PRELUDE
Shrove Tuesday

A spiritual writer summarizes man’s primary business —his duty towards his soul, the breath of his creator— in the words, ‘'Remember Me.” He reminds us of the longing desire of all men to be remembered by their friends on earth, and leads us up by this consideration to Christ’s command (since Christ is God as well as man), that we should remember Him. It is the substance of His culminating address, the one before His Passion, the one in which He gave the means to remember Him perfectly. Now as our reception of Christ’s Body and Blood in Holy Communion is to the Masses we hear ; so, by analogy, is Lent—the time of our more complete recollection of His sufferings—to the rest of the year. It is a more perfect way.

Let us then, accompany His servants who shall act as guides—pedagogues to lead us, as some member of a great man’s household led his children to school in old Roman days—let us walk daily to school this Lent, to learn more perfectly than we have hitherto done the science of remembrance. Let us hasten and do that now, which may be expedient for us for ever hereafter.
                                                                                                                                                                                                         ~ St. Benedict.

NOTE—The mottoes after some of the readings are designed to serve as a thought for use now and again during the day, as a reminder of the morning’s meditation.

As we prepare for Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday we thought we would share a tutorial on piecing together our Lenten Lapbook. At the bottom of this post are the files for the lapbook. Just below is a tutorial on making a single copy of the lapbook.  Thank you to my dear friend CeAnne for making this tutorial for us its beyond my ability.

What you will need:
 - 16 Sheets of Cardstock (regular paper will do if that is what is to be had)
- 2 sheets of Address Labels (We used Avery's 1" x 2 5/8" #8160)
Again if all that is had is card stock or plain paper, use scissors and glue to accommodate.
- 1 or 2 purple file folders (any purple will do,we used this box so that we could use the other colors for things such as blue in May for our Blessed Mother, but these or these over on Amazon will work too.  (And no I'm not an affiliate ;) )
- A color printer (black will do too, just color items in by hand)
- Scissors
- Glue
- 1 sandwich bag that seals
-Stapler
-Small piece of purple ribbon or string
-Willing hands and a Lenten spirit!

Please note: When printing, check your printer settings. All printers are different, but on mine the default is not set to a specific printer. In my print screen, I have to open the page setup, select my printer. If I print without doing this the size of the image on the paper is not right. Its very important when printing on the address labels that this is done right. 

7.) Print the Stations of the Cross. Cut to fit the pocket that was printed above, so that they are all similar in size making sure not to cut off any words or parts of the picture. We have one child that was able to do this fine and the other I drew lines around with a ruler and blue pen to give him some guides. If you wish, lovingly, reverently, while meditating on each picture, color the pictures of Our Lord's Way of the Cross. 

Our latest Gazette is available to view, download and print.  We hope you enjoy reading it.  You can find it below and here.  May the Holy Family watch over and protect all of you!  Please keep our family in your prayers.

THE TREASURES OF THE MISSAL
BY the transgression of our first parents man came into the power of the evil spirit to a lamentable extent, and the visible creation was burdened with the malediction of its Creator, as God said to Adam: “Cursed is the earth in thy work.”
1. For this reason the spirit of evil is called in various places of the Scriptures the Prince of this world.
2.  The earth itself bears evidence of the fall; for we cannot imagine a God of infinite goodness creating such a world as that which we now inhabit.

So truly is it natural for man to entertain this view that even the pagan philosophers and the sages of all times and countries have regarded the earth as more or less a place of punishment, or at least of trial, for the human race. Their ideas may have been variously expressed, but they will invariably be found to have been based on the same fundamental belief. Deeply impressed with this truth, the children of God have at all times invoked the divine blessing upon such creatures as they had occasion to use, evidences of which are to be met with in numberless passages of the sacred writings and in sacred biography.

Apart from the use which man is necessitated to make of various creatures for the sustenance and conveniences of life, he is also required to use them in the worship of God, and this in a threefold manner: as victims to be sacrificed; as vessels, vestments, etc., in the service religion; and as instruments or channels for the convoying of supernatural assistance to the souls of men, as in the sacraments and sacramentals. The infinite dignity of Almighty God and the relation man bears to Him require that this should be done at all times and under all circumstances with becoming decorum; in other words, with certain liturgical observances. In patriarchal times the liturgy was very simple, and appears to have been regulated by the patriarch’s own ideas of what was becoming, because at that early day he, or one appointed by him, was the sacrificing priest of the tribe or family of which he was the head. And this custom continued among the Gentiles even after the institution of the Mosaic Law, as may be learned from the case of holy Job, from whom God accepted sacrifices for himself, his family, and his friends. But when the Jews were set apart as the chosen people of God a special ritual was prepared for them by a revelation from heaven, in which the ceremonial law was laid down even to the most minute details, and its strict observance enjoined under the severest penalties.

With the abrogation of the Mosaic Law a new liturgy was called into existence to suit the changes brought about in divine worship by the institution of the sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments. Our divine Redeemer unchangeably fixed all that relates to their essence, but it was fitting that He should leave to His Church the regulation of the minor details of their administration, both because it became His dignity to do so and because these depend in a measure on the circumstances of time, place, and people. The authority necessary for arranging these particulars is contained in the power of binding and loosing given in its plenitude to the teaching body of the Church. To the same authority was entrusted the power of instituting such sacramentals as might, from time to time, be found conducive to the welfare of the children of God.

All that relates to the offering of the adorable sacrifice of the Mass is found in the liturgical work known as the Roman Missal, or Mass Book, as it is commonly called. This, as well as the other liturgical books of the Church, is, of course, in the Latin language; and not withstanding that prayer-books may readily be had in which some parts of the Missal are rendered into the vernacular, and even entire translations of the Missal are made, still this and the other liturgical books are more or less mysterious to the greater number of Catholics. And, what is worse, their lack of information too often renders them incapable of appreciating the value of sacred rites, and leaves them without the desire of increasing their knowledge. A short explanation of the Missal, and later one of the other liturgical books, must for these reasons be at once interesting, instructive, arid useful. Interesting, because these works treat of matters in which all Catholics are concerned, and would be still more concerned if they knew more about them; instructive, because it will open up new and extensive fields of knowledge relating to our holy religion; and useful, because it will place within the reach of everyone many graces, the existence of which was partially or wholly unknown before graces which will strengthen, console, and encourage them in the time of temptation, trial, and bereavement, and prepare them better for their final passage to eternity.

It is not my intention to treat in this place of the treasure we possess in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, since it is regarded by all as the clean oblation foretold by the prophet Malachy, which was to be offered up from the rising to the setting of the sun. It is the purpose to treat rather of the contents and arrangement of the Missal.

Time was necessarily required to bring the Missal to its present state of perfection; for, though from the beginning all the essential parts were in use in the Church, the Missal had not reached the form in which it now appears until after the lapse of centuries. Nor were the several parts at first arranged in the same manner as they are at present. A portion was found in one book and another portion in another, which different books were known as the Antiphonary, the Lectionary, the Book of the Gospels, and the Sacramentary.

A vestige of this remains to our day in the Church, as may be seen in the more solemn functions when a bishop officiates. Besides, certain prelates arranged the Missals for their respective dioceses, more or less according to their own ideas. The necessity of adopting uniformity of ritual where there was uniformity of belief became more and more apparent as time went on and the faith became diffused; and the better to secure this the necessity became also apparent of restricting the power to make alterations to the highest authority in the Church.

But it was not till the sixteenth century that the Missal was reduced to its present form, and all further changes forbidden under the severest penalties. The Council of Trent  recommended this action, and it was taken by Pope St. Pius V., who thoroughly revised the Missal, and published it in its corrected form, making that the standard to which all subsequent editions should strictly conform, and forbidding, at the same time, under the severest penalties, the use of any other Missal or of any other prayers or ceremonies in the Holy Sacrifice except those found in the Missal which he had approved. No person, however exalted his dignity, was exempted from the observance of this command; but churches or religious orders having different customs dating back at least two hundred years were excepted out of respect for the antiquity of their liturgy.

The bull issued by the Holy Father enjoining the use of the revised Missal and prohibiting all others is dated July 16, 1570. But the disorder was not fully remedied, and Pope Clement VIII., under date of July 7, 1604, issued another bull on the same subject, increasing the penalties. He was followed, September 2, 1634, by Urban VIII., in a bull of the same tenor. These three bulls are placed at the beginning of every Missal, as well as certain decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites bearing on the same subject.
Thus it was that the Missal came to assume its present form. The first step, however, had been taken some what earlier by “Burchard, master of ceremonies under Innocent VIII., who set out at length both the words and the ceremonies of the Mass in his Roman pontifical, printed at Rome in 1485, and again in his Sacerdotale, printed a few years later. . . . After this the ceremonies were joined to the Ordinary of the Mass in some printed Missals, and were finally arranged under their present titles by Pius V.”
 
A matter which those not of the One Fold find it difficult to understand, and for which, unfortunately, the vast majority of Catholics are not able to give a satisfactory reason, is the use of the Latin language in the liturgy of the Church. While a spirit of submission to the Church and of confidence in the wisdom of her decrees follows necessarily from a lively faith, there are too many Catholics who rest satisfied with these, forgetting the advice of the Apostle, that they should be able to give a reason for the faith that is in them. It may be questioned, however, whether it is the result of faith, and not rather of indifference, that so many Catholics feel a reluctance to study books of instruction. Faith is not founded on ignorance, nor is it nourished by ignorance; nor does the Church, as some of our enemies would fain have us believe, fear the light. On the contrary, she invites and desires the careful study of both friend and foe.

Latin is the language of the Church’s liturgy for several very good reasons. In the first place, it was the language of the Roman Empire, and was generally understood, if not spoken, throughout the civilized world at the date of the establishment of the Christian religion; and as St. Peter fixed the centre of the Christian commonwealth in the city of the Caesars, it was not only natural, but also necessary for the Church to adopt the Latin tongue as that of her liturgy. Again, the Church is one, and oneness of language serves to illustrate and to preserve oneness of faith. Besides, living languages are constantly changing; new terms are being introduced, and those in use vary their meanings.

As instances of this may be cited certain English words that have not only changed their signification, but have taken a diametrically opposite one; as, for example, let, prevent, etc. But it is of the very first importance that the well-defined doctrines of religion should be  expressed in language that always conveys the same ideas.

The advantage of a medium of communication between the members of the Church throughout the world, whether assembled in general council, addressing their common Father, or corresponding with one another, is too apparent to require comment. Other reasons might also be adduced, but these are sufficient.

Examining the parts of which the Missal is composed we find that, after the insertion of the Papal bulls already referred to, the first place is devoted to the arrangement of all that relates to the calendar of the movable and immovable feasts. It may be said briefly that this arrangement of the Masses for saints and seasons depends on the feasts of Christmas and Easter,

The former fixes all from the first Sunday of Advent to the octave of Epiphany; and the latter all from Septuagesima to Trinity Sunday; and the two together regulate the number of Sundays that must intervene between Epiphany and Septuagesima and between Trinity Sunday and the first Sunday of Advent, in order to give fifty-two in the year. If Easter is late, there will be more of the former; if early, there will be more of the latter. The calendar of the feasts of saints is also placed here. Next come the rubrics, which are laws and rules for the guidance of the priests in the celebration of the Adorable Sacrifice.

It may be well to note that in the Missal, as also in the Ritual and in the Breviary, besides the general rubrics which are found in the beginning and at the opening of the several parts or divisions, there are other ones interposed throughout these works for the guidance of the minister in the performance of his sacred functions. If the reader is careful to bear this in mind as we proceed it will obviate the necessity of frequent repetitions.

The word rubric is derived from the Latin term rubor (red), and its application in this place is taken from the manner in which red was used in writing the Roman laws and decisions, the titles, maxims, and principal decisions being written in red. In early ages the
rubrics of the Mass were not found in the Missal at all, much less in the place and order they now occupy, but were contained in other works known as Directories, Rituals, Ceremonials, and Ordos. They were finally incorporated into the Missal by Burchard, elsewhere referred to. The revision of the Missal by Pope St. Pius V. fixed them in the place they must ever occupy.

After the rubrics come a preparation for and a thanksgiving after Mass, which are not, however, strictly obligatory on the celebrant. Then begins what may be termed the Missal proper, or that part of the book which contains the Masses of the feasts and saints.
It opens with the Mass for the first Sunday of Advent, which contains, as all the other Masses do, those portions only of the Mass which are peculiar to the several days or feasts to which they are assigned, omitting those parts which are found in what is called the Ordinary of the Mass, which will be considered presently.

The Masses for each Sunday and for some of the feasts which cluster immediately around Christmas, as well as for all the days of Lent, make up this division, which closes with Holy Saturday. Then comes the Ordinary of the Mass, which comprises all that part, except the secret prayers, from the gospel to the post-communion exclusive. It is composed of the prefaces, eleven in number, which are given first in solemn chant, then in ferial or simple chant, and finally without music, with rubrics directing the celebrant during which seasons or on which feasts each is to be said.

Next there is the Canon of the Mass, so called from the Greek word kanon, which means a rule; because this part of the Mass, as it were, follows a rule, and admits of no changes, except of a few words on some of the more solemn feasts. To illustrate the firmness with which the Church resists all encroachments on the Canon, it may be stated that when the Holy Father, at the request of a very large number of the hierarchy of the Christian world, declared St. Joseph patron of the Universal Church, he at the same time refused the request of a large number of prelates to have the name of the chaste spouse of the holy Mother of God inserted in the Canon after the consecration, where the names of about a dozen other saints are found.

At the close of the Canon the feast of Easter begins the Masses, and it is followed by the Masses for all the Sundays till the last before Advent, with some other Masses in their proper places, as those within the octaves of Easter and Pentecost, and a few more. This closes what are called the Masses of seasons; the rest of the Missal is taken up almost entirely with the Masses of saints, of mysteries in the life and passion of Our Lord and of His holy Mother, votive Masses, and Masses for the dead. The feasts of saints are of six grades doubles of the first class; doubles of the second class greater doubles; lesser doubles; semi- doubles; and simples. The portion devoted to the Masses of saints is divided into two parts: the proper of saints and the common of saints. The former embraces all that is proper to each individual saint as the collect; or, the collect, secret prayer, and post-communion; or, with these, the epistle and gospel; or, in some instances, the entire Mass, with the exception of the Canon. The latter contains Masses for each class of saints as martyrs, confessors, virgins, etc. of which there are two or more for each class, and separate Masses for martyrs during paschal time.
 
The next section of the Missal is taken up with the votive Masses; and these are followed by a number of prayers, one or more of which may be introduced into certain Masses at the option of the celebrant or the request of the person for whose intention the Holy Sacrifice is offered. Then come four different Masses for the dead: that for All-Souls Day, which is also said for a deceased Pope or Bishop; that for the day of a person’s death or interment, which has also a prayer for the third, seventh, and thirtieth day after death; that for the anniversary; and, lastly, that for any day upon which a Mass for the dead is permitted by the rubrics,

To these Masses are appended twelve prayers for different individuals or classes of the faithful departed, one or more of which can be introduced into the Mass according to certain rules, at the discretion of the celebrant, or according to the intention of the person requesting the celebration of the Mass. But the number, of prayers should always be an odd one. An odd number, being indivisible, has a mystic signification,

One represents unity in the several forms in which it appears in religious teaching, as the unity of God, the unity of the Church, the unity of the hierarchy, etc.- three represents the three Persons of the Adorable Trinity, Christ praying thrice in the Garden of Gethsemani, His rising from the dead on the third day, the angels thrice repeating Sanctus; five represents the five wounds of Our Saviour; and seven, the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, the seven sacraments, and the seven petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. These apply equally to the number of prayers used in the blessings of the Ritual.

Certain formula for blessing water, articles of food, and a few other things, occupy the next place in the Missal; but inasmuch as they pertain rather to the Ritual they will be passed over for the present. After these we have the six votive Masses permitted by Pope Leo XIII to be celebrated on the several days of the week upon which no saints feasts occur or only feasts of minor rite. The rest of the Missal is taken up with Masses of saints that have been canonized, for the most part, since the time of St. Pius V., and others that are peculiar to certain religious orders or localities.

Such, in brief, is the Missal. It is believed that what has been said, though apparently very commonplace, will not be either useless or uninteresting. There are few priests who have not reason to regret the limited knowledge of many of their people; and hence simple and plain instructions must ever be regarded as the most useful, though they will never be the most attractive or popular. But the purpose of this article is twofold : First, to give a general idea of the construction of the Missal; and, secondly, to call attention to the votive Masses and to the prayers that are permitted to be inserted in other Masses on some of the feasts of minor rite. But here the question naturally arises: What is a votive Mass, and why so named? The word is derived from the Latin votum, and, as found in the liturgy of the Church, means a Mass which does not correspond with the office of the day or feast, as found in the Breviary, and which is so named because it is celebrated by the free choice or votum of the priests. The following are the votive Masses found in the Missal: That of the Most Holy Trinity, with a special collect when it is offered as a Mass of thanksgiving; of the Angels; of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul; of the Holy Ghost; of the Most Holy Sacrament; of the Cross; of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ; of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which varies for the different seasons of the year; for the election of a Supreme Pontiff; for the election or consecration of a Bishop; for the destruction of schism; for every necessity; for the remission of sins; for the grace of a good death; against pagans; in time of war; for peace; as a protection against mortality in time of pestilence; for the sick, with a special prayer when it is said for those who are believed to be near their last hour; for those on a journey, and finally, the Nuptial Mass, which is treated at length in another part of this work.

Besides the above votive Masses there are six others permitted, as was stated above, by the Holy See: namely, of the Angels; of the Apostles; of St. Joseph; of the Most Blessed Sacrament; of the Passion; and of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary; some of which differ a little from those of the same title given above. In addition to these, however, any Mass of a saint may be said as a votive Mass, for a sufficient reason, upon the observance of certain rules, which differ little from those governing other votive Masses.
Still another mine of spiritual wealth of the Missal are the prayers, of which mention has already been made, one of which must, and more than one of which may, be inserted in the Mass on some Sundays and other days at the option of the celebrant, or in compliance with the request of the person for whose intention the Holy Sacrifice is being offered. These prayers are thirty-five in number, each of which includes, of course, the collect, the secret prayer, and the post-communion.

The following are some of them and the devout reader cannot but admire the loving care with which the Church provides in them for our every necessity: To ask the intercession of the saints ; another of the same kind; for every grade of persons in the Church; for the Pope; for prelates and congregations committed to their pastoral care; against the persecutors of the Church; for every necessity; for every tribulation; in time of famine; in time of an earthquake; for rain; for fair weather; against pests among animals; for the celebrant himself; for the gift of tears; for the remission of sins; for those who are afflicted with temptations and trials; to repel evil thoughts; for the gift of patience; for the gift of charity; for friends; for enemies; for the welfare of the living ; and for the living and the dead. To these must also be added the prayers found in the Mass of any saint or mystery, which may be taken upon certain conditions, that apply to but few of them.
From all this it must be apparent to the thoughtful reader that not only have we an inestimable treasure in the Mass itself, but also that the value of this treasure is greatly enhanced by the special Mass which he can have celebrated, and which, besides its value as the greatest act of worship that man can offer to God, has a worth of its own from its being adapted to the particular intention for which its celebration is requested there being special Masses for so many different intentions, as we have just seen, besides one for every necessity. And, granting that for a sufficient reason this special Mass is not permitted to be said, the addition of one of the prayers just named, when it is allowed, enhances the value of the petition immensely, as being made to God through His divine Son and in the name of the Church. Hear St. Liguori on this point. After citing the opinion of a theologian, with which he concurs, that the prayer of a lay person when offered up in church at the time when Mass is being celebrated is on that account the more readily and more certainly heard, he adds: “How much more the prayer of the priest himself?” And speaking of the Divine Office, which, though more efficacious than any other form of prayer, is yet far less so than the Mass, he says: “Many private prayers do not equal in value only one prayer of the Divine Office, as being offered to God in the name of the whole Church.”

In the Old Law there were many sacrifices, suited to the manifold wants of the people of God; the sacrifice of the New Law has not only taken the place of all those in the sense of being the supreme act of worship of God, but also as being the supreme act of petition for man.

Serious reflection on the inestimable treasure we possess in the adorable sacrifice of the Mass, as briefly set forth in this essay, will convince the reader of the advantage he may derive from asking for the graces, both general and particular, which he stands in need of, by means of this holy sacrifice. The graces, as St. Liguori remarks, which are not obtained in the Mass are with difficulty obtained at any other time. Here it is not man who prays, but the God Man, who petitions His eternal Father for His people through the ministry of His priests.
                                                                        
Source: The Sacramentals of the Holy Catholic Church, Imprimatur 1892

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
See, therefore, brethren, how you walk circumspectly: not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. EPHES. v. 15, 16.

I. As a traveller who has climbed to some lofty eminence, looks back upon the country through which he has passed, and tracing upon the plain below the dusty road along which he toiled so painfully, follows its winding course till it becomes a mere thread in the far distance, so on this, the last day of the year, do we also pause for a few moments to glance at it once again before it dies away and becomes a thing of the past. Yet a few short hours, and the year will have rolled by, like the waters of a rapid river, into the ocean of eternity. As we reflect upon the days and the months which were compressed within its limits, they seem but as yesterday. Such also will our whole life appear to us when we contemplate it from the brink of the grave, even though it should have gone beyond the limits marked out as the
earthly span of mortal men.

During the course of this year, joys and sorrows have come to gladden or to depress us. They have been like the sunshine and the storm of the material world. One day a murky fog enveloped us, and on the next the gloom lifted a little, and gave us a glimpse of the azure sky. Perhaps we have suffered in mind or in body, and the Cross, instead of chastening, made us more fretful and impatient. Then, again, there were times during the year when the option of good, or of evil, of life or of death, offered itself to us, and we may have stretched forth our hands to pluck forbidden fruit, and have greedily swallowed the tempting bait. Nay, more than this, not content with eating of the poisoned fruit, we may have persuaded others also to partake of it, and thus have involved them in our own destruction.

All these things have been, but now they are past and gone, together with the thoughts which flashed through our minds, the desires which grew out of these thoughts, and the actions which were begotten of both. They are past, indeed, but not one of them is forgotten, for an ever-wakeful eye has watched and marked them all. In God's great book they are recorded, and when the river of time shall have ceased to flow for us, that book will be opened, and these things will be brought to judgment against us.

II. If careful note has been taken by God s recording Angel of all that you have done during the past year, it is your interest to examine into your heart, and to see what charges he may have against you, in order that you may be able to answer them. For this purpose call to mind the reasons or motives for which God gave you the year which will so soon have passed away. He bestowed it upon you as a period of mercy, during which you were to prepare your self for heaven, and by your conduct to prove that you deserve the reward destined for you. Certain talents were committed to your keeping, to be so employed by you as to increase their value, in order that God, seeing your fidelity and trustworthiness in small matters, may set you over those which are greater and more important.

These talents are the various faculties and powers of your body and of your soul. God intended your soul to rule your body, and to keep its animal instincts in subjection to His laws by sternly refusing to the sensual appetite every unlawful gratification for which it craves. Hence the soul must treat the body much in the same way as that in which a rider treats a horse which has not been broken in. He puts a bit into its mouth to restrain its impetuosity, and applies a spur to its sides to urge it forward when it would wish to be at rest. But, in order that the soul may be able to effect this, it must first bring itself into subjection to God.

Its anger must be repressed, its pride humbled, its vanity trampled in the dust. When this has been accomplished, the soul becomes complete master of the body, and is able to rule it like an absolute monarch, whose slightest wish cannot be gainsaid.

Again, in your own particular case, God gave the year to you that you might develop your intellectual faculties, by diligent application to those studies which will mature the
powers of your soul, and that you might learn discipline by the observance of Rule, by silence, by submission to authority, and by humble reverence for Superiors. On all these points there is room for much serious reflection, and the few remaining moments at your disposal, before the year is gone for ever, will be profitably employed in examining yourself, to see in what way you have corresponded with His wishes.

III. When you have impressed upon your mind the purpose for which God gave the year to you, in the next place, examine seriously whether you have used it for the ends which He intended. You had a work to accomplish, the outlines of which we have just sketched for you. How has it been done? Has it even been begun? Alas! very many utterly neglect it, and we must acknowledge with sorrow that the number of people who do so is not by any means small. They do not take any pains to bring their animal nature into subjection to the spirit, and to submit the spirit to God. Some of them will not endure the slightest word of contradiction, but fly into a passion and lose all self-control. Others, through a cowardly fear of men, are neither truthful nor straightforward. Others set up self as an idol, and most devoutly fall down and worship it. Others are disobedient to Superiors ; they refuse to comply with their most reasonable wishes, and break through their most positive commands. Others are eaten up with pride and vanity, which, like canker-worms, consume the very heart of all their good works.

If, upon examination, you discover that during the past year you have not taken any pains to curb your temper, to love truth, to subdue self, to obey cheerfully, to repress pride, to labour conscientiously at the work of your intellectual development, the work for which God gave you the year has not been done. But even now there is time. The year has not quite gone. Do not allow its few remaining hours to pass by without making your peace with God. Go to Him in all humility; cast yourself upon your knees before Him; be heartily sorry for the misspent past; blot out, by tears of sincere repentance, the handwriting of sin which the recording Angel has set down against you, and promise God to make a better use of the year which is about to begin its course on the morrow.

Lectures for Boys, Volume I, 1896

We pray that you will live in such a way that the Good God will always constantly Bless you while He keeps you from all sin.  May Jesus, Mary, and Saint Joseph obtain for you every grace you need in the coming New Year!

      ON THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS AND OTHER SCRIPTURAL TITLES OF OUR LORD
"After eight days were accomplished that the child should be circumcised, his name was called Jesus."

THE eighth day is always the crowning day of the Church s greater festivals, and completes the celebration of the principal solemnities of the year. It is, as it were, linked with the first or opening day of the octave, just as our Lord in His Sermon on the Mount connected the eighth beatitude with the first by the promise of the kingdom of heaven.

When the Child that is born to us was circumcised He was called the Saviour, for it was then that He began the work of our salvation by shedding His precious blood for us. No Christian can now ask why Christ willed to be circumcised. For us He was born, for us He was circumcised, for us He suffered and died. Nothing of all this was for Himself, but all for His elect. He was not circumcised for His own sins, but for ours. The name He was called by the angel before His birth was His name from all eternity. This name of Saviour was His natural right; it was born with Him, not imposed by either angel or man.

The illustrious Prophet Isaias, predicting the birth of this Divine Child, calls Him by many great titles, but he seems to have been silent on this one name which the angel foretold, and to which the Evangelist bears testimony. Isaias, like Abraham, exulted that he might see Christ's day; he, too, saw it and was glad. Rejoicing and praising God, he says : "A child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace." These are indeed great names, but where is the name which is above all names, the name of Jesus at which every knee should bow? Perhaps we may find that one name expressed, or poured out in all, for it is the same that was spoken of by the Spouse in the canticle of love, "Thy name is as oil poured out." Therefore, from and in all these names and titles we have but the one name of Jesus. His office of Saviour includes all. If one had been wanting, He could neither have been called nor have been the Saviour. Has not each one of us found by experience that He has been Wonderful in the conversion and change of our wills ? For is it not the beginning of salvation when we loathe what we formerly loved, grieve over what we once delighted in, embrace what we had feared, follow after that which we had fled from, desire what we had contemned ? He that has wrought such wonders in us is assuredly Wonderful. Jesus shows Himself to be the Counsellor by directing us in the choice of penance and of a well-ordered life, lest our zeal be without knowledge and our good will without prudence.

It was likewise necessary that we should experience Him to be God the Mighty. God in the remission of our past sins, for none but God can forgive sin, and Mighty when enabling us to fight victoriously those sinful passions which are ever warring in us, and which are liable to render our last state worse than the first. Does anything still seem wanting to the office of Saviour ? Yea, truly, the chief thing would be lacking were He not also the Father of the world to come, so that we who are engendered in this world unto death may by Him be raised up to a glorious immortality.

A further title and quality is required that of the Prince of Peace Who has reconciled us to His Father, to Whom He is to give back the kingdom. Otherwise, as children of perdition, we might have risen again to punishment instead of reward. The government, which is upon His shoulder, shall be magnified by the number of the saved, that He may be truly called the Saviour; that there maybe no end of peace; and that we may know our salvation to be a true salvation which leaves no fear of failure. Oblessed Name! O sacred Oil! how widely hast thou been spread, how profusely poured out! Whence did this oil come? It came from heaven to Judea, and thence was diffused over the whole earth, to its uttermost bounds. The Church cries out, "Thy name is oil poured out." Poured out, indeed, to overflowing, since it is spread abroad, not only over the heavens and earth, but its influence reaches even to hell ; so that "in the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and every tongue shall confess is and say, "Thy name is as oil poured out. "Behold the name of Christ and the name of Jesus were both communicated to the angels and poured out upon men. I am, then, made a participator in this salutary and life-giving name. I am a shareholder in His inheritance. I am a Christian. I am a brother of Christ. If a brother, then an heir also of God and co-heir with Christ.

And what wonder that the name of the Divine Spouse is poured out ? In His passion He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. By this pouring out the plenitude of His divinity is diffused or spread abroad upon the earth, and of His plenitude all shall receive; and when refreshed with the life-giving perfume of this mystic oil they will exclaim,  "Thy name is as oil poured out." But why is this name compared to oil ? There is undoubtedly a similitude between the name of the Spouse and oil, and not without reason has the Holy Ghost drawn a comparison between them. Oil gives light, nourishes and strengthens the body, and alleviates pain. Hence it is light, food, and medicine. All these qualities may be recognized in the holy name of Jesus. It shines and gives light when preached, it feeds and strengthens by its remembrance, it alleviates sorrow and anoints the wounds of the soul by its invocation. Let us consider these three qualities singly.

How was it that the light of faith shone forth so suddenly over the whole earth, if not by the preaching of the blessed name of Jesus ? Is it not by the light of this name that God has called us "into his marvellous light," so that, being enlightened by it, we shall see light as the Apostle declares, "For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord." The Apostle was commanded to carry this name before kings and nations, and the children of Israel. He carried it as a brilliant torch, and by it enlightened the nations sitting in darkness, so that he could exclaim : "The night is past, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day." He lifted the light on high, and announced everywhere the name of Jesus and Him crucified. How brilliantly, too, did this light shine forth and attract the gaze of all when from the mouth of Peter the sacred name gave strength to the feet of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple ! Was he not diffusing this light when he said to this man, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth arise and walk?"
 
And to how many did he not restore sight, and health, and faith, by the power of this same name. But the name of Jesus is not only light, it is likewise food. Are you not strengthened and consoled as often as you call it to mind ? There is no thought that so replenishes and fills the soul with sweetness and spiritual joy; no exercise so efficaciously recruits and refreshes the wearied spirit, and even the senses; so repairs the inward strength, gives vigour to virtue, and cherishes pure affections, as the frequent invocation of the name of Jesus.

All food of the soul is unsavoury to me if this oil be not poured upon it ; it is insipid to me if not seasoned with this name. If you write, it does not relish if I read not there the name of Jesus. If you dispute or instruct, it does not satisfy me if I hear not the sweet sound of the name of Jesus. Jesus is honey to the mouth, music to the ear, jubilee to the heart.

The name of Jesus is, moreover, a sovereign medicine. If there be anyone overwhelmed with sorrow, let Jesus come into his heart, and thence to his lips, and behold, at the rising light of this sacred name all darkness and clouds will be dispersed, peace and joy will return, and the serenity of his mind will be restored. If there be anyone stained with crime, and driven headlong by despair to the pit of destruction, let him call upon this life-giving name, and he will speedily be restored to hope and salvation. Is there anyone amongst you in hardness of heart, in sloth, or tepidity, in bitterness of mind, if he will but invoke the name of Jesus his heart will be softened, and tears of contrition will flow gently and abundantly. In dangers and distress, in fears and anxieties, let him call on this name of power, and his confidence will return, his peace of mind will be restored. Doubts and embarrassments will be dispelled and give place to certainty. There is no ill of life, no adversity or misfortune, in which this adorable name will not bring help and fortitude. It is a remedy whose virtue our dear Saviour invites us to test.
"Call upon me in the day of trouble : I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."

Nothing so efficaciously bridles anger and subdues the fire of all unruly passions as this holy name. When I pronounce the name of Jesus, I represent to myself a man meek and humble of heart, benevolent, chaste, merciful, a man endowed with all sanctity, all graces, all virtues, and I call to mind that this man is Divine, is the Almighty God, Who heals me by His example and strengthens me by His power., ,

All manner of good things come to my mind when the sacred name of Jesus sounds in my ear. I will, therefore, make to myself a sweet and sovereign ointment from the virtues of His humanity and the Omnipotence of His Divinity. It shall be to me a healing balsam, the like to which no physician was ever able to compound. And this electuary, my soul, thou hast laid up in the little vessel of the name of Jesus.

Let, then, this name of power be ever in my heart, that all my thoughts, desires, and actions may be directed by Jesus and unto Jesus. To this He Himself urges me :
"Place me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm."

Source:  Sermons of Saint Bernard on Advent and Christmas, Imprimatur 1909

Veni in nomine Patris Mei, et non accipitis Me; si alius venerit in nomine suo, ilium accipietis.

I am come in the name of My Father, and you receive Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. (John 5:43)

In these words, addressed by our Blessed Lord to the Jews of Jerusalem, we are taught by some of the Fathers that He meant to foretell the future reception of Antichrist by that people which had rejected Himself. The other who is to come, not in the name of the Father, not in the name of any God but himself —" in his own name "—is the great enemy, the Man of Sin, the child of perdition, of whom St. Paul speaks in his Epistles. It is thought by Catholic and ancient writers that he will be Jewish by origin; at all events it seems probable that he will connect himself with the Jews and be received by them for a time before their final conversion, that he will build his false religion in some measure on Judaism, and that he will for a short time reign at Jerusalem, and make himself an object of worship at the Temple.

However this may be—for here we are touching on some details of the prophecies as to which we have no absolutely certain information to guide us we cannot but recognize in this sad prediction of our Lord an allusion to a general law which constantly operates in the providential course of human events. Our Lord is characterized in the Gospels as coming to His own, and not being received by them. You know how often He speaks of Himself and His Father as inviting, calling, beseeching people to come to the banquet or the kingdom which is prepared for them. Men reject God, and turn away from His offers and invitation with disdain. "I pray thee hold me excused," is their most courteous reply; at other times they turn upon His servants and messengers, beat them, handle them roughly, and slay them. And then comes in this law of retribution which is so observable in the providential government of the world. Those who refuse God are not able to refuse His and their own enemy. If they reject God's light service and loving invitation, they bring upon themselves the yoke of a hard master, and the burden of a hungry slavery instead. The prodigal son had to become a servant and a swineherd in a far country because he could not bear his happy dependence on his father in his own home. St. Paul tells us that the heathen were punished for their ingratitude to God by being allowed to fall into idolatry and degrade their moral nature in the hideous and nameless filthiness of paganism. We see the same law obtaining in the case of nations or persons, who emancipate themselves from the control of conscience to become the slaves of sin, who cast off the happy constraints of the Catholic faith to fall into endless delusions and fantastical forms of heretical error, or who cast aside: the bond of Catholic unity because they think the rule of Christ's Vicar too severe, only to find themselves bound hand and foot, gagged, in chains and in darkness, the prisoners of the civil power, whose aid they have invoked to free them from Rome. But of all instances of the working of this law, none will be more striking and more wonderful than that of which our Saviour here speaks; when those who have rejected Him, the blessed, the merciful, the gentle and humble, the very incarnation of the sweetness and tenderness of God's ineffable love, shall give themselves up body and soul into the power of the Antichrist, to be the willing slaves and eager worshipers of one who will be the most detestably diabolical of all those servants of Satan that have ever been let loose on the world to punish it for its neglect of God.

I. The prophecies in Holy Scripture which, with more or less of certainty, may be referred to the subject of the great enemy of God, the Man of Sin, are very numerous, and widely scattered over the several parts of the sacred volume. We may say that his figure is to be found at the source of the sacred stream of divine prediction, where the enmities placed by God between the woman and her seed on the one hand, and the serpent and his seed on the other, are spoken of, and where it is said of the serpent, Tu insidiaberis calcaneo ejus—"Thou shall lie in wait against her heel." (Gen iii, 15) I say, if we compare this prophecy with part of the Apocalyptic vision of St. John, we seem to see in it a distinct forecasting of the future Antichrist (Apoc.xii). Then again, we may observe that in a passage in which the Prophet Ezechiel seems to speak of Antichrist, he uses words which appear to show that this same Antichrist was a familiar subject to the Prophets before him. "Thou then art he," he says, "of whom I have spoken in the days of old by My servants the Prophets of Israel, who prophesied in the days of those times that I would bring thee upon them." (Ezech xxxviii, 13) Then again, we find him filling a large space in the prophecies of Daniel, (Dan. vii. 8, 20; xi. xii.) he is to be found in our Lord's words concerning the latter days, he is conspicuous in the passage of St. Paul which I quoted to you last Sunday, and we seem to feel his presence when St. Peter, St. Jude, and St. John, in their Epistles, (St. Peter, 2 Epist. iii. ; St. Jude, 4—18; St. John, 1 Epist. ii.) dwell on the evil times that were to come at the end of the world. Lastly, as so much of Daniel's prophecy relates to him, so also do large portions of the Apocalypse of the Beloved Disciple, (Apoc. xiii) who uses, concerning him and the events connected with him, language and imagery borrowed from the Prophets of the Old Testament, whose predictions he thus tacitly applies and fills up. Here then, my brethren, I have at once said enough to excuse myself from going in detail through the whole of this chain of prophecies, and, if the short time at our disposal did not preclude me from attempting it, I should still shrink from the task, because these predictions are in many parts, as we might naturally expect them to be, difficult and of doubtful interpretation. The great enemy of God of whom we are speaking is to have, and has already had, many types, many anticipations, many forerunners in history, just as the last great persecution of the Church has had so many preludes and fore shadowings. Many of these forerunners of Antichrist, many of these anticipations of his time and of his work in history, have been themselves the subjects of prophecy, and thus we may frequently be mistaking for predictions of him passages which refer more immediately to them. It is enough for us then, if we can put forward such general outlines of his history, and such prominent features of his character, as seem to stand out unmistakably from the sacred pages in which Daniel, St John, and St Paul appear evidently to speak of Antichrist, and thus to give ourselves clear and distinct ideas of the great evil which in course of time is to come upon the world.

In the first place, then, my brethren, it is hardly needful to say that Antichrist is to be one particular person, a child born of a woman. I say it is hardly needful to point out how utterly foolish, as well as how untrue, must such an interpretation be as that which would explain the prophecies concerning him as if they related to a power, a principle, a system, and, above all, to a chain and succession of persons reaching from the earliest ages of the Church to the latest, such as is that once common Protestant figment, that Antichrist in prophecy was a personification of the power of the Holy See, and of the Pontiffs who have succeeded St Peter. Antichrist could not come at the end of the world, and have a particular history, as we shall see, and a short and strongly- marked career, if he were merely the symbol of a line which began with Christianity itself and has endured ever since. Again, we are taught by Christian writers to put aside another wild notion, that Satan, or one of his evil angels, is to become actually incarnate, in imitation of the Incarnation of our Blessed Lord, and that thus the great enemy of the faith will be a demon in human form or nature. Satan is allowed much, but he will never be allowed so closely to imitate the blessed mystery of our Redemption, the greatest work of God, the union of two natures in one Person. No, Antichrist will be a man like other men, a child like other children; he will be borne in the womb, and suckled at the breasts of a woman, a daughter of Eve, and, moreover, he will have all the blessings granted to him, and all the prospects offered to him, which are the common heritage of the children of our race. A Guardian Angel will watch over him from the first, Saints will pray for him, he will have the door of the Church open to him as to others, the fatherly care of God will not neglect him in the ordinary course of providence, the tender and winning grace which is sufficient to enable him to do right and practice virtue, to imitate Christ and save his soul,
will not be denied to him. But we are told by the Fathers that he will at an early age fall under the corrupting power of the devil, and we see too much of the intense activity of the emissaries and tools of the Evil One to pollute and pervert Christian children even in their tenderest years, we are too much occupied in daily conflict, even in Christian countries, to maintain for the Church and for the - parent the right of Christian education for their offspring, to see anything incredible in what we are: taught will be the future of that unhappy child who  is to grow into the enemy of God. He is to begin in obscurity, and to rise from a contemptible rank; but in a short time he will obtain a kingly station, and find himself in the possession of immense wealth and influence. God will have given him wonderful natural abilities, and his character will impose on and fascinate all who come within his reach. After a rapid series of victories of unexampled brilliancy, Antichrist will be for the time the master of the world.

The character of this miserable man is drawn out for us from the Scriptures by the Fathers and Christian writers,* (The reader will find the authorities here referred to in Suarez* De Incarnatione, p. 2, disp. 54, and in Robertas Lezioni Sacre sopra la -Fine del Mondo, 1. 4 and 5.) and there is but little in it that has not been frequently foreshadowed by those who have been his types and precursors. Pride, cruelty, ambition, artifice, are among its leading features; and to these we may safely add, as a matter of course, extreme voluptuousness and licentiousness of manners. (Dan. xi. 37.) What is more peculiar to him is that he will be the author of a religion of his own. A great part of this will consist in the denial of the truth, and in insolence against God; but he will not only formally teach impiety and infidelity, and "speak great words against the High One," and deny " the God of his fathers," (Ibid, vii. 8, 25 ; xi. 36, 37.) but he will specifically teach that he himself, and not our Lord Jesus Christ, is the true Messiah, and he will set himself forth in the restored Temple of Jerusalem as the object of worship, as the only true God. (ii Thess. ii, 4 )  Here there are some lines in the prophetic description which seem to us as yet obscure and confused, because our eyes are not yet keen enough to see the harmony of statements, different though not conflicting—for we hear something of his making a god of his own to be worshipped, (Dan xi, 38) and something also of a kind of restoration of paganism,(Apoc. xiii, 3, 14-15) of which he will be the author. It is certain, however, that he will have the command of all the power of Satan for the purpose of working false and illusive miracles in confirmation of his teaching, among which will be that he will call down fire from heaven, and have the power to make an image of his false god to speak. (Apoc. xiii, 13, 15)

Once more, Antichrist will be a great persecutor of the Church; a persecutor in cruelty, and in refinement of malice, and, as it would seem, in success, surpassing all those who have hitherto played that fatal part in the history of the Church. He will make war with the Saints (Ibid. 7.) and overcome —not indeed the Church, which is immortal and indefectible, but large numbers of her weaker children. (Ibid.) He is to reign in his seductions "over every tribe, and people, and tongue, and nation." We are specially told that he will do what has already been done by former persecutors, and notably in the countries in which we live—he will proscribe and forbid the celebration of the Adorable Sacrifice of the Mass, the great act of worship of the Church. (Dan xii, 11) Moreover, he will impose by law the worship of his own false religion; and in this, again, he has been anticipated by his forerunners. "Whosoever will not adore the image of the beast shall be slain (Apoc. xiii, 15) Again, we find foretold of him a species of cunning legal persecution, by no means incredible when we remember what the devices are which have at various times been adopted by the enemies of our holy religion, and what is the inquisitive nature of modern legislation. It appears that he will in some way exact an impious homage to himself, as a condition to be complied with by every one who would mix in the ordinary business of life, in traffic, commerce, and the like, so that no one is to buy or sell except they have his mark on their right hand or on their forehead. (Ibid. 16, 17.) All this points to a skillful warfare against souls, combined with, and a refinement upon, the old brutal cruelty of heathen or Protestant persecutors a warfare which no doubt will be represented as a necessary condition for the security of government, as a just right of the State. Lastly, we are told that God will send special messengers and ministers of His Word, beside the ordinary Hierarchy and ministers of the Church, to oppose this great enemy of the truth.

You may remember how it stands recorded in different parts of the Scripture that two great servants of God have as yet not paid the common debt of mortality, but are preserved in some wonderful way as has always been thought among Christians, to re-appear at the end of the world, and then to die for the truth. From the Patriarchs before the Flood Enoch was taken, and from the Prophets in the days of the Jewish dispensation Elias was taken; and these two, as the tradition of the Church tells us, are to come and preach and work miracles, and, as it would seem, to convert at least a great part of the Jewish nation to God before the last day.(Apoc. xi, 3-7) They
are to oppose Antichrist, and at last are to be slain by him; and then, in the moment of his triumph, at the height of his power, when all the earth seems silent before him, the enemy of God will be destroyed by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, as St. Paul tells the Thessalonians—"Whom the Lord Jesus shall kill with the spirit of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." (2 Thess. ii, 8)

And now, my brethren, I suppose, when we look forward to these coming events in the history of the human race, our first view of them represents them to us as something perfectly novel and unheard of before, and we are inclined to suppose that all the conditions of society and the whole character of the world's history must be radically changed before such things can take place. What ! is a man to make himself worshiped in the temple of God ? Is heathenism again to rise ? Is the human race, after all its moral and material achievements, to grovel once more in idolatry, falsehood, and superstition ? Now, I do not deny that there are many features in the character and in the proceedings of this great enemy of Jesus Christ which will be unexampled, at least in greatness and intensity, in all that may have gone before. We are told that Satan will then be "let loose;" (Apoc, xx, 7) he has always by nature an immense power to hurt and to deceive the world, but he is permitted by God to exercise this power just as far as God sees fit, and there is a greater or less degree in this permission at various times. At the end of the world, when he makes what will be his last effort, God will permit him a greater amount of power, for the punishment of mankind who have treated the Gospel so ungratefully. This is true. In the latter days the power of evil will be in this sense increased, and the malice of the Evil One will be intensified, because, as St. John says, he knows that "he hath but a short time." (Apoc xii, 12)

And yet we may go a great deal too far in allowing that there will be an altogether new state of things in the days of Antichrist. It is a pernicious delusion as to the ancient history of man, as it is recorded in Scripture, to suppose that the persons and the events, the principles and the motives, which come into prominence in the sacred pages,
were entirely different from those with which we are familiar. I say it is a mischievous delusion, because it leads us to feel as if we had nothing practically to do with the sacred history, and thus we are prevented from realizing that the same things may happen in our day as happened then, that God is just as active in the guidance of human affairs, and in the notice which He takes of human crimes, as He was of old. And so I say, rather, that the days of Antichrist are to be the natural issue and outcome and fruit and development of the days in which we live, and that the elements and principles which are to be at work then in their greatest force are at this moment working around us. As to Antichrist himself, he will be a man of his own day, the legitimate child and offspring of the generation to which he belongs, gathering up in his own person and character its chief features and essential notes. To us, as he is described in the pages of Scripture, he is the enemy of God, the Man of Sin, the child of perdition, the persecutor of the Saints, the worker of lying wonders, the slave of Satan, the author and propagator of a false religion, the tyrannical proscriber of every worship but his own. To us he is, as he will be in reality, a man of blood, a soul stained with the deepest sin, given up to corruption, fearfully degraded, full of falsehood, vanity, impurity, cruelty, a soul in which evil has been carried to its highest pitch, as little mixed as it is possible to be in this world with the faintest shade of good; excluding, as far as may be, not only virtue and moral excellence, but even anything that can attract sympathy or admiration.

But Antichrist will not wear this aspect to the men of his day. Nay, I may venture to say still more—that, were he to come now, he would not look like this. No, my brethren, the world and the Church are always at war, and on each side there are heroes, great men, men who express the ideas and attract the sympathy and devotion of the side which they represent At the head of the heroes of the Church is the lovely and noble beauty of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God; at the head of the world's heroes, their fitting and proper leader, the natural object of their devotion, will be the enemy of Jesus, the Antichrist Evil and sin in this world do that much of homage to conscience and to virtue, that they never proclaim themselves to be what they are, and always present themselves, as it were, under the colours of their adversaries. Every giant of wickedness here calls himself the advocate of right and justice, every monstrous deed of public and world-wide wrong is done under the name of some watchword of goodness or of truth. It is liberty, or freedom, or enlightenment, or progress, or fraternity, that is inscribed on every banner that marshals behind it the hosts of evil. Words like these will be in the mouths of those who form the herd of the flatterers of Antichrist, who are the executors of his behests and the preachers of his doctrine. Men will talk then, as they talk now, of a great deliverance from the bondage under which religion has so long kept down the intellect and restrained the free exercise of the instincts of human nature. We shall hear of the emancipation of thought, the banishment of superstition, the breaking to pieces of the old fetters, the removal of old lines of distinction, the exploding of old fables about God, and judgment, and eternal punishment; about a nature infected with sin, and under sentence of degradation, a nature in need, forsooth, of a saviour and a deliverer, in need, forsooth, of grace from God to enable it to do right, a nature whose nobility lay in its being subdued, and whose highest perfection consisted in self-sacrifice and mortification! Humanity, it will be said then, has been groaning for centuries under a despotism which has withered its brightest flowers and poisoned its most enchanting pleasures by the old foolish chimeras of sin and responsibility and judgment hereafter; and the man who has revealed the glorious truth of the independence of nature will be hailed as the greatest of benefactors, and take his place, as it will be said, at the very summit of the historical grandeurs and glories of our race.

These things his admirers will say of Antichrist, as men like them may have said the same things of other conspicuous instruments of Satan and enemies of the truth, as it is in Jesus Christ, in ages before him. But the great fascination by which he will win the homage and submission of the men of his day, will be not only that he will give them an easy creed and persuade them that conscience is a bugbear and that the indulgence of their lowest passions is a right or a duty, but also the great and rapid and unexampled success which will mark his course. It will be permitted him to rise suddenly, and to be almost in a moment the victorious master of the world ; and his brilliant abilities and irresistible march to the highest power will so dazzle the eyes of men that they will forget to examine the legitimacy of his claims or the soundness of his policy, the truth of his creed or the honesty and purity of his life. You know how often we hear it said that "nothing succeeds like success," how ready the men of this world are to idolize prosperous adventurers, men who have made their own way, men who have left their mark on their age, even for evil, men who have gained the object of their ambition even at the cost of honour and truthfulness. You know what a fascination genius of the lowest kind, and success by the most unprincipled means, exercise over the bulk of men, and how often we are startled by some instance which reveals to us how little the standard of greatness which exists in the minds of the majority is in accordance with the character of our Lord, nay, how eagerly they will hail direct antagonism to Him. You may have read, my brethren, in the history of the last century, how that miserable man whose name has become famous as the patriarch and apostle of modern infidelity, the man who began, or at all events carried to its height, that system of calumniating and scoffing and sneering at Christianity which has so many followers still—though his contemporaries knew him, as we also know him from his biographies, to have been eaten up by meanness, petty spite, vanity, jealousy, avarice, insatiable pride, ostentation, and love of applause, so that his character appears to us to have nothing in it that any one could heartily admire or love in any way—yet how, at the very close of his long drawn-out life, when the hand of death was already creeping upon him, he had himself transported once more to Paris, and how he there became the object of universal homage and, it may almost be said, of worship. Worship, for no other reason so much as that he had been a brilliant forerunner of Antichrist in his doctrine, in laughing at religion and encouraging men in infidelity ! And then all ranks of that gay and thoughtless society, dancing, as it were, at that moment, its last fling over the half-wakened fires of the volcano beneath its feet, which was so soon to burst forth and engulf the revelers in destruction—all ranks, I grieve to say, from the partner of the throne of the successor of St. Louis down to the lowest hangers-on of the light literature and the theatres of the time—came or sent in succession to the ante-chamber of that dying infidel as if to burn incense before him. (Sec Maynard's Voltaire, sa Vie et ses CEuvres> t ii, p. 590. Voltaire died in 1778)  Ah! my brethren, have there not been triumphs in our day, and not far from us, which might remind us well enough of that last miserable triumph of Voltaire? triumphs, in which men of blood and crime and the most barefaced villainy, men who have hardly condescended to veil their rapine and violence under the cloak of some colourable pretext, have been made the heroes of a cultivated and refined society that calls itself Christian, while their chief claim on the homage of their worshipers has really been this, that they have been great enemies and injurers of the Church and of the Holy See ? What wonder then if we are led to think that Antichrist will be the idol of his day, when to the charm of being a great denier and assailant of the checks and restraints which God has placed upon the unbridled indulgence of natural appetites, he will add the fascination of success such as the world has never before seen, and when he will enforce his claims by the aid of lying wonders, and when—to add that last sad element of all—the men of his time, because they have resisted and hated the truth, will be handed over by the just judgment of God to a spirit of blindness and delusion, so as to believe a lie!

Yes, my brethren, the world is always ready for its Antichrist. Its principles, and motives, and manners of judging, its aims and desires and longings, are all such as will find themselves satisfied, encouraged, answered to, in him. On the other hand, there is this consolation for the children of the Church, for those who form their thoughts and minds, who regulate their judgments and their lives, on the pattern of Jesus Christ and of His Saints, that they have in their own hearts and consciences a light and an unction of the Holy Ghost which will enable them to withstand all the wiles and seductions of the Evil One, to see through all his false wonders and lying miracles, and to baffle his power, if it be so, even by death. Only, my brethren, let us not deceive ourselves by thinking that all this that we have been speaking of is a thing of the future, a matter of merely historical interest and excitement to ourselves. No, my brethren, whether the latter days fall now, or centuries hence, Antichrist, as we saw last Sunday, is in the world at present. We recognize the workings of Divine Providence in the events of our time, and we should think ourselves faithless if we did not see the finger of God both in what befalls the Church, and in what befalls ourselves. But we must recognize also the working of the enemies of God. There is another hand continually active all around us; and it behoves us very much not to mistake it or to ignore
it We need that holy simplicity of the Saints, which always saw Satan behind the forms of his instruments, and called by their right name the machinations of the Evil One. In the days of St Catharine of Sienna, there was a war against the Church at the head of which were many of the Church's own princes, and she, humble, meek, and charitable as she was, did not speak of these tools of evil as a party, or as representing an idea, or as advocating a policy or a mistaken principle, but in the plainest language she called them devils.  Well, my brethren, the hand that is to guide Antichrist is always plotting against the Church and against society. Satan is always, generation after generation, preparing men to be his instruments in the final conflict, he is always undermining our holy faith, always blinding and misleading the world, ever and anon setting forth his chosen instruments and servants in the work of impiety, and teaching them to clothe and bear themselves in such guise as to attract the attention, the interest, the influence, the popularity, which will at last centre around Antichrist himself.

Let us then, dear brethren in Jesus Christ, take care, in the first place, never to bow down or do homage to the world's idols—to intellect, to power, to success, to wealth, to the achievements of dishonest policy, to the prosperous lying, the unblushing wickedness, the boastful injustice of our time. Let us stand on the old paths, and give honour where alone honour is due, to humility, and purity, and meekness, and self-sacrifice, and charity, and zeal for the glory of God. Let us shrine in our heart of hearts, as the measure of all good, the object and centre of all love, Jesus Christ our Lord, Who has come to us in the name of His Father. And in the second place, let us be like men looking forwards rather than backwards, men waiting for, and looking out for their Lord—not so much counting up what those before us have done and suffered for the cause of God, as if, forsooth, the days of persecution and conflict were gone, never to return; as if henceforth we were to lead quiet and unruffled lives, enjoying our truce with the world, making the most of our position in society, eating, and drinking, and marrying, and giving in marriage, as in the days of Noe—like men who have hung up their fathers' armour in their halls, and sit round the fire telling tales of their prowess, and yet know not and think not themselves how to lift a hand in the fight in which their fathers bled. No, my brethren; the Church of God is now preparing herself for her last persecution, and she is preparing herself by nothing so much as by waging vigorous warfare now in our own days against the evil influences of the world, and in repelling its assaults upon her outworks, such as marriage and education, as well as upon her doctrines and upon her unity. The last persecution may come in your days, or in the days of your children, or in the days of your children's children; but your children and your children's children will be what you are, what your example and your teaching make them. If you are soldiers, watchful, self-denying, eager to beat back and advance upon the enemies of your souls and of the Church—then, my brethren, you will have done a twofold good. You will have served the Church and God in your own day, and so have weakened the power of evil in all days, and you will have left behind you and handed on to your little ones the tradition of faithfulness, warfare, toil, and sacrifice for God. If you are soft, self-indulgent, worldly, indolent, careless of the dangers, and at peace with the evils, of our time, then, though Antichrist come not yet, you will have done a twofold evil which will descend in misery upon those who come after you. You will have weakened the cause of God in your own day, and so you will have made the future triumph of evil more easy and more complete; and you will have bequeathed to your children the traditions and the training which will but ill fit them to withstand in their own generation the wiles, the seductions, and the cruelties of the great enemy of Jesus Christ.

Source: Sermons by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, Volume I,  1870

                                              THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
                "O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee"

With such a glorious feast as this during the month of December, we are almost tempted to give up all hope of doing much penance during the season of Advent. On December 8th we celebrate the wondrous moment when the Blessed Virgin began her existence in this world. At the same time we celebrate the sublime privilege by which Mary, alone among all human beings and in virtue of the future merits of Christ, was preserved at the very first moment of conception from the stain of original sin. It is true, of course, that in origin and in principle this great feast does not have any relationship with the time of Advent. It was fixed on December 8 in order to separate the feast by nine months from the date of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin on September 8.

However, in celebrating this feast we may easily enter into the spirit of Christmastide, for the feast is like the dawn of the Sun of Christmas. Mary is our hope, guide, and mother along the path of salvation.

The vigil of the Immaculate Conception is an opportune time to introduce the children to the practice of lighting a special Advent candle in Mary's honor. The Advent candle expresses symbolically the words of Isaias, "There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of this root." A beautiful candle is placed in a candleholder, which is covered with a white silk cloth tied together with ribbon. The candle is then placed before an image, statue or icon of our Lady before which the family prays to the Mother of God. This ancient custom preaches its lesson with an eloquent simplicity which is comprehensible to little children. The covered candle holder represents the rod out of the root of Jesse, Our Lady, from whose womb will come the Saviour of the world. The candle represents Christ, the Light of the World, who shall come to dispel all darkness and stain of sin. In conjunction with this little ceremony, one of the family could tell of the purity and childlike simplicity of our Blessed Mother, and of how she came to be the mother of us all.

Some of the prophetic lessons of Isaias could also be read, along with Gertrude von le Fort's poem to Our Lady of Advent, from "Hymns to the Church." The singing of the "Alma Redemptoris Mater," or the beautiful "Tota Pulchra Es" of Dom Pothier would be a suitable conclusion for the little ceremony.

Several remarks may be added concerning the hymns which we teach children in honor of Our Lady. Much bad taste, musical and theological, has entered into the praises of Our Lady. It would indeed be wise always to teach children only the best, and that which is always truthful and in accord with reality. Would we dare to compare "Macula non est in te," "Mother Dear, O Pray for Me," "On This Day, O Beautiful Mother," or "Bring Flowers of the Rarest," with the "Ave, Maris Stella" (sung in English, perhaps; but you will find that the children easily come to love and understand the Latin); the "Ave Maria," as edited by Solesmes; the sequence "Inviolata"; the hymn "Maria Mater Gratiae," or the "Tota Pulchra Es" of Dom Pothier?

Mother Church recommends the "Ave Maris Stella," which is the vesper hymn of the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Compare the theology of this hymn with the sentimental ballads which are customarily taught to children in honor of their heavenly Mother and Mediatrix:

          Ave, Star of ocean,
          Child divine who bearest,
          Mother, ever Virgin,
          Heaven's portal fairest.

          Taking that sweet Ave
          Erst by Gabriel spoken,
          Eva's name reversing,
          Be of peace the token.

          Break the sinner's fetters,
          Light to blind restoring,
          All our ills dispelling,
          Every boon imploring.

          Show thyself a mother
          In thy supplication,
          He will hear who chose thee
          At His Incarnation.

          Maid all maids excelling,
          Passing meek and lowly,
          Win for sinners pardon,
          Make us chaste and holy.

          As we onward journey
          Aid our weak endeavor,
          Till we gaze on Jesus
          And rejoice forever.

          Father, Son, and Spirit,
          Three in One confessing,
          Give we equal glory
          Equal praise and blessing.

                         --Ethelstan Riley translation

Should we desire other hymns in honor of the Immaculate Conception, we may choose such hymns and carols as "A Child Is Born in Bethlehem," or the superb German Advent carol "Behold, a Branch Is Growing." The latter, a fifteenth-century carol harmonized by Praetorius, is given below:

          Behold a branch is growing
          Of loveliest form and grace.
          As prophets sung, foreknowing;
          It springs from Jesse's race.
          And bears one little flower.
          In midst of coldest winter,
          At deepest midnight hour.
          Isaiah hath foretold it
          In words of promise sure,
          And Mary's arms enfold it,
          A Virgin meek and pure.
          Through God's eternal will,
          This Child to her is given
          At midnight calm and still.

Even the cook is not allowed respite during the octave of the Immaculate Conception, for it is time to make Moravian "Spritz" for the children. Ordinarily these gingerbread cookies are made for the vigil of the Immaculate Conception since Mary, too, "gave forth sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatic balm and yielded a sweet odor like the best myrrh." These cookies are loaded with fine, aromatic spices, tempting the appetites of any child of Mary. The spirit of mortification enters in readily, for the cookies must stand for ten days in the refrigerator before baking, and are then shaped into Christmas figures, especially hearts and liturgical symbols. Later on in the season, when we come to Candlemas, we could cut the cookies into the form of candles and turtle-doves.

The Immaculate Conception is the Patroness of the United States. How often our Holy Father has stated in recent years that the hope of peace in the world does not lie in force of arms, but rather in prayers and recourse to the intercession of Our Lady. 

                                                      ~ True Christmas Spirit, Imprimatur 1955 ~

You can find a coloring picture of the Immaculate Conception here.