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Easter Sunday - The Resurrection

3/30/2024

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 THE Resurrection of Jesus from the tomb is the model of that new life which every Christian. . . should live who has returned to grace. Let us study the sacred characters of the Saviour's Resurrection, and learn on what conditions we also can arise with Him.

First Point.—The Resurrection of Jesus presents three principal characters; viz., it is true, it is all for God, and it is forever. Such should be the qualities of our return to God. Our return to God should be sincere. The Resurrection of Jesus is not a fiction, but a reality. The proofs of it are: His absence from the tomb; His winding-sheet and garments are left behind; and His apparition to Simon. Behold by what marks we may recognize if our resurrection to grace is sincere. Virtuous men and true Christians must be able to say of us what the angels said of Jesus, "He is not here." You may seek for this person in his old habits, in parties of pleasure, at the plays, and among the worldly; but he is no longer there. " Why do you seek a living soul among the dead?" Behold the pledges of his conversion—the winding-sheet and the relics of his worldliness. Hitherto vanity was evident in his dress, but now modesty and decency are his most beautiful ornaments. This change should be apparent to every eye. Christians shall rejoice at
this conversion, because it shall be their most beautiful eulogy. The worldly will laugh; so much the better—their railleries shall be our first atonement.

The second character of the Resurrection of Jesus is that it is all for God. Before His death Jesus lived in the world, and He lived a human life. But once that He has arisen, He lives a life wholly celestial, He lives for God. His body even is spiritualized. It is on the heights of Galilee that His apostles must go to find Him. Behold our Model. "Even as Jesus has arisen" says the apostle, "we must also arise to a new life." He adds: " When I was a child, I thought as a child, I acted as a child; but having become a man, I have thought and acted as a man." Let us apply these words to ourselves. When we were sinners, worldlings, slaves to our passions, we thought and acted as sinners and as worldlings; if we have truly become Christians, we should act and love and think as Christians.

According to the terms of the theology of St. Paul, there are in us two men—the old and the new. The old man is concupiscence, self, and pride. The new man is grace, Jesus, and faith. Now what is it to arise with Christ? It is to live His life. And what is it to live the life of Christ? To understand it well (for here is all the mystery and the foundation of Christian life), we must know that life consists especially in two functions of the soul, viz. , to think and to love. To live the life of Jesus, to live the life of faith, is to think of the world, of pleasures, of salvation, and of sufferings what Jesus thought of them; to live the life of Jesus is to love what He loved. But what has He loved? What has He thought of the pleasures of the world, of riches, and of sufferings? Think of His birth, His life and His death, think of His teachings, and then answer.

The third character of the Resurrection is its duration. Jesus once arisen dies no more. Never again shall we see Him assume His earthly garb or re-enter the tomb from which He came; never shall He become a victim to death, even for an instant. Hence St. Paul says: "Death has no longer empire over Him. " And so our resurrection to grace should be constant. No one should behold us resuming' our old guilty habits, or falling again into sin. We have arisen from our tomb, be careful not to reenter it. St. Paul says : " Know that grace has crucified in us the old man, that the reign of sin may be destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer." What a crime, if, after having returned to God, after having tasted the sweetness of His love, we should go, as the unclean animal, to our former sinfulness. Let us ask of our risen Saviour to keep us far from such a misfortune, and that He may bind us so strongly to Himself that we shall never be separated from Him.

Second Point.—The conditions to arise with Jesus. The first condition is to die; in fact, only the dead can arise. Our soul cannot live at once the natural life which it has from the old Adam and the supernatural life which it must draw from the new Adam. These two lives are incompatible in their principles and in their effects. The principles of one are: nature, passions, pride, the senses; it has for its effects: pleasure, love of ease, and fear of sufferings. The principles of the supernatural life are: grace, faith, the promptings of the Holy Spirit its effects are: humility, a spirit of sacrifice, and a love of suffering. We must, therefore, necessarily choose. Hence the maxim in the language of the Christian, so common and so true: " We must die to live. " The vile insect which crawls under the grass does not become a beautiful butterfly except by leaving its first form and its first life. And so the
Christian must arise from his ashes; he must cease to be a man and become a Christian. St. Paul says " I die every day." This saying is full of consolation; it teaches us that spiritual death comes slowly; it is a daily work to be accomplished. Let us labor without relaxation, but let us labor without discouragement. And here let us ask how this spiritual death happens. It comes only after the agony. There is no death without sorrow. Jesus replied to the disciples, who were frightened at the remembrance of His Passion: "It is necessary that Christ should suffer, and thus enter into His glory." It is the necessary condition.. And this transformation which is made in a Christian man is called mortification. "If any one wishes to come after Me"—that is to say, to live My life— "let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me." This is the daily "I die" of St. Paul. Mortification, then, is the path which leads to death, as death is the path which leads to resurrection. And then to suffer, or, rather, to wish to suffer. " If any one wishes to come after Me." Do you know why there are so few Christians truly worthy of the name? So few who live the life of faith? It is because there are so few who consent to suffer. What a strange thing! We wish to live the supernatural life, we wish to arise with Christ, but we do not wish mortification! We might just as well wish to die without suffering. Let us reform our erroneous ideas and walk after Jesus daily. He is laden with His cross, He ascends the hill of Calvary ; He is crucified and He dies. We must also ascend the Calvary of humiliation, and embrace the cross, and allow ourselves to be crucified with Jesus to merit to arise as He did, to live with Him always.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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23rd Sunday after Pentecost - Resurrection of Jairus Daughter

11/17/2019

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IN the miracle which Jesus wrought in favor of the daughter of Jairus we should especially consider three things: of whom is this young girl the image, the conditions of the sinner's return to grace, and the marks of a true return to God.
First Point—Of whom is this young girl the image? She is yours; because she was young, full of health, loved by her father, adored by her mother. She promised herself long years, and in her gracious carelessness she smiled on the world, which extended its arms to her. However, she dies—this only daughter, this rich heiress, this youthful beauty. Neither the nobleness of her blood, nor the dignities of her family, nor wealth, nor youth, were able to preserve her from death. She is your image, because you yourself, from one moment to another, may fall under the stroke of death, as the fragile flower falls under the scythe of the harvester.

Woe to this young girl, if, captivated by the pleasures of the world, she has loved it to the detriment of her eternal interests; if the desire to please it made her forget God; if the care of her body made her forget her soul; if she has cultivated her beauty to attract adorers; if, proud of her advantages, she has opened her heart to pride and allowed it to fall into vain projects—what a misfortune for her, and what a folly ! Death has destroyed everything, and her projects and her desires have perished. What misfortune also for you, if you imitate her in her ardor for the things of the world and her carelessness for the things of heaven. Death shall come to destroy everything, both the vanity of your projects and the folly of your illusions. On seeing her, Jesus exclaimed: "The girl is not dead, but sleepeth." It was impossible better to express the effect of sin in a soul hitherto innocent. This first fault, it is true, brings her death, but the return to life is so easy that this death is rather a sleep than a real death. The heart cannot be corrupted ; conscience has not lost its first delicacy; all the principles of life, so to speak, are living—the breath of grace is all that is needed to reanimate them. See also in what this young girl is your image. You have sinned, but your heart is not perverted; every sentiment is not extinguished; the habit is not formed. All the happy impressions of virtue which you have received still live, and a little good will is all that is necessary to restore you to grace. May you understand and profit by all these elements of sanctification.

Second Point.—Jesus begins by sending away the band of musicians who make a great tumult in this house where life must re-enter. He thus indicates to us the ordinary cause which leads to neglect in the souls of sinners, of whom this young girl is the image; also the first condition of a return to God. There carelessness has commenced with a taste for pleasures. There is in worldly diversions—in parties, balls, spectacles—a deadly vapor which penetrates the heart and excites it. Do not hope to return to the fervor of your first piety as long as you shall live in the midst of the agitation of the world. The cloud of dust which envelops the worldly soul hides from it the sight of God and the sight of duty. In retreat, on the contrary, the heart looks upon itself; it sees its state, it hears the voice of God, and nothing can hinder it from responding to His appeal. If, then, you wish to preserve grace, or to recover it, fly every occasion, all society, all reading calculated to lead you to dissipation. Do you hope to resist your passions in the midst of all that nourishes and develops them ? Do you think that you can preserve your virtue for a long time, when you expose it to the seductions which corrupt it? Do you think you can remain pious, recollected, fervent, and devoted to duty in the midst of objects which dissipate the heart, excite the imagination, and bring distaste for every duty? To believe it is the saddest of illusions. Alas, how many victims this illusion has already made!

Jesus, having dismissed the clamorous crowd which surrounded the young girl, approached her, and taking her by the hand said to her: "Young girl, arise! it is I who command you." Thus it is that God approaches the sinner in the measure that he separates from the world; He takes him by the hand. This is the grace which comes to assist our weakness. "Return to God," said Cardinal Wiseman, "and do not fear the difficulties; when you would sincerely return to good, God shall place His hand in yours and you shall overcome every obstacle." O powerful Hand, Thou unitest Thyself to a hand which is cold in death; Thou deignest to touch a corpse, and Thou givest it warmth, movement, and life! O vivifying Voice, Thou piercest the depths of the abyss; the empire of Death is shaken by Thee; she recognizes her Conqueror, and Thou compellest her to restore the prey of which she took possession. Speak to my heart, O Jesus, and if it resists speak to it more loudly and its life shall be restored. It is only Thou, O my God, who, by the application of Thy merits and  the interior voice of Thy grace, can recall me to life.

Third Point.—Signs of resurrection to grace. At this word of Jesus, "Arise!" the soul re-entered the body which she had abandoned, and "immediately the young girl arose and walked. And Jesus commanded that they should give her food to eat." As the soul is the principle of human life, the Holy Spirit is the principle of the supernatural life. If the soul has truly risen, the Holy Spirit dwells there again. His presence is revealed by signs which cannot be mistaken. Upon entering the heart He spreads there a certain recollection, a taste for the things of God, which contrast with the old habits of dissipation and the pleasures which made up her worldly life. The spirit of pride has given place to the spirit of modesty and humility; charity succeeds hatred; liberality succeeds selfishness. The habits of life are as different as the dispositions of the heart. He who only frequented worldly assemblies is pleased in the midst of sacred assemblies; virtuous friends surround him whom corrupting friends had seduced and led away; charity pours into the hands of the poor the money which vanity dispensed in foolish ornaments; words of salvation and edification fall from his lips, which were opened only in falsehood and frivolity; visits to the amiable Guest of the Tabernacle replace the useless visits which begot idleness; the Spirit of God has re-entered this soul.

Jesus commands that food shall be given the young girl whom He has just restored, and thus compels the most obstinate minds to Recognize the miracle which His power had just wrought. The divine Master has prepared for us in the Holy Eucharist the food which is best suitable to sustain and develop our life as Christians. He who approaches it, and approaches it often, shall find the strength to combat, lights in his doubts, consolations in his sorrows, and supernatural life shall flow in on him with superabundance. The careless soul who remains away from it exposes herself to see the life of grace languish and little by little become completely extinct in her. The desire of this heavenly bread and the eagerness to be nourished by it are the index of the soul whom the Holy Spirit animates by His breath and enlightens by His lights.

O divine Jesus, Thou givest life to the sinner, and Thou makest even the dead hear. Speak to my
heart as Thou spoke to the daughter of Jairus. Grant that I may arise and walk, that I may receive with spiritual hunger the food Thou presentest to me, in order that I may live by Thy spirit and be nourished by Thy flesh, and that by a holy life I may come to share Thy glory.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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18th Sunday after Pentecost - Jesus Cures the Paralytic

10/13/2019

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IN the paralytic healed so miraculously by Jesus, the holy doctors see the image of spiritual paralytics, in whom sin has exhausted the sources of  supernatural life, or in whom tepidity has stopped its activity. In the zeal which these men display who are so afflicted, they find two circumstances worthy of our meditations, viz., the conditions and the signs of a sincere return to God.
First Point.—Conditions of a sincere return to God. These men whom the Holy Spirit here presents
to us as models have with difficulty come to Jesus. They are stopped at the door of the house by a multitude whom all their efforts cannot resist. But their zeal is not lessened. Their ingenious charity finds another way to Him. Rather, He to whom faith conducts them suggests the way they must follow. And you also must expect to find obstacles in your return to Jesus. The enemy of your salvation shall oppose your return by the illusions of the world, the seductions of pleasures, the authority of examples, vain words, the fear of opinions, and foolish railleries. But it is in yourself especially that you shall find the most dangerous arms. They are the ardent passions which you must repress, agreeable inclinations which you must reform, flattering tastes which you must abandon, cherished associations which you must break, and inveterate habits which you must overcome. Imagination, which still more increases the difficulty, terrifies you; only the idea of efforts to be made prevents even the first step. Alas! how much this sad fear of contest against one's self puts to flight the courageous resolutions and renders void the most salutary projects.

If the sick man of whom there is now question was discouraged; if, yielding to obstacles, he stopped short; if, despairing of reaching Jesus, he had ceased to seek Him, the unfortunate man would have been a victim to his infirmity during his life; and, what is more deplorable still, he would die laden by his sins. This is the condition of sinners whom sloth restrains at the very outset of their penitential career, or whom weakness prevents from performing it. Indeed, we should mistrust ourselves, but can we not confide in God? He has promised us His assistance; shall we doubt His fidelity? Implore this assistance with which you cannot fail to triumph, but think that it is to your efforts that God shall grant it. He wishes to supply for your weakness, but not for your will. He consents to aid you, but He commands that you shall begin to act. He adds to your strength what is wanting, but He requires that such as it is you must employ it. See the paralytic who is presented for your model. He strives to come to Jesus with all the strength of which he is capable; in his inability to go and cast himself at the feet of Jesus he puts himself in the hands of charitable persons who carry him there. Imitate him; if your soul, paralyzed by a long sequence of sins, feels no longer able to endure their weight and can only give forth vain desires, entrust yourself to a zealous director. He shall guide you, he shall carry you if it is necessary, even to the feet of your Redeemer. His science shall enlighten you, his experience shall guide you, and his charity shall sustain you. What you think you are unable to do he shall teach you ; and what you really cannot do he shall do for you. His prayers, which are agreeable to God, shall make yours heard. He shall be at once the happy mediator who shall obtain your pardon and the merciful judge who shall pronounce it.

Second Point.—Signs of a true conversion. In healing the paralytic, Jesus gives him three different commands which announce the different characters of the conversion of a sinner. He commands him to arise, to take up his bed, and to return into his house.

The first mark by which we recognize that a sinner is truly converted is when his soul, once lifted up to God, is no longer grovelling in the things of earth, and, strongly maintaining itself, it remains' with constancy in the state of rectitude in which grace has placed it. We do not consider the sick man cured when each time he strives to rise he falls back through want of vigor. We must pronounce the same judgment on a soul whose feeble efforts to arise, not having the necessary strength, are continually followed by relapses. Is not this the judgment we must pronounce on you—you who make of your life a continual alternation of penance and sin ? You have not the courage to cut loose entirely from the world; you have not the generosity to give yourself entirely to God; you are tossed about successively from your fears to your weakness. Do you think you have recovered health when you take in the way of salvation only wavering steps and when the least obstacle disturbs you and casts you down? "Arise," said the Saviour; but remember that a relapse is worse than the original malady, because, already weakened, you have less strength to bear this and to accept the remedies.

In the bed which Jesus commanded the paralytic to take away, the fathers see the symbol of habits, affections, and the passions to which the soul was addicted while she was paralyzed. There she rests, there she languishes, there she remains, incapable of movement. After her conversion the objects of her affections become for her a burden. Her crime was to taste of the pleasure, and a part of her penance shall be to feel its burden. Sinful soul, do not hesitate to take up this bed of miseries to which you were so long confined. You must take it up, or you shall continue to lie upon it. But take courage. Your burden shall become less heavy in proportion to your willingness to carry it; your passions will continue to torment you, especially in the beginning of your conversion, but they will grow weaker in the measure you resist them, and you shall regain the dominion over yourself.

Jesus commanded the paralytic to return to his house. This is also the command He gives to a converted soul. By sin she went out from herself to give herself to creatures; her conversion should consist principally in re-entering herself and remaining there constantly recollected. This separation from dangerous objects, this interior retreat, are at once the precious effects, the manifest sign, and the assured guarantee of a solid penance.

Those sinners are not truly converted whom we see, after some equivocal marks of repentance, not avoiding the occasions which led them to sin, forming again those associations which were their ruin,and returning to the pleasures which corrupted them. You see the most perfect, just those innocent souls that have never been stained by a mortal sin, tremble at the approach of the world and fear its empoisoned breath lest the delicate flower of purity should be withered. And you, who with the knowledge of your weakness and the experience of all your falls should stand in fear and in continual circumspection—you imprudently expose yourself to the contagion by which you were so often attacked, and again expose yourself to the danger to which you have so often succumbed! How can you think that your desires of virtue are sincere?

Fly, therefore, from the world, where everything is a pitfall for your virtue; and, if you are obliged to live in it, make a solitude for yourself, where you can often enter—there to purify your soul from the vile dust by which the commerce of the world surely soils even the most religious hearts.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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16th Sunday after Pentecost - Humility

9/29/2019

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OUR divine Saviour allowed no occasion to pass by without extolling humility; and it must be admitted that it is the base, the foundation of all the other virtues. We shall consider it today in its different kinds and in its object.

First Point.—The different kinds of humility. The first is the humility of the heart. It consists in voluntarily embracing the practices of humility in not taking offence at calumnies; in not being angered by humiliations; and in not being offended by injuries. It goes even farther in the most fervent Christians. We have seen the saints desire to be humiliated, to cherish affronts, and to rejoice at being contemned and despised. St. John of the Cross asked of Our Lord but one grace, viz., to suffer and to be despised for His love. Alas! how far you are from these sentiments, you who are so sensitive to an injury, so particular about preferences, and so susceptible when your self-love is wounded! Do not forget that self-love is the principle of almost all the faults which stain the soul in the eyes of God, of all the defects which make piety odious in the eyes of men, and of all the caprices which dishonor a Christian in the eyes of the world. Strive, therefore, to destroy, if not completely, at least to weaken, this terrible enemy, which has such a firm hold on your whole being. To accomplish this end, profit by the countless little occasions where your self-love is hurt to do violence to it; each humiliation generously borne is a blow which shall weaken your enemy and prepare you for a complete victory.

The second kind of humility is the humility of speech. The precepts of the Gospel and the maxims of the world equally recommend this; the sentiment of decent propriety should suffice to engage us to be faithful to it. He who extols himself should feel that he is doing just what degrades him. He seeks admiration, and he finds contempt only. He wishes to make himself important, and he renders himself only ridiculous. It is astonishing the disgust which boasting inspires—it is so universal and so common. How does it happen that the criticisms and railleries which are heard on every side concerning vain men do not correct their vanity? They are, therefore, very blind. Besides openly boasting, there is another manner of praising one's self which is more skilful but no less reprehensible. It consists in not naming one's self, but allowing every one to perceive who is praised. He does not eulogize his good works, but takes care to make them known. It is rarely that this refinement deceives men. Their own pride makes them see clearly the pride of others, and if instead of the esteem they craved for, the vain inspire only mistrust and contempt.

The third kind of humility is humility in actions. Our divine Saviour especially recommends this in the Gospel of today when He says: "When you are invited to a banquet take the last place." This precept finds its application not only at the banquet, but it extends to all the circumstances of life. It condemns the desire of self-exaltation and commanding, which is one of the most common sentiments and one of the most dangerous among men. They wish for the first place in the affections, and hence the love of dress and all the artifices of vanity. Not only do they wish for the affections, but they wish for them to the exclusion of every one else, and hence jealousies and bitter disappointments. They wish to excel all others by their success and triumphs, and hence rivalries among equals and accusations of injustice against superiors. It is to the desire of self-exaltation and of ruling we must attribute almost all the oppositions to authority in the family and almost all the crimes which are committed in society. Accustom your pride to submission, and your self-love to endure humiliations; then you shall destroy the
principle of many faults, and dry up the source of many bitter disappointments.

Second Point.—The object of humility. You should be humble in your own eyes. The first degree of humility is nothing else than the knowledge of yourself, of your frailty, of your inclination to evil, your passions, your vices. This knowledge of your misery which your experience gives and which faith reveals to you, should it not force you to be humble ? How can you be so presumptuous when you are so weak? How can you dare to nourish thoughts of pride when you have so much to blush for? How can you afford to resent some affront when you are so worthy of contempt? How can you love yourself when you are so unlovable ? Does this kind of humility consist in denying that there is something good in you and not seeing the advantages you have above others either in wealth or in mind? Not at all. Humility is not falsehood. The truly humble heart never forgets that its good qualities, its talents, and its virtues are the gifts of God. It knows that all that it is, all the good it has done, comes from God; consequently it cannot assume any vanity Whatever. Does it witness the fall of one of its friends? It thinks that if God had placed it in the same circumstances as this man, without giving it the most abundant graces, it would fall perhaps into the most criminal excesses. The two considerations of the concupiscence which it feels and the grace it experiences; concupiscence leading it to evil, and grace which alone retains it in well-doing; concupiscence which it can with difficulty resist and grace to which it is so difficult to respond—these two considerations retain the heart in humility and hinder it from rising above others less favored and committing greater sins than itself. Thus it is that the humble heart, while not forgetting that it is exalted above others, does not glorify itself, but refers all honor to God, the Source of all good.

You should be humble before God. This duty need only be exposed to be believed. You would strive in vain to form even a remote idea of the infinite distance which separates man from God.
How then can we express what it is not possible for us to conceive? We are but nothingness, while God is the Sovereign Being. We are only weakness; God is Omnipotence! We are only sinners; God is Sanctity itself. It is this last consideration which should especially profoundly humiliate us before Him. Yes, we should be more ashamed of our corruption than of our frailty; of our ingratitude than of our nothingness; everything should humiliate us before God; everything—even the remembrance of what He has done to exalt us. Have we not abused His very gifts? You should be humble in your thoughts with regard to your neighbor. Humility forbids all contempt for others and all pretension to superiority. To see the justice of this rule which humility imposes, consider that your thoughts of pre-eminence come from the superiority which you think you have over others, whether they are in the order of nature or the order of religion. If they are temporal advantages—riches, beauty, birth, talents which raise you above others in your thoughts, how futile they are? How small is the difference that these distinctions make between one man and another. They are like to the bubbles which children make and which ascend in the air; they are dissipated and dissolved in the moment they appear. If you esteem yourself more than others by reason of advantages in the religious order—virtue, good works, and piety—while the motive would, have some solidity, it would not have, in you, more justice. What have you, the Apostle asks, that you have not received ? And if you have received it, how do you dare to glory in it as if it had come from you? Your pride is more than ridiculous; it is unjust, since you rob God of the glory which is due to Him.

O my God, all that I am and all that I have come from Thy grace; do not permit that I abuse Thy gifts to offend Thee, but grant that all that is in me may serve to glorify Thee.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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15th Sunday after Pentecost - The Widow of Naim

9/22/2019

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IN the resurrection of the widow's son we should consider what grace does for sinners, and what the sinner should do to correspond with this grace.

First Point.—What grace does for sinners. This young man, whom death has taken in the very flower of his age, is the image of so many young persons who are deprived of sanctifying grace by sin and whose spiritual death is more terrible than that which merely destroys the life of the body. This desolate mother who accompanies to its last dwelling-place the inanimate body of her son is the Church; she is our mother; since she has begotten us in Christ in our infancy she has nourished us by her first lessons, and she does not cease to instruct and exhort us, and she labors untiringly to make us grow in virtue and in piety. This tender mother follows with her tears all her unfortunate children whom the sad stroke of sin has robbed of the life of grace. And even when all hope seems lost she does not abandon them; she asks them again from Jesus by her sighs and tears. Touched by her sorrow, Jesus is moved at the sad condition of an unfortunate sinner whom the passions conduct to hell.

Jesus drew near. This is the first condition of a return to God and virtue. Unhappy beings as we are by our own depraved will, we can indeed go far from God and hasten to our destruction; but to leave the ways of iniquity, or even to desire to do it, is the effect of grace. How good God is! Insulted and outraged by sinners, He had no need to avenge Himself, but merely to abandon them to themselves. Still He does not wish to do so. He selects them, pursues them, and urges them to return to Him and save themselves. " He drew near and touched the bier." Thus it is that Jesus touches the sinner by the good sentiments with which He inspires him, He disturbs him by remorse, He enlightens him by good counsels, He encourages him by holy examples, He terrifies him by the fear of death and by the judgment which follows.

By this secret touch of grace conscience is awakened as if from a long sleep, and the passions which were dragging him down are arrested. The sinner begins to find pleasures not so pleasant and the world not so lovable; he stops short in the midst of the excitement which carries him away. This is the moment when grace is at work; it is the moment when she may make her voice heard. Alas, as long as the sinner is dissipated by pleasures, preoccupied by human interests, absorbed by business, he sins and he perseveres in his sin. This terrible indifference can be explained only by a want of reflection but at the moment he reflects he is saved. The prodigal child perceived neither his ingratitude, nor his degradation, nor the rags which covered him, as long as he was absorbed by pleasures; but it was in his misfortune that he reflected, and that one inward glance sufficed to reveal to him all his shame and to lead him back to his father. And so it is with the sinful soul: hardly has she been arrested, hardly has she looked upon herself than Jesus makes her hear His voice, which shall recall her as it recalled the young man from death in the city of Naim—"Young man, I say to thee, arise"

Young man, you who are meditating on these words, you are only on the threshold of your career. You may think that you are proof against the stroke of death; the world tells you to take advantage of your youth, to crown yourself with roses while they are fresh and in bloom; but the world deceives you. This young man whom they carried to the tomb was as young as you. The funeral cortege which accompanied him proves that he was rich. He was as you are—the idol of his mother, the only son, but nothing could guarantee him from death. To you, as to him, Jesus speaks these words: "I, thy Master, command you to arise from sin and to break the bonds which hold you in slavery. I say to thee, arise!" May you be docile to this voice, which calls you to life by recalling you to virtue.

Second Point.—What the sinner should do to correspond with grace. The first thing which the young man does when he feels himself restored is to arise in obedience to the command his Liberator has given him. This promptitude to correspond with grace as soon as it is felt is one of the most essential conditions of conversion. Everything is possible to the will when it is excited by grace, enlightened by its light, and inflamed by the holy ardor which the divine Spirit spreads in it when He communicates Himself to it. Then the strongest bonds are easily broken; remember Magdalen at the feet of Jesus. The greatest obstacles are overcome by the wise men journeying far to follow the star which leads them to Bethlehem. The most violent passions are conquered. St. Paul becomes a vessel of election, after having been the most ardent persecutor!

Now, why are so many sermons sterile and unfruitful? Why do so many graces remain unprofitable? Is it because the preachers are wanting in eloquence? No. There are indeed some truths which require to be presented in a certain manner to strike some souls; but is there need of having recourse to the artifices of eloquence to tell you that you must die, that you shall be judged, that there are a hell and an eternity? Is it because hearts are too hardened? Not a year passes that some sinners are not touched and their hearts moved, and yet very few are converted. And why? Because very few profit by the moment of grace. They hesitate, they defer, they put off—the light disappears, grace is withdrawn, and they remain irresolute and in their weakness. They are doubly unfortunate men, because they conceive the most generous projects and cannot attain the point of realizing them.

The Evangelist observes that the young man after his restoration began to speak. Of course his first words were the expressions of his gratitude, the declaration of his resurrection, and the request to those who carried him to set him free. Such should be the language of the sinner whom Divine Mercy deigns to withdraw from the state of death in which he had been plunged. Penetrated by the immense benefit which he had so little merited, he should from the bottom of his heart return grateful thanksgiving to his Benefactor. But this is not enough. He should put away and reject far from him all that which hitherto, by leading him into sin, conducted him to hell. Occasions, habits, affections-- he must quit them all. In fine, he is obliged to manifest his resurrection by the splendor of his virtues. The greater the scandal of his sinful life, the greater should be the edification of his new life.

Jesus crowns His work by restoring the young man to his mother. You may judge by the tears she shed over this cherished son what was her care to preserve for him the life he had just recovered by removing the cause which occasioned its loss. Jesus likewise confides to the Church those whom He has drawn from spiritual death, and this tender mother surrounds them by her care. She instructs them by her lessons, sustains them by her exhortations, strengthens them by her sacraments, and hinders them from falling again into death. If ever you have the misfortune of losing the life of grace, do not despair; but be generous in your correspondence to the goodness of God when He shall recall you to Him.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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10th Sunday after Pentecost - The Pharisee and the Publican

8/18/2019

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 WE cannot better understand the manner in which we should pray than by establishing a parallel between the defective prayer of the Pharisee and the excellent prayer of the publican. Let us, therefore, examine the dispositions of both.

First Point.—The dispositions of the Pharisee. There were good and bad dispositions in his prayer. There was something good in him, because he went to the temple to pray. In this he imitated the example of Jesus. He did what the faithful observers of the law do, and what should be done after the example of the apostles and the saints. He understood the words of Holy Writ, "My house is a house of prayer." How many men are there today who pretend to be better than this Pharisee and still they do not even do as much as he did? And even you, when you go to the temple, is it true that you go there to pray?

The Pharisee gave thanks to God for His benefits. Jesus also thanked His Father in His prayers. This is a duty which the Church is careful to impress on us every day at Mass—" It is right and just to return thanks to God." The Pharisee understood the duty of gratitude. How many Christians who have been filled with God's choicest blessings do not understand this duty? Are you of this number?

The Pharisee was neither a thief, nor an adulterer, nor an unjust man. Consequently, he observed many of God's commandments—the seventh, which says, "Thou shalt not steal;" the sixth, which forbids adultery; in fact, he avoided what is forbidden by all the commandments, viz., injustice. In many respects he was not of the number of those of whom St. Paul says: "They who do these things shall not enter the kingdom of heaven."

This Pharisee did good works; he fasted two days in each week, thereby following the example of Jesus, the apostles, and all true Christians. He gave alms, paid his tithes on all he possessed, and in this imitated Abraham and fulfilled the law of Jesus. Where are the Christians, even among those who are reputed pious, who do as much as he did? We are obliged to praise and admire all this in the Pharisee, but here is what we must blame in him and the reason his prayer was rejected: He was of the number of those who consider themselves just, rely on themselves, and despise others. Spiritual pride, which is the worst of all, blinds the Pharisee to such an extent that he no longer regards himself as a sinner. This it is which corrupts all good works in their very essence and makes his prayer vicious. He is also guilty in his prayer; he sees nothing in himself which is reprehensible; in fact, there is nothing for which he may reproach or accuse himself, and he regards himself as entirely innocent. It is said, however, that "the just man first accuses himself." David conjured the Lord to pardon him for his hidden faults, and has not St. Paul spoken these words: "Although I do not feel guilty of anything, still I am not justified for that."

The Pharisee, under the very eye of God, enumerated his good works, not to refer them to the Author of every good, but to take pride in them. Instead of saying, "That which I am, I am by the grace of God," he refers all his good qualities to himself; he exaggerates and esteems them far more than they are really worth, and, under the veil of his presumptuous pride, it is not God whom he thanks, but himself.

The Pharisee commits a third fault by comparing himself with the publican, to despise him. By what right does he exalt himself the judge of his neighbor? St. Paul has said: "It is why, O man, you are inexcusable if you judge others; for in judging others you condemn yourself, since you do that which you condemn in them." It was not enough for the Pharisee to exalt himself above the publican, but in his pride he exalted himself above all men. "Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as the rest of men." With such dispositions, is it surprising that his good works were sterile, his piety rejected, and that he returned to his house without being justified! Is it not written: "God resists the proud and gives His grace to the humble"?

Second Point. The Dispositions of the Publican. In the prayer of the publican there is much to
praise and nothing to blame. And first remark his profound humility. He remains as far as he can away from the altar, and there accuses himself before God. At the sorrowful sight of his faults, he does not dare to approach the sanctuary; he considers himself unworthy to appear in the presence of the Lord, he is so convinced of his unworthiness. Accustom yourself to modesty, and do not strive to obtain preference; here on earth, the last place is the best. The divine Master has said: "Whosoever humbles himself shall be exalted."

While the Pharisee was standing erect with his eyes raised to the altar, the poor publican, ashamed and humiliated at his criminal life, trembles in the presence of the Lord and Judge and dares not to lift his eyes to heaven. You are also a sinner; therefore imitate a repentant sinner. As the publican, be penetrated by a salutary shame at the remembrance of your faults, and as he entertain a holy respect in presence of the God whom you have offended and who shall one day be your Judge. Admire, in the second place, the publican's spirit of penance. He strikes his breast, and by this action he loudly confesses that he has merited the chastisements of God. He strikes his own breast because he accuses himself, without striving to cast his faults on another. You also have sinned, and by your sin you have incurred the enmity of God. Do you wish to obtain pardon ? Strike your breast also, and, humbly at the knees of the priest in the tribunal of penance, do not fear to say: "It is through my fault, through my fault, it is through my great fault that I have sinned by thought and word and deed and omission." The humble publican adds to this exterior act a prayer which comes from a heart which is truly contrite: "Lord, be merciful to me a sinner!" Thus it is he speaks to God, and not to himself, as the Pharisee did; he does not enumerate his good works with complacency; he only accuses himself, avows himself a sinner, and asks for mercy and pardon. When you are before God do not rely on your good works and your merits to attract His graces, but recall and tell Him, in the bitterness of your heart, all your sorrows and faults. Let your lips frequently repeat the humble prayer of the publican: "Lord, be merciful to me a sinner!" and then there shall flow from your eyes those tears of penance which shall merit for you grace and pardon.

And now make an examination of your own conduct. Indeed, you detest the culpable conduct and the haughty hypocrisy of the Pharisee, but have you been careful to avoid it in your own life? As he, you are, perhaps, exempt from the gross vices; in your conduct, as in his, we may see evidences of good works ; but are you wholly exempt from pride, envy, ambition, and those other spiritual vices, with which the heart of this presumptuous man was filled? Put away all such sentiments, which are so unworthy of a Christian, and strive to imitate the example of the poor publican! Pray as he did, in the church and out of it, with the same humility, the same fervor, and then rest assured that your prayers shall be heard always.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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9th Sunday after Pentecost - Jesus Weeps Over Jerusalem

8/11/2019

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ON seeing the Saviour of the world shed tears over Jerusalem, strive to understand under what circumstances He shed them and what is the object of His tears.

First Point.—The circumstances under which Jesus shed tears. Nothing on the part of Jerusalem seems to justify them, and with regard to Himself nothing seems to provoke them. In Jerusalem everything appears to inspire joy, everything breathes of happiness. From afar you may see the rich palaces, brilliant and lifting their domes to the clouds, her splendid temple, and her impregnable towers ; you can hear the sound of her joyous population, and the eye of man perceives nothing there which can explain the profound sadness of the Saviour. But the look of Jesus is not the look of a man; it is the look of a God before whom everything is unveiled. It pierces the future, it sounds the depths of hearts, it judges men and things, not after they have appeared, but before they had existence. And now behold the mysteries which the eye of Jesus discovered in the unfortunate city which provoked His tears.

On the Mount of Olives, where He had come to pour out His soul in prayer, from this lofty summit Jesus saw the fearful storm which was already gathering over the heads of this guilty people. Jerusalem was condemned to perish, and the sentence was irrevocably pronounced. Titus and Vespasian, who were to be the terrible executioners, appeared before the saddened eyes of Jesus. On the very spot where He had received a kind of triumph, Vespasian shall establish his camp for the extermination of the city; thousands of crosses are erected, on which the Jews must expiate their crime of Deicide; He perceives the burning of the city, the fall of its walls, the flight or the death of its inhabitants, the captivity of those who could neither fly nor die, the frightful famine which would compel mothers to devour their own offspring— the scene of desolation which must ruin the proud and unfaithful city was all before His eyes. Then it was He wept over it and its misfortunes. He had predicted it, and He would have hindered it; but His Father had pronounced the sentence, and He could only weep over the sad future of a city which He had loved so much.

On the part of Jesus, nothing seems to provoke the tears He shed. All Jerusalem carries Him in triumph, arid the multitude in its enthusiasm exclaims: "Glory to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Some extend their garments under His feet, while othersstrew flowers on the streets through which He passes. What, then, is the secret of His tears? Why sadness and sorrow at the moment when everything calls for happiness and joy? Jesus would teach us to restrain ourselves in prosperity by the expectation of the evils which may surprise us. It is written in our sacred books that joy and sorrow meet each other here below, and a day of joy may be the precursor of a day of affliction. It is not, therefore, necessary for a Christian to allow himself to indulge in a delirium of triumph, but it is necessary that he should strive to preserve, in the most lively and legitimate joy, a certain sentiment of sorrow which becomes a disciple of the cross and predisposes him to endure better the inconstancy of men and the reverses of fortune.

"I know well," said a famous orator to the tribune, "that the Tarpeian rock is close to the Capitol." One day the celebrated Ugolin, a chief of the Guelphs, having accomplished a complete triumph over a faction of the Gibelines, invited all his friends to a banquet. He recalled his recent successes, and asked of one of his most devoted friends if there was anything wanting to complete his happiness. "Yes," answered his friend, "the anger of God cannot be far from so great prosperity." He was indeed a prophet without being aware of it, for, some time after, Ugolin was conquered and taken prisoner; then he was imprisoned in a tower with his two sons and three nephews, and there they all died of hunger. Who is there that can securely count on the delusive' prosperity which comes to us here on earth?

Second Point.—What is the object of the Saviour's tears? If Jesus weeps, is it not over His approaching passion and death, since, some days later and amid the most bitter sorrows, He consoles the holy women who followed Him? He said: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over Me, but weep for yourselves and your children." These words clearly indicate the object of His tears. It is the blindness of the Jewish people—a blindness which was followed by the ruin of their city and the loss of souls. To sin is the sad portion of humanity, but to persevere in crime and to have no wish to rise from that condition is the characteristic of the demon. Now Jerusalem, indisposed and laden with iniquity, rejects the Physician who had come from heaven to heal her; she refuses to know the peace which is offered her or Him who visits her. How could He restrain His tears when beholding such blindness?

That which increased the sorrow of the Saviour was that the unfortunate inhabitants of Jerusalem were amusing themselves at the very moment He wept over them. Everything in the city was festive and rejoicing, although they were on the eve of their last misfortune. "If thou hadst known, on this day, that which can procure thee peace, the day shall come when thine enemies shall surround thee and they shall overthrow thee, and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone." And so the tears of Jesus are disinterested, tears so much the more bitter because of the sorrows which caused them to flow, because they were shed over a city formerly faithful, loved by God, and filled with His most signal favors.

Several cities of Judea must share the same lot as Jerusalem; Jesus knew this. However, He wept only for Jerusalem. Ah, it was because it was formerly the cherished city of God, and because today it was the most ungrateful. When Jesus wept over the tomb of Lazarus the Jews said: "See how He loved him." Why, then, today, when He weeps over them, do they not say: "See how He loves us"? It is because all that is hidden from their eyes and they understand nothing of their own history.

The second object over which Jesus shed tears is ourselves. Alas, what a painful similarity to make between us and Jerusalem! And in this similarity how many traits of resemblance afflict the heart of Our Saviour and should cover us with confusion! As Jerusalem, we have been chosen by God as the portion of His inheritance. He has enriched us with His graces. At a certain epoch in our life we received Him in triumph, and we have promised Him an inviolable fidelity. What has become of our promises? What have we done with His graces? Jesus weeps over us, over our innocence lost, over our promises violated, and over the evils which threaten us. Today are we grateful, at least for the time in which He visits us? It is like the efforts which God makes to bring back the lost sheep—the loving searches of the Good Shepherd—to the fold; it is like the anxious solicitude of the woman who disturbs everything in her house to find the lost drachma.

God seeks us in two ways: At one time it is His love and His grace which call us to prayer which has been abandoned for a long time, or He knocks gently at our hearts in the assembly of the faithful. Again, it is Divine Justice which chastises us to recall us to the right way, and sends us afflictions to remove from our eyes the bandage which blinds us. Happy is the soul who knows how to correspond to the voice of God, whether it sounds with severity or whether it calls us with love.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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8th Sunday after Pentecost - The Parable of the Unjust Steward

8/4/2019

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THERE are few narratives in the Gospel which are so replete with useful instructions as the parable of the unjust steward. Reflect on these most interesting circumstances, and strive to profit by the lessons which they contain.

A rich man had a steward. This rich man is God, and He alone merits this title truly, because He only disposes of all goods, since He is Sovereign and Master of all. The rich of the world are not rich except by Him; if men have science, wealth, virtue, or beauty, they possess all these goods from His liberality. Besides, these borrowed riches may disappear in one moment or another; their loss may be occasioned by some disgrace, an illness, or a reverse of fortune; while, on the contrary, God is free from all reverses, all accidents, and from every inconstancy.
This man had a steward. We are all the stewards of God, and to all He has confided goods which we should improve. There are goods in the order of nature, and goods in the order of grace. Everything has been confided to us as a trust which we must render fruitful for our Master. Intelligence and genius come from God; we must employ them for His glory. The faculty of loving is a gift of His heart; we should direct it towards Him who is its principal and its most worthy object. If we have riches, let us strive to employ them in doing Him homage and by distributing them among the poor, who are His representatives. The sacraments, sermons, and holy inspirations are the gifts of God. He has lavished them on us as to His children, but it is on the condition that we make them fructify for His glory by making them serve for our sanctification.

The steward in question here was defamed to his master for having badly administered the goods which had been confided to him. From this learn that God knows everything. He knows perfectly those who are faithful and those who are not, those who are negligent and those who are zealous. Therefore, if He remain silent, if He fail to strike the guilty one, understand it well, it is not because He has not seen him or has forgotten him, but His patient mercy gives us time to think of ourselves and to repair the offenses of which we are guilty towards Him. When the time marked by His justice shall come, He shall call us before His tribunal. God calls us all, one after the other, a little sooner or later, but He shall call all without exception. Though we were concealed in an abyss, God need only make a sign, and Death, the implacable messenger, shall hasten to strike us and to cast us at the feet of our Judge. Then our examination shall begin.

What is this I hear of you? A thousand complaints have reached me and directly accuse you. Your conscience groans in its slavery. I have given it to you to be your rule, your guide, and instead of hearing its voice and walking in its light you have stifled its cries, you hold it captive in iniquity, and it complains of the violence you have done it. The poor, whom you should assist
according to your means—the poor, My friends and your brethren, complain of your neglect and the hardness of your heart. The blood of My Son whom I have delivered up for you—this blood, which you trample under your feet and which you despise or which you profane in the sacraments, cries for vengeance against you. My ministers whom you insult—these men of peace who have instructed your infancy, guided your youth, consoled your sorrows—My ministers mourn over your sins, the cry of their hearts has reached me. Why then are all these complaints? Now render an account of your administration.

O terrible words! they shall be addressed to us one day; they shall resound in our ears with the sound of thunder which suddenly comes to awake us from sleep in the middle of the still night. O unfaithful Christian! you have been born of virtuous parents, in the bosom of the true Church, and, consequently in the midst of all graces, and of all the means of salvation; to sustain and to sanctify you, you have had the sacraments, instructions, good examples, wise counsels, remorse of conscience—and what profit have you made of all these graces? "Give an account of thy stewardship, for now thou canst be steward no longer."

There shall come a day when God shall take from us all His goods, and there shall no longer be grace to aid us, nor talents to improve, nor merits to acquire. That day has already come for many whom you have known, and it shall also come for you, and when it shall come and your stewardship shall have been taken from you it shall be forever. Shall you not draw some practical consequences from such a terrible truth? Shall you live always as if this world belonged to you, and as if you were never to depart from it? Oh! do not forget that you are constantly nearing one of these two alternatives-- either an eternity of punishment, if you are a sinner, or an eternity of delights, if you have been faithful.

"But what shall I do?" said the unjust steward to himself. How shall I escape the evils which threaten me ? Then it was that a means was suggested which was more cunning than equitable, and which justified these words of our blessed Lord: "The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." The children of the world are they who think only of the present life, and who are occupied only with what interests them on earth. The children of light are they who know that there is another life, who aspire to life eternal, desiring and wishing to gain their salvation. You have the happiness to be of this number, but compare your prudence for eternal things with the prudence of the worldly for temporal things, and see how much their prudence is superior to yours.

They are superior in action, they do not fear pain or suffering, and it is even one of their principles that we obtain nothing without difficulty. They spare themselves in nothing—humiliating undertakings, prolonged watchings, voyages, fatigues, in fact nothing disheartens them. They are superior in reflection; they wish to be ignorant of nothing which can be useful to them. They study, they examine, they search deeply, they consult, they ask; their whole mind is concentrated on what they desire, and they profit by everything. They are superior in their resources; ill success never discourages them, and they arrange to withdraw from unsuccessful business; then it is that their activity and shrewdness are especially manifest. There are no means which they do not discover, no attempts which they do not make, no resources they do not employ; and when placed in greatest disgrace, they have the secret of still finding resources-- witness the unfaithful steward of whom our blessed Saviour speaks. Alas! shall these men be so prudent for the earth, and shall we do so little for heaven? In the matter of salvation we would wish that everything were easy, and we would abandon success, if to assure it we must labor and combat. In our contests for virtue the least reverse discourages us, our falls make us despair, and instead of thinking of the means to repair the past and of fortifying ourselves for the future, instead of animating us with new ardor and of taking new precautions, we are tempted to abandon everything, and we are imprudent enough sometimes to do so.

My God, should I not blush for my imprudence, for my carelessness, for my sloth in a matter where there is question of Thy glory and my eternal salvation! and when the children of the world are so attentive, so prudent, so laborious, and so persevering to attain their ends? May their conduct be always a living lesson to teach me what I should do for Thee, and to sustain myself in the difficult way of virtue.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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7th Sunday after Pentecost - On False Prophets

7/27/2019

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ON the journey of life you walk between truth and falsehood. There are holy prophets who strive to direct you in the right pathway; there are also false prophets who seek to seduce you and to lead you astray. To avoid these false prophets you must know them. This shall be easy for you, since you may judge them by their works. " By their fruits you shall know them."

First Point.—It is in your own heart and in your passions that you shall find the false prophets who are most to be feared. To those perfidious teachers these words of the Saviour are especially appropriate: "They come to you under the appearance of lambs, but within they are ravening wolves." What flatters us more than a passion? What is sweeter to us than its language or more seducing than its promises? Should you listen to it, it will give you happiness and glory—everything will be yours if you consent to open your heart to it and submit to its amiable empire. Thus it is that pleasure promises the sweetest joys. Envy shows us the humiliation of a rival as a most beautiful triumph. But if you are wise you will close your ears to the voices of these sirens, consider their effects, and then judge them.

We read in the Sacred Scriptures that a woman named Jahel, beholding Sisara hurriedly departing, recalled him by the most flattering words: "Come to my house; fear not, for I shall conceal you from the search of your enemies." Sisara returned at this invitation and at first was entertained splendidly. Jahel gave him milk to drink and clothed him with a beautiful mantle, and he slept in fullest confidence. But while he slept this perfidious woman drove a large nail in his head, and he perished a victim to his credulity. And this is what the passions do; they promise life, a happy life, to those who listen to them, but in reality they are the cause of death—at first the death of the soul by inducing to sin; and they often occasion the death of the body, for every one knows how pleasures, intemperance, impurity, and idleness produce a multitude of maladies and infirmities which abridge the life of those who indulge in them.

Sensual pleasures have all the attraction and sweetness of honey; we taste them without suspicion, and relish their delights; little by little, we sleep and forget God, our soul, and eternity. The habit of living only a material and sensual life becomes as the nail which binds us to the earth, and we are miserably lost. Guard well, therefore, against the voice of passions; learn to rule them, otherwise you shall become their slave; and what greater misfortune can there be than such a slavery!

Second Point.—The second kind of false prophet you should mistrust is the world, or rather the respectable worldlings. If you have to deal with men who are known as infidels or libertines, you will have less to fear, because you will be on your guard. But the men whom you are to question have a reputation for honesty and respectability, and it is this very morality which puts aside every suspicion. They come to you with a smile on their lips, and oh, how charming their language is! It has all the sweetness of honey. Youth must have its pleasures, and to interdict a young person from balls, theatres, and certain books is a species of cruelty! Religion must not exact privations which are beyond human strength! God has not created man to make him miserable, and to forbid him the pleasures of the world is to rob him of every happiness! This is the language of your respectable worldly man, this is what he will tell you, and such are the false prophets of whom you must beware. Judge of them by their fruits. And what are the effects of those books which your respectable worldling counsels you to read? They exaggerate the imagination, falsify the judgment, place the soul outside the limits of truth, and feed it with
chimeras. Romantic ideas, loss of time, forgetfulness of the most sacred duties, distaste for life, and, consequently, suicide—behold the fruits of those readings which some shall tell you are innocent!

With regard to the pleasures of the world, unquestionably they are not all equally criminal, but experience proves how sad, how disastrous they are to virtue. Distaste for piety, abandonment of prayer, hardness of heart, a spirit of vanity and of pride—behold the least consequences of those pleasures to which the world agrees! The distaste for piety and abandonment of prayer. How can we bring to prayer the recollection it requires on returning from a ball, when the senses and imagination are full of excitement from all we have seen and heard?

Hardness of heart. A person in the midst of the world, accustomed to the society of happy people, never dreams of the sufferings of the poor; if we behold misery, we turn our eyes away in disgust; and, besides, vanity absorbs our resources to satisfy the demands of style and dress, and we never have anything to give to the poor. Be on your guard, therefore, against the world, its maxims, its examples, and especially its pleasures; never forget that one cannot serve two masters; you must stand for virtue or vanity, for God or the world.

Third Point.—The third kind of false prophets which you should mistrust is composed of all the enemies of the Church. Here also the most dangerous are not the unbelievers. They do not come under the shepherd's staff, they do not dissemble, and on that account it is more easy for you to be on your guard against their impious words. Heresy is more to be feared because it conceals the poison of error under the appearance of truth. It is not inclined to show itself such as it is, or to uncover its designs and to plainly expose its thoughts. It strives to conceal and disguise and hide itself under the staff of the faithful shepherd. To hear some speak, you would think them the true children of the Church, wholly submissive to all her decisions. Equivocations are not their least defects. They place the Church where it seems good for them, and they recognize only those decisions which do not attack their errors. They appear to labor only for God, they call themselves His envoys, and promise to conduct souls to salvation. They support their doctrine by a certain regularity of life; their exterior is edifying and composed; but under a simple garb, under a mortified exterior, they conceal a spirit of fury and hatred, and carry destruction and division everywhere; they are the ravening wolves in the midst of the flocks of Jesus Christ. But the sheep should fly from them, avoid their assemblies, reject their books, and close their ears to their misleading discourses. As an excuse for your relations with the enemies of your faith, you say that you do not indulge in religious disputes. Now either this is to hold your salvation and your religion as worth but little, or you fail to distinguish two things most distinct. Without doubt, all the faithful are not obliged to enter into the depths of disputed matters between Catholics and heretics, but all should be on their guard, lest they give their confidence to false prophets, lest they follow a false doctrine, a doctrine condemned by the Church. This is a precept of Jesus Christ. If through want of this attention you are seduced or led astray, you can have no excuse. To say also that we should not judge any one is to misconstrue the words of Jesus, and to forget that in the same chapter where He forbids us to judge He commands us to be most attentive and watchful.

O my God, how many false doctors strive to mislead me, by preaching to me a doctrine and maxims which are contrary to Thy doctrine and Thy maxims. Save me, Lord, from the pitfalls which surround my pathway, and do not permit that I should ever cease to hear Thy commandments, Thou who art the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897

Mary, Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God and our Mother, thou seest how the Catholic Faith is assailed by the devil and the world, that Faith in which we purpose, by the help of God, to live and die. To thee do we entrust our firm purpose of never joining assembles of heretics. Do thou, all holy, offer to thy divine Son our resolutions, and obtain from Him the graces necessary for us to keep them unto the end. Amen.
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6th Sunday after Pentecost - Confidence in God

7/20/2019

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WHILE meditating on the different circumstances of this day's Gospel, you shall find... in it the great foundations of Christian confidence, viz., the knowledge of God, His goodness, and His power.

First Point.—The knowledge of God is the first foundation of our confidence in Him. See, by the Gospel of to-day, how all that concerns us is of greatest concern to Jesus, in the past, the present, and the future. For the past: Jesus reminds His disciples that during three days the people followed Him. He therefore knows how long we have served Him, and He has counted all the moments. Our divine Saviour adds: "Some of them have come from afar." Not only does He count the time, but He knows all that it has cost us to come to Him—the temptations we have resisted, the obstacles we have overcome, and the sacrifices we have imposed on ourselves. There is not a step taken for Him that He has not seen and which He does not remember. Ah, how sweet it is to serve a Master who knows so well all that we have done for Him!

For the present: Jesus warns His disciples that the people are in great need and that He has not wherewith to nourish them. Whatsoever may be the situation in which we are, God sees us and knows all our needs; He knows our misery and our poverty, our losses and our misfortunes, our afflictions and our pains, our temptations and our weakness, our spiritual and temporal wants. Men do not know them, and often they wish neither to know them nor to believe them. Why then do you place your confidence in men, and not in God alone? Why do you not seek your consolation in this sweet thought, that God sees everything and knows everything?

For the future, Jesus reminds the apostles of the danger of sending the people away without having given them some nourishment. Ordinarily it is the future which is the cause of our greatest solicitude; it is the future which the demon employs frequently to disturb and discourage us; but why are we disturbed by a future of which we are ignorant? God only knows it; let us leave it to His care. Not only does He see the future, but He sees it in relation to us; He sees what must befall us, whether it be happy or unfortunate, and He knows the means to put away from us whatever may be injurious and to procure for us whatever may be advantageous. Let us therefore place in Him our entire confidence. Then shall we give Him the most glorious worship that is possible for us, and we shall find, for ourselves, the most precious blessing, viz., peace of heart.
 
Second Point.-The goodness of God is the second foundation of our confidence. Jesus, having called His disciples, said to them: - "I have compassion on the people." The knowledge which God has of our needs is not a sterile knowledge. Alas', men, for the most part, when they see us in affliction remain insensible. The fortunate ones of the world hearing of the sufferings of the poor, are but little moved and neglect to bring them assistance. But it is not so with our God. The sight of our miseries excites in Him the sentiments of tenderest compassion: "I have compassion on the multitude because they continue with Me now three days and have not what to eat; and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way." What treasures of tenderness are enclosed in the heart of Jesus, since these words escaped from His lips.  O my amiable Saviour, whose heart is sensible to all miseries, shall Thou behold mine and not be moved?

The knowledge which God has of our needs stirs His Sacred Heart with compassion; it does more, it prompts Him to assist us. Jesus, having represented to His apostles that the people who had followed Him for three days had nothing to eat added "I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way." Listen to these words you who follow Christ and who are faithfully attached to Him! Yes, in His service you shall suffer. He will test your fervor and your constancy to a certain point, but He knows how far and how long your strength will last, and He will not allow you to be tried beyond that. Everything seems to be wanting; your condition has become desperate; relatives, friends, protectors, all have abandoned you ; but your God will never abandon you, He will assist you. Where shall this assistance come from ? This is the objection which the apostles raise. "Whence then should we have so many loaves in the desert, as to fill so great a multitude?" 'Whence shall come the assistance? You do not know, nor can you foresee; but should it not suffice to know that God wishes we should have it, and that He does not wish we should be abandoned in our need? Rest assured in the bosom of His infinite goodness, persevere in the sentiments of the fullest confidence, and you shall not be deceived.

Third Point.—The power of God is the third foundation of our confidence in Him. "And taking the seven loaves which His apostles gave Him, He blessed them and distributed them to the people. All did eat and were filled, and they took up that which was left of the fragments, seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand men, without counting the women and children." What a prodigy ! What abundance ! And yet this prodigy of power God renews every day in favor of His children.

In the general order of nature every year the earth is covered by new riches to provide for all our needs, the plants grow again, the animals are multiplied, the grains and fruits are reproduced. This prodigy as admirable as it is constant; a prodigy which should give us an exalted idea of the power of God and fill our hearts with tenderest gratitude. But, ungrateful and unfaithful as we are, we think only of enjoying the gifts of God, without ever thinking of the omnipotent hand which has lavished them.

This prodigy is renewed every day in the special order of His providence. God has secret resources for those who put their trust in Him. The miracles which He employs are not always shining and sensible miracles, but they are the miracles of a Providence as attentive and as admirable as they are hidden. We find some just and charitable souls who aid the poor, assist the unfortunate, contribute to the decorations of the altars, assist in all good works, and who, however, are never in need themselves. The more they give, the more they have to give, without knowing whence or how the abundance comes. Everything prospers with them, and goods seem to multiply in their hands. Whatever they give is as a seed which produces a hundredfold. It is the consequence of their confidence in Him whose providence governs everything and provides everything.

This prodigy of power is renewed every day in the order of grace. The miracle of the multiplication of loaves is the figure of the Eucharistic bread. In what profusion the Lord has provided for the nourishment of our souls? Not only does He give us His grace, but He gives us Himself, who is the Author of all grace. If we are in need, if we are weak and languishing, the fault is our own. Do we need the bread of the strong, or is the bread of the strong wanting in strength? It is we who need it; we are wanting to ourselves, allowing ourselves to die of hunger in the midst of abundance, either because we refuse to eat of this bread which is offered us, or because we do not partake of it with the necessary dispositions.

O my God, Thou beholdest all my temporal and spiritual needs. Thy goodness is moved by them, and Thou wishest to help me; Thy power is infinite, and nothing can resist Thee. In whom shall I hope if I do not hope in Thee? Ah, Lord, the more pressing my needs shall be, the more my soul shall languish and the greater shall be my confidence in Thee.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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5th Sunday after Pentecost - On Christian Justice

7/6/2019

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JESUS, in the Gospel of today, warns you that if your piety would be agreeable to God, it must excel the justice of the Pharisees. He reproaches these hypocritical men, by declaring that all their justice was most culpable since it was purely exterior, wholly incomplete, and most interested.

First Point—The justice of the Pharisees was wholly exterior. Jesus said to them: "You are careful to cleanse the exterior of the cup regardless of what is within it," and for this reason He calls them "whited sepulchres" St. Luke also speaks of the justice of the Pharisees: "I am not as the rest of men." In what do you excel, vain and proud man ? " I fast twice in the week and I pay the tenth of all I possess." He boasts only of his external works, and they that resemble him are attached only to the external observances. The Pharisee does not abandon or despise the practices of piety, or the ceremonies of religion. Exterior worship is a duty, and the sloth or false shame which makes us neglect it is a sin. But it is quite another thing to be engaged solely in exterior works of piety, and to put aside the virtues which are in the soul; this is really to possess a Pharisaical justice.

If your piety be true, it must be united to virtue. To be pious without being virtuous is to cleanse the outside of the cup without putting in it the perfume which must attract the pleasure of God; it is to resemble those whited sepulchres of which the Saviour spoke, which appeared beautiful in the eyes of men, but which were within full of dead bones and corruption. If, therefore, you wish that your worship may be an act of adoration, and not a falsehood, it must be the expression of your interior sentiments; otherwise you shall merit this reproach of the Saviou: " These people honor me with their
lips, but their hearts are far from me." Yes, says Bossuet, to say prayers, to go to church, assist at the holy sacrifice, to take holy water, and to kneel without having the spirit of all this, is pharisaical justice. It seems to have some exactitude, but it is reprobated by God, who wishes to have, particularly, the homage of the heart. Is this deceitful piety, which was so common in the Mosaic law, very rare in the Church of Jesus Christ ? Alas, how many Christians pride themselves on their regularity, and place all their perfection in the fulfillment of the exterior duties which religion commands, while they neglect what is most imperiously commanded—to restrain their temper, regulate their inclinations, and repress their passions!

How many are considered as devout people because they are assiduous in the temple, and who are vain, sensual, angry, and detractors? They are scrupulous at the slightest neglect in their habits of devotion, but they have no remorse for their numerous defects. The reason of this inversion of principles is not easily understood. The external practices are not so difficult as the exercise of interior virtue the performance of some acts costs less than self reformation. We, therefore, abandon the duties which require combats against ourselves, to indulge in practices which are more to our tastes. Guard well against this deceitful piety, which will hopelessly ruin you because it forms in you a conscience which is truly false.

Second Point.—The justice of the Pharisee, was incomplete. True justice, that which shone in the lives of the saints, is an act of obedience and fidelity to all the commandments: it fulfilled all the law. Jesus has said: "He that loves Me shall keep My commandments." He did not say some of My commandments, nor for some time only, but all the commandments, and always, and at every age. The Pharisees chose, according to their caprice, those commandments which were convenient for them. They practiced certain observances which were to their taste, and neglected the most essential precepts. This is the reproach which Jesus made to them, and with a severity of language which clearly shows the indignation with which this vicious piety inspired Him. "Woe to you, Pharisees, hypocrites, because you are exact in paying tithes, you are faithful in observing certain legal ceremonies, and you forget the essential duties of justice, charity and mercy."

The Pharisees considered it a crime to gather a bundle of straw on the Sabbath day, while on that same day they formed intrigues against Jesus. They took care to wash their hands before their repasts, and charged the apostles with a crime for neglecting this practice ; but at the same time they violated the precept which commanded them to honor father and mother. This is certainly a strange combination of piety and sin which can be explained only with difficulty. If we are unfaithful in little things, and stand firm in greater matters, this would be a consequence of our poor human frailty; but that we should discover a piety whose character is to be exact even to scrupulosity in little things, and to neglect things which are essential, is one of the grossest illusions. But it is so frequent that it cannot be guarded against too much. Look upon it as one of the pitfalls which the demon places for souls which he sees strongly attached to virtue. If he tempted them to commit sin, these souls would reject the temptation with horror. Having no hope to seduce them, he strives to lead them astray. He employs, however, the contrary means. It is through their very taste for piety that he tempts them. He places before their eyes the means of apparent perfection, but not real, and inspires them with an unwise ardor in their exercise. Because these practices are to their taste, they remain faithful to them nevertheless. And one of the scandals of the world, one of the reproaches which irreligion urges against piety, is to behold true obligations, those which the profession of piety imposes and which justice and charity prescribe, sacrificed to false duties.

To avoid all illusion, we must distinguish well between what is only mere counsel and what is of precept; between the things which are of simple perfection and those which are of rigorous obligation. We should be faithful to the first through love, and to the others through duty. To do that which is only a counsel and to neglect that which is a precept is the sign of a false devotion; to do only that which is of precept and to despise what is merely of counsel is a sign of slothfulness; but to faithfully attend to both, the precept and the counsel, is indeed perfection.

Third Point.—The justice of the Pharisees was interested. They sought only the esteem of men, and cared little for the esteem of God. They prayed to be seen, they gave alms to be applauded, and they fasted to earn for themselves the reputation of being just men. Men, charmed by all their external beauty, honored and venerated them; but Jesus, who read their hearts, exclaimed: "Woe to you, hypocrites, who pretend to pray in public, and who sound the trumpet when you distribute alms, you have already received your reward." But is your virtue really exempt from that gross pride which was the only motive of the Pharisee ; is it wholly disinterested? Pride is very subtle, and there are many little winding ways by which it enters our soul. That your piety may be disinterested it is necessary in all you do—prayers, alms, good works, confessions, communions—that you should have but the single intention of pleasing God; every other motive shall be a stain on your soul, if it be not completely effaced. And now, is your piety truly disinterested ? Indeed, it is not a hypocritical piety, but is it truly God, only, you seek in your devotion? Is it He or His consolations? Is it the thought that you wish to honor God which makes you desire to receive holy communion so often, or that prompts your prayer on certain days? Or is it because you find a certain pleasure in the performance of these exercises of devotion? If God should withdraw that sensible pleasure you experience, would you continue to pray and approach the sacraments? Have these exercises of devotion ceased to be agreeable to the heart of God when they ceased to be consoling to you? Then it is not for God that you have been virtuous and faithful; it was for yourself. We should fear the anathema hurled by our divine Saviour against the Pharisees: "They have already received their reward."

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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4th Sunday after Pentecost - On the Church

7/6/2019

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 "THE Gospel of today contains a grand and beautiful instruction. If we reflect upon it well ... we shall find in it all the prerogatives which distinguish the bark of Peter, that is to say, the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and the signs which manifest our love for her.

First Point—"And Jesus, going up into one of the ships, which was Peter's." If Jesus entered the bark of Peter, it was not by chance He did so. He has wished to teach us that if we would find this bark we must seek it in the Church which Peter and his successors conduct and govern. The ship of which Peter is the head is the only one which carries Christ; the others are not with Him nor is He with them. They do not carry His doctrine to the different parts of the world; they carry only the sad inventions of men. Thus the Lutherans, the Calvinists, the Greeks, and the Anglicans are not the Church of Jesus, because they are not in the bark of Peter. The true Church is one in its doctrine, in its worship, in its hierarchy, while the others change their morale, their creed, and their worship according to caprice, to climate, and to the passions of men. In their eternal variations and in their multiplied creeds they openly contradict Jesus, who, in praying for His Church, said to His Father: "Keep them, that they may be one, as you and I are one." The Holy Roman Catholic Church, which is your mother, since it is from her bosom you have drawn your Christian life, possesses unity of doctrine, and, although she has countless children scattered over all the countries of the world, she everywhere teaches to all the same doctrine; among the savages as well as in civilized countries, to the children of the king as well as to the children of the poor, and she owes this unity of belief to her hierarchy divinely instituted. The Sovereign Pontiff has received, in the person of the Prince of the apostles, the mission to "confirm his brethren in the faith," and as a vigilant sentinel he watches over the integrity of the faith and repudiates every change in it. Think, for an instant, on this phenomenon of the unity of faith, in the multiplicity of the faithful! Two men cannot be in accord for a quarter of an hour, and yet millions of men during nineteen centuries believe the same truths and without discussion submit their intelligence to the same faith. How can this wonder be explained?

Represent to yourself a man seated on a rock in the midst of the ocean, and insisting that the waves should observe a uniform motion. You would exclaim: "This is truly a wonder." Well, there is a man who, from his seat on the rock on which Jesus has built His Church, commands disturbed minds and insists on a uniform method of thinking, and that man is the Pope. At his feet he beholds the rise and flow of human opinions which disturb and overthrow everything in the world, while he does not change, and by his authority he maintains unity in the Church. Is it possible not to see the finger of God in all this?

Jesus in the bark of Peter confirms the truth of His words in the wonder of the miraculous fishing. Thus He has granted to His Church, and to her only, the grace of working miracles in all ages and in all countries. This is the divine mark by which we recognize the bark of Peter. The flight of demons, the resurrection of the dead, the gift of prophecy, and the healing of those who were hopelessly sick—this is what you shall find on every page of the Church's history. While the apostolic men proclaimed God's truths, He confirmed their preaching by miracles. A miracle is a palpable, invincible proof; it is the seal of God placed on the divine word sent from heaven to earth. By the gift of miracles God tells us: It is I who have sent these men, and the proof of it is that I have clothed them with My power, and if they had not been sent by Me would nature obey them? "God," says Bossuet, "has the right to make Himself believed, and also the means to make Himself heard. As soon as an affirmation is signed by these two words, "I the Lord" and as soon as that signature is legalized by His inimitable seal—the miracle—it is He who speaks, it is He who commands, and we have only to believe and obey! Jesus commanded Peter to launch his bark out into the deep. What does this mean ? It indicates the exalted life, wholly supernatural and heavenly, to which the Church, by her doctrine, by her morale, and by the omnipotent power of her sacraments, leads us. In her fold, and there only, we behold the divine virtues brightly shining and men rising to the highest degree of sanctity and perfection. Is this character of sanctity found among the dissenting sects? No, in this regard God has struck them with an eternal sterility, and you shall never find among them a single man who, by his heroic virtues, has won the admiration of the world, as a St. Francis de Sales, a Vincent de Paul, a St. Charles Borromeo, and others.

The deep waters to which Peter was commanded to go represent those regions of the world which are most distant. The Saviour seemed to say to Peter: "I shall place under your shepherd's staff all the nations of the earth. You shall preach the Gospel to every creature, you shall guide the sinners back to the fold, you shall convert the pagans, and of all the people you shall make but one sheepfold, one flock, of which you shall be the only shepherd." And so Catholic Rome extends her activity over the whole world—in the islands of America and Oceania, among the most uncivilized people of Africa as well as among the polished cities of Europe, everywhere Peter baptizes, preaches, and converts souls, and, whatever may be the obstacles, he shall always continue until he shall have landed in the haven of safety the last soul that shall ever live on earth.

It is recorded in the Gospel that the bark of Peter was almost submerged. The Church also has been exposed from time to time by tempests so formidable that her enemies have said: "It is all over for the Church," and her friends trembled while expecting to see her engulfed by the flood of human passions. But they who hoped and they who feared for the ruin of the Church did not know the extent
of the promises which Jesus had made to His Church when He said: "The gates of hell shall not prevail against her." Relying on this promise, true Catholics entertain no fear for the Church; they know that Jesus is with her, that He conducts her, He prays for her, and that sooner or later she shall come forth triumphant from all her trials. The past gives assurance for the future. A brutal and barbarous persecution passed over the Church during three hundred years, and the Church triumphed in the conversion of her executioners. Heresies then followed; they were reduced to helplessness, while she remains full of life and prosperous, and the branches which have separated from her' languish and ultimately die. The war of passions, pride, pleasure, and impiety arises in every age; the attacks are so violent that the bark of Peter is rudely shaken, but she is never submerged. The enemies of the Church die penitent or impenitent, and silence promptly falls about their tombs, and the Church stands erect on the ruins of her oppressors. This perpetuity of the Church, in the midst of the instability of human things, is one of the most striking proofs of the divinity of her origin.

O Church of God, my mother, I am devoted to you from the depths of my heart, I wish to love you and obey you, and to remain faithful to you until death. Guide me, enlighten me, and conduct me to the haven of salvation.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897


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3rd Sunday after Pentecost - Devotion to the Sacred Heart

6/30/2019

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WE celebrate today the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Let us enter into the senti-ments of the Church by meditating on the object of this feast land the duties which it imposes.
First Point.—-By instituting the feast of the Sacred Heart, the Church has wished to honor the immense love with which the heart of God has burned for us, and to eternalize the memory of it. In fact, the heart is the seat of the affections and the principle of generous devotion. To establish a feast in honor of the heart of Jesus is, therefore, to erect a monument which shall recall the sacrifices which the love of Jesus for men has imposed on Him. And what is more natural than such an institution? To console herself for the loss of her cherished child, a mother retains a part of his clothing. A child, to solace his sorrow, erects a suitable monument to the memory of the mother whom he has lost; a people set free from slavery wish to preserve the generous heart of the liberator whom death has removed from their gratitude; in fact, it seems that while these precious pledges keep their regrets alive, they still sweeten their bitterness.

The feast of the Sacred Heart is a monument which must constantly recall the love and the blessings of our divine Saviour. In the Eucharist we adore not only His divine nature, but also His body and blood; by a particular feast we venerate His adorable wounds and the very thorns with which His sacred brow was crowned, the nails which pierced His hands and feet, and the cross on which He expired. How then shall we refuse our homages to this Sacred Heart, the noblest and tenderest portion of His sacred humanity? All blessings have come to us from this divine Heart. By the mouth of Jesus it has published those evangelical truths which teach us the way to heaven. It was the heart of Jesus that wept over Lazarus in the tomb, and over the ill-fated city of Jerusalem—sad figures of a soul stained by sin. It was His heart which prompted Him to heal the sick and call the children to Him, and to pardon sinners and raise the dead to life. It was His heart which poured out its bloody sweat from every part of His body in the Garden of Olives. If it is true that one deserves to be loved in proportion as they love, what love does not our adorable Saviour merit? Open the Gospel and judge of it for yourself. How amiable He is when He compares Himself to a Father who weeps for very joy at seeing His prodigal son return; when He depicts Himself to us under the image of the Good Shepherd who seeks for His lost sheep; when He pardons the woman taken in the commission of sin, and when He allows the vilest sinners to approach Him. Whom do you see at His feet? Magdalene, a public sinner. And on whom does He bestow His tenderness and mildness? On the poor children whom He caresses. He meets with a widow who mourns the loss of her only son, and His heart is touched with pity and He commands death to give back its victim. Behold Him at Jacob's well, conversing with the Samaritan woman and revealing to her the secret of His divinity. Is it possible to manifest more merciful tenderness? But behold the masterpiece of His love ! Before the Good Shepherd had given His life for His flock, He had given them His heart, by instituting the Blessed Eucharist. Other shepherds provide food for themselves from their flock, but Jesus gives Himself to His sheep to be their nourishment: "Eat, this is My body, drink, this is My blood." And He shall remain with them till the end of time to sustain and console them. " Come to Me, all you who are heavily laden, all you that suffer, come to Me whosoever you may be, and I shall refresh you." Where shall you find love more constant, words that are sweeter, or invitation more pressing? You are worthy of pity if these thoughts do not reach your heart.

Second Point.—To suitably honor the heart of Jesus, three conditions are necessary: We should invoke it with confidence, imitate it with fidelity, and love it generously. Invoke it with confidence. It is the heart of a friend, and you could not doubt it for a moment, especially after reflecting on what has just been told you. You shall seek in vain to find a heart that loves you with more devotion. But besides, it is the heart of a God. You may doubt the constancy of some mortal friend and you may suspect his fidelity; you may exhaust his kindness, for every human love is inconstant and all human goodness has limits; but the heart of a God! ah, no. When human friendship fails, His friendship shall never fail and is the only one worth striving for. How often does mistrust and suspicion invade our hearts and wound the Sacred Heart of Jesus! We think that we shall never acquire piety, or overcome certain defects, or conquer certain temptations; we think, therefore, that Jesus does not love us sufficiently to help us, or that He is not powerful enough to defend us against the demon! Be on your guard against such despairing thoughts. They are one of the most dangerous temptations, especially in certain circumstances, when a great confidence can alone give us the strength to overcome every obstacle. You should imitate the heart of Jesus if you wish to honor it worthily. To imitate the heart of Jesus is to copy it. Now, when you wish to copy a picture, you must first study it. To copy the heart of Jesus, the first thing to do is to strive to know it well. The god of philosophers is known by the prodigies and wonders which come from his hands, but the God of the humble Christian is known especially by His blessings.

The dove selects the rocks of the deserts in which to build her dwelling, but the faithful soul chooses the heart of Jesus, in which she retires and there reflects in secret. In the heart of Jesus she beholds her own; she contrasts the thoughts, the affections, and the desires of Jesus with her own desires, affections, and thoughts. In the heart of Jesus she finds humility, chastity, charity, patience, love of the cross, and zeal for souls; but in her own heart she finds pride, sensuality, jealousy, love of pleasures, and inconstancy; she strives to dispel all these vicious dispositions and exemplify the virtues of her divine Model. Jesus smiles on her efforts, and sustains them by His grace. You should love the heart of Jesus. The only request which Jesus makes, the only gift that He would receive from us, is the possession of our heart. "My son," He says to you, "give Me thy heart." And here let us ask, what is our heart, that Jesus asks for it so earnestly? What treasure is concealed there? It is because the most precious of all gifts is the heart, and it renders every other gift precious. But is it not something more ? Yes, since to possess the heart is the glorious triumph. Everywhere the victory for Jesus was easy. He walked on the waters, He healed the sick, He commanded the elements; in a word, nothing could resist His power. It was only in the heart He found resistance, and now He considers it His glory to conquer it. Thus, all His efforts tend to gain the hearts of men. In the crib, His tears; on the cross, His sufferings; in the Eucharist, His humiliations—everything to win human hearts to Himself.

Christian, God asks your love, shall you dare to refuse it to Him? It is absolutely necessary that your heart should be given to some one, since it cannot live without loving, nor can it love without bestowing itself on the object of its love. If your heart is to be given or sold, who can better purchase it than He who made it? If it is to be given away, who deserves it better than He who is its happiness and its end ? Give your heart to Jesus, and ask Him to accept it and to watch over it, today and forever.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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2nd Sunday after Pentecost -          The Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament

6/23/2019

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"THE Church has fixed the feast of the Blessed Sacrament for the first Thursday after Trinity. . . Sunday, and thus she affords her children every facility of testifying their gratitude to the God of the Eucharist. During eight days this adorable Master shall come from His tabernacle and shall be exposed to your gaze, as if He would come closer and closer to you. Oh, how poorly you understand your soul's best interest if you fail to respond to this lovable condescension! Today reanimate your faith by meditating on the proofs which demonstrate the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Eucharist. These proofs are of two kinds: proofs of reason and theological proofs.

First Point.—The proofs of reason which demonstrate the real presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament are taken from the absurd consequences of the contrary doctrine. If the Protestants are right in declaring that Jesus is in figure and not in reality in the Holy Eucharist, then Christianity—this religion so pure in its moral and so sublime in its dogma, and having all the characters of divinity-- was, from the beginning, the most monstrous and most extravagant religion. It merits justly all the reproaches of superstition, idolatry, and foolishness lavished on paganism. See all the disciples of Christ, foolish victims of error, having at their head their doctors, their venerable prelates, lights of the world by their science and by their virtue, prostrating themselves before bread, which is only a vain image, and adoring it as the Egyptians formerly adored the fruits of their gardens. Calvin, who had come to undeceive the world, merited divine honors much more than Jesus; he should be regarded as the benefactor of humanity, while Jesus would be only an impostor. In fact, either Jesus foresaw the false interpretation which would be given to His words, "This is My body, this is My blood," or He did not foresee it. If He foresaw it, He should have hindered it otherwise He has deceived His apostles, His friends, and His Church. He has left her in error during fifteen centuries, and He has failed in His promises of being with her to the end of time. If He did not foresee those false interpretations, He is not God; He is only a cheat and an impostor. And thus the denial of the Real Presence carries with it the denial of all religion. These monstrous consequences should suffice to make us reject as false and impious the doctrine which begets them. But these are not all. By the interpretation of Protestants, St. Paul is convicted of absurdity. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians he formally declares that he is guilty of outrage against the body of Jesus who should dare to receive the eucharistic bread unworthily. Are these words, which are so true in a Catholic sense, anything else than an absurdity in the Protestant sense? If Jesus is not really in the Eucharist, or if He is there only in figure, or if the bread is eaten only in faith, can he who participates in this mystery unworthily be wanting in respect for Jesus. Does he abuse His goodness ? How are we to understand that such a one outrages the body of Christ? Besides, if it is faith which attracts Jesus in the Eucharist, to the Jew or an unbeliever not having faith the Eucharist is only a piece of ordinary bread; and how can a piece of bread be profaned ?

St. Paul has said that the glory of the Old Law was nothing when compared with the sublimity of the Gospel. By the interpretation of Protestants these words are false. In fact, if the body of the Saviour is not in the Eucharist, all the excellence and advantage are on the side of the manna. This bread falls from heaven; it is prepared by angel hands, wholly miraculous and diversified in an infinity of tastes; it is a figure of Jesus far more worthy and more noble than the material bread made by the hands of men, if this bread even after consecration was only a figure. We must say the same of the ancient sacrifices, and in particular of the paschal lamb, whose blood was an image of the blood of Jesus more natural than wine, and especially a more lively and touching image. Contrary to the words of St. Paul, the Gospel, in this matter, would be inferior to the Old Law and the Church inferior to the synagogue. Reason rejects such a consequence, and it forces us to recognize the Real Presence or to accept the most monstrous absurdities.

Second Point.—The theological proofs are taken from the very words which Jesus employed in the institution of the Blessed Eucharist: "This is My body, this is My blood." Reflect on these words, and say if the Saviour could employ expressions more precise to affirm His real presence. The Protestants who deny it pretend that here the language of Jesus is figurative and that His words must be taken in a metaphorical sense. As if the Saviour had said: "This is the figure of My body; this is the figure of My blood." The falsity of such an interpretation is evident from the very circumstances in which the words were pronounced. Jesus was about to die ; at that solemn moment one shall hardly employ language which is figurative and almost unintelligible, and especially when one speaks to friends who are the depositaries of his last will. The Saviour of the world was making His last will and testament, and He bequeathed to the Church His body and His blood—all that He possessed. The very essence of a last will and testament is that it shall be expressed in clearest terms and exempt from all ambiguity; the law requires that the words of such a testament should be accepted in their natural and literal sense. Has it ever been heard of that the terms of a last will should be interpreted in a figurative sense? But what is the evident meaning of these words: "This is My body, this is My blood"? Is it the meaning which the Church gives them by taking them in their literal sense? Is it the meaning which heretics give them when they assert that they signify, This is the figure of My body ? But how can this last interpretation be justified ? There are in the world two kinds of signs, viz., natural signs and signs of convention. New, a piece of bread has never been the natural sign of a body; on the other hand, there is not in the Gospel a single word which ever fell from the lips of Jesus which has made it a conventional sign. Jesus had warned His disciples that He would speak to them no longer in parables. His words should therefore be accepted in their natural sense, and every other interpretation is purely arbitrary and finds no foundation anywhere. Behold the last will and testament of the Saviour, and the things He has bequeathed us. They are all contained in these words, which assure to the Catholic priesthood the power of renewing, to the end of the world, what He Himself did the first time. "Do this in commemoration of Me." The priest, in virtue of these words pronounced over the bread and the wine, "This is My body, this is My blood," operates this mystery, the substance of the bread and wine disappears, and they become the body and blood of Jesus.

What simplicity, as Bossuet remarks, and what omnipotent power in these few words ! After such assurance on the part of the Saviour, what remains for us to do if not to believe, and adore, and love? He says that it is His body, therefore it is His body; He says that it is His blood, therefore it is His blood ! My Saviour, be forever blessed for this favor! Thou hast wished to be Thyself the inheritance of Thy children, and Thy love knows how to survive death, in discovering the secret of eternalizing Thy presence in the midst of them.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897


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Trinity Sunday - Our Duties Toward the Trinity

6/16/2019

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 First Point.—You owe to the Holy Trinity the homage of your faith. There is not in Holy. . . Writ anything more strongly established than the mystery of one God in three persons. You
shall find it expressed in the Gospel most clearly and most precise. At the moment when the Saviour received Baptism in the Jordan a voice from heaven is heard saying: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. " At the same time the Holy Spirit, under the form of a dove, rested on the head of Jesus. Behold, the three adorable persons of the Blessed Trinity, perfectly distinct. Later on, when Jesus commanded His apostles to go and preach His Gospel throughout the world, He said to them: "Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." These words again reveal the existence of the Holy Trinity. In fact, the design of Our Lord and Saviour was certainly not to baptize the faithful in any other name than that of God, and He indicates three persons in whose name He wishes Baptism to be given. Each of these three persons must, therefore, be truly God, and that could not be unless they were really and absolutely equal among themselves.

There is but one God; this is the foundation of our faith. But this same faith teaches you that the unity of God is fruitful; that the divine nature, without ceasing to be one, is communicated by the Father to the Son, and by the Father and the Son, to the Holy Spirit. Adore, with a respect wholly filial, the mysterious shadow under which God--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—unveils His majesty to mortal eyes. Be faithful, and a day shall come when you shall contemplate Him without veil or shadow.

Second Point.—-You owe to the Trinity the homage of your respect. " The Holy Trinity is truly God, who reigns in the highest heavens and who fills the whole earth with His majesty. A Being infinitely perfect, to whom all honor, all praise, all glory is due for ever and ever." Strive, therefore, to mingle your voice in the concert of blessed spirits who in the heavenly city sing with unspeakable joy and in profoundest abasement: "Holy, holy, thrice holy is the God of armies!" With them adore the eternal Father, the principle of everything which exists; the eternal Son, equal to His Father; the Holy Spirit, equally eternal, and whom we cannot separate from the two other persons. To the three persons give the same worship, the same adoration; and when in God's temple you shall hear resounding these triumphant words, "Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost," unite your voice to the voice of the Church, and sing with enthusiasm to the glory of the august Trinity.

Third Point.—You owe to the Holy Trinity the homage of your love. Everything, in the Church, is done in the name of the Trinity. It is in this name that the august sacrifice of the New Law is offered. The priest at the foot of the altar makes the sign of the cross while pronouncing the names of the three adorable Persons of the Holy Trinity. It is in this name that you have been regenerated at the sacred font of Baptism, and it is in this name that the priest restores you to grace in the Sacrament of Penance. The Church puts this sacred name on your lips at the beginning of all your prayers and all your acts, by these august words: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." How often, perhaps, it has happened that you pronounced these words without thinking of what you said! Accustom yourself, therefore, to pronounce them henceforth with sentiments which should arise in every Christian heart. "In the name of the Father." He it is who has created us; by a single word He could reduce this world to the nothingness from which He has drawn it. With what respect should we be filled when pronouncing a name which recalls such grandeur and so many blessings? "In the name of the Son." This name recalls all that is tenderest in love, most generous in devotion and most lovable in virtue. While pronouncing this ever-blessed name, you place your hand on your heart, as if you would say to the Son that you love Him. Oh, may this sign be the expression of truth and not a vain ceremony "In the name of the Holy Ghost." It is the Holy Ghost who has sanctified the world; it is in Him, as the source, that grace dwells, or, rather, grace is nothing else than the Holy Spirit Himself. He resides in you as the pledge of your divine adoption He prays for you in terms which no human tongue can express. When you speak His name, ask of Him the grace never to sadden His heart by resisting His holy inspirations.

Fourth Point.— You owe it to the Holy Trinity to retrace their image in yourself. This image God Himself has deigned to engrave in your soul, since Holy Scripture tells you that God made man to His
own image and likeness. If, by imposing silence on your senses, you consider yourself intimately for a few moments, you will easily find the traits of this glorious resemblance. Our soul is simple; God is one, and still there are in Him three things really distinct. As the Father, our soul has being; as the Son, it has intelligence; as the Holy Ghost, it has love. Like the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, our souls have in their being, in their intelligence, in their love the same happiness and the same life (Bossuet). This likeness, which is only commenced in us, must be perfected by retracing in our soul and in our conduct, as far as the weakness of our poor nature shall allow, the divine perfections. It is to perform this glorious work that Jesus calls us in these words: "Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." And thus the Christian, on his way to perfection, can find no resting- place: he must "grow constantly from virtue to virtue," until he arrives, as St. Paul says, to " the plenitude of the perfect man, which is in Christ Jesus."

O my God, I love to contemplate Thee in the unity of Thy nature and in the Trinity of Thy persons. No mystery reveals to me better than this one Thy grandeur and my nothingness. The less I understand Thee, the more I adore Thee. The most worthy use I can make of my reason is to annihilate myself before Thee. It is the joy of my mind, the charm of my weakness to feel myself overwhelmed by Thy greatness. May I, O my God, by my fidelity in adoring Thee in the shadows of faith, merit to contemplate Thee face to face, and without veil or shadow, in the city of the elect.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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Corpus Christi - The Institution of the Feast and Our Duties

6/12/2019

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 WE celebrate today one of the most beautiful feasts of the Catholic Church. Let us meditateon the motives which have induced the Church to institute it, and the duties it imposes on us. . . .

First Point.—Motives of the Church in instituting the feast of Corpus Christi. The principal motive of the Church in instituting a feast in which she surrounds the God of the Eucharist with so much magnificence, when she commands her ministers to carry Him in triumph about the streets of cities and villages, is to make Him reparation for all the outrages that He receives in the august sacrament of His love on the part of bad Christians. Jesus, having wished to constitute Himself a prisoner of love in the holy tabernacles; Jesus, having given us the sacrament of His body and blood for our nourishment, our support, and our consolation here below, should only receive the homage of our adoration and the tribute of our gratitude. Instead of this He is often the object of outrages which are most painful to His heart, by profanations, sacrileges, and the irreverences of which we make ourselves guilty. In consequence of these profanations, the Holy Eucharist, instituted essentially to honor the body of the Saviour, becomes for this very body a mystery of humiliation and ignominy.

Yes, the body of the Saviour suffers from us in the Eucharist a thousand times more than it suffered on the part of the Jews in His Passion In the Passion He only suffered for a time, but here He is exposed to suffer to the end of time. In His Passion He suffered only as much as Jesus wished it, and because He wished it, but here He suffers, so to speak, by violence and by force. If He suffered in His passion, He was in a state of suffering and mortal nature, but here He suffers in a state of impassibility. What He suffered in His Passion was glorious to God and salutary for man, but here what He suffers is injurious to man and to God. What a powerful motive to awaken and excite all your piety for this great mystery? This feast is one of gratitude for the voluntary humiliations of Jesus in the Eucharist. Place yourself for a moment at the foot of the tabernacle which contains your God, and strive to understand to what humiliations He has devoted Himself for love of you. Humiliations in the solitude to which He is condemned. When He was born at Bethlehem He had the two cherubim of the manger to adore Him, Mary and Joseph, then the shepherds, and, finally, the Wise Men; here almost always He is alone, His temples are deserted, a solitary lamp which swings before the tabernacle is only too often the only homage He receives. Humiliations in the obscurity of His Eucharistic life. He is concealed in the tabernacle; He lives there unknown to the world, as He once lived in the house of Joseph. Humiliations in His state of dependence. Even as formerly He was submissive to Joseph and Mary, so in the Eucharist He is submissive to the commands of the priest. The priest calls Him from heaven and causes Him to descend; he encloses Him in the tabernacle and makes Him come out from it; he takes Him in his hands, lifts Him up, puts Him down, carries Him to the sick; distributes Him to the people, gives Him to children and even to sinners. Jesus obeys, and always obeys. Humiliations in His state of annihilation. Was there ever one more complete? At Bethlehem, He was born in a state of complete indigence. The humanity veiled the divinity, but a miraculous star revealed His presence; if He leads in the midst of the people a painful and laborious life, in contempt and contradictions, all His steps are marked by prodigies and His humiliations do not conceal the Master of the world, since He is recognized by His miracles.

If He dies on the cross, His last sigh makes the world tremble, and countless prodigies reveal in the dying man the Son of the Most High. But how shall we recognize a God in the God of our temples? In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus not only conceals His divinity, but His very humanity has disappeared, and we see realized the words of the apostle with especial energy: "He is annihilated." On today the Church strives to efface many humiliations; she does not wish that the God of the Eucharist should be an unknown God; she withdraws Him from the sanctuary where He reposes, from the enclosure of the temples which contain Him; she carries Him through the streets of the cities, she adores and avows Him as her God. In fine, to set off the display of triumph destined to her King, she puts forth all that is majestic in her august ceremonies, the most sumptuous in her treasures; she strips the earth of its flowers; she borrows from profane vanity its luxury and its pomp, happy to testify to her heavenly Spouse her love and her gratitude.

Second Point.—Our duties on this blessed day. The occupation of a Christian soul on this solemnity
should be to enter into the sentiments of the Church, and with her to honor the body of the Saviour. And what is it to honor the body of the Saviour? It is to give Him all the worship which it can receive from us in the Sacrament of the Altar. It is to imitate Magdalene, who had a particular zeal for this sacred body, watering it with her tears, wiping it with her hair, and spreading on it sweetest perfumes. After her example, you should often prostrate yourself in the presence of this sacred body,
and there offer to it a thousand sacrifices of praise, a thousand interior adorations, a thousand homages, and a thousand acts of thanksgiving. You should say to it sometimes, with a lively faith and with ardent devotion: "Divine Body, Thou hast been the price of my salvation; what should I not do to glorify Thee ? The heretic despises Thee, the impious outrage Thee, but as for me, O my God, I am happy to offer to Thee the incense of my prayer and the homage of my love." Such are the sentiments which should animate you; and because the body of Jesus shall be today carried in triumph, your duty is to contribute to the pomp of this triumph, and to all the extent of your power. You are so fond of a thousand superfluities which serve only for luxury and vanity; there it is that you can sanctify them, by consecrating them to the body of your God, by employing them to enrich the vessels which contain Him and to embellish the tabernacles where He is enclosed, and to adorn His oratories where He remains. You are so careful of your bodies; you love so much to adorn them and to clothe them, and for this purpose you spare no expense ! But your body, that body infected by sin, that body which shall soon be only dust and corruption should it be dearer to you than the body of Christ?

In fine, because the body of the Son of God is taken out of its temples and carried in triumph, what does the Christian soul do? She follows Him in His triumph and gives herself as an escort. This is what the Spirit of God divinely expresses in the spouse of the canticles. She says she has sought her well-beloved in the place where he is accustomed to take his repose; but, she adds, not having found him, she has taken the resolution to go out, to go into the streets and places of the city to seek him. The guards and the officers of the city have met her; she perceives him in their midst, and at once she runs to him and she does not leave him until she has led him to the house of her mother. This spouse is the faithful soul. Today she seeks the Saviour of the world in His tabernacle, and she does not find Him there. She then goes through the streets and public places to see if He shall be there. He is there; in fact, she meets Him surrounded by guards and ministers who carry Him with honor, and the whole people make His countless court. She casts herself at His feet, she adores Him, she follows Him with her eyes, she does not leave Him until He enters the temple, which is really the house of her mother. Imitate her, and strive to pay to your adorable King the just tribute of your love and your gratitude.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897




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Pentecost Sunday - On the Mystery

6/12/2019

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TODAY the Church commemorates the descent of the Holy Ghost on the apostles. There can ... be nothing more interesting for us to know than the dispositions which are required to receive Him and the effects which He produces in those who receive Him.

First Point.—Dispositions required to receive the Holy Spirit. The first is recollection. The Holy Spirit Himself tells us that He leads into solitude the soul with whom He wishes to speak. God cannot communicate Himself to a disturbed or agitated soul. The apostles were in retreat when the Holy Spirit descended upon them. And hence we conclude that everything which disturbs the soul preoccupies the heart, and consequently is an obstacle to the communications of the Holy Spirit and to the support and strength of the Christian life. The reading of romances, the frequentation of worldly assemblies, a love for plays are, therefore, incompatible with a spirit of piety. And it is for this reason that Jesus in His Gospel condemns all these diversions. The world is astounded at this reprobation, and accuses the Gospel of too great severity. Perhaps you yourself have thought and spoken as the world of this matter; but think of the levity and injustice of this language, in comparing the disturbance produced by romances, balls, and spectacles with the recollection required for the holy and sweet communications of the Divine Spirit.

Vigilance is the second disposition required to receive the Holy Spirit. When the days of Pentecost were accomplished, says the Sacred Text, "a sound from heaven was heard, as of a mighty wind coming." It is in a sudden and unlooked-for way that grace knocks at the door of our heart, and that the Holy Spirit communicates Himself to a soul. He does not consult our time, but we should await His time of coming. St. Paul was suddenly stricken to the earth while on his way to Damascus. It was suddenly that the mysterious star appeared to the Wise Men. We should, therefore, be attentive to the
movements of the Holy Spirit; want of vigilance would cause us to lose a multitude of graces which would sanctify us. It is this want of vigilance in studying the secret movements of grace that each day permits us to miss a thousand happy occasions of performing acts of virtue; our resolutions remain sterile, and our most sacred promises are never realized. But do we not make them in good faith? Unquestionably our desire is sincere, but it is inefficacious because we forget them at the moment when we should keep them. If we are exposed to humiliation, this would be an occasion for us to make an act of humility. If an injury be done us, this would offer an opportunity for making an act of love. Perhaps we may meet with a disappointment, some opposition, or some suffering; this should be the moment for making an act of patience. Unfortunately, natural impressions precede reflection, and we become unfaithful when, with greater vigilance, we should have acquired a new merit for heaven.

The third condition for receiving the Holy Spirit is to ask it by fervent prayer. "He will give the good spirit to them that ask Him." Grace comes from heaven; therefore we should seek it there, since it is from there we must expect it. Attract the Holy Spirit to you by the profound conviction of your misery and your weakness, by the earnestness of your desires, and by the knowledge which you have of the need of His gifts. Let your soul be before Him as the parched earth, which, by its very dryness, seems to implore the dews of heaven. The apostles were engaged in prayer when they received the Holy Spirit. Then imitate them, pray with fervor, and in asking for the Holy Spirit you ask for the source of all gifts.

Second Point.—The effects of the Holy Spirit. The principal effects of the Holy Spirit are indicated in the Epistle of today. He comes like a mighty wind. As the wind drives before it straw and dust and renews the corrupted air, so the Holy Spirit drives away all carnal -affections, earthly desires, worldly thoughts, and every evil from the heart. He overthrows all idols and breaks every bond; He purifies the atmosphere of the soul and expels the miasms of sin. He filled the whole house. He filled the cenacle in which the apostles were assembled. These expressions should make us understand with what abundance the Holy Spirit communicates His gifts. He fills the Church with them, and enriches her with every virtue and every grace. He showers His gifts on the faithful soul and with as great a liberality as He finds perfect dispositions. Therefore open to Him all the avenues of your soul, widen and extend all her faculties, that He may enrich her with all His gifts.

The Holy Spirit rested on the apostles in the form of tongues of fire. This circumstance reveals to you two principal effects of the Holy Spirit, viz. : He enlightens and gives warmth at the same time. What is more worthy of admiration than the lights which He caused to shine on the intelligence of the apostles? What knowledge of the Holy Scriptures? What intelligence concerning the highest mysteries Jesus had said to them: "I have much more to communicate to you, but you are not capable of understanding now; but when the Spirit of truth shall come, He shall reveal everything to you. " His words were verified to the letter. Men so slow to believe and so densely ignorant have hardly received the Holy Spirit, than they astonish the most learned by their profound science; at length they understand what another Teacher had said to them when they could not comprehend His teachings:
"Blessed are they that mourn, blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice." These truths, which are so opposed to all the sentiments of nature and to all the prejudices of the world, are now believed and accepted, from the first day, by three thousand persons.

Oh how great is the power of the Holy Spirit He whom the Holy Scriptures call the most beautiful among the children of men, He "who went about doing good," in spite of His virtues and benefits could only win to Himself a small number of disciples; but at the first preaching of St. Peter three thousand men became Christians! This is what the Holy Spirit has done for the world. And while He enlightens the intelligence, the Holy Spirit warms and inflames the heart. He is the Spirit of love as well as the Spirit of truth. Of all the sentiments which agitate the human heart, love is the most powerful. Read the lives of the saints. What self-abnegation we see in their lives! What zeal for the glory of their heavenly Father! What charity for their brethren! With what energy did they repress temptations, and with what contempt did they trample under foot all the seductions of the world! What devotion in the apostles, what patience in the martyrs, and what purity in the virgins! Where shall we look for the principle of all these wonders? We shall find it in the divine love with which the Holy Spirit filled their hearts. But you, oh, how weak you are, and how cowardly ! And whence comes it? Either you do not love at all or you do not love enough. Conjure the Holy Spirit, therefore, to come into your heart and to bless you ask of Him to plant His grace deeply in your heart, that He may make known to you all those titles which God has for your gratitude, and may that gratitude lead you to love.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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The Ascension - On the Mystery

6/12/2019

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FORTY days after His resurrection, Jesus gathered His disciples together. St. Paul assures us. . . that they numbered fully five hundred. Then Jesus led them to the mountain of Olives, and after blessing them He disappeared from them, rising majestically to heaven. If we seek to know why Jesus returned to Heaven, we shall find He returned for Himself and for us.

First Point.—It is for Himself and for His own glory that Jesus triumphantly ascended to heaven. Bossuet says: "As a prince who has on hand a great war against a foreign nation quits his kingdom for a time to go forth and combat his enemies in their own country, and when the expedition shall have ended he shall return with superb display into the capital city of his own country, his followers and his chariots adorned by the spoils from the conquered people; so the Son of God, our King, wishing
to overthrow the reign of the demon who by an insolent usurpation was boldly declared the prince of the world, has Himself descended from heaven to earth to conquer this irreconcilable enemy. Having deposed him from his throne by arms of the weakest kind were they in other hands than His, there was nothing else to do than to return triumphantly to heaven, which is the place of His origin and the principal seat of His royalty." It is, then, Jesus marching royally to the throne of His glory whom you are now considering. What a grand and magnificent spectacle! How different He is on this day, the high and powerful Lord, from what you have hitherto seen Him? His departure from the earth is very different from His entrance into the world. Then He manifested Himself in His infirmity; He was little; He was born as the children of men are born; He, the King of heaven and earth, descended into a stable. We see Him weak, and His mother Mary carrying Him in her arms; He was subject to the needs of our body, and experienced hunger, thirst, fatigue, and sufferings. He was a man—not the primitive man, ruling the earth, happy, immortal; but, apart from sin, a man like to fallen man: that is to say, a man of sorrows, despised, beaten, outraged; a mortal man obliged to submit to an ignominious death, the death of the cross. Many of those who saw Him in that degradation did not know Him. Jerusalem remained indifferent when the Wise Men came to speak to Him; Samaria closed her gates against Him; Nazareth wished to cast Him from the high hills on which she was built, and the doctors of the law laughed at Him when He answered them. The Pharisees calumniated Him, the synagogues expelled Him, and the whole people cried out, "Crucify Him!" But today Jesus avenges His sacred humanity on all their degradations, all their outrages, and He manifests Himself glorious and triumphant in the eyes of the whole universe.

The cross of Jesus has ceased to be a scandal for the Jews. They wished for a glorious Messias. Is He, then, without glory—He who conquered death, and, having accomplished His mission on earth, returns to heaven in magnificence? He is more splendid than Solomon in all his glory, stronger than David in battles, more beautiful than Absalom in the flower of his youth, more holy than Enoch and Elias, who were taken up from earth. His body, which had been placed and sealed in a sepulchre, had undergone a glorious transformation; His face shone as the sun; His vestments were white as snow; His reed sceptre is changed to a sceptre of command; His crown of thorns is replaced by an aureola of light; at His feet are His disciples, and above His head legions of angels are descending: the earth is silent before Him, and the elements await His command; a docile cloud lowers about His feet, and He ascends—ascends into the heavens, leaving Judea, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Calvary, and to take in exchange possession of the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of Sion, the kingdom of His Father! Arise, then, Lord, above the heavens, and let Thy glory shine throughout the whole earth. As for me, Lord Jesus, my King and my Master, I am proud of my name of Christian; on this day, especially, when Thou coverest all the humiliations of man with the strength and the omnipotence of God.

Second Point.—Jesus returns to heaven in our interest. It is, first, to prepare a place for us. The gates of heaven had been closed by the sin of Adam and no one could enter there, before the divine Mediator. Even the just of the Old Law, the Abels, the Abrahams, and the Jacobs, these men so famous in our sacred books for the splendor of their virtues and their lively faith, awaited in Limbo for the day of their deliverance; and it is today that they enter heaven with Jesus. Henceforth the gates of the Holy City are open to us: let immortal thanks be given to our blessed Saviour! He has marked out the way for us by His lessons, by His precepts, and by His examples while He lived on earth; to-day He has thrown the gates wide open for us. He is there our Precursor. From His sojourn of glory, He extends His hands to us and calls us to Him. He said to His apostles: "I go to prepare a place for you." But this place shall not be for us, except we merit it.

Jesus ascends to heaven, and there occupies a throne at the right hand of His Father, to serve us as Advocate and Intercessor before God. And so He quits the earth, but does not abandon us. In the sojourn of His glory He loves us still, and His blood pleads for us. As the always-living Mediator, He intercedes in our behalf. It is through Him we have access to the heavenly Father. By His prayers He gives to our prayers a value; by His thanksgiving, our gratitude is acceptable; by His oblations, our sacrifices are made worthy; by His sorrows, our penance is valuable; by His sufferings, our mortifications are efficacious; and by His expiations, our satisfaction is complete. It is in union with His merits that our feeble works become meritorious. The eternal Mediator between God and man continues in heaven the ministry which He exercised on the cross. It is He who has prompted St. John to say: "Be consoled, my children, and do not despair; if you have sinned, remember that you have in heaven an Advocate, who is all-powerful and who shall plead your cause before God."

Jesus has ascended to heaven to send us the Holy Ghost, whose mission it shall be to complete the work of redemption. The effusion of the Holy Spirit on earth, His visible descent on the apostles, are the recompense of the Passion of Jesus on the cross. He could not be given, therefore, until the Sovereign Priest had consummated His sacrifice in heaven. "For as yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet given" (John vii.). Moreover, Jesus had formally declared that, "if I do not go, the Holy Spirit shall not come, but if I go, I shall send Him to you."

O my amiable Master, since Thy entrance into heaven must have such precious results, then quit this earth : enter heaven to fulfill there the ministry of Mediator; appease divine justice, which I have so often angered by my crimes, and grant me the grace of imitating Thee on earth, that I may possess Thee and contemplate Thee eternally in heaven.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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6th Sunday after Easter - The Holy Ghost

6/12/2019

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 TO appreciate fully how great is the love which Jesus manifests for us in promising us the . . . Holy Ghost, it is necessary to know what is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in the hearts of the faithful.

First Point.—The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Our divine Saviour attributes to Him three principal functions. He is the Consoler, and the Church calls Him "the best Consoler." Never has any one merited this title more than He. There is not among men a single one who has not fallen into misfortune. Where shall man turn for consolation? His very friends fly from him, even as the birds of passage depart at the approach of winter. If some should strive to console him, they can only exhort him to patience and speak of the necessity of suffering. This necessity is incontestible, without doubt, but it is truly disheartening when suffering is separated from religion; for then sufferings have neither principle, nor end, nor recompense. But, on the contrary, we find greatest consolation in suffering when it is viewed in the light of the Holy Spirit. And how does this happen? Because the Holy Spirit reveals to the unfortunate sufferers that the true cause of sorrow is in the sins which have been committed; because He makes sufferings glorious, since they give to him who suffers a trait of resemblance to Jesus; because sufferings may become a means of expiation for sin and, consequently, a means of attaining the happiness of heaven. It is the special office of the Holy Spirit to accord us these sublime consolations, and He only has the power to make us taste them.

The Holy Spirit is called by Jesus the Spirit of Truth. He merits this title because it is He who is the Author of all truth; it is He who propagates and spreads it; it is He who convinces the intelligence of man and makes him receive it. The law of Moses clearly pointed out the duty, but it did not afford strength to put this duty in practice. The world proclaims the eulogy of virtue, but this sterile admiration gives no aid to the heart, which is left to its own weakness. It belongs to the Holy Spirit only to reveal to us all truth, and to render it lovable and easy for us. See the apostles; think of their ignorance with regard to the mystery of the cross. It was for them an "unintelligible word," but hardly had they received the Holy Spirit than they understood the happiness of sufferings. They considered themselves happy to have endured ignominy for the name of Jesus. Had not Jesus already said: "Blessed are they who suffer persecutions for justice's sake"? These were new sentiments, which had
hitherto been unknown. This truth was too deep for the apostles—" You cannot bear it now." The Holy Spirit was necessary. It was His mission to enlighten their intelligence, and to make them taste the maxims which take away all the repugnances of nature. The same ignorance still exists. Carnal minds revolt at the obscurity of our mysteries; sinners do not see the abyss open at their feet; even many pious people do not understand Christian life. They all need the light of the Holy Spirit. If you wish to receive Him, correct in yourself every disposition which would render you unworthy of His holy communications. The Holy Spirit must give testimony to Jesus. He gives this testimony in a most splendid manner, in manifesting His divinity by countless prodigies.

On the very day when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles they were transformed into other men. St. Peter preached his Master and his God before multitudes of different peoples whom the solemnity of the day had assembled at Jerusalem, and all heard him speak in their own native tongue. The most splendid miracles attest the divine mission of the apostles and the divinity of Him who sent them. These poof "fishermen, without the study of human sciences, without credit, without the art of eloquence, undertook the conversion of the world; and in spite of prejudices and persecutions, in spite of obstacles humanly insurmountable, the greatest success crowned their efforts. Legions of virgins triumphed over the corruption of the pagan world by their purity; millions of martyrs died in testimony of the divinity of the Christian faith. In spite of all the efforts of the mighty ones, all the resources of genius, all the artifices of sophistry, all the revolts of passion, the Church was established and developed, and continued her triumphant march along the ages. Behold how the Holy Spirit has rendered, and still renders, testimony to Jesus, the Saviour of the world.

Second Point.—The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the faithful. He exercises three principal functions in us: He brings us forth to Christian life, He sanctifies us, and He gives us the pledge of our divine affiliation. He brings us forth to Christian life. At the beginning, God the Father called the world from nothingness; on the cross, the Incarnate Word reformed man by His blood; in the Church, the Holy Spirit creates this supernatural life, which absorbs in the Christian all that there
is there of the old Adam, even to his name of man, and makes of him a creature wholly new. The Church proclaims these admirable effects of the Holy Spirit by her enthusiastic chants: "Come, Spirit Creator—send Thy Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth." But where is this new creation wrought? At first in Baptism, and then, if we should lose this precious life, in the Sacrament of Penance, when the Holy Spirit returns it to us by His grace. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us. He is the love which unites the Father and the Son; He personifies, in a manner, the love of God for us. He it is who is the Source of all graces, or, rather, He is grace itself. In the same manner as the just man who rejoices in grace is the living temple of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit dwells in him as a lovable guest
-- dulcis hospes animce. It is from Him good inspirations come which prompt us to good works, and those holy inspirations which keep us from evil. It is His strength which sustains us in combats, and His light which removes our doubts. It is His charity which encourages the Christian to practice the most heroic virtues, and it is by Him that the just attain the most sublime perfection.

The sanctification of man is attributed to the Holy Spirit particularly, as the creation is attributed to the Father, and the redemption to the Son. And thus it is that the august Trinity is wholly engaged in procuring our happiness. The Holy Spirit gives us a pledge of our divine affiliation. This is the very teaching of St. Paul. Listen to his admirable words, and then you can comprehend the nobility which your vocation to the faith gives you. He writes to the faithful at Ephesus: "You have been marked by the Holy Spirit, who is the seal of the promise and the pledge of the heavenly inheritance. Never forget that you are the temples of God and that the Holy Spirit dwells in you" (Acts). And read what he writes to the Romans: "You have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, My Father. For the Spirit Himself gives testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God." And if we are sons, we are also heirs, yes, heirs of God and co-heirs of Jesus. See, therefore, what magnificent destinies await us. Pray to the Holy Spirit that He may render you worthy, not only to see Him, but to realize Him fully.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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4th Sunday after Easter - Our Love for Jesus

5/18/2019

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"THE affliction which the apostles experienced at the departure of their Master proves that. . . they loved Him with a love which was too human. Our blessed Saviour reproached them for this, kindly, however, and at the same time He affords us an occasion to examine the nature of the love which we have for Him. Father Lacordaire says that "nothing is more simple than love, and still it contains three acts in the unity of its movement, viz., preference, devotion, and unity."

First Point.—"Man, however vast his heart may be, cannot attach himself to everything with the same ardor. Surrounded by objects which, in different degrees, have the impress of beauty, he shall find shades of difference in the attractions which hold him. Very often we cannot give a reason for our preference ; but what is certain is that we have our preferences and that love begins in us at the first moment the selection of the object is made." At the moment when we make our entrance into the life of affections we naturally love those whose age or studies or position are similar to our own; and still our heart has already made its preferences. Almost without knowing it, a choice is quickly made of one who shall be for us more than fellow-student; he shall be our friend, the confidant of our sorrows and our joys, our fears and our hopes; his memory shall not be effaced, but shall remain with us during our whole life.

Later, on our entrance into the world, a thousand objects armed with all the attractions which seduce and captivate come to knock at- the door of our heart and to ask for our preference. Jesus, on His part, with His cross in one hand and His Gospel in the other, calls us by the voice of conscience, and by the voice of His priests, by all that He has done for us, and by His titles to our love and gratitude. We must make our choice. On this choice our earthly future depends and also our eternal destiny. If the heart of man always inclines towards the most worthy object of its choice, our preference shall not be doubtful. What being is more lovable than the Saviour? But, unfortunately, instead of permitting ourselves to be guided by reason and by faith, we allow ourselves to be influenced 'by the passions, and we choose blindly. Shall you be fortunate enough to be proof, against such sad influence?

Second Point.—"But love is not satisfied by the mere act of choice, it demands devotion from the one chosen. To choose is to prefer one before all others; but to be devoted is to prefer the object of devotion even to yourself. Devotion is immolation of self to the object loved, and whoever does not go thus far does not love. We find this condition in all the affections in which virtue mingles the divine balm of her presence. It is that which inspires the mother, bending day and night over the cradle of her child; it is that which fills the heart of the soldier and prompts him to face death boldly for his country; it is that which strengthens the martyr against the threats of tyrants and gives him greatest solace in all his punishments. These are the traits of love which the world, all corrupted as it is, recognizes and admires. And if love has not had at all times an opportunity to manifest itself by noblest sacrifices, it constantly shows, however, by lesser sacrifices that it carries within it the germs which make it as strong as death, as the Sacred Scriptures attest" (Pere Lacordaire).

Is it thus that you have loved Jesus ? After having chosen you to make you His child of predilection, He has recalled you to His admirable light. He has devoted Himself to you, and as a proof of it He vowed Himself to death, and to an ignominy more frightful than death, to redeem your soul and to open heaven for you. Hence St. Paul says: "Jesus has loved me, He has delivered Himself up for me." And thus it is that all the saints have loved, by responding to His devotion with their own devotion. Listen to St. Paul: "What shall separate us from the charity of Christ? Shall it be tribulation,sufferings, hunger, or thirst? Shall it be danger, persecution, or the sword? But we are stronger than all these fears, for the sake of Him who has loved us. Yes, I am certain that neither life nor death, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, neither strength, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature, can separate us from the charity of God, which is in Christ Our Lord." Behold what St. Paul thought and spoke, and what all the saints thought and spoke as well as he. Can you hurl the same defiance to every creature? Consult your own heart, and then answer.

Third Point.—"There still remains the third act which crowns the marvellous drama, and in which our soul is at once the theatre and the actress. After we have chosen the object of our preference, and after we have given ourselves in fullest devotion, there still remains something to be done" (Piere Lacordaire).

Union is necessary. This is the end and the limit of love in the heart of God and in the heart of the Christian. Not content with having chosen us as His well-beloved creature, with having given us grace, life, heaven, and happiness by the complete sacrifice of Himself, Jesus has wished to unite Himself to us in the closest manner. And what has He done to accomplish this? O marvellous love of a God for His creature! He began by uniting Himself to our miserable nature; He became man, as one of us; He lived our life; He has wished to dwell with us, and to find His delights in remaining with us. But this sojourn was necessarily transitory; this union of the Word in the Incarnation was His union with human nature in general. The heart of Jesus wished more, and He has done more. He has instituted the Holy Eucharist, and thereby has found the secret of eternalizing His presence among men, whom He has loved so much. He has wished to give Himself and to unite Himself to each one in particular. What love ! Can you ever be sufficiently grateful?

If you love Jesus truly, it is not enough to have chosen Him for your Friend and your King; it is not enough to be prepared for entire devotion and even to immolate yourself for Him. You should earnestly aspire to be united to Him. This union, the object of delight to the heart that loves, consists in the complete fusion of your heart with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by the same thoughts, the same desires, and the same wishes. You should regard the things of the world—its pleasures, its honors—as He regarded them. It is necessary that you should love and desire what He has desired and loved. What union could ever exist between two hearts whose sentiments and affections were quite contrary? But because it is in the Holy Eucharist that the union with Jesus is closest and most intimate, it is necessary that you should be most anxious to be nourished by it. Indifference for this sacrament would testify your want of love. How, can you think that you love Jesus, when you have so little desire to be united to Him?

Adorable Master, Thou hast chosen me for Thy child when I was so unworthy; Thou hast devoted Thyself to my salvation in spite of the abuse I have made of Thy grace. Thou desirest to be united to me, to lift me up to Thee. I wish also to take Thee for my only inheritance, to sacrifice myself for Thee, and to remain faithful to Thee; and, by uniting myself often with Thee in the sacrament of Thy love, may I merit to be eternally united with Thee in the Kingdom of Thy glory.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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3rd Sunday after Easter - On Afflictions

5/11/2019

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 OUR blessed Saviour has announced to His apostles, in the Gospel of today, that their destiny... on this earth is to endure afflictions, but that these afflictions shall be changed into joy. We shall therefore consider the conditions required that the afflictions of the Christian shall become for him a subject of joy.

First Point.—The first condition required to change our sufferings to joy is to suffer for the faith. Even as Jesus must attain to glory and triumph by sufferings and humiliations, so also it was in the designs of God that the Church could not be established, nor could she be developed, except by persecutions. If the great ones of the earth had extended to the Church their powerful assistance, we might believe that her establishment on earth was a work purely human, and her existence was accounted for in the ordinary way; but by refusing all human aid, in founding His religion in spite of armed opposition and the ever active human powers, God has clearly declared that religion owed her origin and development to Him.

And it is precisely to show that she owes to Him her preservation, also, that God still permits, and shall permit to the end of time, His religion to be the object of attack from heresy, incredulity, and all the passions. If, therefore, you wish to be a Christian, if you wish especially to practice your duties, you must expect persecutions from the world. True, indeed, you have no need to fear persecution from the sword; the modern methods on which our civilization prides itself seem to shield us from this danger. However, if God preserved you from these fearful trials, if Satan should rouse again among you the persecutions which disturbed the first days of the Church, then recall the virtues which triumphed over them. Children of the martyrs, imitate the courage of your fathers, and dare as they did to resist even to blood; do not hesitate to follow them even that far, and prefer a glorious death to a life dishonored by apostasy.

Second Point.--A second condition required to change our sufferings into joy is that they should be the consequence of our fidelity in the service of God. In addition to the violent persecution to which Christianity is sometimes exposed, the Christian is liable to particular tribulations, less terrifying, unquestionably, but more difficult to endure, perhaps, by reason of their continuance. Besides, the world in which you live pursues you with its contradictions, its railleries, and its seductions. You must resist inclinations which attack you from within and passions which lead you away. The edifice of salvation is not erected as were the ramparts of Jerusalem, by employing one hand to construct and the other to defend them. If you have entered upon the ways of justice, you have already traversed a part of the narrow and painful pathway which conducts to heaven; but do not stop in your laborious career, and, after having surmounted the greatest obstacles, do not allow yourself to be cast down by the difficulties which yet remain to be overcome. On the contrary, at the sight of new difficulties take courage, for these are the very obstacles in your way which shall win the recompense. Every effort shall merit a new reward for you, and every victory shall add another jewel to the crown which is prepared for you.

But if you have hitherto walked in the ways of iniquity, your return to God will meet with special obstacles in your inveterate habits, in your passions, strengthened by long service in sin. Still, be not cast down. The difficulties you shall meet with shall be the most meritorious part of your penance. The more that the practice of virtues opposed to your vices shall cost the greater shall be the benedictions which you shall receive. If the sight of the barriers which obstruct the path of penance for you shall frighten you, then lift up your eyes to the hand which guides you and which shall help you to surmount them. The most difficult step is the first, and in proportion as you advance you shall feel the pathway grow smooth under your feet.

Third Point.—The third condition required to change your sufferings into joy is to suffer in a spirit of faith. When affliction falls on you, think that it is God who sends it to you, and that you must receive it with submission. Reflect that it is a law of our nature, then you shall accept it in patience; that it is the punishment of sin, and you shall receive it with resignation; that it is a chastisement, and then you shall accept it with gratitude; that it is a trial to which Providence subjects you and you shall accept it with courage; that it is the crucible in which Divine Goodness purifies you to make you more worthy, then you shall accept it with joy.

Jesus has spoken this word, which has ever been a subject of astonishment for the worldly and a consolation for the Christian: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. "When, therefore, afflictions fall on you, think that you have one consolation—they come from God. Go then, not to your worldly friends—you would but weary them without any profit to yourself—but go to your divine Consoler; present Him your tears, and He will wipe them away; present Him your sorrows, and He shall sweeten them and give to you the sure hope that every sorrow you experience shall be compensated by His graces.

Fourth Point.—The fourth condition required to change sufferings into joy is voluntarily to accept them as an expiation for your past offenses. We cannot hope to enter heaven except by the pathway which our divine Saviour Himself has trod. It is He who has declared this truth to us, that we must carry the cross. He has wished to suffer, the apostle tells us, in order to be not only our Redeemer but our Model. Think of all the saints who have gone before you on earth and who have preceded you in the blessed country, and you shall not find a single one who has been exalted except after a life of mortification. All have attained to glory through humiliations, to the supreme good by self-abnegation, to happiness by sufferings. Look about, on every side, and you will not find another way. Ask from heaven some precepts and ask from earth some examples, but they shall have none others to give you. Mortification of the body, by retrenching its pleasures, of the soul, bya subjugation of the passions, are the true means, the absolutely necessary means of sanctification; and, unhappily, we must add, the means but little known among men and rarely put in practice. Nothing is more common, even among those who believe themselves faithful, than a soft and sensual life, which is so opposed to the maxims and precepts and example of Jesus Christ. Because there are few mortifications especially commanded us, there are those who believe that mortification is commanded only in some general manner, and even the few practices of self-denial which the laws of the Church make binding on us are not observed. We are wont to moderate them rather than to observe them. The secret of this so-called Christian conduct appears to be to conciliate the commands of God with the pleasures and dissipations of the world: and we strive to content ourselves in the belief that we have conformed to the precepts when, although not violating them openly, we have had the unhappy facility of evading them. Never do this, but regard the law of penance not as a burden, but as a blessing, since its observance shall secure for you your best and most sacred interests.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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Palm Sunday - The Cenacle

4/14/2019

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PALM SUNDAY opens the great week, or, as it is called by excellence, the Holy Week. It is so . . . called because it is in this week the grandest mysteries of our holy religion are accomplished. You cannot better enter into the spirit of the Church than by meditating each day on one of the circumstances of the Passion of our blessed Lord. Today let us enter the cenacle and consider the different circumstances associated with the institution of the most lovable and the most august of all the sacraments.

The first circumstance which presents itself to your meditations is the strange command which Jesus gives to His apostles, viz., to prepare a room which shall be at once large and beautifully appointed. In fact, it is a strange command, since it is the first time that the divine Master shows that He is particular in the choice of a place which He shall honor by His presence. For a palace, He chose a stable; for a cradle, He selected a manger; for a refuge of His infancy, He is content with the house of a poor artisan; to offer His last sacrifice, a wooden cross sufficed. It is only now that He does not wish to appear poor. He wishes to surround His Eucharistic body with honors; and why? These surroundings are intended more for us than for Him. He wishes to give us a lesson. He teaches us that we cannot surround the Blessed Eucharist with too much respect or magnificence. He justifies His Church from the reproach of too much pomp, which unthinking men would make against her, and who would wish to see her offer the holy sacrifice under a roof of straw and in vessels of wood and potter's clay, while they themselves walk on richest tapestry and eat and drink from gold and silver vessels. Ah, if gold and silver were ever legitimately employed, it is certainly when there is question of erecting a throne to the God of the Eucharist and to heighten the splendor of its festivals.

This has been the mind and conduct of all thesaints, and of all who have with David loved the "beauty of God's house." They have all considered it a duty and a joy to contribute to the ornamentation of the place which He has chosen to make His dwelling among men. St. Cajetan wished that the churches and the altars should be decorated with all possible splendor, and, in spite of his love for poverty, he sought for the richest ornaments, saying that nothing was too precious for the Lord of the world. Are these your sentiments? By this command Jesus warns us specially concerning the interior dispositions which we should bring to the reception of the Holy Eucharist. He asks that the room in which the institution of the Blessed Eucharist takes place should be grand and vast and spacious. But that which constitutes the grandeur of the heart are the exalted sentiments and a complete detachment from earthly things.

Our souls ascend or descend with the objects which preoccupy them. If the soul habitually loves and seeks after what is beneath her, the weight of these things compel her to descend. There is nothing so little or contracted as a soul whose intelligence revolves habitually in the narrow circle of purely material interests. The ideas are narrow, the tastes are low, and the mind is frivolous; grand and serious thoughts are too heavy for such a soul to carry. Do you wish to possess a grand and noble heart? Then banish from it every earthly affection. Jesus can be but ill at ease in a heart which is also occupied by creatures. The throne of your heart is by far too beautiful to allow some earthly idol to possess it; He only is worthy to occupy it who has formed it by His own hands, and then can enrich it by His grace from the treasury of His virtues.

When approaching the holy table, offer to your King, Jesus, a heart void of all earthly affection or whatever is purely human. If you would possess a truly great heart, let it be filled with a holy confidence. Confidence dilates the soul, unfolds all her faculties, and opens them to receive the dews of heavenly grace. It is precisely to facilitate this unfolding of the soul when approaching the holy table, that Jesus veils there His majesty under the Eucharistic species, and invites us in words that are full of tenderness : " Come, My well beloved, and eat the bread which I have prepared for you, and drink also of the wine; be inebriated by the delights of My table. Oh, with what ardor I have desired to eat of this Pasch with you!" How then can you be wanting in confidence when Jesus calls you to Him with so much goodness? Not only does Jesus wish a room vast and spacious, but also beautifully adorned. If your soul should be a dwelling-place worthy of God, she should be adorned with many virtues. This is a necessary condition for a worthy and fervent communion. And you know what these virtues should be: you should possess a lively faith, which shall present to you Jesus, true God and true man, under the sacred veils which hide Him from your corporal eyes—even as He was in the crib, when He received the adorations of the shepherds and the wise men; and even as He is in heaven, where He offers to His Father for you the wounds of His sacred humanity, the scars of which are still evident.

While approaching the holy table, let your soul be filled with an ardent charity. The Eucharist is by excellence the sacrament of love. Love begets love. When Jesus opens His heart for you with unspeakable tenderness, should you close yours to Him? What to Him are your protestations, your words of devotion, your sterile assurances? It is your heart that He desires, and it is your love He yearns for. He says to you, with an incomparable sweetness: " My son, give Me thy heart." I ask it of thee, not as the world asks it, to fill it with trouble, agitation, and often remorse; but I ask it that I may bless it, purify it, and enrich it with My graces. "My son, give Me thy heart." What an enemy you shall be to yourself if you refuse to give it!

To a lively faith and an ardent charity add a profound humility. Alas, who are you to merit the distinguished honor which awaits you at the holy table? Moses, while thinking that he was only"dust and ashes," was astonished that God should hear him; St. Elizabeth, on seeing the Blessed Virgin, who had come to visit her, exclaimed: "Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my God should come to me?" The centurion acknowledged he was unworthy to receive Jesus in his house. But it is in your heart that Jesus is going to descend; He is about to unite Himself to you, and you to Him. Even were you an angel, you could not sufficiently merit such a favor. But oh! how far you are from being an angel!

These preparatory dispositions for communion are indicated to us by a circumstance in which Jesus gives us at once the example and the precepts. Before the mysterious repast at which the Blessed Eucharist was instituted, He put aside His garments, and, after having girded Himself as the servants
do, He washed the feet of His apostles. What a lesson for us who are so jealous of our rank and dignity, so particular concerning precedence, and so desirous of honor ! The God of heaven and earth is on His knees before His apostles, washing their feet with those hands which can hurl the thunders, heal the sick, and lavish blessings. And Peter, at the sight of his Master's conduct, is seized with a holy indignation. "What ! Lord, Thou wash my feet! I shall never permit Thee." Peter fully realized the dignity of his Master, says Bossuet, and he only wished to hinder Him because of the lowliness of the ministry which He performed; he did not understand that this was, for him, an indispensable preparation for the Holy Eucharist, and that he could not participate in it unless his body and his feet also were purified ; that is to say, that the least stains, as well as the greatest faults, must be wiped away. But scarcely has Jesus declared to him that without this preparation he should have no part in His kingdom, than he exclaimed with greatest fervor: "Ah, Lord, wash not only my feet, but my hands and my head. Purify me wholly."

From this let us learn with what purity we should approach the holy table. After having effaced our grievous faults, do not neglect those which are venial. You have been purified in the sacred waters of penance, but we have something yet to do. Besides those sins which kill the soul, there are others which disfigure it, and these also must be effaced. Then, before approaching the holy table, repeat with St. Peter: "Lord, my God, wash me, my feet, my head, my hands, that nothing in me shall be displeasing to Thy eyes, that I may be pure and without stain, to receive Thee into my heart, God of purity!"

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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Passion Sunday - The Testimony Which Jesus Gives of Himself

4/7/2019

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 THE noble assurance with which Jesus defies His enemies to accuse Him of sin furnishes us an . . . occasion of meditating on the beautiful character of the Saviour of men. You shall find in it one of the most striking proofs of His divinity. It shall be sufficient for us to propose these two questions:Is Jesus, as He said, the Son of God? and, is His testimony true?

First Point.—In order to escape from the crushing proof which follows from the testimony of Jesus in favor of His divinity, the infidels pretended that Jesus said He was, indeed, the envoy of God, but that He never affirmed that He was God. To demonstrate the falsity of this assertion, we have only to open the Holy Gospels. Jesus there gives testimony to His divinity at first in presence of His friends and disciples. One day, while speaking with them, He asked: "Whom do men say that I am?" The disciples answered: "Some say that Thou art John the Baptist, others that Thou art Jeremias, others that Thou art Elias, and others still that Thou art one of the prophets." But Jesus again asked: "Whom do you think I am?" Then Peter answered: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." Instead of reproving him or correcting Peter's statement as a blasphemy, Jesus replied to
Peter: "Blessed art thou, Simon, son of John, because flesh and blood have not revealed this to thee, but My Father who is in heaven." In another circumstance, Philip said to Jesus: "Lord, show us the Father and that will satisfy us." But Jesus, being indignant at this request, answers him: "What! I am so long with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who sees Me, also sees the Father. How then can you say, show us the Father; do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?" On another occasion, always wishing still more to affirm His divine affiliation, He said to one of His disciples: "God has so loved the world that He has sent His only Son, that he who believes in Him shall not be condemned, but he who does not believe in Him shall be condemned, because he does not believe in the name of the only Son of God." Jesus, therefore, proclaimed Himself as the Son of God, and in the strictest sense He claimed that He was in the Father and that the Father was in Him; and that to see Him was to see the Father. The testimony which Jesus gives of His divinity to His friends and to His disciples is evident.

The testimony which He gives of Himself in presence of the people is no less evident and no less explicit. The multitudes which surrounded Him exclaimed: "How long shall you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us clearly and  openly." Jesus answers them: "I speak to you and you do not believe Me. The works which I have done give testimony of Me. My Father and I are one." At this statement, which told everything, the Jews gathered stones to throw at Him. And Jesus said to them: "I have shown you the works of My Father; for which of these works do you cast stones at Me?" The Jews answered: "For none of Thy works, but because of Thy blasphemy; because, being only a man, Thou hast made Thyself God." The language of Jesus before the people had the same signification as the language before the disciples: He clearly and unmistakably declared, "My Father and I are one." But Jesus is cited before the council of the ancients, the priests and magistrates of Judea. After testimony more or less inconsistent, the high priest puts the question squarely; he arises and addresses the accused this solemn adjuration: "I adjure you by the living God, to tell us, if you are the Christ, the Son of God." And Jesus answered him by these two words: "I am." And to confirm His avowal He immediately added: "I am He, and you shall see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven." So that before His friends, before the people, and before the magistrates, Jesus proclaimed Himself the Son of God, the only Son, the Son equal to His Father, one with His Father, and being in His Father and His Father in Him. This is the testimony which Jesus gives of Himself. And what a testimony! Only to think! a man, a being of flesh and blood, who has before Him not only the weakness of life but the weakness of death,-- a mere man,—and He dares to proclaim Himself a God! It is the first time in the history of the world that it has ever happened! It is evident that a mere man is not capable of such bold falsehood.

Second Point.—But is the testimony which Jesus renders of Himself true? To doubt it, we must accept one of these two propositions: either Jesus did not believe what He said, or He believed it without being what He declared Himself to be. In the first supposition, He would be deceitful, since He proclaimed Himself for what He was not; in the second supposition he would be insane, since, being only a man, He believed Himself a God. In both suppositions we are presented with an impossibility. It is impossible to make of Jesus a deceitful man. According to the avowal of all, even of those who do not believe in Him, Jesus is a good and wise man, a man of incomparable character. He has done so many wonderful things, such holy things, that even His very enemies always pay homage to His works and to His person. If the world has seen black and impious spirits who have dared to blaspheme against His innocence and to confound Him with seducers, they have been only some monsters whom the whole human race has held in horror, and whose names, too odious to every nature, have remained buried in the same darkness from which their impiety came. In fact, what man had ever appeared with more incontestable characters of innocence and sanctity than Jesus the Son of the living God?

In what man was ever observed so much love for virtue, so much sincere contempt for the world, so much charity for men, and such indifference for all human glory? Follow in detail His conduct and manners, and see if there has ever appeared on earth a just man more universally exempt from all the weaknesses which are inseparable from humanity. The more you observe Him, the more His sanctity shines out luminously. His disciples, who watch Him closely, are struck by the innocence of His life; while familiarity, which is so dangerous even to heroic virtue, serves only to discover, every day, new wonders in Him. When He speaks it is only the language of heaven, and He responds only when His answers may be useful for the salvation of those who interrogate Him. We never see in Him some intervals when the man asserts himself; but everywhere He appears as the envoy of the Most High. His most ordinary actions are exalted by the sublimity of the dispositions which accompany them; and never does He appear less a divine man than when He eats in the house of a Pharisee and when He calls Lazarus back from death to life. Jesus, therefore, is not and could not be a deceiver. But was He demented? This supposition is such an absurdity that it is revolting; and in; presence of the sublimity of His doctrines, which have won the admiration of every age; in presence of the purity of His moral teaching, which could not be equalled in the most beautiful pages that ever came from the hands of man; in presence of that wisdom which marked all His works, which dictated all His responses, a wisdom which sanctified all His acts and confounded the perfidy of His enemies. No, Jesus was not demented. He was not guilty of a horrible falsehood. He said He was God, and therefore He is God.

O my adorable Master, I love to recognize Thee as the Messias promised to Adam, as the Saviour of the world, and as the immortal King of ages. Thou art more than a great genius, more than Elias, more than a prophet, more than a divine man. Thou art the Son of the living God! Do not permit that anything in the world should ever disturb my faith or take from me Thy love.

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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1st Sunday of Lent - The Institution of Lenten Time

3/10/2019

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 THE Church has had two principal reasons in instituting the holy time of Lent: to make us . . . fulfil the duty of penance, and to make us meditate on the sufferings of Christ.

First Point.—The first motive which seems to have influenced the Church in the institution of Lent has been to afford us an opportunity of fulfilling the law of penance. We cannot forget that there is a law which obliges all the children of Adam to do penance. This law has been proclaimed at the moment of the fall, and was again proclaimed by the Gospel, and at the time of our regeneration. This
law is binding on us as men; since we are heirs to the sin of Adam, we are also heirs to the sentence which has condemned him to suffer.

This law is binding on us, also, as Christians, since it is only by fulfilling it we become like to our Model and Master. A great expiation has been consummated on Golgotha! Christians, children of the
cross, fruits conceived amidst the heart rendings and agonies of Calvary; disciples of a God dead on the cross; sons of the King—but of a King crowned by sorrow; born to the purple—but the purple of His blood,—our life should not belie our origin! The sacrifice of the Saviour has been complete in all that regards the person and the merits of the Victim; but this sacrifice should continue in His members, who with Him form but one and the same mystical body. His cross remains forever planted in the midst of His Church, to recall to us the obligation of attaching ourselves to it and of dying on it with Him; and there shall be something wanting to His passion, as St. Paul has understood it, if it is not accomplished, also, in our own body; if the blood of Jesus does not continue, in some way, to flow in the veins of His apostles and martyrs and confessors, and in all those who believe in Him, until the time when the whole Church shall have passed from the state of suffering and of combat to the possession of glory.

The law of penance is binding on us especially as sinners. Let us recall to mind all the transgressions which make us debtors to Divine Justice—and insolvent debtors, too, without any doubt, if God had not deigned to accept our feeble satisfactions in consideration of the superabundant merits of His Son. At this remembrance, does not your conscience tell you the necessity of chastising a rebellious flesh which has been so often the occasion and the instrument of your falls? Now, this penance, whose indispensable necessity you cannot forget, whether to make you " conformable to the image of
the Son" or to expiate your countless prevarications,—do you do it? Alas!—you must admit it—your time is always ready, as the Saviour reproached  the Jews: I mean the time for your business, your pleasures, the time for sin; but the time of Jesus, the time of penance, is never ready or at hand. You put it off, and defer it, and expect every day that the time shall come; but the time never comes. Now, the Church comes to assist us in our weakness and in our cowardice. She strongly reminds you of this precept of penance, which your indifference neglects. From all the pulpits which are erected in the innumerable churches of the Catholic world the resounding voice is heard in unmistakable terms: "Unless you do penance you shall perish"

And, not content with reminding you of this great precept, the Church anticipates your indecision by determining the time when this duty will bind with greater rigor, and by indicating the most suitable manner of penance; thus, by a happy violence, she forces you, so to speak, to enter the way of penance by adding to the authority of God her own authority. In fine, that you may not escape the pursuit of Divine Justice, she, in a way, encloses you in a circle of forty days, and she will not allow you to depart until you shall have given these sacred duties a just satisfaction. Do you love your soul enough to understand and second the merciful intentions of the Church in your regard?

Second Point. —By instituting the Lenten time the Church wishes to make us meditate on the sufferings of Our Saviour. The mortification of the senses is not sufficient for salvation—it must be accompanied by compunction of heart. Now, what is more capable of exciting compunction in us than the meditation of a mystery as tender as it is terrible—-the mystery of our redemption? Unquestionably we can obtain this compunction of heart by other considerations, drawn from the grandeur of God, or His justice, or the heinousness of sin ; but the true source of tears—tears which flow from the heart as well as from the eyes; those tears which are sweet in their bitterness; which have the power to purify the soul, to strengthen it, to transform it, to create in it the new man,—the true source of such tears is in the cross; in the cross which illumines all the divine perfections, but in a manner so well arranged that His goodness dominates and absorbs all the other perfections, and all the rays of this grand glory melt away and are effaced in the single ray of love.

The cross is by excellence the Christian's book. Every one may read it. There, in characters visible to every eye and accessible to every intelligence, you may learn what is most important for every Christian to know. Behold why the Church unfolds its blood-stained pages during the holy exercises of Lent! Not only does she wish that we should recall the grand mystery of our redemption, but she also renders it in a way present and sensible by the vivacity and truth of her pictures, as an action which had passed under our very eyes. She sprinkles her children with ashes, she exchanges her vestments of joy which were worn on festival occasions, and assumes others of a sombre hue; she sings, it is true, but her chants are from a voice broken with sobs and tears ; she seems to fear the solitude, for her children are in such great sorrow; She invites them frequently to assemble in community for prayer, for the sacrifice of the Mass, and for pious reunions. We could say of her children that they are like a family bowed by sorrow, whose members have united to "weep for the loss of an only and well-beloved son." As the end approaches, the representation becomes more striking, and the impression of the death of the Man-God is more vividly felt. The very silence of His tomb seems to reign in the temple during the last days of the great and Holy Week. The stripped altars and the open and empty tabernacles leave nothing to behold except the cross unveiled—the cross which the Church only adores and only salutes in plaintive chants as our one, last, and only hope.

Allow your heart to go out to, and be touched by, these holy impressions if you wish to respond to the intentions of the Church. Let your faith lead you to assist at each of these terrible scenes of which the drama of redemption is composed; gather with love the drops of bloody sweat falling from Jesus in the Garden of Olives; place your lips on each imprint of that precious blood which has reddened the road to Calvary; also to each of those sacred wounds from which spring the running waters of life eternal. Accompany by your sighs and tears, and with the daughters of Jerusalem, this new Isaac up to the hill-top of Calvary, and do not descend from the holy mountain where the greatest of sacrifices has been accomplished until you have struck your breast with the centurion; or, rather, do not quit the holy mountain, but remain there, crucified with Jesus; nail to the cross, not your feet and hands, but your sins and defects and desires, for which the Saviour has died; it shall be in vain that He died for your sins if you also do not die to them, to arise with Him to a new life.
 
Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
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Quinquagesima Sunday - Spiritual Blindness

3/3/2019

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THE blind man of Jericho, whose healing is recounted in the Gospel of this day, is the image ... of a soul which has fallen into spiritual blindness. Consider well the characters and the remedies of this moral blindness, which is the saddest of all.

First Point.—The characters of spiritual blindness.
As Jesus approached Jericho He met a blind man seated on the wayside and asking alms To understand this species of blindness which falls upon sinners you have only to look about you. Have you not been sometimes terrified at the insensibility of certain men for their eternal interests? Religion, which has converted the world by the sublimity of its teachings, is for them only a mass of gross reveries. Morality, which has brought on earth the reign of virtue, is in their eyes only fanaticism or superstition. The most heroic examples of virtue, instead of exciting in them a sentiment of admiration, only provoke pity and contempt. The most touching exhortations awaken their curiosity without appealing to their mind or heart They commit crime after crime, violate the most sacred engagements, revel in blasphemy, and remain perfectly tranquil. Duties which every reasonable being owes to his Creator are put aside; laws of the Church, to which every Christian should be submissive, are trampled underfoot; they publish scandals and what is baneful to religion, and still believe themselves irreproachable, and ask what evil have they done. They live without remorse, and die undisturbed and fall into the avenging hands of God, whom they have despised. Can
there be a state more fearful than this in the eyes of reason and in the eyes of faith ?

The blind man of Jericho, to sustain his sad existence, asked of those who passed by an alms, which was often refused him. The Gospel says he was begging - mendicans. This is the second character of spiritual blindness. In the bosom of the Catholic Church, the depository of eternal truths, in the midst of that light with which Christianity has inundated the world, in the midst of so many means to find repose of mind and peace of heart, they who are stricken become mendicants. They ask of reason light which they have not; they ask of human wisdom the truth which she cannot give; they ask of pleasure joys of which she is ignorant. In their need of joys, their famished souls extend their hands to the passions and to pleasures. Each passion and each pleasure deposits an alms, but it is only an alms; it may suffice to solace, or rather to distract, the heart for a moment, but it is powerless to satisfy the need which devours it; it remains hungry and is always begging—mendicans.

The blind man of Jericho was seated on the wayside. This is the last trait which characterizes those who are spiritually blind. They are near the way which conducts to truth, to virtue, to life, and still they do not wish to enter there. Reflect on this expression, which contains a truth at once profound and true—"He was sitting. " It is not said that he was standing and ready to walk, but he was seated; he remained there in stupid repose, unmindful of what was passing around him. This expression is sufficient to make us understand that he was satisfied in his unfortunate carelessness, preferring an unworthy repose to generous effort which would place him in the right way. This is only a too true picture of those sinners of whom we are speaking. They are outside the way which conducts to salvation, and are not striving to re-enter it. To do this they should be most active, and instructed in their duties, and resist their passions, or at least make some efforts; but they love their ease beyond anything else, and nothing can determine them to abandon their tranquillity. And thus the privation of all truth, the want of all good works, and complete carelessness of salvation are the characters of this terrible malady which is called spiritual blindness. We shall now see how it may be healed.

Second Point.—For a complete cure of spiritual blindness, the first thing which must be done by him who is afflicted is to be instructed in his religion and to make known his uncertainties and doubts to those who can resolve them. At the sound of the voices which were about him and the noise made by the multitude which had followed Jesus, the blind man informed himself of air that passed. He asked "what it was." Well, Christianity passes near us, is about us on every side, with its laws, its dogmas, its blessings, its threats, and its promises. We should inform ourselves what it is, we should study the claims and proofs on which it rests, the duties it imposes, and labor earnestly to merit the blessings which it promises. We should avoid the evils with which it threatens us, since eternity is well worth the trouble which all this requires. Indifference in this matter is wholly unjustifiable.

The second thing to do in a case of spiritual blindness is to pray. Faith is a gift of God, and this gift we all receive in Baptism. This explains the facility with which we believe the highest mysteries, even in tenderest infancy, and as long as we preserve purity of heart. But when, by bad books, sinful conversations, voluntary doubts, and by indulgence of our passions we have driven the spirit of faith from our intelligence, we cannot again recall it, except by most fervent prayer. But you say, "I wish I could have faith!" Have you prayed to obtain it? Reflect on the prayer of the blind man imploring his healing, and strive to imitate his fervor. "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!" See how he feels his malady, how he desires a return of health. And what perseverance in his prayer! They who are near to him endeavor to impose silence on him, but he seems unmindful of them and is not at all influenced by their words; he even cries louder still. From the moment you wish to belong to God the world will blame you. Prejudices, habits, passions shall strive to turn you away from prayer. However, still remain faithful to it, since your healing and your salvation will be due to your perseverance.

O my God, I address Thee with the prayer which the poor blind man employed—" Son of David, have pity on me!" Have pity, because of the sad state to which sin has reduced me. Make known to me my misfortune in its fullest extent; I do not know it sufficiently. Place in my heart a lively and profound sorrow for my sins, which should be there and which I do not find there. Inspire me with those strong, courageous, and efficacious resolutions which I strive in vain to form. Break these criminal attachments and these vicious habits which I have not the strength to break. Reform my sad inclinations which drag me down in spite of my feeble efforts. Have pity on me, Lord ! Have pity on my weakness!

Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897



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