Thoughts on Christ the King, 2023

So much of modern Catholicism today has been corrupted by Americanism, a heresy that is not only limited to the United States. The Americanist indifference to Catholic monarchy and enmity towards Christ the King  is countered by devotion to the grand Feast of Christ the King. So, contrarians that we are, let’s turn to that prototypical contrarian Solange Hertz for today’s essay, which is drawn from her book, .”The Star-Spangled Heresy: Americanism”, LINK

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to Christ the King are inseparable and Mrs. Hertz links both devotions to Saint Joan of Arc, placed in the context of the French monarchy.

“There is no explaining away St. Joan. She is living proof of God’s interest in politics, not to mention His approval of just warfare.”

She furthermore reasserted the ancient tradition that God Himself had constituted the King of France, under the Pope, temporal regent for Christ over all the other kings of Christendom. Why God so decreed is His secret, but Joan understood her orders, for on driving the English from Rheims she insisted on the immediate consecration of the dauphin Charles VII before continuing the campaign further.
Continue reading “Thoughts on Christ the King, 2023”

Prayers of St Margaret Mary Alacoque, 2023

Today, we honor Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, beloved Spouse of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by sharing with you some of her own beautiful prayers and devotions, many of which originated in her colloquies with Our Lord Jesus Christ. By now, no doubt you have noticed that the common thread running throughout the lives of those privileged to converse intimately with Our Lord is their humility, obedience and generosity in carrying the Cross. These qualities shine through in St. Margaret Mary’s  prayers, simple, unpretentious and to the point.

Continue reading “Prayers of St Margaret Mary Alacoque, 2023”

K.I.S.S…

Keep It Simple is a good rule to help us stay on the true path in the post-Vatican II confusion and wreckage of the faith.

Much of the confusion results from faithful Catholics and even hierarchy not knowing the basics of their faith.  Readers ask about  various “apparitions”  which seem to them to be pious and helpful. There is also a steady drip of those who seek to promote false visions and false prophets; many of whom visited Garabandal or Medjugorje and decided to start their own cottage industry of pious frauds.

At times, readers point out that a particular “apparition” has the approval of the local Bishop.  That happens as a result of the disorientation caused by the Church’s defiance of Our Lady’s Message of Fatima. Disobedience breeds confusion.  When you see disobedience and confusion, you are seeing the hand of satan in the Church.

The remedy is the same as always, return to the last point at which there was the certainty of the true faith: Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. If the proposed devotion contradicts or distracts from these vital devotions, turn away!

Today, the faithful are by turns confused, misled and eventually battered into indifference by the failure of the hierarchy to provide true guidance. It has helped me considerably to simply adhere to the rule of obeying the requests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. That little rule excludes all these diverting, even contradictory  apparitions and messages which are promoted by unscrupulous bloggers to boost page views and often, to bring in revenue..

But since questions continue, here are a few particulars:

God is always the same, He is never going to command one thing today and then contradict Himself at a later date. This is the all-pervasive error of modernism, that God’s truth evolves to meet new situations.  Example: The Ten Commandments are as relevant today as they were in the time of Moses. By adhering to this simple rule, we avoid being misled by the false teachings of the current occupants of the Vatican on marriage and the Sacraments.

In the same vein, when God makes a demand on us, He does not withdraw it even if centuries go by without our obedience to His command. This means that Our Lord’s request to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque for public devotion to His Sacred Heart is just as imperative in 2018 as it was in 1689. The command of Our Lord Jesus Christ has not diminished in urgency in all this time; in fact, it weighs more heavily in the balance against us as time passes.

The Message of Fatima is organically coherent with that of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In it Our Lord Himself requests that devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary be placed alongside of devotion to His most Sacred Heart.  There is absolutely no contradiction between these two devotions. They are united, complementary, that is, they complement, complete, and strengthen each other, even as the Hearts ofJesus and Mary are united. There is a beautiful theology there, which is totally consonant with all of the true faith, and an unending source of edification and grace.  There is no need or benefit from distracting apparitions, even if they at times may seem pious or at least innocuous.

After Fatima, the Catholic world was flooded with apparitions and today many even have the approval of the sorts of Bishops which have plagued the Church since the revolution of Vatican II. But if we simply use our common sense, (that is our Catholic sense!) we  readily discern that true devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary does not benefit from most of these new devotions.

For instance, we know that Jesus asked St. Margaret Mary Alacoque for public and private veneration for the image of His Most Sacred Heart. And we know that at Fatima, Our Lady told us that Our Lord wants the Church to establish devotion to her Immaculate Heart by means of her Rosary and First Saturdays of Reparation to her Immaculate Heart and for this devotion to be placed alonside of devotion to His Sacred Heart.

And yet, Sister Faustina’s Divine Mercy devotion would have us believe that within the same timeframe of the Fatima request,  that Jesus was also appearing to Faustina requesting a different devotion, this time to an image which omits His Sacred Heart and requires the use of Our Lady’s Rosary to recite prayers which supplant her own prayers, approved by countless popes, encyclicals, saints and centuries of thoroughly Catholic piety. Why would Jesus ask for this different devotion when the earlier requests for devotion to the Immaculate Heart and the even earlier request for the Sacred Heart devotion, were not fulfilled?

Ask yourself, does this new devotion further the propagation of the earlier devotion?

Applying the same rule to the apparitions of Akita and Our Lady of Nations, we see the difference in the two: Akita’s message simply points to the suppressed portion of the Message of Fatima, reinforcing it, while the false Lady of Nations diverts attention in another direction, leading the faithful to actions which do not fulfill the commands of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Once again, the requests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary must be our guiding rule.

Another way of expressing this rule is: the earlier approved devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary take precedence over any proposed new message of devotion. If the proposed new devotion does not help us to fulfill the commands of the earlier devotion, then turn away and refocus on the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. Obedience first, last and always.

At Return to Fatima, we urge all faithful to  Consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary and live our Consecrations in all the daily duties of our lives. There is no need for seeking after newer devotions, newer prophecies, more and more knowledge. We find our inspiration in Eucharistic Adoration (in a truly Catholic Church) in the sacraments and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in our Rosaries, offering all to Jesus through the Immaculata: “O Jesus it is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

It is such a practical, clear solution to the confusion: Look to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, heed their requests, devote ourselves to living as they have asked us to live. It is simple, even a child can do it, as Saints Jacinta and Francisco showed us one hundred years ago!

previously posted on

Please, Pray the Rosary and confound satan and those who serve him!

† . Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
† . Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
† . Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
† . St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
† . St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

Please pray for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!

The Supernatural Politics of God

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is far from being a mere private devotion — it is intensely political and as such is inseparable from devotion to. Christ the King. As you read the following repost on the political aspects of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, think a bit on how extensive the damage to so many nations, so many cultures degraded and souls destroyed — and all could have been prevented by such a simple devotion!

THE POLITICS OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Today we consider a neglected aspect of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that is, its political aspect.  For this essay, I am indebted to a favorite author, Solange Hertz.  In her book, “Utopia Nowhere“,  Solange Hertz proves the importance of the political aspect in a most elegant manner, beginning with her assertion that devotion to the Sacred Heart was established on Golgotha when the Roman Centurion Longinus plunged his lance into the Heart of Jesus, the Heart of “The King of the Jews”, as Pilate’s notice proclaimed.

Longinus, the official representative of the ruling power, thereby performed a political act which stands to this day as a necessary reminder of the battle between the dark powers that rule this world and the power of Christ the King:

“Devotion to His Sacred Heart is therefore no sentimental devotion to be pursued only in private. Essentially, it is a political commitment. The Sacred Heart of Christ the King is source and center of the Christian state, human manifestation of the divine Monarchy from which all monarchy takes its name. Its temporal dimensions extend into eternity. Only when viewed from this perspective can the true purpose of Sacred Heart devotion be discerned. Otherwise it is simply a super-excellent practice among many others designed by God to bring the individual into greater intimacy with Him.

“Sacred Heart devotion does this, to be sure, but its objective is ultimately and fundamentally political in the real sense of the word politics. It was forged by the divine Wisdom to bring not only the individual, but whole nations into intimacy with God.” [“Utopia Nowhere”].

Although devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was evident throughout the long history of the Church, and especially in the lives of many of the mystics of the Church in the Middle Ages, it was not until Our Lord’s revelations to the Visitation nun, Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1689 that we began to see the vigorous political thrust of the Sacred Heart.  From Hertz:

“The substance of our Lord’s message had been conveyed in six letters written by St. Margaret Mary, five of them to her former Superior, Mother de Saumaise, and the last one to her Jesuit spiritual director, Fr. Croiset. The second letter, dated June 17, 1689, begins by speaking of some great political designs of our Lord:

“… which can be executed only by His almighty power … It seems to me He wishes to enter with pomp and magnificence into the homes of princes and kings so as to be honored there to the same degree that He was outraged, despised and humiliated in His Passion, and to receive as much pleasure on seeing the world’s great ones reduced and humbled before Him as He felt bitterness on seeing Himself reduced to nothing at their feet.

“And here are the words I heard regarding our King: ‘Inform the eldest son of My Sacred Heart that … he will secure his birth into grace and glory by the consecration he will make of himself to My adorable Heart … and through his mediation, that of the great ones of the earth. He (the Sacred Heart) wishes to reign in his palace, to be painted on his standards and to be graven on his arms to render them victorious over all his enemies, by bringing these proud, arrogant heads under his heel and effect his triumph over all the enemies of the Church.’

“There were other requests. In the saint’s fifth letter, dated August 28 of the same year, she says our Lord desired a building to be erected in which would be displayed an image of the divine Heart, to which the King and his entire court would formally consecrate themselves. The King, furthermore, chosen by our Lord as “His faithful friend,” was to ensure that a special Mass in His honor would be authorized by the Holy See and a formal cultus established.

“In return the King was promised divine protection against his “enemies, both visible and invisible.” It is now known that these invisible enemies were the occult forces of Freemasonry set into motion by the “merchants of light.” Already they had crossed the Channel from England and were gathering strength in France. And speaking of channels, our Lord made it clear that the Jesuit Fr. de la Chaize, Louis XIV’s confessor, had been chosen by God to see to the execution of His designs.”

The Role of the Jesuits

St Margaret Mary explained, “By virtue of the power He had given him [Father de la Chaize], over the heart of our great King, the success of the matter depended on him.” And yet, incredibly, even Jesuit scholars have determined that Fr. de la Chaize never relayed Our Lord’s message to the King.  Hertz suggests that it was Jesuit obedience that withheld him, as it is known that the Father General, Fr. Thyrsus Gonzalez de Santalla was hostile to devotion to the Sacred Heart, as it is documented that he censured and banished  Father Croiset, St. Margaret Mary’s devout confessor for having written an account of the revelations.

To what can we describe such a thing? It seems another instance of the workings of the mystery of iniquity. Thus, the devotion so dear to Our Lord was allowed to languish, and the cause was simply obedience to disobedience. This has worked so well for the ancient enemy, sad to say.

Hertz affirms that the tradition of the French Visitation nuns holds it for certain that Louis XIV did nevertheless learn of the desires of the Sacred Heart through other sources. We know that Louis XIV was already privately practicing the devotion as preached by St. John Eudes, to whom he had allocated 2000 pounds for France’s first chapel to be dedicated to the Sacred Heart. Hertz is certain that the King would have, as piety dictated, submitted St. Margaret Mary’s requests to his spiritual director for approval, with a view to acting on them, but it is clear that no approval was given. Once again, obedience to those who are disobedient to Christ.

In her essay, Hertz stresses an important point, “The divine communications had been directed to Louis XIV’s person [as Monarch], but not to him as an individual. Had this been the case the extraordinary means used would have been entirely disproportionate. It was Louis as King who was addressed.”

What we are to understand from this is that God made a request of the French Monarch, not a personal request to one single person, King Louis XIV, but to the French Monarchy to re-establish the ancient and sacred compact between the French Monarchy and the Church. instituted by King Clovis. Let’s delve a bit deeper here, for this has significance for us today.

Fr. Bainvel, theologian of the Sacred Heart, writes:

“The three objects of the message [of the Sacred Heart]: the church, the consecration, the flag are by their very nature national, durable and perpetual; the triumph over the enemies of God and the Church resulting from the accomplishment of the message is even more national, inasmuch as it involves the whole future of France and her providential Catholic mission, her vocation and her raison d’ être.”

“In the person of the King all his successors and the nation itself are addressed. The entire court was to take part in the consecration. God’s gifts being without repentance, no time limit was set, and presumably God still waits. Thus, we see that Our Lord Jesus Christ still awaits the obedience of the French Monarch to His demands, as He awaits the obedience of the Pope and Bishops to the demands of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, His most Beloved Mother.

Why the King of France?

Mrs. Hertz explains the importance of obedience by the King of France: The answer lies ultimately in the divine predilection, but proximately it lies in the fact that under the new dispensation of grace, the French kings are the new line of David, eldest sons of the Sacred Heart, rulers of the “eldest daughter of the Church.” A long and venerable tradition supports this belief.

Pope Gregory IX as it were canonized it when he wrote in a famous letter to the King St. Louis:

“France is God’s very kingdom … The enemies of France are the enemies of Christ … The tribe of Judah was the prefiguration of the kingdom of France … The Redeemer chose the blessed kingdom of France as special executive of His divine will.”

“Christendom proper did not begin with the conversion of Constantine. Decisive as this was, the Roman Empire had remained basically pagan in political concept, despite a Christian head and a preponderantly Christian population. It was an empire based on human justice. From the Cross God proclaimed an empire based on love.” [Solange Hertz, “Utopia Nowhere”]

King Clovis Reigns under the Banner of Christ the King

Politically, as we have seen, Christendom began with the baptism of Clovis, King of the Salk Franks, a monarch who, like Constantine, owed his conversion to a divinely accorded military victory. Under the influence of Queen Clothilde and the Catholic Bishop of Reims, St. Remi, Clovis promised to become a Christian in return for the defeat of the Alemani at Tolbiac. In gratitude he dictated a constitution whose opening words are “The Illustrious Nation of the Franks, having God himself for Founder” and which formally recognizes France as perpetual preserve of Christ the King.

This was the new Israel, the first nation on earth to be founded from its inception on Christian principles.  Praying that “the Lord Jesus Christ direct those who govern it in the paths of piety,” the document closed with, “Long live Christ who loves the Franks! Long live the King of the Franks, who is Christ’s Lieutenant!” According to Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims, the Baptism of Clovis and his subjects on Christmas Day, 496, was marked by a supernatural manifestation. The Church was suddenly filled with dazzling light and a voice was heard saying, “Peace be to you! It is I. Be not afraid. Persevere in My favor!”  Whereupon St. Remi, filled with the spirit of prophecy, turned to the King with these words:

“Know, my son, that the Kingdom of France is predestined by God for the defense of the Roman Church, which is the only true Church of Christ. This Kingdom will one day be greater than all Kingdoms and will embrace the outer limits of the Roman Empire … It will last to the end of time … It will be victorious as long as it is faithful to the Roman faith but it will be severely chastised whenever it is faithless to its vocation.”

St. Pius X  told Cardinal Lucon, Archbishop of Reims in 1907:

“The Baptism of Clovis marked the birth of a great nation: the Tribe of Judah of the New Era, which always prospered as long as she was faithful to orthodoxy, as long as she maintained the union of the Priesthood with the government, as long as she proved herself, not in word, but in act, the Eldest Daughter of the Church.”

We have pointed out elsewhere that in his “Book of Destiny”, Fr Herman Bernard Kramer stated that the Lord God, in His providence made use of the barbarian invasions, in part, to purge the Church of its secularism and  errors, most notably the Arian heresy. Thus, we see the hand of God raising up the Frankish nation from barbarity to a grand, Roman Catholic civilization. By her fidelity to Christ she earned the glories of St. Charlemagne and St. Louis. And when she lapsed, her very survival was threatened. When we are become so vulnerable, God always sends us assistance, if we will only heed Him.

In Hertz’ words:

“And so, God intervened by sending St. Joan of Arc to deliver her. It is well known how Joan defeated the English pretender, restored a doubting Charles VII to his throne and was burned at the stake for her trouble. The essence of her mission, however, was revitalizing the pact of Tolbiac originally made between our Lord and His Lieutenant the King of France. She accomplished this by insisting on the coronation and anointing of Charles at Reims according to the ancient tradition. That done, the famous triple donation took place. She asked the King to hand over his palace to her along with his newly recovered kingdom, so that she might then formally return France to Christ. The grateful King agreed, and both transactions were drawn up and publicly notarized.

“Whereupon Joan, according to one account, addressed the assembled lords in a loud voice and declared in Christ’s name, “I, the Lord Eternal, give France to King Charles!”

“Commenting on this performance, all of it properly recorded, Pierre Virion says, “Without any argument, devoid of all theoretical considerations, Joan accomplished a clearly political act, showing us politics inseparable from religion, and power without wraps, just as it is, taking its origin from divine authority.”

In a theological study entitled La Mission de Sainte Jeanne, Fr. Clerissac concluded that:

“The proper objective of her mission … was to remind the world … that there is a supernatural politics of God, truly at work, dominating the politics of earthly powers, and a Christian body of law which applies and maintains the essential law of this politics, namely the salvation of peoples by means of Christ’s Church.”

Even after St. Joan of Arc, in a little more than a century, France’s monarchy failed again. When the Moslem ruler, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent threatened to overtake Europe, instead of standing with the Christian monarchs, France’s King Francis I is reported to have sent his ring to the infidel Sultan as a gesture of peace. And at the Battle of Lepanto, the French were conspicuous by their absence. We note here especially the similarity in the actions of cowardly King Francis I and the disgusting subservience of this current pontiff to the same muslim invaders.

Hertz notes that  King Charles IX displayed a  fatal indulgence to the enemies of the faith, initiating the gradual protestantizing of French politics, which ended by definitively turning France against Spain, and Catholic against Catholic. Under Louis XIV the situation deteriorated,  with the grip of protestantism increasing. Thus it was that the Sacred Heart of Jesus intervened at Paray-le-monial.

The Sacred Heart’s appearance at such a time, with demands so political, is clear evidence that He regarded France’s former alliances with heaven still very much in force. Furthermore, the extent and nature of the disasters which overtook the whole world after France disregarded these demands testify to the key position she occupies in Christendom. There is much food for thought in all this, isn’t there?

We all know the rest of the tragic history. All those in any way responsible for our Lord’s rejection suffered punishment. The Society of Jesus, the special instrument chosen by God to propagate devotion to the Sacred Heart, suffered total suppression by order of Clement XIV in 1773. Although it was reconstituted in 1814, it deteriorated spiritually to the point at which we see it today, an effeminate laughingstock with its poster-boy the brutally “humble” first Jesuit Pope.

Devotion to Christ the King and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus are intertwined with devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is an egregious error to  play one against the other. Pope Pius XI, influenced by the Rampolla faction, ignored the message of Fatima and fervently promoted devotion to Christ the King and the Sacred Heart of Jesus while brushing aside the requests of Our Lady of Fatima. Yet these three are inseparable. To this end, we do well to observe our family devotions to the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, granting them their proper dignity and honor as befits their Divine Royalty, and consoling them for the sad indifference of the modernist, apostate conciliar Church.

previously  posted on : June 5, 2019  by : evensong

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
  Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
  St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

Please pray for a pope and bishops who will obey the Mother of God and  Consecrate Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!

From the Heart of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, 2023

 

On her feast day, we offer a few excerpts from the Autobiography which St. Margaret Mary Alacoque wrote in obedience to her superiors. Her flawless humility and obedience made her the perfect choice to reawaken devotion to Our Lord’s most Sacred Heart, and this extraordinary saint still inspires us with her devotion to serving Our Lord with mortifications and the most perfect obedience.

When you read the following words of this saint, do not get disheartened, but instead be thankful that we have Our Lady of the Rosary to keep us close to her Immaculate Heart. For she leads her children securely to the safety of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and we know that He has reserved a place for her children.

St. Margaret Mary’s heroic virtues seem to place her on a hopelessly high level, too far above us to even aspire towards, but she arrived there by love, and so we too, petition our Blessed Mother for the grace to ever love her Son more and more. We beg her for generous, sacrificial hearts. The following is a personal favorite; it’s useful to review from time to time to ward off self-indulgence and renew our resolution. In her own words . . .

Saint Margaret Mary’s Recipe for Success:

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee!† . He willed that I should receive everything as coming from Him without procuring anything for myself; that I should abandon all to Him without disposing of anything; and that I should thank Him for suffering as well as for enjoyment.

. On the most painful and humiliating occasions I should consider that I not only deserved these, but even greater ones, and should offer the pain I experienced for the persons who afflicted me.

. Further, I was always to speak of Him with great respect, of my neighbor with esteem and compassion, and of myself never, or, at least, briefly and with contempt, unless for His glory He should make me do otherwise.

. I was ever to attribute all the good and the glory to His sovereign Greatness, and all the evil to myself; never to seek consolation out of Him, and even when He granted it to me, to renounce and offer it to Him.

. I was to cling to nothing, to empty and despoil myself of everything, to love nothing but Him, in Him and for the love of Him, to see in all things naught but Him and the interests of His glory in complete forgetfulness of myself.

. And though I was to do all my actions for Him, He willed that His Divine Heart should have a special part in each one. For example, when at recreation, I was to offer Him Its share by enduring sufferings, humiliations, mortifications and the rest, with which He would always provide me, and which on that account I was to accept willingly.

. In like manner in the refectory I was to give up for Its satisfaction whatever was most to my taste, and so on with all my other exercises.

. He likewise forbade me to judge, accuse or condemn anyone but myself.

. He gave me many other instructions, and as I was astonished at their number, He told me to fear nothing, for He was a good Master, being as powerful to have His teaching carried into effect, as He was all-wise both to teach and to govern well.

. Thus I can affirm that, whether I would or not, I was obliged to do what He wished in spite of my natural repugnance.

Note that Our Lord requires that Saint Margaret Mary consider herself deserving of painful humiliations, that she was to consider herself with contempt. This is a bit “off-putting” to modern ears, isn’t it? That is meant to show you how far we have strayed! We all tend to feel entitled to think well of ourselves and only desire to follow devotions that reassure our very sensitive natures with flattery and cloying platitudes. But Saint Margaret Mary, like Saint John of the Cross, understands that the only way forward is through “less of me, less of me and more of Thee, until all is Thee.”

THE PRAYER OF ST. MARGARET MARY

My God, I offer Thee Thy well-beloved Son, in thanksgiving for all the benefits I have received from Thee. I offer Him as my adoration, my petition, my oblation and my resolutions; I offer Him as my love and my all. Receive, O Eternal Father, this offering for whatever Thou willest of me, since I have nothing to offer which is not unworthy of Thee, except Jesus, my Saviour, Whom Thou hast given me with so much love. Amen.

CONSECRATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS (Composed by St. Margaret Mary.)

O Sacred Heart of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee.

I take Thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death. Be Thou, O most merciful Heart, my justification before God Thy Father, and screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited.

I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in Thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from Thine infinite goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist Thee. Imprint Thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget Thee or be separated from Thee. I beseech Thee, through Thine infinite goodness, grant that my name be engraved on Thee, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and to die as one of Thy devoted servants. Amen.

PRAYER TO ST. MARGARET MARY

O St. Margaret Mary, permitted by the Sacred Heart of Jesus to become partaker of Its divine treasures, obtain for us, we beseech thee, from that adorable Heart, the graces that we need. We ask for them with boundless confidence; may the divine Heart be willing to grant them to us through thy intercession, so that once again It may, through thee, be glorified and loved. Amen.

(St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The Autobiography of Saint Margaret Mary TAN Books. Kindle Edition.)

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey: First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

True devotion to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus impels us to make reparation to this Sacred Heart of our Saviour which loves us so greatly and is so little loved today.

Throughout His Gospels, Our Lord stresses that we are our brothers’ keepers. That we love one another is His commandment. St. John in his epistles also emphasised that we are to love one another. But that love of others is scarcely to be seen these days, isn’t it? And yet, Our Lord commands us to take up our crosses, not only for our own salvation but that sinners be converted. The following Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is loosely based on Father Mateo’s much earlier one. Over the years, I have modified it and don’t believe Father Mateo would mind if you make it your own as well. His generosity of spirit propelled him to enormous sacrifices just to get people to consider the love and mercy Our Lord stands so willing to pour forth for us. So take a moment if you will and consider…

Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Continue reading “Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus”

For the Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

On His feast day, we honor this Sacred Heart of our Savior by whom we are made in love, redeemed in love and Who asks our love in return.

To begin with, let’s renew our Consecration with St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s Prayer:

CONSECRATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

O Sacred Heart of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee.

I take Thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death. Be Thou, O most merciful Heart, my justification before God Thy Father, and screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited.

I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in Thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from Thine infinite goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist Thee. Imprint Thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget Thee or be separated from Thee. I beseech Thee, through Thine infinite goodness, grant that my name be engraved on Thee, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and die as one of Thy devoted servants. Amen

TRUE  DEVOTION AND THE IMAGE
OF THE  SACRED HEART OF JESUS

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If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts

“If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”
(Psalm 94, v8), (Heb. 3,15)

Today, we reiterate that the requests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary still remain to be fulfilled. Indeed, they are more pressing now than ever.

The devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Christ the King, and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary are inseparable, They are in no way disparate, nor are they contradictory. And these are inseparable as well from the Mass and most especially, the Holy Eucharist.  Furthermore, the requests, demands really, of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, as relayed by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1689, still stand today, more than three centuries after they were made known. Once God has uttered a request, it does not cease to be simply because centuries pass while Catholics turn an indifferent ear to them.

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The Strength and Tenderness of Our Saviour’s Love for Us

Something Lovely from Rev. Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange to remind us of Christ’s unfailing love.

The Strength and Tenderness of Our Savior’s Love for Us

Christ’s love descends upon our souls from the summit of the beatific vision, and in Jesus’ love for us we find the same two qualities which are so different: the deepest tenderness and the most heroic strength. Our Lord’s tender mercy for souls did not lessen for a moment, in spite of all the ingratitude, the opposition, and the hatred that He met on His path.

We human beings find it easy to love with tender affection a few persons in our family or among our friends, but often this tenderness is entirely a matter of superficial feelings. . .

Our hearts are poor, miserly with their affection: the indifferent remain outside, and all the more so those who have offended or wounded us. Toward the latter we are even hard and sometimes pitiless. The supernatural tenderness of Christ for souls is deep, because its primary object is the soul and the desire for its eternal happiness. At the same time, it is universal, immense, and extends to everyone.

Jesus is, as He Himself says, the Shepherd of souls; all can become the sheep of His fold, and He knows each of them by name. He is concerned about those that are absent, He rushes forth to seek them and takes them up on His shoulders. He explains to them with kindness the doctrine of salvation, and He even waits upon them. He chooses His apostles among the poor and the humble. . . .

What does He say to sinners? “Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you” (Matt. 11:28).

He is the father of the prodigal son, He embraces the child who is unhappy through his own fault. He forgives the adulterous woman who was about to be stoned. He receives repentant Mary Magdalen, and at once opens to her the mystery of His intimate life. He speaks of eternal life to the Samaritan woman in spite of her unsavory past. He promises prompt entry into heaven to the good thief.

“Christ died for all,” says St. Paul. Many turn from Him, but He drives no one away. And even when many have turned away from Him, He intercedes for the ingrates, as when He prayed for His executioners. This is the supreme degree of mercy, sweetness, and humility. He tells Peter that he must forgive “seventy times seven,” that is, always, and He is the first to do it.

He is the voluntary victim who offered Himself up to save us. “Greater love than this no man hath,” Jesus Himself has told us, “that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus bore the punishment that each of us should have borne. He suffered because of sin in the measure of His love for God whom sin offends, and in the measure of His love for our souls which sin ravages and kills.

The sorrowful and immaculate heart of Mary was intimately associated with this heroic oblation, and helps us to fathom this mystery. . . .Jesus has consented to take for Himself the loathsome chalice of Gethsemane, so that He might give us the chalice of His precious blood which is raised up every morning on the altar. These two chalices represent the whole history of the world of souls. They are as it were the two pans of the scales of good and evil, and it is good that prevails. The precious blood of Christ can obliterate all crimes if their perpetrators beg forgiveness.

Jesus, by His victory over sin on the cross, is the source of life and of holiness, the source of all consolation, the salvation of those who hope in Him, the hope of the dying, the delight of the saints, as the Litany of the Sacred Heart reminds us.

Finally, He has left us the Eucharist so that He might remain with us until the end of the world and give Himself as food to each and every one of us.

To His privileged friends who follow His example, He says: “It is My love which keeps open the wound of My heart. I desire to prove to souls that My heart is never closed. On the contrary, My greatest wish is that souls may enter through My wounded heart, which is an abyss of charity and mercy. It is only in the heart of God that they will find solace for their sufferings and strength for their weakness. If they will but hold out their hands to Me, I will lead them to it Myself.”

We remain selfish because our love is too weak, too poor, too narrow, and because it is pitifully engrossed with our own selves. The heart of Jesus will dilate our hearts by teaching us to love above all else the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Why are we cowards? Because we do not love enough, because our hearts are cold, because we rely far too much on our own strength when our helplessness is obvious, and because we do not depend enough on the heart of Jesus, on His love for us. The heart of Jesus is able and desires to give us the saintly powers we need, confidence and love, which inspire adoration, thanksgiving, and atonement, by placing the glory of God above all else.

Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received, have mercy on us!

(Reverend Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange O.P. Collection [16 Books] . Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition)

The above thoughts are offered to you, as they were written, in love; for in the end, that is all we will have and the love with which we meet our dear Saviour is all the love we shall have for all eternity.

Now, for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, we have entered into a time where there is a growing lack of love, an environment of darkness, confusion and acrimonious discord.

Harmony is becoming an undefinable concept in what passes for our society today. And part of our task is to maintain the entirely Christian concept from the early church, “See how these Christians love one another.” As St. John of the Cross enjoined us, “Where there is not love, put love in and you will draw love out.”

A lofty concept, to be sure, but within reach for those who put aside reliance on their own wills, their own reasoning, and trust with all their loving hearts, the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is just for this especial time that He has given us devotion to His Sacred Heart. These two hearts have designs of mercy on us, and so we take up our Rosaries and follow Our Most Blessed Mother, our sure path to Him and the joys He has prepared for us, which no one can take from us.

The coming trials can do nothing to take us from Our Saviour as long as we hold fast to the sure means He offers us from His Cross, that is, the Immaculate Heart, the perfectly pure and invincible will of the Blessed Virgin Mary who always protects those whom He entrusts to her.

. NOTE: It is only in His love that we shall be saved in the coming calamitous ordeal, only in His love! And the way to that love? Only in the sorrowful and immaculate Heart of the most loving Mother of God. By her Holy Rosary, we will be confirmed in love, taught to love her Divine Son, Our Savior as she herself loves Him.

This article is already too long and I have not come near to saying what I had hoped to tell you. I will write more soon, God willing. Until then,

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

Open your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only: and He will free you from the hands of your enemies. With all your heart return to Him, and take away from your midst any strange gods” (I Kings 7:3)

✝︎  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

The Eucharistic Vision of Our Lady of Knock, 2023

A WARNING AGAINST SUPPRESSION OF THE HOLY SACRIFICE

This post from 2017 originally; restored as part of ongoing efforts to rebuild the site and maintain it as a an archive when my task is over.  An update is posted on our “About Us” page. May Our Lady of the Rosary keep you all close to her Immaculate Heart this New Year of Our Lord, 2023. Thank you for reading.

Today, we commemorate the eloquently silent apparition of Our Lady at Knock, Ireland, August 21, 1879. By her silence, Our Lady emphasised at once her displeasure that her message at La Salette was being attacked, and as many believe, she was pointing to the silence recounted in chapter 8 of the Apocalypse.  But there is still another reason for the silence – it is a warning against silencing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and outrages against the Holy Eucharist and it beckons us with mysterious silence towards the visions of the Apocalypse.

The Holy Ghost inspired St. John’s vision in such a way that through it, God revealed to us a glimpse of His own vision, not a linear accounting of events, and each subsequent generation could learn from its warnings and be comforted in its victories. In addition to sacred scripture, Our Heavenly Father guides us by the revelations He grants us down the centuries. Knock is one of the major apparitions, which are: Our Lady of Good Success in Ecuador, The Sacred Heart of Jesus at Paray le Monial, France, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception at Rue du Bac, France, Our Lady of La Salette, France, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Lourdes, France, Our Lady at Knock, Ireland, Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima, Portugal,  and Our Lady of Akita, Japan.  Those apparitions provide a necessary complement to our understanding of the Apocalypse.

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