pleased Almighty God at this time to reveal to our Saint the future before him, for once, while he was praying after Mass at the altar of S. Stephen, he beard a voice calling"Thomas! Thomas f upon which he answered, "Where art thou, Lord?" Then the heavenly voice replied, "I am Jesus, thy brother and thy Lord. My Church shall be glorified in thy blood, and thou shalt be glorified in Me."During the archbishop's absence, the King of England took all his property at Canterbury, banished all his servants, even turning every poor man and woman who had shown him any kindness in his wanderings, out of
their homes in the cold winter-time, to seek shelter in Flanders. But his cruelty made every Catholic in Europe indignant with him, and charitable to the poor sufferers. The King of France tried to put an end to Henry's angry feelings, and bring him round to be once more friendly with the exiled archbishop, but in vain. After giving him time to cool down his passion, St. Thomas himself wrote to the king in a kind and gentle way, but no answer was returned to the first or second letter, and the third brought a sharp answer; and yet Henry was very much frightened, for he dreaded the sentence of excommunication which he knew he had deserved. Obstinate as he was, his faith in the Church was sufficient to make him fear her anger. Indeed the Saint felt now that his next step must be to cut off the rebellious monarch from communion with the Church, but by the advice of the Pope he put off the sentence in the hope of peace being made.

After several years of humiliations and false accusations, which the Saint endured with patience and holy joy, a reconciliation was brought about by the King of France, who had persuaded Henry Plantagenet to be his guest, and see the archbishop once more; and at this meeting Henry asked him to return, promising to restore him his see of Canterbury, and to uphold the power of the Church. It was on December 1,1170, that St. Thomas landed at Sandwich, from which he continued his journey to Canterbury upon the same day—the place where within a month he was to die for the cause of God. His journey was a continual triumph, for people flocked from all parts to meet and welcome him, and in his own city there was every sign of joy—the churches resounding with music, and the streets decked out as for a public holiday. St. Thomas went straight to his own cathedral, his face shining with the happiness of his heart, and in the chapter-house he preached a sermon from the words, which seemed almost like a preparation for his fast-approaching death, "We have here no abiding city, but seek one to come."

In about a week, the archbishop proceeded to London, where he was received with great
expressions of joy, the priests and people meeting him, and the "Te Deum" being sung. The young king (whom Henry had caused to be crowned during his own lifetime) sent the archbishop a message, forbidding him to make any more .processions about the country, and advising him to return to Canterbury. This gave St. Thomas much sorrow, for he knew that Henry's son was really attached to him, and that this message must be caused by the influence of others — it seemed to confirm him in his belief that new persecutions and sufferings were beginning.

The Saint wrote to a friend (the Abbot of St. Albans) to meet him at Harrow, and begged him to go and procure him an interview with the young king; and the Abbot obeyed, but without success. Then St. Thomas returned to Canterbury for the Feast of Christmas, but some of his enemies had already crossed over to Normandy, where King Henry was staying, complaining of his renewed power, and of the journeys he was making amidst the rejoicing people. Henry Plantagenet's eyes flashed with rage, and with an oath he cursed all those who did not rid him of one who annoyed him in this way. Then he left them, little thinking what were to be the consequences of those words spoken in his furious passion.

The four knights went out from King Henry's presence, determining to take him at his word, and, starting by four different routes, they reached England and Saltwood Castle at the same time. Next day they went to St. Augustine's Abbey, outside the walls of Canterbury, and spent the time in making their preparations for the sinful deed they had in view. The last morning of his life, the Saint assisted at Mass in the Cathedral, went to confession, scourged himself three times in his spirit of contrition and penance, and spent some hours in talking with his monks of spiritual things. At four in the afternoon the wicked knights came and asked for the archbishop, who received them with his usual courtesy, but they took no notice, looking at each other so strangely that he felt sure they had come for an evil purpose. They professed to have brought a message from the king, but not having an opportunity of attacking their victim, they at last left the room noisily, with threatening words.

The archbishop, with his monks, went to assist at vespers in the choir, but he withdrew alone to the altar of St. Benedict to think and pray, for he felt convinced that the hour of his death had come. As he was just ascending the steps to the choir, one of the knights appeared with his sword drawn, followed by the other three. Some one rushed to bolt the door leading to the cloister, so as to give the Saint an opportunity of escape, but he came down the steps to meet the knights, asking them what they desired. " Your death," replied one, and they tried to drag him from the church, but the Saint pushed the murderer from him, saying, " Touch me not—you forget that you owe me submission." Then, finding they could not get him from the church, Fitz-Urse waved his sword above the Saint, whilst he bowed his head, and commended his soul to God. Three times they struck him, and then falling on his face before the altar of St. Benedict, he breathed his last, saying, "For the Name of Jesus, and for the defence of His Church, I am ready to die." Then the wretched murderers ran through the palace, taking every valuable they could secure, and afterwards they departed, glorying in their awful deed.

When the news spread, people flocked to the church, weeping and lamenting for the Saint, who was so dear to them. They threw themselves down hy the holy corpse, kissing the hands and feet with reverent love, while others secretly cut shreds from his garments or took away some of the blood which had flowed from him. That night there was an awful thunder-storm, and amidst the flashes of lightning which lit up the church, the monks kept watch by the remains of the holy martyr, who lay there beautiful in death, a calm smile still on his lips as it had been through life, a fresh colour upon his cheeks, and an air of peace surrounding him, as if he had died in an untroubled sleep rather than by violence.

Next day they dressed him in his hair shirt, with the vestments of his office to cover it, and, laying him in a marble coffin in the crypt, they closed and left it for a while. But miracles began to be worked by the relics which had been carried away, and people flocked to the church, begging to kneel at the shrine. Then the enemies of the martyred Saint threatened to carry off his remains by force, so that the monks in terror were compelled to place the body in a wooden coffin, and hide it behind the altar of the Blessed Virgin until they could carry it once more down to the crypt, where it was enclosed in a marble coffin, round which strong walls were built, and in the roof of which two openings were left, through which pilgrims might touch and kiss the coffin. For a long time the cathedral was in mourning, for the terrible bloodshed which had desecrated it; no Mass was said there, the crucifixes were veiled, the altars stripped, and everything wore an aspect of gloom.

When the news reached Henry Plantagenet, his remorse was terrible. Too late, he saw the consequences of his ungoverned passion—too late he mourned for those hasty words which had brought about the death of such a faithful servant of God, and one who had been so good and patient a friend to himself He shut himself up in his misery, he took off his royal robes and dressed in sackcloth, he fasted, he did penances, but God inflicted greater punishments on him than these. For more than a year Henry was excommunicated, and then had to do public penance for his sin before absolution was given him.

On the 21st February, 1173, St. Thomas of Canterbury was solemnly canonized as a martyr
for the cause of God, and his festival appointed to be kept on the 29th December, which was the day of his death. The body was removed to the place in the chapel of the Blessed Trinity where he had said his first Mass, and a splendid structure was raised to contain those holy relics. There the rich and great, the poor and unknown thronged to the shrine of the martyred St. Thomas, through whose intercessions many prayers were answered.

The death of the Saint of Canterbury brought peace to the Church in England, for in Henry's contrition he restored all the rights which he had deprived her of in that or any other land; and although in later times, when this unhappy country had turned away from the true faith, the martyr's tomb was destroyed and his sacred relics burned, his name still lives, and his memory is cherished as it deserves.

Now in our own times St. Thomas has been given the title of Patron of the Secular Clergy, and churches are rising up in honour of him who shed his blood to keep for the Church of Christ in England that place which, though lost in later years by the faithlessness of its own children, will belong to it again when the errors which prevail are overcome by the power of God's truth, and Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is dwelling within every sanctuary throughout the land, amidst the reverent love of a faithful Catholic people.

Source: Saints for Children, Vol III, 1878

A coloring picture can be found below:

thomas_becket_-_december_29.pdf
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Saints of Christmastide - The Holy Innocents - December 28th

12/28/2021

The Holy Innocents

Herod, who was reigning in Judea at the time of the birth of Our Saviour, laving heard that the Wise Men had come from the East to Jerusalem in search of the king of the Jews, was troubled. He called together the chief priests, and learning that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, he told the Wise Men: "When you have found Him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore Him." But God having warned them in a dream not to return, they went back to their homes another way. St. Joseph, too was ordered in his sleep to "take the Child and His Mother and fly into Egypt." When Herod found that the Wise Men did not return, he was furious, and ordered that every male child in Bethlehem and its vicinity of the age of two and under should be slain. These innocent victims were the flowers and the first-fruits of His martyrs, and triumphed over the world, without having ever known it or experienced its dangers.

Reflection: How few perhaps of these children, if they had lived, would have escaped the dangers of the world! What snares, what sins, what miseries were they preserved from! So we often lament as misfortunes many accidents which in the designs of Heaven are the greatest mercies.

Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, Imprimatur 1925

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The Third Day of Christmas - St. John the Evangelist

12/27/2021

St. John was a fisherman in Galilee and was called to be an apostle with his brother, St. James the Greater. Jesus gave these sons of     Zebedee the nickname, "sons of thunder." St. John was the youngest of all the apostles and was dearly loved by the Lord. At the Last Supper, it was John who was permitted to lean his head on the breast of Jesus, and John was the only apostle who stood at the foot of the Cross. The dying Jesus gave the care of His Blessed Mother Mary to this beloved apostle. Turning to Our Lady, He said, "Behold thy Son." And then to John, he said, "Behold thy Mother." So for the rest of her holy life on earth, the Blessed Mother lived with St. John. He alone had the great privilege of honoring and assisting the all-pure Mother of God.

John wrote one of the four Gospels, in which he shows us that Jesus is truly God. He also wrote the last book in the Holy Bible, called the Apocalypse, and three Letters to Christians, which we find in the Bible, also. All his long life, St. John taught Christians to love one another, and he himself practiced great charity. Once when he heard that a young Christian whom he knew and loved had became an outlaw and a robber, he set off at once to find him. Old as he was, the Saint rode into the outlaw territory alone, and was taken prisoner. As soon as the robber saw St. John, he turned away in shame.

"Son," cried the apostle, "why are you running away from me, your father, an old man without weapons? There is time for repentance. I will answer for you to Jesus Christ. I am ready to lay down my life for you. I am sent by Christ!" The young robber stopped when he heard those words. Suddenly he began to weep. He was won over by the love of St. John. Before he left that city, the beloved Apostle made sure that the young man had become a good member of the Church once more.

When he had grown so old and weak that he had to be carried to church, St. John used to say to his people over and over again, "My little children, love one another." The Christians once asked him why he said the same thing each time he spoke to them. St. John answered, "Because   it is the Word of the Lord, and if you keep it, you will be doing enough."

Today try to resemble St. John at least in one of his three great virtues - purity of heart, charity toward all, and love for the Blessed Mother.

A coloring picture of St. John can be found below.

john_the_evangelist_-_december_27th.pdf
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Saints of Christmastide - December 26th - St. Stephen

12/26/2021

SAINT STEPHEN

THE name of Stephen signifies a crown, and a glorious crown in heaven was surely won by him who was chosen of God to lay down his life for Christ's love, first of all the many martyrs.

St. Stephen was one of six other Jewish men who had been elected to the office of deacon by reason of their well-known piety and wisdom. This office was constituted in the early Church for the purpose of having proper care taken of the poor, and Stephen with his companions were admitted to it by the laying on of hands, and we bear that he was "full of faith and power, and did great wonders and miracles among the people."

But certain men began to feel great enmity against the holy deacon, and resolving to do him harm, they bribed false witnesses to declare that he had been heard publicly to utter blasphemy against Moses, and also against the Almighty. St. Stephen was therefore summoned to appear before the council or Sanhedrim upon the charge of saying that Jesus the crucified and rejected Nazarene, should destroy Jerusalem and change all the rites which had been celebrated by the command of Moses.

We hear that as the holy deacon stood before the assembly, his face shone as that of an angel, bright with the love of God, and the thought of the dear Master, Who also had been evil spoken of and dragged before an earthly tribunal. He made a long address to the council with such power and courage, that they were "cut to the heart at his words," yet gnashed with their teeth in their passionate anger against the Saint, who, looking upwards, cried: "Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." We read that at these words the infuriated people stopped their ears, and with one accord fell upon their victim, casting him violently outside the gates of the city that he might be stoned to death.

Heavily upon the martyr's head fell the stones, terribly they cut and bruised him; but he called upon his Master for help, saying: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" But Jesus had done more than suffer—He had prayed for His murderers; and Stephen, who was treading the hard, rough, bloodstained way of the Cross, must also pray for those who were taking his life. "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge," he cried, and thus speaking, he "fell asleep," the sweet sleep of a holy death, a martyr's death, which should know such a blissful awakening.

Oh, happy Saint, so soon to follow his crucified Lord! May we learn from him to love our enemies and to pray for our persecutors, and thus grasp the lesson of his holy life.

Source: Lives of the Saints, Vol. IV, 1878

Collect from the Mass of St. Stephen

Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that we may imitate him whose memory we celebrate, so as to learn to love even our enemies; because we now solemnize his martyrdom, who knew how to pray even for his persecutors to our Lord Jesus Christ, thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.

Source: The Liturgical Year, 1867

A coloring picture for the children can be found below:

stephen_-_december_26th.pdf
File Size:	278 kb
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Sunday Within the Octave - The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple

12/25/2021

THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD IN THE TEMPLE
Christmas is over; with the angels we have sung the beautiful anthem, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will." We have witnessed the tears of the Child Jesus, but we know that those tears were tears of lave, and for that reason, they did not distress us, but gave us consolation.

Today, with the joy of Christmas still in our hearts, we come with the Holy Family and other pious people to the Temple to witness the ceremony of the Presentation. The first time Our Lord goes out into the world. He directs His Mother to carry Him to church. The moral I wish to draw from this Gospel, dear young people, is, that you should think much of the house of God on earth. We must also imitate the example of Christ and while in church beg our dear Lord to inflame our souls more and more with His holy love. There are many who do not love the Church, through some depravity of heart, or the bad example of others. Will such be dear to Jesus? Will He love such as these? Jesus weeps for them.

Mary and Joseph heard the great prophecy which Simeon had spoken; they wondered at it, they thanked God for the light bestowed upon Simeon, and also that they had been made instruments of His divine providence.

We, too, my dear young people, must rejoice at the honors which God gives His Son, as we must weep when we see Him suffer. Yes, when you see Our Lord honored, feel joyful and be happy; when you see Him despised, be sad of heart. Is not this Jesus your good God? your beloved Redeemer who shed His precious blood for you? Can you witness the outrages which are heaped upon Him without resenting them, or at least trying to hinder them? What would you say of a son who saw his father badly used, and looked on carelessly and coldly? Should not a boy feel a natural impulse to defend his father by word and deed? Well, he that loves Jesus Christ should at least feel compassion when His holy religion is insulted. St. Teresa once said that a soul which loves Our Lord would sooner die than see Him despised or neglected. Elias the prophet, not to witness the wickedness of the Jewish people, hid himself in a cave, and there prayed that God would take him out of this life rather than he should see Him offended.

After Simeon had congratulated Mary and Joseph on their glorious future, he spoke of the sorrows that awaited Mary. "This child is set for the fall and the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be' contradicted; and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed." What a terrible prophecy this! Is it possible that this Child, who has come to this world for the salvation of His people, should indeed be the cause of the damnation of many? To whom will He be a ruin? to many in Israel, in the true church. He will be a ruin to infidels and heretics who will not believe in Him; a ruin to the proud who will not bow their heads in humility and faith, and to many Christians. But what Christians will be damned by the coming of Christ? Those who are so only in name; who do the works of the heathen and live in sin; who offend and blaspheme Our Lord, even though they were brought up Catholics. This divine Infant will also be the ruin of many young people, of those who from their earliest childhood cared little for Him, drove Him from their hearts to make room for the devil. He will be the utter ruin of those who, not content to lead bad lives themselves, lead others astray by giving bad example or by bad conversation.

The divine Infant is presented today in the Temple. There is nothing dreadful about Him now; but one day they shall see Him, fierce as a lion; they shall see Him as a God, scattering His thunderbolts among sinners; He will demand of them the strictest account of all their works, of all the souls they have ruined, and of whose eternal damnation they have been the cause. May this prophecy not be realized in you. Then it will be too late to please Him; no more time for mercy, but for justice.

There was once a young man at the point of death, who had led a bad life; the priest came and presented the crucifix to him to kiss, saying, "Here, my son, is your hope." The young man fixed his eyes on the cross and said, "Yes, you say truly. He is my hope, but He is now the cause of my despair," and these were his last words. Be you, my dear young people, faithful to Jesus, try to know Him well, do not offend Him, but love Him with a great love; then He will be your salvation and eternal life. But, Mary, my mother, what is that prophecy which Simeon makes concerning you: "Thy own soul a sword shall pierce"? In her subsequent life we see the prophecy verified. A sword of sorrow pierced her very soul, when she saw her divine Son insulted, made an object of hatred, crowned with thorns, and cruelly nailed to a cross. Our minds cannot realize the pain which Mary had to suffer. We know that our sins have been the cause of the Passion and death of Our Lord. Let us, therefore, weep all our life for the sins we have committed, and not renew the Passion of Our Lord or the sufferings of Mary.

The Blessed Virgin once appeared to St. Lutgard, looking very sad; the saint asked her why it was so. Mary replied, "How can I be joyful when so many, day after day, give me new cause of sorrow by again crucifying my most holy Son?" She also appeared to Blessed Mcoletta Franciscana with her Child covered with terrible wounds, and said, "See how sinners treat my Son, inflicting on Him mortal wounds, and giving me also fresh cause of sorrow." St. Alphonsus says that when we sin we take the hammer, and most unmercifully pierce the hands and feet of Jesus with nails, and then we turn on Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and plunge the sword of sorrow deep into her soul.

But let us follow the story of the Gospel: There was in the Temple at the same time a woman, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Aser; she was eighty years old, and after the death of her husband, had remained about the Temple serving the priests and engaged in prayer; she knew Our Lord at once, adored Him, and proclaimed Him the Saviour; then, filled with the Holy Ghost, she told them of the marvels of God's mercy, who had at last sent the Messias.

You see, my dear young people, how that holy woman who served Our Lord in silence and retirement, deserved so great a grace, so great a light of inspiration, as to be enabled to know Jesus. You, also, should love retirement, love to be near Our Lord in the Temple; speak often to Jesus in prayer, and then the Saviour will bring light to your souls, and speak to your hearts words of eternal life.

But there is something else to be considered in the story of this saintly old woman. We have in our cities and villages many who imitate this St. Anna. Let me say something in praise of these: they would willingly remain in the church, day and night, if they were permitted. We call them devotees. They are peculiar in their ways, considered crazy, derided by the good and bad as useless people; but perhaps they are high in the esteem of God. God gives more light to the simple and unpretending than to the philosophers who are puffed up with the pride of their intellect, and use it only to despise what they do not approve.

You remember that beautiful story of St. Catherine; she had a great dispute with some learned professors in one of the universities of Alexandria, Egypt, and in the presence of the Emperor Maximian, she so convinced them of their errors, that many became Christians and afterwards suffered martyrdom.

It is told of another martyr, who was a poor ignorant man, a laborer in the field, but who had studied Our Lord crucified; this man, when he had been judged guilty of disrespect to the gods and was condemned to death, made such a grand appeal to the emperor, that the tyrant himself acknowledged he was acting only from hatred of the Christian religion and not for the love of truth. These devotees in the sight of the world are useless, but we know that they have consecrated their lives to the service of God. There are also monks and nuns who spend much of their time in prayer. Are these people to be called pious idlers? Do they encumber the face of the earth, and should they be scattered as they have been in some countries? 0, how poor and miserable human beings are! They let vice walk openly in the world, and take little trouble about it; but when poor Religious gather together to pray, it makes them desperate, and they do not stop until they have succeeded in suppressing them. The Gospel ends by telling us that Our Lord lived at Nazareth, and grew in age and grace before God and man.

My dear young people, strive to grow in goodness, in virtue, and in sanctity, for it is the will of God that we all should be saints.

Sermons for Children's Masses, Imprimatur 1900

4th Sunday of Advent - The Baptism of Penance

12/19/2021

GOSPEL. Luke iii. 1-6.
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrareh of Iturea and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina, under the high-priests Annas and Caiphas: the word of the Lord was made unto John the son of Zachary, in the desert. And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins, as it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the prophet: A voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled: and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain. And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

THE BAPTISM OF PENANCE
The day is close upon us on which the Messias, the Saviour of the world, the King of the people, the Prince of Peace, the Desired of nations, is to appear on the earth. Christmas is near. You, my children, must make every effort to prepare the way for the coming of Our Saviour.

When a great king is about to visit a city, what a commotion and bustle there is! Every one makes the most magnificent preparations in his power. Our duty is not to a monarch of this world, but to the King of kings, the omnipotent God of heaven and earth. You understand, then, that it is certainly necessary to make some preparation. St. John was sent to indicate what preparation is to be made, and you ought to think of his directions and follow them.

St. John the Baptist, by the inspiration of God, left the desert which he had inhabited for thirty years, and betook himself to the banks of the river Jordan. John, who in all that time had seldom spoken to any one, boldly began to preach penance, inviting the people who flocked to him to be baptized as a sign of the amendment of their lives.

"Do penance," he cried, "for the kingdom of God is at hand." Well fitted was he to preach that penance of which he had become master. His appearance indicated the mortified man; a girdle of leather bound his body; his shoulders were covered with camels hair; he lived in no house, but under the open sky, suffering cold and heat, winds and rain. His food was locusts and wild honey, water was his drink. Such a prodigy of self-denial from his very infancy, as if he came from another world, certainly drew the attention of the religiously inclined. Even soldiers and publicans came to him attracted by his austerity, and asked what they should do. Every condition of life was represented; every sex, every age; all were there, and repeated the same question. They confessed their sins and did penance. This is what you ought to do to prepare the way of the Lord.

I know indeed, my dear children, that while you have preserved your innocence it is not necessary that I should insist very particularly on penance; but what child is there that has not known what sin is, and therefore I am right in preaching penance even to you.

But I would certainly not ask you to do any of the heroic penances such as John the Baptist practiced. For great and older sinners great penances are necessary, and they have
practiced them, as you know from history. Mary Magdalen, St. Peter, St. Paul. The great act of penance which is required even of you is to make a humble confession at the feet of the servant of God in the confessional. But even this light mark of penance does not come easy to some young people who have already fallen into sin. After having committed the sins, they hide them in their breasts; shame closes their mouths to the confessor; when asked about them they deny having committed them. To such I will say: "It is either confession or damnation." The alternative is not hard to choose, but you will find many who would rather be damned than generously declare their sins.

The priest never thinks less of the penitent who makes a clear confession. A youth once went to confession to St. Francis de Sales. He had horrible sins to tell, but he confessed them sincerely and with sorrow. When the confession was over he said to the saint with a blush: "Father, what must you think of me when you hear of such enormous sins?'' "My son,'' answered the saint, embracing him," what do I think of you? I think you are a saint. A moment ago you were a real devil, but now God has pardoned you and you are a saint."

If this was the thought of a saint about his penitent, why should you blush 'to tell all your sins in confession? But should you still feel a repugnance when you go to confession address yourself to Mary, and she will obtain for you the grace of a sincere and open confession.

There was once a girl who had committed a fault and had not the courage to confess it. For eight years she carried that unhappy ulcer of sin about her on her conscience. Though she knew it was a mortal sin, still she went to confession and communion. Outwardly she was calm, but her heart was torn by unbearable remorse. She looked happy, but she was far from being so. At last on Annunciation day she knelt before the image of our mother Mary and cried most bitterly, begging her to gain her grace to tell this fault. She obtained the grace and lived a saintly life afterwards.

There are many who confess their sins indeed, but not with sorrow; it is only by word of mouth they detest them. What did you do when you committed that wicked deed? You offended a good God who has created you, preserved and redeemed you, and for no other reason than to satisfy the demands of a vile passion and degrading habit; and by so doing you deprived yourself of God's grace, you refused Him His honor and glory, you gave yourself over to the power of Satan. Can you find a youth who will take such a view of sin? Very seldom.

This is the kind of penance which St. John wants when he says, "Do penance. Bring forth fruits worthy of penance." And thus it is that the young man who has not a real sorrow for his faults continues to live in sin, and though ostensibly repenting of his sins commits them over and over. What kind of repentance is this ? True repentance demands a real sorrow for sin, and the resolution not to commit it again. What must be foremost in the penitent's mind is the hatred of sin, the abomination of that which is so evil, however pleasing it may be to our senses. What hatred is there for a sin that is committed again?

Let us suppose that a Jew is going to become a Christian. What great consolation such an event is to all. The day approaches when he is to be baptized. He goes to the church and there is a great feast made. But soon he returns to the belief of the Synagogue. What a disappointment, what a feeling of 'disgust, yes, even of hatred, at such 'a miserable wretch! If he believed in the faith of Jesus Christ, the true one, why did he leave it? If false, why did he become a Christian? But after a while he declares he believes again in Christ and yet, for a second time, he perverts and becomes a Jew. Would you say that he was ever a real Christian? No indeed; he pretended to be one, he was always a Jew, he never had the true faith.

Let us apply this to ourselves. Can you really call him penitent who today confesses his sins and says he repents of them, but who never, even for a moment, breaks off his attachment to sin, and to-morrow willfully commits the same sins again? Does he not clearly prove that he loves his sins? This is making a mockery of God. The Lord compares such repentance to the dog that returns to its vomit. St. Paul says that such people despise the kindness of God. Will those who thus continue to sin ever have the peace of God in their souls? Oh, no! The holy peace of a pardoned sinner God gives only to the just, to His friends, not to those who return again and again to their sins. Can they expect the blessing of God at the birth of the divine Infant? No, but they may be sure that maledictions will descend upon them.

My dear children, do all you can to prepare the way of Our Lord; with the Prophet Ezechiel I say to you, "Be converted and do penance for all your iniquities; cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed, and make to yourselves a new heart and a new spirit."

With St. Augustine I call on you to prepare the way of the Lord by ornamenting your souls with the magnificent virtues of sobriety, chastity, and charity. You must make yourselves worthy to receive the loving caresses of the Child Jesus, not only by being sober in eating and drinking, but by being careful and sober in speaking, careful about the books you read. With sobriety practice purity, too. You know how highly Our Lord values that virtue, for He would have no other than an immaculate Mother and He Himself was called the immaculate Lamb. Your thoughts must be pure, also your looks, your words, your affections, and all your actions. By them show a pure and innocent heart. With all this you must not forget great love and charity, for what are all virtues without the love of God?

St. Augustine shows us in many places how we should love Our Lord. With this great doctor let us say, "I love Thee, Saviour, I desire to love Thee more. Thou art an infinite God and therefore Thou deservest to be loved with an infinite love. Sweet Infant Jesus, come to my heart, and do not delay any longer." Thus the saints loved, and the Child Jesus was so pleased with the tenderness of their love that He sometimes visited them and spoke to them words of love.

St. Gustave at the approach of Christmas felt such a love for the coming of Our Lord, that the Blessed Virgin herself came from heaven and placed the Infant Jesus in his arms on Christmas night.

St. Laurence Justinian, when he said Mass one Christmas, fell into an ecstasy at the consecration and stood there like one turned to stone. When the acolyte saw this, he went up to him and pushed him, so as to rouse him. The saint started as if wakened from a heavy slumber and said: "Why, yes, I will go on with the Mass, but what is to be done with
this beautiful child? ''

What a glorious thing would it not be to 'have such a love for Our Lord! We would then know how to prepare for the birth of the Child Jesus. We would hardly need any instructions, because love would tell us what to do. He would come and make His throne in our hearts. He would fulfill all our wishes, and give us great graces.

Source: Sermons for the Children's Masses, Imprimatur 1900

2021 Catholic Family Calendar

12/13/2021

Below you will find our Catholic Family Calendar. I make one for our family each year with edifying pictures and prayers. If you wish to use it please feel free to download and print it for your own family. It is not an official calendar of the Catholic Church so please if using double check days of fast.

2022_calendar.pdf
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The Wonder Story Coloring Book

12/13/2021

A Christmas coloring book
to keep the little ones
occupied during
Christmas break.
You can print the whole book or print individual pages. The choice is yours.
You can find the file below or here.

WE WISH YOU ALL A VERY
HAPPY AND HOLY CHRISTMAS!!

the_wonder_story_coloring_book.pdf
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Advent Time

12/13/2021

The Four Weeks of Advent
The time of preparation for the sweet mysteries of the birth of Our Lord is called Advent, that is to say, the coming. Its four weeks recall to Christians the four thousand years of prayers and sighs which preceded the coming of the Messias.

The Anthems of Advent
Seven days before Christmas is sung at Vespers an anthem called " The O Anthems of Advent," because it begins with this exclamation; it is a cry sent out to the Messias. It is sung at Vespers; for was it not in the evening of the world that the Messias came ? It is sung at the Magnificat to show that the Saviour for Whom we wait will come to us through Mary. (Gueranger, The Liturgical Year.) Again, the repetition of the anthem expresses well the ardent sighs, constantly renewed, of the patriarchs; the Introit has already offered us the same figure.
Practices of Advent
There remain among us to-day few traces of Advent as it was observed by our fathers. They sanctified it by prayer, fasting, and abstinence.. The old-time penitence is always practised in monasteries, but among the faithful the Church has pre- served, but its symbols. During Advent she clothes herself in purple, and this sign of mourning shows us how the Church unites herself to the desire of Israel, who waited in sackcloth and ashes the coming of the Messias. As a sign of widowhood it expresses the sorrow of the Church, who awaits that Spouse Whose absence costs her heart so dear.
Marriages are not celebrated in Advent, their worldly joy being little in agreement with the holy tears and chaste pangs of penitence. Moreover it is toward other nuptial feasts that the Church turns the eyes of her children : these are those of the eternal marriage, begun here below in the Eucharistic banquet. The Alleluia, which continues its tender harmony in these days of penitence, should make us sigh for the joys of the festival of the Lamb.

Except on feast-days, the two angelical hymns, the Gloria in excelsis and the Te Deum, are not sung till the great day when they are chanted at the crib of the infant God. The Ite, Missa est, is replaced by the call to prayer: '' Benedicamus Domino"—"Let us bless the Lord;" for we cannot pray too much in these holy days of waiting.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th.
The deluge of iniquities which has inundated the world for four thousand years is about to end ; Mary, the heavenly dove, brings the good tidings to the world. The dark night which has weighed upon humanity will soon see its shadows scattered; she whom the Holy Spirit compared to the dawn will appear in this holy season, like a forerunner of the Sun of justice. The star which precedes the morning shines upon the horizon. A thousand times blessed be the day which brings us so much joy! May all Christians hail with gratitude the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary!

Faith teaches us that at the moment when God united the soul of Mary, which He had just created, to the body which it was to animate, not only had that soul not contracted in the least the stain which till then had disfigured every human soul, but it was filled with grace tremendous in extent and ineffable in beauty. A feast in honor of this glorious mystery existed in the East in the sixth century. The Church of Lyons introduced this solemnity into France. The definition of the Immaculate Conception as a dogma was made under the
pontificate of Pope Pius IX., December 8, 1854.

The Blue Scapular of the Immaculate Conception.--
The venerable Ursula Benincasa, on the day of the purification, saw Mary, who appeared to her clad in a white robe and a blue mantle. She held the infant Jesus pressed against her heart, and a multitude of virgins, clothed like their glorious queen, formed her train. Our Lord showed her the wish that He had of seeing a congregation of virgins arise, who, placing themselves under the invocation of Mary Immaculate, should take the habit in which His Mother was then clad. He promised the greatest graces to those who should be faithful in following the rules of this new Congregation. Ursula begged Our Lord to shower His favors upon those who, living in the world and devoted to the Blessed Virgin, should live chastely according to their state and wear a blue scapular. To prove to her that her prayer was heard, God showed her, while this blissful vision lasted, angels clothing a great number of Christians with this holy habit. The indulgences attached to the blue scapular of the Immaculate Conception are innumerable. "As for me," says St. Alphonsus Liguori, "I would take all scapulars." But above all you must know that the scapular of the Immaculate Conception, which is blessed by the Theatine Fathers, besides all its partial indulgences, has all the indulgences granted to whatever religious order, whatever devotion, whatever person there can be. And particularly that by reciting six times Pater, Ave, and Gloria, in honor of the Most Holy Trinity and Mary Immaculate, can be gained each time all the indulgences of Rome, of Portiuncula, of Jerusalem, and of Galicia, which amounts to 533 plenary indulgences, without speaking of partial indulgences, which are innumerable." (Glories of Mary, These indulgences have been confirmed by Gregory XVI. in a decree dated July 12, 1845.)

Translation of the Holy House of Loretto, December 10th,
This feast up to this time is not of obligation in the universal Church, but it is celebrated in many countries, and has for its object thanksgiving to God for the blessing with which He has enriched the West, when, in order to compensate it for the loss of the holy sepulchre. He miraculously transported to Catholic ground the house in which the Blessed Virgin received the message of the angel, and where the Word was made flesh.Many of our readers may be ignorant of this marvellous event, which we will repeat here. It was under the pontificate of Celestine V., and when the Christians had entirely lost the holy places in Palestine, that the little house wherein was wrought the mystery of the Incarnation in the womb of Mary was transported by angels from Nazareth into Dalmatia, or Sclavonia, to a little mountain called Tersato.
The miracles which were wrought every day in this holy house, the legal investigation which the deputies of the country went to Nazareth to make, to prove the translation into Dalmatia, as well as the universal conviction of the people who came to venerate it from all parts of the world, seemed to be incontestable proofs of the truth of the miracle. Nevertheless, God wished to give another, which should have, in a sense, Dalmatia and Italy for witnesses. After three years and seven months the holy house was transported across the Adriatic Sea to the territory of Recanati, into a forest belonging to a lady called Loretta; and this event threw the people of Dalmatia into such desolation that it seemed that they would not survive it, and to console themselves they built upon the same spot a church consecrated to the Mother of God, over the door of which they put this inscription: "Hie est locus in quo fait sacra Domus Nazarena quae nunc Recineti partibus colitur,'''' At the same time there were many inhabitants of Dalmatia who came to Italy to fix their residence near to the holy house.
This new translation made such stirring of Christian hearts that a multitude of pilgrims came from nearly every part of Europe to Recanati, in order to honor the house now called ''of Loretto." To prove more and more fully the truth of this event, the inhabitants of the province sent first to Dalmatia, and then to Nazareth, sixteen persons who were the best qualified for the service, who made in these places new investigations; but God deigned to demonstrate the certainty Himself by renewing twice in succession the miracle of the translation even in the territory of Recanati. For at the end of eight months, the forest of Loretto being infested with highwaymen who stopped the pilgrims, the house was transported to a point a mile further, and placed on a little height which belonged to two brothers of the family of Antici ; and when these brothers had taken arms against one another in dispute over the division of the offerings of the pilgrims, the house was transferred to an enclosure a little further removed, and in the midst of the public way, where it has remained and where has since grown up the village called Loretto.
Source: "Catholic Ceremonies" ~ Imprimatur 1896

Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness Against Thy Neighbor

11/27/2021

With the beautiful holyday of Christmas not that far off I've been doing some thinking. This is one thing I've been mulling over in this head of mine. The Catholic church teaches us that it is a sin to tell a lie.

In the Baltimore Catechism (Imprimatur 1891) I find:

379 Q. What are we commanded by the eighth Commandment?
A. We are commanded by the eighth Commandment to speak the truth in all things, and to be careful of the honor and reputation of every one.

380 Q. What is forbidden by the eighth Commandment?
A. The eighth Commandment forbids all rash judgments, backbiting, slanders, and lies.

TRUTH

LIE

Christmas is Jesus' birthday, a very special holyday. A day that the whole world anxiously awaited for 4000 years. All that sweet little Infant asks of us is our love in return for all that He has done for us.   Please keep Christ in Christmas!

                                                             Santa (Satan) Claus verses Jesus Christ
                                                                           Jesus is the reason for the Season
                                                                             Keep Jesus Christ in Christmas

Have you seen this article on Santa Claus?

The letters of S-a-n-t-a spell S-a-t-a-n when arranged correctly. Satan's Cause (better known as Santa Claus) is one of the best tools of SATAN to destroy the true meaning of Christmas.

Remember that the real symbols of Christmas are the Star, the Stable and the Crib not Santa and his reindeer! How sad that far more people "decorate" with PAGAN symbols than with the CHRISTIAN Nativity Scene with Jesus, Mary, Saint Joseph, the Shepherds and Wise Men!

Santa has replaced the great St. Nicholas. Santa has, as well, usurped the place of the Christ Child and transformed the meaning of Christmas. Gift giving and holiday cheer is now referred to as "happy holidays" or "xmas", whereas Christmas means Christ's Mass, the coming of Christ. It is also disturbing that Santa has been given attributes of the One True God.

1. God is Eternal. Santa appears as an old man; he has always been, and will always be. He seems Eternal. Vs. Jesus IS eternal.

2. God is Omniscient (all-knowing). Santa, it is said "sees you when you're sleeping, knows when you're awake... he knows if you've been bad or good."

3. God is the Remunerator (Just Rewarder). Santa is said to give his gifts according to whether you are good or bad. Christ says, " I am He that searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according to your works." (Apoc. 2, 23) and "Behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to his works." (Apoc. 22, 12)

4. God is Omnipresent (present everywhere, at all times). Santa can be in one billion homes in 24 hours; that is 11,057 per second, virtually omnipresent. Jesus said "For where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18; 20)

5. God is Omnipotent (all-powerful). Santa is said to be powerful enough to carry presents for all the children of the world: that's Omnipotence. Jesus is Omnipotent. "And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying; All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth." (Matt. 28; 18)

6. Christ, in His Resurrection: Santa is said to come though the doors are locked. After Our Lord's resurrection, He passed through shut doors with His glorified body. "Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you...

7. Christ in His Ascension: Santa goes into the air and gives gifts. Jesus ascends on high and gives gifts, especially the gift of eternal life. "Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the giving of Christ. Wherefore He saith: Ascending on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." (Eph. 4)

8. Christ will come again: Advent (the four weeks before Dec. 25) is the time to prepare for Christ's three-fold coming: commemoration of His Coming as Babe at Christmas; His coming by grace into our hearts; His coming as Judge at the end of time. Indeed, it is not Santa who is coming to town soon; IT IS CHRIST! "Surely I come quickly." (Apoc. 22)

Note: Scripture even mentions a city in the north, and that Christ will appear clothed in red, with white hair. "With the joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion founded, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King." Psalm 47;3. "He was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood: and His name is called the Word of God." (Apoc. 9, 13) "His hairs were white as wool, and as white as snow." (Apoc. 1, 4)

The truth is that it is OUTRIGHT LYING to promote the Satanic belief in Santa Claus! Most adults in the world LIE to their children and grandchildren, and those children in turn LIE to their children and grandchildren when they grow older - as everyone promotes the Satan inspired theory of Santa Claus and his reindeer! Why continue repeating the BIG LIE over and over until nearly everyone sometime during their lifetime believed in the lies concerning Santa Claus, etc. Even most people who say they are Christians are promoting this work of the Devil! They say they believe in God and Sacred Scripture as teaching the TRUTH! But do they actually believe the eternal Truth? Listen to what the Eternal Truth has to say about their habitual lying concerning Santa Claus.

“Lie not one to another.” CoI. 3, 9.

“You are of your father the devil; and the desires of your father you will do. He stood not in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speakest a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.” John 8, 44.

“Wherefore, putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.” Ep. 4, 25.

“All liars shall have their portion in the pool burning with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Apoc. 21,8.

“You shall not lie, neither shall any man deceive his neighbor.” Lev. 19,11.

Why do people send out Christmas Cards when the pictures and words and contents of the card have nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ? Why do people continue to decorate for Christmas without using anything to remind one of the Nativity of Jesus Christ? If you drove around the towns and cities on Christmas Eve (at least in the USA) you will probably find less than 5 percent of the homes and stores with a Nativity Scene! Yet people want us to believe we live in a Christian Nation! A Christian Nation indeed!!! The majority of even the "Christians" are promoting the deceptive LIES of Satan.

Remember that the Christmas Season has to do with the CHILD Jesus and not the KID Jesus. It is very common today that parents speak of their children as kids. Do they think about what they are doing? They are again promoting another deceptive trap of the devil.

The offspring of humans are children, whereas the offspring of goats are kids. Now what is one of the main symbols of the Freemasons if not the goat whose offspring is the kid? Is it not a principle goal of the Freemasons to destroy that which pertains to Jesus Christ and Christianity? When Catholics have their children Baptized, they become a child of God! But the next thing you hear is the fact that they fell into the trap of the Freemasons and call the child of God a Freemasonic goat offspring!

Instead of Merry Christmas to celebrate and commemorate Mary's joys with the Christ CHILD, it is now Happy Holidays to celebrate Satan's day with the KIDS under the guise of Santa Claus.

May God have mercy on us and on the whole world!

Advent to Christmas in a Catholic Home

11/27/2021

Christmas is a liturgical season of great joy. It lasts forty days, from December 25 to February 2, during which the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior, is celebrated as one continuous festival. The finale comes with His presentation in the temple. A season most dear to Christian hearts, Christmas is as distinct in the liturgy as Advent, Lent, Easter, or Pentecost.

Four weeks of Advent are scarcely enough to "prepare the way of the Lord" for His coming to us as King. However, if we have used that season as a preparation, we are ready now to receive the Redeemer who will deliver us from sin in answer to our requests. Christ's coming must be, not a lovely idyll or a pastoral scene, but a reality accomplished in our lives and our children's. Forty days of rejoicing are not too long a celebration for so great an event.

The early Church selected December 25, the date of the winter solstice when God the Creator gives the sun an increase of natural light in northern hemispheres, as the day on which to celebrate the birth of the Sun of Justice, Light of the world. Radiating from the Divine Child are a galaxy of wonderful saints whose lives afford a continuing interest in celebrating the feast of His birth. Micheas, who lived in the days of Isaias, prophesied the birthplace of the Messiah: "Thou, Bethlehem, art a little one among the thousands in Judah; out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be the Ruler of Israel; and His going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity."

The name Bethlehem signifies House of Bread. To it at Christmas - comes the Savior, who is the Bread of Life. By our participation in this mystery the divine transformation takes place whereby He "reshapes the body of our lowliness after the body of His splendor." Our forbearers gave the name Christmas to the feast of our Lord's birth because they kept the "Christ Mass" as the heart of their celebrations. Following closely the liturgy of the Church, they centered their customs and wrote their hymns and carols on her practices of the season, adoration, love, joy, and gratitude. Those practices also increased their admiration for His Virgin Mother Mary, who gave Almighty God His human form. He had created heaven and earth by His Word, but His becoming Man depended on a creature's FIAT, Be it done unto me according to Thy Word. Mary consented. Our forebearers honored her in their great masterpieces because she is God's Mother. For the same reason the world in our day honors her as Queen of Heaven.

It is to our Lady that Christian families must look for help to reestablish Christmas as a season of festivities marking Christ's birth. Either we live the liturgical year with its varying seasons of joy and sorrow, work and rest, or we follow the pattern of the world. Nor is it an easy task to break with the world and the powerful influence of advertising. Their season of Christmas begins around Thanksgiving Day when stores display wares for holiday gift-giving. It lasts until December 24. Families, who would not dream of eating their Thanksgiving turkey a week in advance or of having their 4th of July picnic in June, give no thought to the fact that, when they awake on December 25, there is not a shred of Christmas left. Every present has been opened. Every carol has been sung. The tree has dried out Christmas is apt to be a dull day given to over-eating. There was no fast in Advent, so it follows that there can be no feast.

It is difficult to keep one's home dark in Advent penance; to keep a tree fresh outside the door; to refrain from singing carols until Christmas eve. We see their friends' trees shimmering with ornaments a week before Christmas. Their houses are bedecked with lights. Television and radio blare carols. Not only is it difficult to keep from celebrating beforehand, it is even more difficult to begin forty days of the Christmas season when all around people are concluding their festivities. How
then do families return to the spirit of the Church and begin the season of joy and grace on Christmas eve?

The simplest way is by keeping Advent. Advent is the beginning of the new liturgical year. It is a season of spiritual preparation, marked by eager longing for the coming of the Saviour through grace at Christmas, and for His second and final coming. It is also an ideal time to establish in our homes liturgical customs which will restore our children to Christ.

These age-old Advent practices help our children live closer to Christ and His Church during the pre-Christmas season. Time-tested and proven, the customs teach the doctrines of redemption and develop a generosity with God and a coordination of the family's spiritual efforts as effectively now as they did for our forebears. Their strong and living faith will be the heritage of our children if family religious practices, centered in the Liturgy, "The Normal School of Sanctity for the Laity," are established in our homes- Secularism has invaded our households. The Bishops of the United States have warned us that "The Christian must make his home holy - the Christian must realize the Christian ideal." Father Edgar Schmiedler, O.S.B., in his three excellent pamphlets, Your Home A Church in Miniature, says of family customs and blessings: "They are a relatively simple, but highly important, means of union between altar and home. They are a media for channeling from one great spiritual reservoir, given into then Church's keeping by Christ, the living and transforming waters of grace from the Saviour's fountain."

Children love to anticipate. When there are empty mangers to fill with straws of small sacrifices, when the Mary-Candle is a daily reminder on the dinner table, when Advent hymns are sung in the candlelight of a graceful Advent wreath, children are not anxious to celebrate Christmas before time. That would offend their sense of honor. Older children who make Nativity sets, cut Old Testament symbols to decorate a Jesse tree, or prepare costumes for a Christmas play will find Advent all too short a time to prepare for the coming of Christ the King.

Children, who love the beauty and simplicity of family religious practices, make the traditions easy to establish. As a rule it is best to begin with one or two customs and others in years to come. It is also highly desirable that families develop their own special customs, at least by adapting traditional ones to their personal circumstances. Once established, customs recall to older members of the family long forgotten practices of their own childhood. These have a special appeal because they belonged to our forefathers and link us to the wealth of national customs now fallen into disuse.

Celebrating Christmas in its season can be accomplished more easily when several families try it together. Frequently there are families who, if only for sentimental reasons, would like to keep the joy and surprise of Christmas for the eve. Christians of the Eastern rite wait until their particular feast of Christmas comes in January. We should likewise begin ours on its proper day. We also need time for our festivities. As difficult as it may be, we should decline invitations to celebrate Christmas
at the various parties sprinkled throughout the Advent season. The Church gives us a period of forty days for rejoicing. Instead invite friends and family to your own joyous celebration of Christ's birth during the many days following December 25th, when for others it is otherwise a disappointing and barren time.

If during Advent we open our souls fully, the Heavens will rain the Just One." St. Pius X, whose burning desire was to restore all things to Christ, might well become the patron of parents who wish to restore their children to Christ through these practices. Our Blessed Lady and St. Joseph too will send inspiration from the Holy Spirit, for theirs was a home where feast day cooking, family customs, family prayers and singing abounded, according to prescribed Jewish law. It is to them we must look for help in order to train our children "to live temperately, justly, reverently, in this world, awaiting the Advent of the glory of the great God."

May you all have a blessed and fruitful Advent Season!
Source: Advent and Christmas in a Catholic Home, Imprimatur 1950

Prayer for Advent

11/27/2021

A Prayer For Advent

Sweet Infant Jesus, I bring to Thee this day and all the days of Advent my heart, my love, my very life, together with those little acts of self-denial and sacrifice made in Thy honor, and which Thou alone knowest.

Let me, I beg Thee heap with gifts around Thy crib that they may on Christmas morning prove my love for Thee, and may my love and adoration serve to warm Thy poor stable and make bright and happy the day of Thy birth.

Amen Sweet Jesus.

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

11/25/2021

THERE is a whole school of thought that sniffs at the idea of encouraging Catholic customs in the home--or anywhere else, for that matter. Customs like the saying of the rosary together, the decorating of an altar in May seem to them too childish for consideration. For them the doctrines of the Church are sufficient, without these extras. And indeed the doctrines of the Church are enough for anyone. They are like straight, unwinding roads that lead into eternity; only on either side of these roads are hedges and ditches and meadows and all sorts of flowers. The ultra-catholic Catholic is not interested in these flowers or fields. Still, such things are to a road what Catholic customs are to the faith; they adorn it, enliven it, they help to keep one on the journey.

It is not strange that all sorts of devotional practices have sprung up around Catholicism, sometimes practices that may seem rather trifling until one realizes that customs cannot be worthless that have evolved from the faith of the people through many hundreds of years, sometimes through well over a thousand years. What family is there that does not use certain sayings and phrases that have significance only for those belonging to the circle? What family exists that has no peculiar customs, nicknames, rites, birthday ceremonies that outsiders cannot be expected to appreciate? Can anyone account for the curious rites they observed as children. Those rites are not necessary for family life, but they adorn it and enliven it. And since the Church is not an institution but a family that ranges from God and God's mother and thence to the saints and thence to the souls in purgatory and from them to ourselves, is it not astonishing then that spiritual family rites and customs have sprung up? It is surprising how few people think of this. But the parents who do enter into these spiritual family customs can give their children treasures, whose value they may not realize until eternity.

There is nothing forced in this idea: why does the church in her liturgy allot the various days to the honor of her saints, or to events in the lives of Christ and of Mary, if she does not wish us to celebrate them in some way?

These feasts of the Church are fixed, but the way they can be celebrated can vary--and does vary tremendously from place to place. With the passing of time the festivities and the customs of the day have also changed, still the essence remains the same. At Christmas, for instance, Jesus is the center of the day, and everywhere in the world Christians will show their love to the new-born Child in their own way, whether this be with carol singing, erecting cribs, hanging Advent wreaths, placing lighted candles in the windows, leaving empty places at the table for the holy Family, or by making it a special festive day for children, their own or other people's.
                                                                    ~ adapted from: "A Candle is Lighted," Imprimatur 1945. ~

It is with these thoughts in mind I will share those traditions that we do to help bring our Faith to life.

ADVENT - Holy Mother Church's way of teaching Her children to prepare for the coming of Christ, both on His birthday and on Judgment Day. To this family the Advent and Christmas season is the most wonderful time of the year. We have many traditions that help make the season penitential as well as joyous.

My children as well as my husband and I are eagerly awaiting the first Sunday of Advent. It is on this day that we start our traditions. Besides the Advent Wreath with it's prayers and songs, we have another tradition called "Christkindl" (Christ Child). After our Mass prayers are said and our breakfast eaten I bring out a bowl which I pass around. In it are pieces of paper each containing a different name of one of our family members. The papers are neatly rolled up, because the drawing has to be done in great secrecy. Each person then draws a piece of paper from the bowl and looks at it in secret. (This tradition is a little hard when all the children are small because the burden of keeping track of each person's Christkindl falls on the mother) The person whose name one has drawn is now in one's special care. From this day until Christmas, one has to do as many little favors for him or her as one can. One has to provide at least one surprise every single day--but without ever being found out. This creates a wonderful atmosphere of joyful suspense, kindness, and thoughtfulness. Perhaps you will find that somebody has made your bed, done your chores or has informed you, in a disguised handwriting on a holy card, that "a rosary has been said for you today" or a number of sacrifices have been offered up. (Note: I will type up on paper prayers like, 3 Hail Mary's or a decade of the Rosary, etc. and place them in the center of the Advent wreath for the children to use for each other. When it has been found by the Christkindl it is then returned to the wreath to be used again.) The beautiful thing about this particular custom is that the relationship is a reciprocal one. The person whose name I have drawn and who is under my care becomes for me the helpless little Christ Child in the manger; and as I am performing these many little acts of love and consideration for someone in the family I am really doing them for the Infant of Bethlehem, according to the word, "And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me." That is why this particular person turns into "my Christkindl." At the same time I am the "Christkindl" also for the one I am caring for because I want to imitate the Holy Child and render all those little services in the same spirit as He did in that small house of Nazareth, when as a child He served His Mother and His foster father with a similar love and devotion. Many times throughout these weeks can be heard such exclamations as, "I have a wonderful Christkindl this year!" or, "Goodness, I forgot to do something for my Christkindl and it is already suppertime!" It is a delightful custom, which creates much of the true Christmas spirit and ought to be spread far and wide.

We have a large manger (just the Infant's bed) that we set up on our domestic altar. It is empty and throughout the Advent season after our evening prayers are said, the children place pieces of hay into it for each good deed they have performed during the day. The more good they have done, the softer Baby Jesus' bed will be come Christmas morning. (Note: We use straw colored yarn cut into pieces instead of the hay that can be reused year after year.)

There is still one very important thing to do for Advent. Each member of the family writes a letter to the Baby Jesus mentioning his resolutions for the weeks of Advent and listing the wish for a gift. This "Christkindl Brief" (letter to the Holy Child) is put under the manger on our domestic altar for the Guardian Angels to take to the Christ Child. (I have kept these over the years and love to read them over again.)

It cannot be said often enough that during these weeks before Christmas, songs and hymns of Advent should be sung. No Christmas carols! Consciously we should work toward restoring the true character of waiting and longing to these precious weeks before Christmas. Just before Midnight Mass, on December 24th, is the moment to sing for the first time "Silent Night, Holy Night," for this is the song for this very night. It may be repeated afterwards as many times as we please, but it should not be sung before that holy night.

This year we will be adding yet another tradition or actually changing the way that we do one. We used to at the beginning of the school year have each child pick a Saint that they have to research, make a costume for, and tell about come All Saints Day. This year we are going to do things a little differently.

The following has been taken from: "Around the Year with the Trapp Family" and it is this tradition that we are going to adapt to our own.
    "One of the old customs is to choose a patron saint for the new year of the Church. The family meets on Saturday evening, and with the help of the missal and a book called "The Martyrology," which lists thousands of saints as they are celebrated throughout the year, they choose as many new saints as there are members of the household. We always choose them according to a special theme. One year, for instance, we had all the different Church Fathers; another year we chose only martyrs; then again, only saints of the new world....During the war we chose one saint of every country at war.
    The newly chosen names are handed over to the calligrapher of the family. She writes the names of the saints in gothic lettering on little cards. Then she writes the name of every member of the household on an individual card and hands the two sets over to the mother
In the afternoon of the first Sunday of Advent, the whole family meets in the living room. The Advent wreath hangs suspended from the ceiling on four red ribbons; the Advent candle stands in the middle of the table or on a little stand on the side. Solemnly the father lights one candle on the Advent wreath, and, for the first time, the big Advent candle. Then he reads the Gospel of the first Sunday of Advent. After this the special song of Advent is intoned for the first time, the ancient "Ye heavens, dew drop from above, and rain ye clouds the Just One...."
    After our first gathering around the Advent light, and the singing of the first Advent hymn, an air of expectancy spreads over the family group; now comes the moment when the mother goes around with a bowl in which are the little cards with the names of the new saints. Everybody draws a card and puts it in his missal. This saint will be invoked every morning after morning prayer. Everyone is supposed to look up and study the life story of his new friend, and some time during the coming year he will tell the family all about it. As there are so many of us, we come to know about different saints every year. Sometimes this calls for considerable research on the part of the unfortunate one who has drawn St. Eustachius, for instance, or St. Bibiana. But the custom has become very dear to us, and every year it seems as if the family circle were enlarged by all those new brothers and sisters entering in and becoming known and loved by all.

Start a tradition or two with your families this Advent season, your children will learn to love and cherish them and it will help bring your Faith to life.

May you all have a very fruitful and blessed Advent!

Below you will find a printable file with the Advent Wreath Prayers:

advent_prayers.pdf
File Size:	191 kb
File Type:	pdf

24th Sunday after Pentecost - Prepare to Face the Judgment

11/10/2021

My dear children: As our holy faith teaches us, Jesus Christ will come again at the end of the world to judge the living and the dead. All men that ever lived will rise out of their graves and be gathered together before the Lord of Heaven and earth. God wills all men to be saved, but to a great majority of mankind the sentence of condemnation will be pronounced, as men will not do what is necessary for obtaining salvation. Children, what must we do in order to obtain a favorable judgment? Listen and I shall tell you.

Make a good confession. Many nominal Catholics live for years in entire forgetfulness of God and add sin upon sin. In order to set things right they must make a confession of their past life. There are some who confess invalidly on account of their want of contrition and a firm purpose of amendment; some do not examine their conscience strictly enough, and on that account their confession is very imperfect. Even for those who are pious a rehearsal of their past confessions is at times advisable. In their examination of conscience they might find that one or the other of their past confessions was essentially faulty.

St. John Climacus relates the following consoling story: There lived in the East a young man who had from his youth given himself up to every kind of sin, and was remarkable even among those who were wicked for his evil deeds. But God spoke to the heart of this young man and inspired him with the resolution to return to his Heavenly Father. Going at once to a monastery in Alexandria, he fell down at the feet of the Abbot and besought him to admit him into the number of his religious. The holy man who had heard much about the bad life of this man was indeed glad to see him kneeling so humbly at his feet, but fearing that the present emotions would pass away, he said to him: 'My child, you will
never be able to practice the austerities which our monks practice; besides you would never be able to confess your sins publicly in Church, as is the custom amongst us.' 'Yes, my Father," he answered, "not only would I confess all my sins before the monks of your house, but I am willing to confess them in public before all the world, if necessary.' The abbot on hearing this admitted him.

On the following Sunday, when the monks were assembled in the church to the number of two hundred and thirty, the Abbot ordered the young man to be brought in. He entered clothed in sackcloth and covered with ashes. The Abbot then placed him in the middle of the Church and told him to begin his confession. He at once obeyed and recited his sins amid sobs and tears. During the time he was thus accusing himself one of the monks saw standing at his side a beautiful angel. He held a large open book and with a pen he effaced every sin that was confessed. God was pleased to make known in this way that He forgave that great sinner all that he had done wrong, because he was sorry for his sins, and confessed them.

The same thing happens to you, children, every time you make a good confession. God's angel effaces your sins from the book in which they were recorded, never to appear against you again. Oh, try then, always to make good confessions that your sins may be blotted out, and that your soul may become beautiful before God. If you find it difficult to tell some sin you may have committed, ask the most holy Mother of God to obtain for you the grace to confess it.

When we find that a general confession is necessary we must never delay it. No one knows whether he will be so situated as to make a good general confession. A Spanish nobleman came one day to a missionary, requesting him to hear his general confession. To the question why he wished to make one then he replied : "Ah, must I not die! But if I wait till that time the thought of wife and children, fear, the vehemence of the sickness, may prevent me from being calm and deliberate ; how great, therefore, would be my imprudence if I should put off this business to such an inopportune time and under so many difficulties." And he would not defer his general confession for a single day. Children, do not let a mission, or a jubilee, or a change of your state of life pass by without making a general confession.

Marie, spouse of Louis XV. of France, had a son whom she also trained in the fear of God up from his infancy. When he grew up to be a young man he had to leave his mother's house and live for a time among strangers. During his absence word was brought to his mother that he had to spend part of his time among those who would take a pleasure in corrupting his young heart. As soon as she was informed of this, she threw herself on her knees at the foot of the crucifix and recommended her beloved child to the protection of his Heavenly Father. "O my God," she prayed, "take my darling boy to Thyself, rather than permit him to offend Thee by sin, or to lose the treasure of his innocence."

God heard the prayer of that good mother and delivered him from the evil that threatened him. When he returned home, the first question his mother asked him was if he had much to endure from the companions he had to mingle with. "Yes, my mother," he replied, "great indeed were the dangers they put around me to ruin me; but, thanks be to God, and to your prayers, I have still kept my soul pure and stainless." Not long after this time the young Prince became suddenly very ill and died in sentiments of great piety. On the evening of the day of his death his mother sent for her other children, and, with tears in her eyes, said to them: "Your brother is dead; it is I, your mother, who asked God to take him to Himself. Sometime ago I heard that he was in danger of committing sin. I went on my knees and prayed fervently to God to take him out of this world rather than permit him to lose his innocence. God has heard me, and I thank Him for His goodness to me. Still I weep for him, for I loved him as dearly as any mother could love her child."

Children, you have just heard how prayer kept the son of the king pure and innocent, you can rest assured that his conscience was always in order. How calm and innocent he must have stood before the just Judge. In order to persevere in grace unto the end we need special help from God, for the enemies of our soul are very powerful. We must ask for this help and that is obtained first of all by prayer. Only those obtain salvation who pray, and those are lost who do not pray. All the saints have been saved because they prayed. Who then would not pray with fervor, since so much depends on prayer?

The Sacraments of Penance and the Blessed Eucharist are another means to keep our conscience in order. As often as you make a humble and sincere confession you are cleansed from all your sins, both mortal and venial, and at the same time you also receive special graces by which you are strengthened against sin. Holy Communion affords us extraordinary power and strength to overcome all the assaults of the devil and to persevere in good. Besides these means there is another and that is devotion to the saints of God. By devotion to the saints we can obtain many graces, they are in great favor with God and are His friends. But we may promise to ourselves still greater graces from our devotion to Mary, because she is not only a servant of God, but also the Mother of God. The prayer of Mary, being the prayer of a mother, has the virtue almost of a command.

A young man who had many times fallen into mortal sins went to confession to a certain priest. The good priest in order to encourage his penitent to be good, said : "My child, I will tell you an easy means to overcome temptations. If you do what I tell you, you will never fall again." "Oh, my Father," he replied, "tell me what it is, for with all my heart I desire to overcome all my evil habits." "Say a 'Hail Mary' every morning and evening in honor of her immaculate purity, and whenever you are tempted to do evil, say to her at once, 'O Mary, help me, for I am thine.' " The young man followed this advice, and in a short time was entirely delivered from his bad habits. Now it happened a short time afterwards that he was relating this to some of his acquaintances whom he had formerly scandalized by his bad conduct. Amongst those who were listening to him was a young officer, who, like himself, had fallen into many sins, because he went willfully with bad companions. As soon as he had heard the young man's story he resolved to follow his example. He at once went to confession and continued to lead a pious life. "O Mary, help me, for I am thine," was his watchword whenever any temptation assailed him. Some months after his conversion he had the imprudence to go again to visit those companions who had formerly led him into sin; he wished to see if they had followed his example. But no sooner had he reached the place where they dwelt than a strange feeling of terror came over him, and he cried out : "O Mary, help me, for I am thine." That very instant he felt himself thrust back by an invisible hand and found himself at a distance from the house. He immediately saw the danger in which he had been and returned his most heartfelt thanks to God and His Holy Mother for having thus preserved him.

My dear boys and girls, you know what you must do that you may be prepared to face judgment. You must keep your conscience in order and therefore fervently practice prayer, read pious books, frequently receive the Sacraments and have a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin. Consider that your doom for all eternity will be decided before the judgment seat of God, and therefore let it be your only business to prepare yourselves well for the Day of Judgment.

Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921

23rd Sunday after Pentecost - A Very Earnest Thought

10/30/2021

My dear children: A day and an hour will come when we will cease to breathe, our eyes will close, our ears will no longer hear the wailings of our friends, our hands and feet will grow cold, our heart will cease to beat, and our body will lie there motionless, its soul departed, like a castaway garment whose owner will use it no longer. Death is certain to all. And that is why I am speaking of death to you, my dear boys and girls, although you are so young, just starting in to live. From the first breath you drew you have started your march on to death. Since death is certain to all, it is certainly reasonable to think frequently of death that we may prepare ourselves properly for the greatest event of our life.

When you rise in the morning you do not know whether you will be living in the evening. Thousands have risen in the best of health in the morning, and before sunset they were corpses. This was the fate of Abel. Heli, the high priest, and his two sons died suddenly the same day. On the fifteenth of August, 1842, Father Papillon was preaching a sermon in the presence of Prince Polignac and a vast audience in the chapel of the French Embassy in London.

He was in the midst of his sermon, and said: "How precious is time, for we never know at what moment the Almighty will summon us before His tribunal, there to give an account of all our actions." These were the last words he ever uttered. No sooner had he finished this sentence than those who were present noticed his color change; they ran up to the pulpit to help him, but it was too late, the vital spark had fled and the venerable priest was a lifeless corpse. Is it not possible that you may rise in the morning, but when the evening comes you will not lie down, because during the course of the day death will have overtaken you? Since you are not secure one moment against death, is it not right that every morning when you rise you should think of death ?

St. Rose of Lima took a firm resolution to love and to serve God to the end of her life. God sent her many crosses, but she accepted them all with loving resignation to the Divine Will and bore them with heroic patience. She had also much bodily pain to suffer, but this, too, she bore from the hand of God. One day she was suffering more than usual; so great was the pain that she thought it would be impossible for her to endure it much longer. As this thought was passing through her mind she heard a sweet voice which said these words: "My dear child, My Cross was still more painful." These words consoled her and she bore her sufferings patiently to the end. She is now in Heaven enjoying the crown of happiness they gained for her.

Death enters into cities and villages at night and snatches his prey, now here now there. It was in the darkness of the night that the destroying angel came into the houses of the Egyptians and snatched away the first born. It was in the darkness of the night that the heroic Judith cut off the head of the drunken Holofernes.

Experience teaches us that more people die in the night than in the day-time. It is at any rate possible that some of us this night must make that journey on which everything depends. Consider this and never go to bed without a serious thought of death. And when you awake during the night think of your grave and say a "Hail Mary" for a happy death. Think of death in all temptations. Our life upon earth is a continuous struggle, and scarcely a day passes when we are not tempted.

Examples from Holy Scripture can show us the terrible devastations wrought. Cain, who slew his own brother Abel ; David, who loaded his conscience with a double crime; Judas Iscariot, who betrayed his Lord and Master. Whence these crimes? From temptations which were not resisted.

St. Rose of Lima, when a little girl, had very beautiful hair which hung in ringlets over her shoulders. Although she already loved God very much she was not altogether free from vanity which so often enters the hearts even of little children. One day while she was playing with her brother, he accidentally threw a quantity of mud on her hair. At this the child looked at him with a vexed countenance and was on the point of getting angry with him for what he had done to her. When he saw this and knew what was taking place in her heart, he said : "My dear sister, do not be angry at what I have done ; I did not intend to do it. But keep in mind that the devil often makes use of fine curls like these to drag good girls down to hell." Rose at once put away the anger that Had risen in her heart, and from that moment, young as she was, she took the resolution never to allow her heart to be attached to any worldly thing, that she might always persevere in the service of God.

How can we preserve ourselves from sin in all temptations? By thinking of death. How would it be possible to sin if we but said to ourselves : I must die, and I know neither how, when, nor where. This thought had been a shield to thousands, they escaped many temptations. Blessed Thomas More, the Chancellor of England, was in prison; his death on the block was certain unless he would renounce his allegiance to the Catholic Church and accommodate himself to the will of the king. His wife visited him in prison and conjured him with many tears to obey the king. Thomas looked at his wife earnestly and said: "Tell me how long shall I live if I do the will of the king and offend God ?" "O surely twenty years," was the reply. "O foolish woman," he replied, "for the sake of twenty years to die miserably and plunge myself into hell ? No, no; I would rather die than displease God. I would rather die the temporal than the eternal death." Thus spoke the great and good man. Take an example from this heroic champion.

In a hospital for sick soldiers there was a young man lying in danger of death ; he was a Catholic. Several times during his illness the priest asked him to prepare to die well, as there was but little hope of his recovery. "Not yet," he always answered. "Not yet; I will think of it tomorrow." The next day he gave the same answer, but added : "I should like very much to make my confession, but it is impossible for me to do so." "What is there that can make it impossible for you to make your confession, my boy?" said the priest The only answer the dying man gave was : "Don't speak to me of this any more, I beseech you, for I tell you it is impossible." The priest tried to show him the happiness and peace that fill the soul of a sinner who has obtained God's pardon, and asked him for God's sake to make his peace with God. The soldier shook his head. "It is of no use, Father, for you to ask me to do this. Do you see those men there? What would they think or say?" The priest at once saw that it was human respect which made the young man so stubborn, so he went to the group of visiting soldiers and said to them : "Comrades, you are making that young man die an unhappy death." "How, sir, are we doing that?" "He says," answered the priest, "that you would call him a coward and a fool if he went to confession." The men rose up in a body and went over to their dying comrade. "Do you think that we are pagans?" they exclaimed. "Instead of even thinking of calling you a coward we were quite alarmed about your refusal." These words cured the young man. He called the priest and made his confession and died an hour afterwards with a peaceful smile upon his countenance.

Children, we all have to make a long journey and like every good traveler we ought to prepare ourselves for it. And how can we be so forgetful as not to think of this journey? All persons who had the salvation of their soul at heart often thought of death. The Emperor Maximilian had his coffin made years before his death. He kept it in his room, and when he traveled he brought it with him in order by the sight of it to be reminded of death.

You see a funeral procession ; what is more natural than to think: Soon I shall be carried to the grave. You see this one or that one taking sick and dying. Ought you not to think : my turn will soon come. When you hear the clock strike, will you not think of your dying hour and say: Perhaps I shall die at the same hour that has just struck and appear before God. These frequent thoughts of death will be the means for the preservation of a good conscience, and a good conscience is like a continual feast.

My dear boys and girls, walk in the fear of God that you may obtain the greatest, most desirable and necessary of all graces—the grace of a happy death.

Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921

22nd Sunday after Pentecost - Venial Sin

10/23/2021

My dear Children: God is infinitely holy, and therefore hates and detests every sin, even the least. Did He not want to destroy the entire human race when in the. days of Noe He saw His chosen people piling sin upon sin ? Holy Scripture says : "It repented Him that He had made man." Furthermore He sent His only begotten Son into the world, that He, as the Lamb of God, might take away the sins of the world. Even venial sin had caused the world to need a Redeemer. And should we hold venial sin, then, to be a small evil? The saints thought differently. St. Anselm and St. Thomas said that they would rather be burning in hell innocently than be in heaven with one venial sin on their conscience.

There was once a girl who worked in a factory. One day, her work was done, and it was time to go home. Seeing on her dress some white lint, she stooped down to brush it off, but as she bent over, the machinery caught her loose hair and drew her along with it. In a moment her head and body were drawn among the wheels and she was crushed to death. It was by a few hairs only that this poor girl was at first caught. You would think that it would have been easy to have broken them and so to escape. But no; while each hair is so very small of itself, together they are stronger than a rope. So it is with venial sin, my children. Keep away, therefore, from the slightest venial sin.

As there is nothing more precious in the world than the grace of God, whatever deprives of this should be considered a great evil. It is true venial sin does not separate us entirely from God, but it grieves Him and puts an obstacle to His grace. So it happens that persons who go on committing venial sins willfully, often fall into mortal sin. Not being strengthened by grace, they succumb to temptation and lose the friendship of God. Almighty God inflicts severe punishments on those who commit venial sins, both in this world and in the world to come. Now supposing that one of you were tempted to steal a penny, and you knew that, if you stole it, you would be thrown into prison or burnt in a slow fire, do you think that you would take it? Most assuredly you would not. And yet we know that if we die in the guilt of venial sin, we shall be sent into the prison and burnt in the fire of purgatory. Let us always remember, therefore, when we are tempted to commit venial sin, that God will be sure to punish it either in this life or in the next.

You know the story of Lot's wife who was turned into a pillar of salt. She acted contrary to the command of God's angel and out of mere curiosity looked back at the burning city. Yet, see her punishment! Mary, the sister of Moses, was, on account of a little murmuring infected with a terrible leprosy, from which she could only be freed by the prayer of her brother. Moses, just for a moment doubted God's goodness when he was told to draw water from solid rock. For this small venial sin, he was deprived of entering the promised land.

St. Louis had the good fortune to have a most excellent mother. "Guard against sin !" was the constant warning of Queen Blanche to the child who was to be the future king of France. Often she would say to him : "I know that I love you, my dear son, With the greatest tenderness that a mother can have ; yet I would rather see you dead than guilty of sin." Such teachings made a deep impression on the prince, and he himself said later in life that he never forgot the instructions of his mother, but thought of them every day. Oh, that all children would take their mother's teachings thus to heart. After his father's death Louis became king of France, and as a ruler he fulfilled his duties most conscientiously. He honored the Catholic Church as her faithful son. He attended Mass every day and read many devout books. He visited hospitals and often nursed the sick, even lepers, with his own hands.

On his deathbed the holy king exhorted his son to be faithful to his duties, and said to him: "My dear son, the first thing that I commend to you is that you love God above all things. Live only for Him and be ready to endure sufferings and trials, rather than to commit a single sin." Dear children, it was the teaching of St. Louis' mother, the good Queen Blanche, that made this good king such an admirable ruler. Repeat it often in your hearts, especially when you are tempted, remembering that sin is the greatest evil
that can befall you.

For the forgiveness of venial sins God has given us many means. Sincere acts of contrition, act of love and works of penance will serve to cleanse our souls from these stains. If you have told lies, you must try not to tell such any more; if you have been angry, try to be gentle and kind; if disobedient, to be willing and docile.

When St. Macarius was a little boy, he was playing with some other children in a garden. At a little distance stood a fig tree, laden with ripe fruit. The boys said : "What beautiful figs ! Let us take some." So they plucked a few, and began to eat them. While Macarius was eating, his conscience seemed to be always saying to him: "You have done wrong! You have done wrong!" And he found no pleasure in eating the fig he had taken. Afterwards, when he grew up to manhood, his disciples would often see him weeping: "I am weeping," he would say, "for the sin I committed when I was a child, by stealing a fig." "But, dear Father, that was only a venial sin." "Ah, my brethren," he would answer "it was an offense against God, and that is enough."

My dear children, keep away from venial sin, since it is so terrible in the eyes of God. If you try every evening when you retire to think how you have failed in being good, and resolve to do better the next day, you will learn by experience how good God is to those who seek Him. There is no true happiness to be found on earth except in the love and service of so good a God.

Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921

21st Sunday after Pentecost - The Blindness of Sinners

10/16/2021

My dear Children : A Roman philosopher tells of an old woman who lived in his house but who on account of age had become blind. Yet she called continually upon her servants to take her to some other dwelling, as she could not see in the one she occupied, because, as she thought, all the windows were walled up. Sinners are like this poor woman. They are blind, but will not believe it. There are many who desire to be praised and honored; who are always right and will yield to no one. They are evidently proud, and the worst feature is that they cannot see it; though they go to confession they fail to accuse themselves of the sin of pride. There are others again whose heart is so set on getting money, that they will even deny themselves and others the necessities of life, just to accumulate money. These are misers, totally blind to the passion of avarice. Lastly there is a class of spiritually blind persons who live according to the spirit of the world, never mortifying themselves, but following a code of morals contrary to the spirit of Christianity. To which of these class do you belong? Be not blind, children; compare your actions with the Christian law, and with the example of Christ and the saints.

St. Dominic received from God the grace of converting most obstinate sinners into great saints. One of these was Don Pedro, a nobleman of Aragon. When the saint was preaching in that part of the country, this gentleman, hearing of the wonders he wrought, had a great desire to see him. So he set out one day,accompanied by servants, and entered the church where St. Dominic was going to preach. Not with the intention of changing his life did he go there, but only to satisfy his curiosity. The people who knew of the bad life he was leading were astonished to see him in church. When Don Pedro entered, St. Dominic was kneeling before the altar, and God was pleased to make known to this holy man the dreadful state of the sinner's soul. He seemed to behold entering the church a hideous monster, with eyes starting from his head, and hands like eagle's claws. At this sight the man of God was filled with terror. "O my God, I beseech Thee," he cried out, "change the heart of this great sinner and make him truly penitent." Then going into the pulpit, he preached a sermon upon the awful effects of mortal sin. But all his eloquence was lost on this stubborn sinner. Not many days afterwards the same nobleman returned once more to this church, and St. Dominic was preaching as he came in. Suddenly stopping his sermon, and turning towards the crucifix, he exclaimed: "O Jesus, full of mercy, O Jesus, all-powerful, let Thy people here see with their bodily eyes the sad state of the soul of him who has just entered Thy Holy House." This prayer was heard. In an instant the proud Don Pedro appeared before them as a hideous monster, surrounded by a multitude of evil spirits, who held him by a chain. Terror and fear came upon all the gathered multitude. Some began to scream; in short a great tumult arose in the house of God. Don Pedro was astonished at seeing the dismay his appearance had caused, nor could he understand whence it proceeded. Calling one of his servants who was trembling from head to foot, he asked what it all meant. "My Lord," answered the servant, "is it possible that you alone do not see the terrible change that has come over you? You are surrounded by evil spirits that hold you by a chain."Only then did the unfortunate man realize that God had manifested the state of his soul to those who were present. Thereupon St. Dominic exhorted the people to cease their cries and to pray instead. Calling one of his disciples he gave him his rosary beads, and said : "Give these to Don Pedro and tell him to ask mercy and pardon from God." No sooner had Don Pedro taken the beads into his hands than he assumed his usual appearance. Kneeling down before the altar of the Blessed Mother he was filled with compunction of heart, and amid a flood of tears confessed his sins to St. Dominic and asked pardon of all the people for the scandal he had given them. Ever afterwards his life was one of penance and piety and he died in the odor of sanctity.

Like a man asleep sinners have lost their hearing. Conscience, it is true, is ever awake and knocks at the sinner's heart, reproaching him bitterly for his sinful life, but he is perfectly deaf. He drowns the voice of conscience by worldly pleasures and refuses to heed the admonitions of his pastor and friends. There are many daughters who do not regard the warning words of their parents. They persevere in sin, as though this world were never to be destroyed,— as though they had here an eternal resting place ! Oh, that every sinner would be aroused from the sleep of sin!

A certain young man was filled with the deepest melancholy at the death of a young person with whom he had been sinning. Nothing could console him, and very soon his health began to give way. . One of his companions, observing this, and knowing well the cause of it, thought of a cure, severe indeed, but one which he hoped would prove effective; for being pious himself he desired to bring his friend back to the path of virtue. He asked him to accompany him to the cemetery, and going to the grave wherein the remains of the young person had been interred, he opened it, as also the coffin. The stench of the decaying corpse was so unbearable that the young man turned to run away. "Why do you run away?" said the other. "Of what are you afraid? Come and behold the countenance of your friend, the friend with whom you have broken God's commandments—one who weeps in the other life for the momentary pleasures of this wicked world. Come and learn what a sad and bitter thing it is to have forsaken the Lord Thy God."

This lesson, though severe, had the desired effect. The young man repented of his past sins, and lived and died as saints do. You have learned by experience, my children, how sleep deprives you of the use of your senses; in like manner the torpor of sin does not permit you to see the pernicious consequences of a godless life.

There is no greater misfortune than sin; by it you lose the grace of God; you relinquish your rights to the merits you have acquired for heaven; and are in imminent danger of being lost forever. Cooperate then with the grace of God all your life long for that will enable you to see clearly the way to heaven.

Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921

20th Sunday after Pentecost - Parental Example

10/10/2021

My dear Children: We know that example draws, be it for good or for evil. At the conclusion of today's Gospel we read that not only the ruler, but also his whole house, believed in Jesus. If the ruler had not believed in Christ, those of his household would not have believed in Him; his whole house, his wife, children, and servants believed in Him.

Children, if you are blessed with good parents who give you a good example there is no better means of training you to become good Catholic men and women. Good example is the best teacher of good morals.

The unbounded confidence which you have in your parents, makes you consider everything they do as right and good. If you see that your parents pray devoutly, diligently visit the church, and if their daily conduct shows that they have the fear of God before their eyes, it will make a salutary impression upon you ; that which is good will take root in the hearts of the children of such parents and will become almost a second nature. And when you, young folks, grow up, when severe and dangerous trials have to be endured, you will have become so confirmed in virtue, that sin will not overcome you. And even if you should fall, you will soon rise; your wounded conscience will give you no rest, but will urge and impel you to reconcile yourselves with God as soon as possible.

The Prophet Ezechiel speaks of a wagon drawn by four living beings; as these moved along, the wheels of the wagon turned round and followed. By this wagon we can understand a family; the beings that draw the wagon are the parents ; but the wheels are the children. Now, just as the wheels turned around and went the same direction as the beings that drew the wagon, so children act according to the example of their parents. St. Chrysostom says : "The works of the parents are books from which the children learn. The tongue, the lips of the parents, are as so many books, from which children are taught."

There lived about the middle of the thirteenth century, in Brittany, a pious married couple. God blessed their union by giving them a son, whom they called Yves, and whom they resolved to bring up in piety and the knowledge of God's holy law. The mother especially watched over him, and ceased not to say to him, over and over again : "Yves, you must be a saint." The child, hearing these words so often, said to her one day: "Mother, what is a saint?" "A saint, my child, is one whom God has made to be forever with Him in heaven. A saint is one who loves God above all things, and His Son Jesus Christ : one who keeps all the commandments of God, that he may be with Jesus Christ in heaven." The child listened to these lessons of his mother with his hands joined, and his eyes fixed on hers, eager for every word she said, andwhen she had ended he would say to her : "My mother, I must be a saint; I will love God with all my heart, and all my lifetime I will try to please Him." His father then would say: "My child, your mother has taught you how to love God, I will teach you now how to love your neighbor for God's sake." And he took his little boy on errands of charity and showed him those outward deeds of virtue that mark the Christian among men, and make him glorify His Father who is in heaven. And thus the child grew up a saint.

We read in the Bible that Tobias led a blameless and holy life in the midst of a godless, vicious city. He did this because he was so fortunate as to have a father who not only instructed him in every virtue, but also gave him a most beautiful example. How was it that Timothy lived so piously that St. Paul states that he had found a disciple who was entirely of his own disposition, and who interested himself in the welfare of the faithful as zealously as himself?

The Apostle traces the source to the disciple's mother and grandmother. What kind of parents have as a rule good children? To whom belong those boys and girls who are distinguished for modesty, obedience, fervor in prayer, and fear of God ? Who are those young men and women, who by their reserve and modesty are models for the entire congregation? They are usually the children of good Catholic parents. Since those young people see and hear nothing at home but what is good, they themselves become good, and justify in their parents the hope that they will always remain so. Yes, the lessons and admonitions of parents sink deeply into the hearts of children. They resemble a gentle rain, which moistens ' the soil and causes a plentiful supply of fruit.

There was once a pious mother who had a son whom she taught to love God. From his earliest years he followed the holy counsels she gave him, and grew up a model to all the young men around him. He went frequently to the Sacraments, and there was every appearance that he would live and die a saint. Things went on in this hopeful way till he had reached his seventeenth year. All at once a change came over him. His piety seemed to melt slowly away, and he no longer went to the Sacraments as he used to do. This change in his conduct was soon observed by his good mother. For a long time she tried very hard to find out what was the cause of this change. He never went with bad companions, and she never saw him read bad books. One day when she was more sorrowful than ever she went to see him in his room. "My dear child," she said to him, "you must tell me what is the cause of the great change that I observe in you ; you are not the same pious boy that you used to be. You must tell me all about it." But the son did not speak. He hung his head, and his face grew crimson with shame. His mother became more and more alarmed, and she pressed him with the most endearing words. "My mother," he began, "since you have asked me in this way, I will not hide anything from you; I will tell you all. I loved my religion dearly and I found my greatest delight in the practice of it. But now I have grown up, and I have begun to reflect. Look at my father; see how the world honors and esteems him. Oh, how much I would like to resemble him ! Yet he does not practice his religion. Surely I cannot do wrong in acting as he does. Now, my dearest mother, I have told you all." The poor afflicted mother left her son, and flew at once to the room where her husband was. She sat down by his side, and in the midst of tears and sobs, told him all that her son had said to her. "Come with me," he said, "I have misled my boy, but I may yet save him." Saying these words he went down to his son's room. "My child," he said, "it is indeed a hard thing for a father to go on his knees to his own son, but I will do it. Yes, my child, I am guilty—guilty of a great sin. I have not lost my faith. It is that cursed human respect that kept me from professing my faith openly. Thanks be to God, it is not too late. Forgive me, my dear child, for the bad example. Who is your confessor, he shall also be mine."

The best person if he has bad example before him is in great danger to lose his good principles. This is very true of children who like to imitate what they see and hear, without knowing the consequences of sin. In their simplicity they think that everything done by their parents is good and lawful. As the youth, so the man. The result is that such children often live and die in sin and perish eternally. As long as David himself was pious, his children were the same. But when the father sinned grievously, the children also departed from the right path, and committed heinous crimes.

My dear boys and girls, thank God from the bottom of your heart if you have good Catholic parent? parents who give you a good example. Oh that every Christian mother would ever remember the great influence her example has upon her children for good or for evil, so that she may forever enforce her instruction by her own good example.

Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921

19th Sunday after Pentecost - Honor Due the Anointed of the Lord

10/3/2021

My dear Children: We honor and revere ambassadors and representatives of kings and potentates of this earth; how much more should we not honor and revere the priest, the representative of the King of kings, namely God. When we consider the exalted office and the sublime power entrusted by Jesus Christ to His ministers upon earth, and especially to His priests and bishops, we are struck with amazement, and cannot fail to be penetrated with the deepest reverence for their sacred office. They are the representatives of Jesus Christ here below; in them He still lives among us, speaking to us through their lips the words of eternal life. Ah, my dear children, with what holy awe and profound reverence should we not regard the office of the priest! What respect, too, should we not show in our conduct towards him ! The lips of the priest have the power to call the Son of God down upon the altar, and to open the gates of heaven to the penitent sinner. His hands are daily sanctified by the touch of the most pure and spotless Body of Jesus, which he holds, and raises aloft, and carries in Communion to the faithful, having a privilege like to that of Mary herself, to whom it was given to carry the divine Infant in her arms.

St. Martin, the illustrious Bishop of Tours, being on a visit, upon an affair of business, at the court of Emperor Maximus, was invited, with the priest who accompanied him, to sit down to dinner at the emperor's table. During the repast a cup of wine was poured out and presented to Maximus, who, wishing to do honor to the bishop, ordered it to be first handed to St. Martin, expecting that, when he had tasted, he would return it to him again. To his surprise, however, and of that of the whole court, St. Martin, after he had drunk, passed the cup to his companion, the priest, as being after him the most exalted person in the assembly. So far from being displeased, Maximus applauded this action of the saint, acknowledging that, in the sight of God, who estimates persons at their true value, the imperial is far inferior to the priestly dignity.

The priest announces to us the messages of God, and interprets His divine commandments. He speaks to us, on the part of God, words of consolation, encouragement, counsel, direction, and also reproof, and he continually pleads for us at the throne of grace by the recital of the canonical hours. Truly the office of the priest is an angelic office, or rather is an office far higher than that of the angels, who are but the ministers of God to do His will ; whereas the priest is not only His minister, but His representative upon earth, and a mediator between Him and His people. Hence St. Francis of Assisi was wont to say : "Were I to meet in the street an angel and a priest, I would first bow in reverence to the priest and afterwards in reverence to the angel." And you also, my dear children, when you respectfully bow to salute the priest, or kneel to receive his blessing, show thereby that the same faith which animated the saints burns within your breasts. For you do so because you see with the eyes of your soul Jesus Christ Himself in the person of His priest, and know and feel that though he may be poor and lowly in the eyes of unbelieving men, his sacred character raises him in dignity and honor far above the kings and mighty of the world.

A certain traveler happened at nightfall to reach a large forest, through which he was obliged to pass to reach his destination. There was a shepherd with his flock, and of him he asked the necessary directions by which he might reach in safety the place to which he was going. "The way which leads to the town you wish to go to," he answered, "is long and dangerous, and it will be very difficult for me to point it out to you, for the forest is crossed by so many paths that it will be almost impossible for you to find the right one. There is, indeed, one high road which is broad and easy to walk on, but it leads to a terrible abyss, into which many incautious travelers have fallen and perished." "What is that terrible abyss of which you speak?" said the stranger. "It is a deep ravine, situated at the other end of this forest. There are many wild beasts, and one of them especially is most ferocious, so that we often find remains of unfortunate people whom it has devoured. I have stationed myself here at the entrance of the forest through charity to any who may happen to enter it from this side, that I may guide them. Follow me therefore if you wish to escape death." Then, carrying in one hand a lantern, he took with the other one his companion's hand and during the remainder of the night they walked together through the forest. When the morning dawned, they had reached without accident the farther end of the wood. It was only then the traveler came to realize the extent of the favor that his guide had conferred upon him.

Children, the traveler of whom I have spoken is yourself; the large forest is the world in which we live. The wild beasts are the enemies of our soul, and the terrible monster which destroyed so many people is Satan himself. The abyss which the stranger escaped is Hell, and the path by which he was led to the end of his journey is the one of piety, charity, justice, and purity. The charitable guide is not only your invisible guardian angel, but in a particular manner it is also the priest, whom God has given you to be your visible guide, to instruct you in the way you should go, and to direct your feet in the paths of His commandments, until you reach your home—the kingdom of God your Father. Listen, therefore, my dear boys and girls, to the words of the priest, who is the representative of Jesus Christ to you, that you may reach your, true home.

We must love our priests. It is they who ever encourage our best endeavors, continually exhort us to virtue and the fear of God, share our joys and woes, daily pray for us, and even long after our death continue to recommend us to the mercy of God in the sacrifice of the Mass and in prayer.

You must pray for your priests. The gratitude which you owe them for the benefits they bestow upon you demands this. The first Christians did this. When St. Peter was in prison, they prayed without intermission for him until God delivered him. We must with a good will give them what is due them. Good conscientious Catholics give their pastors what is due them, according to justice and usage, and all the more cheerfully because they know that they will employ their savings for charitable purposes.

Priests preach the truths of our holy Faith, for they are commissioned and empowered to teach Christian Doctrine in school and church. What they teach and preach is not their own word, but the Word of God, the doctrine of the Catholic Church. Good Catholics receive the teaching of their pastor with a believing heart, for they know that he teaches not his own doctrine, but the doctrine of the Church, which is the pillar and ground of truth.

Guard against violating your duties as Catholic children towards your priests and pastors of your souls. Honor them, because the sacred office they administer is one deserving honor, though as men they may have some faults and frailties. Love them, for they are your greatest benefactors, caring for your souls and conferring many graces on you for your salvation. Rest assured that it will be to you a sweet consolation on your death-bed if you can say to yourself that you have always honored and loved your priests.

Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921

18th Sunday after Pentecost - The Sin of Blasphemy

9/25/2021

My dear Children: In your catechism you have learned under the Second Commandment what blasphemy means. By blasphemy we mean speaking injuriously of God, or His saints and angels, or sacred things. This is, indeed, a crime which we should expect to find only among the devils in hell. For can it be possible that man, the creature of God, redeemed by the Blood of the Son of God, receiving daily his existence and innumerable benefits from the hand of God, should be capable of speaking injuriously of God, or what immediately relates to Him. And yet, unhappily, it is so.

Many, indeed, blaspheme that which they know not; for example those who, not belonging to our holy religion, and misled by prejudice and false teachers, misrepresent Catholic Doctrine, mock at the ceremonies of the Church, or speak disrespectfully of our Blessed Lady, or the saints, or the holy Sacraments ; but there are others, alas ! Catholics in name, who blaspheme that which they do know, by murmuring against the Justice or Providence of God, jesting about holy things, or mocking at the ministers of the Church.

You can easily understand how heinous this crime is in the sight of God. In the Old Law the blasphemer was, by the command of God Himself, sentenced to death, and stoned in sight of all the people, and in the laws of many Christian nations we find the severest punishments enacted against this crime, as, for example, in the laws of St. Louis, king of France, who ordered the tongue of the blasphemer to be pierced with a red-hot iron. Many instances are likewise recorded, in which God took it upon Himself at once to avenge His own honor, and struck the blasphemer dead in the very act of insulting Him.

Some years ago the town of Nottingham was visited by a most awful thunderstorm, the effects of which were most disastrous. The lower part of the town was flooded, and the poorer classes, who inhabited cellars, as well as many shopkeepers, suffered severely. Among those who sought shelter from the pitiless storm in the Milton's Head public-house, was a young man, a lace-maker by trade. For some time he amused himself with ridiculing the fears of the people, but his language, which was from the first light and unbecoming, became at last impious and profane. He used the Holy Name of God in the most blasphemous manner, and, with bitter oaths, expressed a wish that a thunderbolt might come down and strike his companions blind. Then raising himself, he looked through the skylight over the room in which they were sitting and, with profane gestures, defied the lightning. At that moment a vivid flash entered the room, and in an instant he was lying speechless on the floor. He was taken up by the trembling bystanders, none of whom were injured, and laid upon a couch. The first words he uttered on recovering his speech were: "God forgive me!" He had become blind.

God is blasphemed when we wish Him evil, or when we curse creatures, in so far as they are God's works. He who wishes that there was no God, or that He had not the power to punish the wicked, is guilty of the most horrid blasphemy. He who curses men, cattle, or anything else, such as the weather, is guilty of blasphemy,' according to St. Thomas of Aquin, since these are creatures or works of God; for dishonoring that which God has made is in fact dishonoring God Himself. But God can be blasphemed not only with words, but also with signs and gestures; when a man, for instance, full of rage, raises his clenched hands towards heaven, gnashes his teeth, spits upon holy things, as the soldiers did when they spat upon Jesus,' bent their knees before Him and in derision saluted Him as their king.

Children, this sin can also be committed in thought, when we voluntarily think something of God or His saints which is to their dishonor. Persons who are troubled with involuntary blasphemous thoughts must not allow themselves to be disquieted in their devotion. They should often say "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost."

A very holy man left his cell in the desert to visit a sick friend of his youth who dwelt in Alexandria, and who wished to see him before he died. Most of the inhabitants of that city were pagans, who hated the Christian religion. As soon, therefore, as he entered, they knew by his dress that he was a Christian hermit, and began to mock him. Some carried their hatred so far as to strike him, and to abuse him in other ways. But the good man passed on without uttering a word of complaint, and bore all patiently for the love of God. Some of them cried after him in mockery : "Did Jesus Christ ever work a miracle?"

A man who was passing and who was a Christian said: "Yes, Jesus Christ did work many miracles; but even if He had not wrought any, the conduct of this holy man is enough to prove the truth of the Christian religion. What greater miracle could you desire to see? You have insulted and abused the good man because he is a disciple of Jesus Christ, and yet he has borne it all without murmur." These words silenced the people : they were ashamed of what they had done. And some of them, touched by the meekness of the good monk, were led to believe in God and to renounce forever paganism.

Children, by blasphemy God is attacked personally, and His honor violated. One who offends a king personally, commits a greater crime than if he transgresses one of his laws, so the blasphemer commits a far greater sin than some sinner who sins not immediately against God, but only against His law. Now if a man dares to insult and blaspheme God, whom the Cherubim and Seraphim adore with the most profound veneration, must it not be a horrible sin? If a Catholic who is a member of the true Church of God, curses God despite of all graces and evidences of His love, instead of praising and glorifying Him, is it not the most atrocious crime? Very sad to say that even some children, who scarcely know how to make the Sign of the Cross, know how to give themselves to the devil ; they learn how to curse sooner than to pray. Oh, that parents would carefully guard against cursing and blaspheming, so as not to give scandal to their children.

My dear boys and girls, I beg of you avoid the company of blasphemers, they are living devils. Furthermore, consider what you would have to reveal before the throne of God, when you must give an account of every idle word. Let the divine praises be constantly on your lips : "Blessed be God, blessed be His Holy Name."

Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921

17th Sunday after Pentecost - Loving God Above All Things

9/19/2021

My dear Children: We must love God. What does this mean? It means that we must love God not only exteriorly, but also interiorly. It not only the mere tribute of our words or external appearance in our prayer that He demands, but our words come must from the very bottom of our hearts. Who are those who love God only with their lips ? Those boys or girls who pray without thinking of what they say. Their heart is with their playmates or their toys. Such children offer an insult to God, and consequently cannot expect any result from their prayer.

Those who do not give their heart to God do not love Him. All those who are in mortal sin do not love God; they love their evil passions; they tell a direct lie to God as often as they say: "My God I love Thee" God is not satisfied with a divided heart; we must not divide our love between Him and His Creatures. To love with the whole heart means to love God alone, and everything besides God for God's sake and in such a manner as He wills.

St. Francs de Sales loved God with his whole heart, for he says of himself: "If I knew that there was in my heart a single fibre not for God, I would tear it out at once." If you have any inordinate love for any person of thing expel it from your heart, forr the heart man is a tabernacle in which God alone should dwell.

I heard a story the other day about a little boy who surely had the love of God in his heart. There is one thing he never forgot namely, to take his offering with him every Sunday to church. He had his envelope for his weekly offering just as his father had and he never would go to church unless he had it with him I happened one day that he had to go to church alone on a Sunday when his father and mother were absent. However, he did not go without his offering. He had it in his little white envelope which he carried in his pocket. That morning a strange lady sat at the head of the seat in the same pew, and when the time came for the offering to be given she looked in her bag and found that she had no money with her. She didn't seem to be troubled about it, but the little boy was greatly troubled and wondered what she would do when the men would come with the plates to receive the offering and she had none to give. You see he had formed the habit of giving and he enjoyed it, and wondered how anybody could go to church without a gift. Well, he got more troubled and anxious the nearer the ushers came with the collection-plates, and when they came to the seat in front of the one where he was sitting he held out his little white envelope to the strange lady, and said to her: "Here, please, take this and put it in the plate, and I'll get under the seat. I'm small and they won't see me." That boy has formed a habit of giving, and when he grows to be a man it will be part of his life and part of his religion to offer his gifts unto the Lord. I think that every boy, no matter how small, ought to give some of his money—however little it may be—to God.

Charity requires that we always will what God wills, that we make a sacrifice of our will to God, and therefore accept cheerfully all crosses and afflictions from His hand. In this way all pious souls manifest their love of God. When St. Gertrude said the "Our Father," she used to repeat three times the words "Thy will be done." While praying thus one day, our blessed Lord appeared to her, having health in one hand and sickness in the other, and said to her: "Choose, daughter, between health and sickness." Which do you suppose the saint chose? Health, of course. No. Well, then sickness ? No. As she did not know what our Lord thought good to give her, she said : "Lord, not my will but Thine be done." Let us be satisfied with whatever God is pleased to send us, firmly convinced that He will send us what is good for us.

In the year 1623, at the beginning of Lent, the Venerable Agnes of Jesus became very ill. She was at that time only twenty-one years old. The physicians did not seem to understand the nature of the malady, and gave her medicine which, instead of making her better, only made her suffer the more. But Agnes never uttered one word of complaint, the only words she said were the following, which she repeated often every day: "O my God, mayest Thou be blessed a thousand times." When Easter Sunday came, God was pleased to reward the patience with which she had suffered the heavy crosses He had been pleased to send her, by permitting her guardian angel to appear to her. "My child," said the angel, "are you happy in your sufferings?" "Yes," she answered, "because it is the holy Will of God, whom I love with all my heart. My heart and my will are entirely united to Him : let Him dispose of me according to His divine Will." The angel answered: "Continue to love Jesus in this way, and be assured that He will never forsake you."

When we love some one sincerely we often think of him, for where our treasure is there also is our heart. If, therefore, we truly love God, we shall frequently think of Him and raise our heart to Him. St. Aloysius was always occupied with the thought of God and divine things, and, whether alone or in company, whether he worked or rested, he had no room in his heart for anything but God.

To spare his weakened health, his superiors ordered him to turn his thoughts sometimes from God and to divert himself. But it was impossible for him to do so. Hence it is not a good sign that so many of us have our thoughts everywhere except with God; that we rise in the morning and lie down in the evening without thinking of God, that we occupy ourselves the whole day entirely with temporal affairs, without even a passing thought of God, that even when in church we give way to distractions, and that in general we care as little about God as about a stranger. If we feel ourselves guilty we must admit that our love of God resembles a weak spark which is liable every moment to be extinguished.

A father and mother were living with their two children on a desert island in the ocean, on which they had been shipwrecked. Roots and vegetables served them for food; a spring was their drink; and a cavern in the rock their dwelling. Storms and tempests often raged fearfully on the island. The children knew nothing of the vast continent; bread, milk, fruit, and whatever other luxury is obtainable there, were things unknown to them.

There landed one day upon the island four Moors in a small boat. The parents were greatly delighted, and hoped now to be rescued from their sufferings. But the boat was too small to take them all over together to the adjoining land, so the father determined to risk the passage first. The mother and children wept, when he embarked in the frail wooden boat, and the four black men were to take him away. But he said : "Weep not, it is a better land : and you will all follow soon." When the little boat returned, and took away the mother, the children wept still more. But she also said: "Weep not! In the better land we shall all meet again." At last came the boat to take away the two children. It was with fear and trembling that they drew near the land. But how delighted were they when their parents appeared on the shore, offered them their hands, led them into the shade of lofty palm trees, and regaled them with milk and honey. "My dear children," said the father, "our voyage from the desert island to this beautiful country has a higher meaning. We are all destined to make a much longer journey, to a much more beautiful country. The whole earth upon which we dwell resembles an island ; this glorious land is an image for us, although only a faint one, of heaven ; the voyage hither over the stormy sea is death ; that little boat resembles the bier, upon which men in black apparel shall sooner or later carry us forth.

But when the hour strikes for us, for myself, your mother, or you! to leave this world, be not afraid. Death is for pious people, who have loved God, and have done His will, nothing else but a voyage to the Better Land."

Children, whatever you do, do all for the love of God, that you may become richer and richer in merits in this world, and hereafter receive in heaven the reward of all that love God.

Source: Story Sermonettes for the Children's Mass, Imprimatur 1921