Category: The Sacred Priesthood

Thou art all fair, O Mary

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previously posted on December 6, 2014 by evensong

Today we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother. It is undoubtedly the highlight of all her feastdays in the liturgical year. And so it is fitting that we celebrate with not one, but two articles.  First, we have Archbishop Lefebvre’s sermon on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1972:

My dear friends, my dear brethren,

As the whole liturgy of today shows us, God, in His wisdom, had long ago prepared for us the most Blessed Virgin Mary. It was not just at the moment of her birth on earth that God decreed to exempt her from all sin, and to make her the Immaculate Conception but already in eternity, which preceded the creation of the world.

The epistle today recalls this fact, applying to the Most Holy Virgin the words of the eternal Wisdom; already the Holy Virgin was in the mind of God: “Iam concepta eram—I was already conceived”—yes, conceived in the mind of God, and thus already in the divine plan God was thinking of the Virgin Mary. Already He wished to fill her with all His graces, and to give her this extraordinary privilege of the Immaculate Conception, exempting her from all sin: “Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non est in te—Thou art all fair, O Mary, and there is no stain of original sin in thee.”

So already in eternity, before the creation of the world, God was thinking of this admirable creature, the first of His creatures after our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. All during the course of history which preceded the birth of the Blessed Virgin, during the whole history of humanity, God was thinking of the Blessed Virgin. We see it during the entire history of the Old Testament—already, immediately after the sin of Adam and Eve, God said to Adam and Eve, “I will place an enmity between thee and the woman: She shall crush thy head.” So already the Virgin Mary had been foreseen by the Spirit of God and her preparation, the preparation for her Immaculate Conception, was becoming more and more precise the whole time.

The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary can also be found in the holy women of the Old Testament. Think of the account of Sarah, the wife of Tobias, on whose behalf an angel bound up the demon and cast him far into the desert. She is an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “before whom the devil must flee, and whom the devil fears.” The Virgin Mary was not under the empire of Satan for an instant, a single instant.

The story of Judith also illustrates the role of the most Holy Virgin Mary. She delivered the people of Israel from the hands of Holofernes. In cutting off the head of Holofernes Judith saved Israel, and in like manner the Blessed Virgin, by cutting off the head of the devil in a certain sense, saved the people of God.

Thus during the whole course of history God wished that we be reminded of the most Holy Virgin; the Blessed Virgin Mary was always present to God and in the plan of God and thus from her birth the Blessed Virgin Mary was exempt from all sin. At the moment of her birth she was filled with the Holy Ghost, and yet again even more so—if such be possible—at the moment when the Angel Gabriel came to announce that she would be the Mother of the Savior. Behold what the Angel said to the Blessed Virgin: “Thou art full of grace, overflowing with grace, and the Holy Ghost shall descend upon thee and overshadow thee.”

How could the Holy Ghost be present with the devil in the soul of the most Holy Virgin? There could be no stain in the soul of the Blessed Virgin Mary; already God had decided that. And from the beginning of the Blessed Virgin’s existence, we see that, in fact, the Blessed Virgin is wholly filled with the Holy Ghost. She is shown to us as a contemplative, and living in the presence of God, speaking little, reflecting on all the words which Our Lord said. At times she deemed it right to discreetly intervene, as at the marriage feast of Cana, and this was to teach us her whole gospel: “Do whatever He shall tell you.” This is the gospel of our Holy Virgin Mary.

Again, she was present at Calvary as the Mother of the Eternal Priest, at the offering of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for she also was crucified with Our Lord. If St. Paul could say, “Confixus sure cruci—I am nailed to the Cross with Christ,” how much more could the Blessed Virgin Mary say it!

Again, she was also present at the moment of Pentecost, when the Apostles received the Holy Ghost—she who was already filled with the Holy Ghost, she did not need to receive Him again but through her mediation, the Apostles received Him.

Finally the Blessed Virgin Mary went up to heaven, not only in her soul but also in her body, and thus was this extraordinary life of hers completed; a life unique in the history of humanity, but foreseen by God from all eternity.

The influence of the Blessed Virgin Mary has not ceased. Even now in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary continues to be the Mother of the Mystical Body of Our Lord, the Mother of the Church, the Mother of our souls. She shows it, she proves it, she proves it in every one of us, but she also proves it in her apparitions. Is it not admirable to think that after the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception as a revealed truth, that the Blessed Virgin Mary was Immaculate from her Conception—already four years later on March 21, 1858, the Blessed Virgin herself said to little Bernadette, the little shepherdess, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

Remember that Bernadette was incapable of understanding, she could not understand what these words meant, and she left the grotto on her way to her pastor’s house repeating these words which she did not understand, to make sure she would not forget them. The history of the life of Bernadette tells us that it was at that moment that the parish priest of Lourdes, Fr. Pomian, was truly convinced by the apparitions at Lourdes. He realized that the poor little shepherdess was incapable of inventing this herself, and that the dogma had been proclaimed four years before by the Sovereign Pontiff. Thus it was confirmed by the Blessed Virgin herself that she was the Immaculate Conception.

What lesson, then, must we draw from this history of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her Immaculate Conception? For all of us who have been baptized, we who in a certain sense have received more than others because of the offices we may occupy in Holy Church—all of us: If the Blessed Virgin Mary was Immaculate in her Conception it is because she was to be the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, because she had to carry within herself Our Lord, the Son of God, because she was charged with giving Him to the world, because she was to live in proximity with Him, to be His Mother.

We Christians, who receive Holy Communion, do we not receive the same Jesus Christ, the same Body, which was conceived by the Blessed Virgin Mary? We receive Him in us, in our bodies, in our souls.

If it was decreed that the Blessed Virgin Mary was to be immaculate in her conception, so that she might receive the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ, His soul, His divinity, must we not also be pure?

Not that we can be immaculate in our conception, but may our souls be immaculate, by our prayers, by our dispositions, by our efforts, by the grace of God… to win this privilege that the Blessed Virgin had by the gift of Our Lord Jesus Christ, may we by our prayers and by the grace of God obtain the grace of having immaculate souls to receive Our Lord Jesus Christ.

We must! We must live without sin, we must struggle against anything that might tarnish our souls, so that it can be said of our souls: “Tota pulchra est, et macula non est in te—Thou art all fair, and there is no stain in thee.” Let there be no stain in our souls so that we may worthily receive Our Lord Jesus Christ.

And if that is true for Christians, true for the faithful, true for every person, every soul receiving Our Lord Jesus Christ, how much more, dear brethren, is it true of you—you who are destined in a singular way to consecrate yourselves to God, to offer yourselves to God, and particularly those who offer themselves to God in the priesthood, who, in this world, call down Our Lord Jesus Christ upon the altar and, like the Blessed Virgin, touch Him with their hands, and give Him to others; how much more must your souls be immaculate!

With what joy, therefore, do we receive today the oblations of those who desire to offer their lives, offer their souls, for the service of God, the service of the altar. Let us ask in a special way of the Blessed Virgin to transmit, in a certain degree, this privilege she had, the graces which are necessary to keep our souls immaculate.

She is the creature that was created, designed by God to destroy sin. Thus there is no creature more free of sin than the Blessed Virgin Mary.  She has crushed the head of the serpent. Therefore with the Blessed Virgin there is no compromise, no compromise with sin, no compromise with error; she is completely true, completely holy. She cannot bear error, or sin, or vice. Let us then ask the Blessed Virgin that we ourselves have this horror of sin, this horror of vice—but love for sinners, because it was for sinners that she was created, to save sinners. May we have this immense desire, this flame which must consume us, the desire to save souls from sin, to snatch them from the clutches of the devil, the clutches of the world, and the scandals of it.

Therefore let us all ask today that our Society be a sign, a sign of truth, a sign of holiness, a sign of flight from sin, and all the scandals of the world, and a sign of the presence of the Virgin Mary. We will truly be children of the Church, children of Mary, on this condition. But if, unhappily, we also become like the people who are drawn by the world and who want compromises with things of the world, with error—then we will no longer be worthy children of Mary, worthy children of Our Lord.

That is what we ask, for all those who are present at this Holy Mass, for all those who are present here, and particularly for those who, in a moment, will pronounce their oblation and their engagements in the Society.

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.
✝︎  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
✝︎  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
✝︎ St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

~ 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!

Chalice of Love, 2023

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For today, which is the first Sunday of Advent, we have a popular repost of this lovely essay, published  anonymously on the Society’s website, here.  Of all the  facets of Mary, one of the most delightful, it seems to me, is that of her as the Chalice of Love. This consideration of her has never ceased to fill me with tenderest thoughts of God’s love for His most beloved, pure and  precious Daughter and for her children. God our Father gives us His Love in this Chalice of Love, Mary, our Mother!

† . † . †

THE CHALICE, SYMBOL OF MARY

December 14, 2019

What are the qualities of the chalice
and what is their meaning for our lives?

First, the precious metal in its dazzling beauty: a challenge to cleanse ourselves more and more from every stain of sin, and also from what is worldly and worthless. Then the insight into how precious our life is, our body and especially our soul, created in God’s image and likeness, predestined to share in the beauty of the Immaculata. This chalice, by itself, is quite empty, quite poor. Within it nothing of the world is found, not a speck of dust, nothing worldly, however beautiful it may be.

This attitude of complete self-emptying, of complete detachment from self, of total spiritual poverty, is an essential feature of the Immaculata: she has nothing for herself, she does not think about herself, she is completely poor and emptied of self; one might say that her ego does not exist. This is the only possible attitude of the creature toward its Creator, when the latter bends down in infinite mercy to our nothingness in order to fill it.

Then the chalice is quite open to what is above. The sides of the chalice are like the outspread hands of the Orante, full of longing and devotion. This is the virginal Heart of Mary, which lives in expectation of God and for God, as totally as a Bride for her Bridegroom. All her thoughts, words and deeds are directed toward Him, completely for Him. Mary gives us this longing for God and makes our hearts become pure of all disordered desires that pull us down.
Continue reading “Chalice of Love, 2023” →

The Eucharist and the Apocalypse, 2023

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The following essay first appeared in 2015. It was intended as a warning that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament is what is at stake. Now it is clear to all. And so, from 2015 :

The judgments executed by the Eucharistic Lamb upon Satan shall involve the whole world not to destroy but to chasten it and wrest it from the hands of Satan liberating the human race from his sordid servitude.
(Father Herman Bernard Kramer, The Book of Destiny)

Our good priests can (and often do!) prevent Eucharistic sacrilege and offer reparation for it. God bless our holy priests! To remind us of the pre-eminence of the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament in the unfolding of the Apocalypse, we offer the following.
Continue reading “The Eucharist and the Apocalypse, 2023” →

“I will not leave you orphans”, 2023

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For Maundy Thursday we offer you one of our most loved posts, The Litany of His Love, with our prayers for you this holy Lent.

The term litany is derived from the Greek word for prayer, entreaty or supplication. The post-conciliar Church tends to disdain litanies as repetitious but faithful Catholics know them for what they are, sweet words of love exchanged between the Beloved and His own. On Holy Thursday evening during the time He instituted His sacrament of love, Our Lord spoke tenderly, pleading with His loved ones (and by them, us!) to understand this new law of love. See how often, in varied ways, He reminds us of His love for us and the sweet burden we share for the salvation of souls.

The Litany of His Love

John, Ch. 13, v. 1. “… Jesus knowing that His hour was come, that He should pass out of this world to the Father:  having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end.”
v. 14-15. “If then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also.”
v. 34-35. “A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another.”  Continue reading ““I will not leave you orphans”, 2023” →

Falling Like Stars

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Today’s post was originally published in 2015 and it foretold the attacks on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the priesthood. Tell me, please – which Church leader among our many “excellencies” and “Eminences” is defending the faith in any substantial way, that is, by rallying faithful Catholics to return to the message of Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima,? Only through obedience to God’s will, can sufficient reparation be made.

“And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns: and on his head seven diadems: And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth.”
(Apocalypse 12, v. 3-4).

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MASS!

One point worth repeating is that the message at Fatima began with a warning from St. Michael the Archangel about abuses against the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Holy Eucharist and then it presents Our Lady offering the remedy for this assault from satan. I want to be very clear on this point: God sends to us His most beloved creature, the most pure and ever Virgin Mary, whom He chose to provide the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Again, the Sacred Body and Precious Blood, sacrificed for our redemption were provided through the Immaculate Virgin Mary. In that sense, we are united with her through our Holy Communions. She is the Mother of the Holy Catholic Church, and she is as well, the Mother of the Mass! This Immaculata is our only means to restore the essential Holy Sacrifice. If we continue to offend her by our indifference to her commands, there will be no further help given. I have updated this post from 2015 in the hope that it may help convince of the importance of our situation, which is dire. You will very soon lose even more than you already have lost. The world is on the brink of chaos and I have been unable to bring myself to speak of what will happen.
Continue reading “Falling Like Stars” →

Epiphany, 2023

~ evensong

Previously Posted on  by evensong

Today, January 6, is the Feast of the Epiphany, the Manifestation of God.

“And the gentiles shall walk in Thy light, and Kings in the brightness of Thy rising … all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and showing forth praise to the Lord.” (Isaias 60, 3,6)

In years past, we offered the poem, “The Journey of the Magi” by T.S. Eliot, and we do also today, but we have added another Epiphany poem for this year of Our lord 2023; this one from a sainted English martyr,  the Jesuit priest, Robert Southwell.

First, Eliot’s well known poem, which reflects his very modern response to the discovery of Christ.  It is increasingly rare for modern man to discover Christ in any meaningful way, for the bitter irony of the modern intellect  precludes them from receiving the Christ Child with a child’s simplicity.

The Journey of the Magi

by T. S. Eliot

‘A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’
And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
and running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you might say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.

Eliot was raised in the residue of protestantism, a non-Christian sect , Unitarianism, which considers itself Christian witout actually believing that Jesus Christ is God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, for indeed, Unitarians do not believe in the Trinity at all. Eliot converted  to Anglicanism  at a time when many Anglicans were returning to the Holy Catholic faith.

Now for our second poem:

“They found the child with Mary, His Mother, and falling down, they adored Him.” (Matt. 2,11)

The Epiphany
by Saint Robert Southwell, S. J.

To blaze the rising of this glorious sun,
A glittering star appeared in the East
Whose sight to pilgrim-toils three sages won,
To seek the light they long had in request;
And by this star to nobler star they pace,
Whose arms did their desired sun embrace.

Still was the sky wherein these planets shine,
And want the cloud that did eclipse their ways,
Yet through this cloud their light  did passage find,
And pierced these sages hearts by secret ways,
Which made them know the Ruler of the skies,
By infant tongue and looks of babyish eyes.

Heaven at her light, Earth blusheth at her pride,
And of their pomp these peers ashamed be;
Their crowns, their robes ,their trains they set aside,
When God’s poor cottage, clothes and crew they see;
All glorious things their glory now despise,
Since God contempt doth more than glory prize.

Three gifts they bring, three gifts they bear away;
For incense, myrrh and gold; faith, hope and love;
And with their gifts the givers’ hearts do stay,
Their mind from Christ no parting can remove;
His humble state, His stall, His poor retinue
They fancy more than all their rich revenue.

Had Eliot been able to free himself from the anti-Catholic toxins of protestantism, he would have appreciated Father Southwell’s beautiful, simple and pure poetic tribute to the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course the obvious difference between the two is that Southwell experienced his own epiphany as he suffered the contempt of the world and its rulers for  the love of his Master, Jesus Christ; while Eliot’s epiphany was set in the desolate twentieth century wasteland, our legacy from the protestant attack on the Holy Catholic Church . Eliot recognised that Christian culture was crumbling around him, but his protestant upbringing left him unable to fully appreciate that there can be no Christian civilization without the Holy Catholic Church, Christ’s Mystical Body on earth.

What Luther began, the current occupants seem determined, with a hellish intensity, to do. Perhaps we may be called to follow Saint Robert Southwell. Note well, “… God contempt doth more than glory prize.” That is to say, turn from the world where glory is sought and honored, for God, in these latter days, reminds us that He values the contempt of the world and despises its honors.

Once we grasp this fact, it follows that we understand that perhaps we might learn from the English martyrs, murdered by protestants who were trying to extirpate the Catholic faith. Decide for yourselves what that means during this dark night of the Passion of the Church. For, make no mistake, Golgotha follows Gethsemane.

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.
✝︎  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
✝︎  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
✝︎ St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

~ 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 Eucharistic Vision of Our Lady of Knock, 2023

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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.

Continue reading “The Eucharistic Vision of Our Lady of Knock, 2023” →

Chalice of Love, 2022

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previously published in 2019

I found this delightful essay, which is posted anonymously on the Society’s website, and wanted to share it with you.  Of all the  facets of Mary, one of the most delightful, it seems to me, is that of her as the Chalice of Love. This consideration of her has never ceased to fill me with tenderest thoughts of God’s love for His most beloved, pure and  precious Creature and for us. God our Father gives us His Love in this Chalice of Love, Mary, our Mother!

† . † . †

THE CHALICE, SYMBOL OF MARY

December 14, 2019

What are the qualities of the chalice
and what is their meaning for our lives?

First, the precious metal in its dazzling beauty: a challenge to cleanse ourselves more and more from every stain of sin, and also from what is worldly and worthless. Then the insight into how precious our life is, our body and especially our soul, created in God’s image and likeness, predestined to share in the beauty of the Immaculata. This chalice, by itself, is quite empty, quite poor. Within it nothing of the world is found, not a speck of dust, nothing worldly, however beautiful it may be.

This attitude of complete self-emptying, of complete detachment from self, of total spiritual poverty, is an essential feature of the Immaculata: she has nothing for herself, she does not think about herself, she is completely poor and emptied of self; one might say that her ego does not exist. This is the only possible attitude of the creature toward its Creator, when the latter bends down in infinite mercy to our nothingness in order to fill it.

Then the chalice is quite open to what is above. The sides of the chalice are like the outspread hands of the Orante, full of longing and devotion. This is the virginal Heart of Mary, which lives in expectation of God and for God, as totally as a Bride for her Bridegroom. All her thoughts, words and deeds are directed toward Him, completely for Him. Mary gives us this longing for God and makes our hearts become pure of all disordered desires that pull us down.
Continue reading “Chalice of Love, 2022” →

Chalice of Love, 2022

~ evensong ~ Leave a comment

previously published in 2019.

I found this delightful essay, which is posted anonymously on the Society’s website, and wanted to share it with you.  Of all the  facets of Mary, one of the most delightful, it seems to me, is that of her as the Chalice of Love. This consideration of her has never ceased to fill me with tenderest thoughts of God’s love for His most beloved, pure and  precious Creature and for us. God our Father gives us His Love in this Chalice of Love, Mary, our Mother!

† . † . †

THE CHALICE, SYMBOL OF MARY

December 14, 2019

What are the qualities of the chalice
and what is their meaning for our lives?

First, the precious metal in its dazzling beauty: a challenge to cleanse ourselves more and more from every stain of sin, and also from what is worldly and worthless. Then the insight into how precious our life is, our body and especially our soul, created in God’s image and likeness, predestined to share in the beauty of the Immaculata. This chalice, by itself, is quite empty, quite poor. Within it nothing of the world is found, not a speck of dust, nothing worldly, however beautiful it may be.

This attitude of complete self-emptying, of complete detachment from self, of total spiritual poverty, is an essential feature of the Immaculata: she has nothing for herself, she does not think about herself, she is completely poor and emptied of self; one might say that her ego does not exist. This is the only possible attitude of the creature toward its Creator, when the latter bends down in infinite mercy to our nothingness in order to fill it.

Then the chalice is quite open to what is above. The sides of the chalice are like the outspread hands of the Orante, full of longing and devotion. This is the virginal Heart of Mary, which lives in expectation of God and for God, as totally as a Bride for her Bridegroom. All her thoughts, words and deeds are directed toward Him, completely for Him. Mary gives us this longing for God and makes our hearts become pure of all disordered desires that pull us down.

This longing is fulfilled through consecration and communion. The open heart receives the divine light and the warm, flowing blood of life. This is the purpose for which the chalice exists, and for this alone: that the transformation might take place in it, i.e. that Christ might renew His life, His suffering and death in it. As Elizabeth of the Trinity puts it so profoundly: “May I be for Him an additional humanity, in which He can renew His mystery in its entirety.” But this involves the union of one’s will with God’s will, as completely as Mary was united with Christ in utmost obedience.

The liturgy emphasizes that not only the contents of the chalice are offered, but the chalice itself (“We offer to Thee the chalice of salvation…”), so as to suggest discretely that the one Sacrifice of Christ is nevertheless the sacrifice of Mary as well, that the submission of the New Adam is inseparably united with the submission of the New Eve: that of the Redeemer with that of the Co-Redemptrix.

We all must place ourselves in this chalice like the little drop of water during the Offertory. As we are assimilated to the qualities of the chalice, we become a worthy vessel of God’s presence, filled and imbued with the Blood of Christ. A perpetual gaze upon the chalice is an immersion into her Immaculate Heart. Thus, we receive into ourselves Christ’s loving deed, in all its fullness.

Thus, Mary is the spiritual space, the holy atmosphere, the sanctuary, in which we are transformed, so as to understand and penetrate ever more deeply into the great divine drama and to receive interiorly all the fruits of this tree of life. “The Heart of Mary is the living altar upon which the sacrifice is offered. This pierced Heart is also the server at the altar, whose heartbeat is the liturgical responses. It is the censer, in which the faith, hope, love and adoration of the whole world ascends like incense before the Lamb who was slain. It is the choir of this formidable Mass, surpassing all the angels. Was not the silence of Mary’s wondrous sufferings like the singing of secret, ineffable songs to the enraptured ear of the bloody Victim?” (Fr. Faber) (From: FSSPX.news)

† . † . †

Indeed, she is the altar upon which His sacrifice is offered, and she is also the Chalice of His love. And just think on it! She is our Mother! Why do so many ignore this wonderful blessing? Here is such beauty, sweetness and hope! It is so good to think on this with the Rosary – The Angel Gabriel was the messenger; he only told Mary what God Himself was saying to this beautiful, perfectly pure young Virgin, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” And when we say these words, we become a part of this loving scene – Yes! We are there in the very midst of the Most Holy Trinity and the object of this infinite, Divine Love, Mary Immaculate.

The Hail Mary is God’s love song to the Mother He chose for His beloved Son and also for us; and because God is three Persons in one, it is the love song of this Divine Son for His Mother; and the love song of the Holy Spirit for His chosen Spouse, beloved from all time.

With this exquisitely  simple prayer, He teaches us to love her, to love Him and to love our fellow sinners and pray for them. God made us in love and redeemed us in love. And in the most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the most Blessed Sacrament, He sustains us with His love.

We abide in His love with the prayers of our Rosaries. Let us never tire of these Hail Marys; they are our hearts beating with Her Immaculate Heart.

Please pray for our priests. Those who are loyal to the Immaculata suffer greatly with her under this reign of apostates. Please do not waste a single little cross. Offer everything up – We have much work to do!

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.
 ✝︎  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
 ✝︎  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
 ✝︎ St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

~ 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!

Pray the Rosary – save sinners!

The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

~ evensong ~ Leave a comment
posted on : september 2, 2020  by : evensong

Many have fallen away from the faith in these dark and scandalous times. Many, many more are deprived of the Mass. For these we must pray, as the need is desperate.  Please consider this brief essay by Father Garrigou-Lagrange:

THE EUCHARISTIC HEART OF JESUS AND THE DAILY AND CEASELESS GIFT OF HIMSELF

Lastly, Jesus again and again, day after day, gives us the Eucharist as sacrament and sacrifice. He could have willed that the Mass be celebrated only once or twice a year in certain sanctuaries to which men would travel from afar. Yet the Holy Sacrifice is celebrated perpetually every minute of the day, over the whole surface of the earth, wherever the sun rises.

It is the unceasing manifestation of Christ’s merciful love, answering the spiritual needs of each era and of each soul. “Christ . . . loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it: that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” This being so, He grants to His Church, especially through the Mass and Holy Communion, the graces she needs at the various moments of her history.

In the catacombs the Mass was a source of ever new graces, and so it was during the great barbarian invasions and during the Middle Ages. And so it is today, giving us the strength to resist the great perils that threaten us, above all the atheistic phalanxes which Communism is pouring out over the world to destroy all religion. Despite the sorrows of the present, the interior life of the Church in our time in its highest aspects is indeed beautiful when viewed from above as God and the angels see it. All these graces come to us from the Eucharistic heart of Jesus who has given us the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and Holy Communion, and who is ever giving us His blood sacramentally shed on the altar.

A Single Drop

Father Charles de Foucauld had a deep understanding of this truth, as he prayed and died for the conversion of Islam and of Moslem lands. This truth is also understood by those who pray with all their souls and have Masses said for lands ravaged by materialism and Communism. A single drop of our Savior’s precious blood can regenerate thousands of souls that have gone astray and have dragged others along with them. Indeed, it is a truth that we too often forget. This cult of the precious blood of the Savior and deep suffering at the sight of it flowing in vain over rebellious souls can do much to turn the Eucharistic heart of Jesus toward His poor sinners—yes, His poor sinners.

They are His, and apostles like St. Paul, St. Francis, St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena, and so many others loved our Savior enough to strive by His side for the salvation of these souls. When we think of Christ’s love for us, we should suffer agonies at the sight of souls turning away from His heart, from the source of His precious blood. He shed His blood for them all, far removed as they might be from Him, even for the Communist who blasphemes and wishes to extirpate His name from the earth.

May our Lord, who does not will the death of the sinner, grant through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass a new effusion of His heart’s blood, as it were, and of the blood from His sacred wounds.

There have been saints who at the moment of the elevation during Mass have seen the precious blood overflow the chalice, spill over the arms of the priest as if it would flow into the sanctuary, and be caught up in gold cups by angels who then carried it over the whole world, particularly to lands where the Gospel was little known. This was a symbol of the graces flowing from the heart of Christ upon the souls of unfortunate pagans. It is for them too, that He died on the cross. The practical consequence of this truth is that the Eucharistic heart of Jesus is by no means the object of an affected devotion. It is the supreme model of the perfect gift of self, a gift which in our own lives should become more generous with each passing day.

Each new consecration should mark for the celebrant progress in his faith, trust, and love of God and of souls. For the faithful, each Communion should be substantially more fervent than the preceding one, since each Communion should increase the charity in our hearts and make them resemble our Lord’s more closely and thus dispose us to receive Him more fervently on the morrow. As a stone gathers momentum in its fall toward the earth which attracts it, so should souls tend toward God with increasing speed as they come closer to Him and are more powerfully attracted to Him.

The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus yearns to attract our souls to itself. This Heart is often humiliated, abandoned, forgotten, scorned, outraged, and yet it is the heart that loves our hearts, the silent heart that would talk to souls to teach them the value of the hidden life and the value of the ever more generous gift of self. The Word made flesh came among His own, and “His own received Him not.”

A Single Soul

Blessed are those who receive all that His merciful love deigns to give them and who do not by their resistance reject the graces which should radiate through them upon other less favored souls. Blessed are they who after they have received follow the example of our Lord and give themselves ever more generously by Him, with Him, and in Him. If there is in the midst of even the most benighted pagans a single soul in the state of grace, a truly fervent and renounced soul such as that of Father Charles de Foucauld, a soul which receives everything that the Eucharistic heart of Christ wishes to give to it, sooner or later the radiation of that soul will inevitably transmit to straying souls something of what it has itself received.

It is impossible that the precious blood should not in some measure overflow the chalice at Mass and some day—at least at the moment of death purify those straying souls who do not resist divine attentions or the actual prevenient graces that inspire their conversion. Let us think now and then of the death of the Moslem, or of the Buddhist, or the Communist in our own town who may have been baptized as a child. Each of them has an immortal soul for which the heart of our Lord gave all its blood. (Reverend Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange O.P., “The Reverend Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange O.P. Collection” [16 Books] . Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition.) [I highly recommend this book! I make nothing from this recommendation; it is excellent spiritual teaching by one of the greatest Thomists of all time.]

Dear readers, make good use of every opportunity to offer Mass as Our Lady asked us to pray for sinners! Now, more than ever, graces abound, but only through the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts! It is the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ that we should love one another; this love requires that we offer our daily trials and crosses for the conversion of poor sinners. By uniting our sufferings with His sacrifice, re-presented all over the world at every hour, we have been so blessed to be given this opportunity to save countless souls. Let us resolve never to waste a single opportunity to do this!

“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I offer You the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the sacrileges, outrages and indifference by which He Himself is offended. And through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of You the conversion of poor sinners.”

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!
†  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
†  St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

~ 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!