Fortitude; Reading 1 - Acts 1:15-17, 20-26; Responsorial Psalm - Psalms 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20; Reading 2- First John 4:11-16; Gospel - Mark 16:15-20; Pope Francis Regina Coeli; Inspirational Hymns - Gregorian Chants; Our Lady of Medjugorje Message; Jesus 2018 Locutions; Direction For Our Times Features; Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima : Snippet I - Fatima Portugal; Snippet II - Sanctuary of Fatima; Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary; Acts of Reparation (Morning Offering, First Friday and First Saturday Devotions); Mystical City of God - Book 6 Chapter 12 The Ascension of our Savior Jesus Christ; Catholic Catechism - Part One - Profession of Faith, Section One - I Believe, We Believe, Chapter TWO - God comes To Meet Man Article Two - The Transmission of Divine Revelation; RECHARGE: Heaven Speaks to Young Adults
Consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary ~ Zarya Parx 2018
JESUS I TRUST IN YOU (Year of Mercy). "Always Trust in Jesus, He the beacon of light amongst the darkest clouds" ~ Zarya Parx 2016
"Where There is a Will, With God, There is a Way", "There is always a ray of sunshine amongst the darkest Clouds, the name of that ray is Jesus" ~ Zarya Parx 2014
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge, reason and free will, make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in Heaven. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe (fear of the Lord) , counsel, knowledge, fortitude, and piety (reverence) and shun the seven Deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony...Its your choice whether to embrace the Gifts of the Holy Spirit rising towards eternal light or succumb to the Seven deadly sins and lost to eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes from this earth to the Darkness, Purgatory or Heaven is our Soul...it's God's perpetual gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...~ Zarya Parx 2013
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
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Liturgical Cycle: B - Gospel of Mark - Ascension Sunday
Morning Offering
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I
offer You the prayers, works, joys and sufferings of
this day, for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, and
for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.
Morning Offering
O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I
offer You the prayers, works, joys and sufferings of
this day, for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, and
for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.
Daily Rosary
(MON, SAT) - Joyful Mysteries
(TUES, FRI) - Sorrowful Mysteries
(WED,SUN) - Glorious Mysteries
(THURS) - Luminous Mysteries
(MON, SAT) - Joyful Mysteries
(TUES, FRI) - Sorrowful Mysteries
(WED,SUN) - Glorious Mysteries
(THURS) - Luminous Mysteries
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Inspirational Hymns
Illumination: Peaceful Gregorian Chants
**Copyright Disclaimer - Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research under the term "fair use", which is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, and personal use also tips the balance in favor of fair use.
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Our Lady of Medjugorje Monthly Messages
May 2, 2018 message from Our Lady of Medjugorje:
Dear children,
All that my Son, who is the light of love, has done and does, He has done out of love. Also you, my children, when you live in love and love your neighbors, you are doing the will of my Son. Apostles of my love, make yourselves little; open your pure hearts to my Son so that He can work through you. With the help of faith, be filled with love. But, my children, do not forget that the Eucharist is the heart of faith. This is my Son who feeds you with His Body and strengthens you with His Blood. This is a miracle of love: my Son who always comes anew, alive, to bring life back to souls. My children, by living in love you are doing the will of my Son and He lives in you. My children, my motherly desire is for you to always love Him more, because He is calling you with His love. He is giving you love so that you may spread it to all those around you. As a mother, through His love, I am with you to speak the words of love and hope to you—to speak to you the eternal words that are victorious over time and death—so as to call you to be my apostles of love. Thank you. ~ Blessed Mother Mary, Mother of Jesus, Queen of Peace
April 25, 2018 message from Our Lady of Medjugorje:
“Dear children! Today I am calling you to live your new life with Jesus. May the Risen One give you strength to always be strong in the trials of life and to be faithful and persevering in prayer; because Jesus saved you by His wounds and by His Resurrection gave you new life. Pray, little children, and do not lose hope. May joy and peace be in your hearts and witness the joy that you are mine. I am with you and love you all with my motherly love. Thank you for having responded to my call.” ~ Blessed Mother Mary, Mother of Jesus, Queen Of Peace, Our Lady of Medjugorje, Mount Carmel, Fatima, Lourdes, and Guadalupe.
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Jesus's 2018 Messages to the World through locution apparition
to Lay Apostle Anne of Ireland. Imprimatur. 2018
Direction For Our Times
2018 Locutions From Jesus
Jesus's 2018 Messages to the World through locution apparition
to Lay Apostle Anne of Ireland. Imprimatur. 2018
April 5, 2018 message from Jesus:
"I am looking at mankind with eyes of hope. Who will help me? That is the question that I ask in every time. I search tirelessly for people who recognize My call to holiness. There are those who serve the Church, but they forget that the call to holiness comes before the call to preach the Gospel message. Who will help me? I ask that question and look for those who are working to become holier each day. Without a commitment to personal holiness, a person’s ability to impact others decreases. The Gospel message is compelling. It is timeless. It is full of love and hope. But, my beloved friends, when people relax their efforts to become holier, they lose the force needed to convict others. You may believe that My call is unfair, given its requirement of personal sacrifice. You may believe that the cost is too high for you to pay. To remain faithful to Me, you must sometimes put yourself and your personal plans in the second place and My plan in the first place. You are no different than any other follower in any other time. On earth, I put My father’s plan before My own desires. Would I have asked for a different experience for My mother? Can you imagine that I wanted her to suffer? I did not want her to suffer, anything, ever. She was the greatest joy of My life. But I subordinated my human wishes for her to the eternal plan of the Father and she wanted this for Me. She wanted the Father’s will for her life and for mine, too. Do you understand? We were both willing to sacrifice what was temporary for what was eternal. You must be willing to do, so, too. I did not suffer alone in the sense that she accompanied Me to My death. You do not suffer alone, either, in the sense that we are with you. Our mother, Mary, wishes to assert her feminine strength in this time. She looks at mankind with eyes of hope, too. Who will help her? Who will help Me? This is the question we ask of you. Do not count personal cost, My friends, because you will be rewarded far beyond your ability to give. We reward you in sublime ways. I have great hope for mankind and part of that hope must be realized through My Church. Will you help me to establish and maintain unity in the Church? Will you be a person who follows in My footsteps? With humility? Will you trust Me to protect the Church and her earthly mission? I am asking you directly. Will you help Me?" ~ Jesus Christ
February 26, 2018
Jesus
"How does My Passion speak to people of every age, in every time? People can be confused by the events of their time. People can become distracted by the events of their time. People, however, recognize love. Love is a universal language, a constant communication of God. Who, around you, loves? That person represents Me in that when you see love you will know that I am near. Who speaks of love? Who offers actions that communicate love? Who stands for love and remains aloof to distraction and despair? Love, sometimes only love, changes hearts, prompts repentance and frees a person from defensiveness enough to acknowledge his or her guilt in relation to the failure to love. Do you see what I am telling you? We will not bring people to the Father through anything but love. And so, my friends, are you studying love? Are you trying to become more perfect in love? Do you love yourself in the sense that you understand that your wounds are important to Me. Your suffering is visible to Me. Just as you gaze at My Passion and feel determination to remain faithful to Me, I gaze at your sufferings and I remain determined to comfort you. There are times when I spare you suffering, supernaturally, because it will not benefit you or others. If you are not spared suffering, and you are carrying a cross, remember that I allow it for your growth and for the salvation of those who need help. Your suffering, like Mine, is allowed by the Father in a temporary way so that we can offer sacrifice for others. These crosses we carry with determination are proof of our commitment to our Creator, who never pauses in pulsing love into the world. Our Father was able to send pulsations of love through Me. Is He able to send them through you? Do not ask yourself if the person you are thinking of is worthy of love. That person IS loved. And that is all you must know. The Father loves all of His children and so must we. Today, ask yourself if you are actively loving people. ‘Am I active in my obligation to love?’ That is your question. Every day I spent on earth, I loved actively. So must you. We must love as a decision, with such force that the world changes. Love does change people. You know this because you have already changed because of My love for you. Focus on offering My love to others and you will live a life truly following Me, Jesus Christ." ~Jesus Christ
March 10, 2018
Jesus
"What do I need from the people of My Church? I need fidelity. Many claim they are faithful but they make war on the Church. When an enemy comes directly to one’s door, from the outside, one is prepared. When an enemy emerges from within one’s home, one is more vulnerable. My children, I do not wish you to become an enemy in My earthly home, the Church. Follow the leadership I have arranged for you, in a manner that is humble and determined, and you will see My Spirit blossoming in a way that is both fresh and compelling. Where are My beloved children? Why do they flee from our assembly? Is it I? Have I changed or demanded that they leave our Church? No. It is not I. I have watched in pain as many people have been made to believe that they are somehow less worthy than the unworthy, that they are not welcome or not received by Me. The truth is that sinners do not cause Me to fret. You are all sinners and you are all welcome. Who is driving God’s children from our Church? Ask yourself that question and do not point to the man I have chosen to lead My Church. He is in My care and I am pleased that he is following My direction. Do you wish to argue with the Holy Spirit in him? Then you must look to Me, and do so silently in prayer. Perhaps I can help you to see that the people in every assembly are unworthy. God did not create you to be perfectly worthy on earth but to be loved and to grow and grow in holiness and happiness. Would you say that every person starts at the same point? Do you believe you can judge? You are attempting to usurp My role if you believe this and you are also damaging My Church. Stop. I am asking you to stop pretending that you are Me. I am the judge. You are the ones who will be judged. I am looking deeply into your heart. If you are dissuading people from belief and total trust in My mercy, then I am asking you to stop." ~Jesus Christ
Jesus
"How does My Passion speak to people of every age, in every time? People can be confused by the events of their time. People can become distracted by the events of their time. People, however, recognize love. Love is a universal language, a constant communication of God. Who, around you, loves? That person represents Me in that when you see love you will know that I am near. Who speaks of love? Who offers actions that communicate love? Who stands for love and remains aloof to distraction and despair? Love, sometimes only love, changes hearts, prompts repentance and frees a person from defensiveness enough to acknowledge his or her guilt in relation to the failure to love. Do you see what I am telling you? We will not bring people to the Father through anything but love. And so, my friends, are you studying love? Are you trying to become more perfect in love? Do you love yourself in the sense that you understand that your wounds are important to Me. Your suffering is visible to Me. Just as you gaze at My Passion and feel determination to remain faithful to Me, I gaze at your sufferings and I remain determined to comfort you. There are times when I spare you suffering, supernaturally, because it will not benefit you or others. If you are not spared suffering, and you are carrying a cross, remember that I allow it for your growth and for the salvation of those who need help. Your suffering, like Mine, is allowed by the Father in a temporary way so that we can offer sacrifice for others. These crosses we carry with determination are proof of our commitment to our Creator, who never pauses in pulsing love into the world. Our Father was able to send pulsations of love through Me. Is He able to send them through you? Do not ask yourself if the person you are thinking of is worthy of love. That person IS loved. And that is all you must know. The Father loves all of His children and so must we. Today, ask yourself if you are actively loving people. ‘Am I active in my obligation to love?’ That is your question. Every day I spent on earth, I loved actively. So must you. We must love as a decision, with such force that the world changes. Love does change people. You know this because you have already changed because of My love for you. Focus on offering My love to others and you will live a life truly following Me, Jesus Christ." ~Jesus Christ
Reference : Direction For Our Times, New Locutions.
https://www.directionforourtimes.com/new-locutions-jesus/#.Wt-CLZdOnIW
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Reference :
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Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
Pope Francis's Regina Coeli
(Vatican Radio)
Pope at Mass: Don't dialogue with the devil, the great liar
At Mass at Casa Santa Marta,
Tuesday morning, Pope Francis talked about how to deal with the devil
who though defeated and dying is still dangerous.
Never approach the devil nor talk to him: he is "defeated" but dangerous because he seduces and, like a chained angry dog, bites if you go to pat him. Pope Francis offered this advice in his homily at Mass, Tuesday morning, in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican.
Commenting on John’s Gospel where Jesus says “the ruler of this world has been condemned," the Pope spoke about the seduction of the devil and how to deal with him.
The Pope said that even though the devil is defeated and dying he has a great power and capacity to seduce. He promises many things, bringing us beautifully packed gifts, without revealing their contents.
Dying but dangerous
The Pope compared the devil to a dying crocodile, who hunters advise not to approach because it can still strike you dead with its tail. Hence the devil is very dangerous, his proposals are all lies and we foolishly believe him.
The Pope described the devil as the father of lies, saying he speaks well, he can sing in order to deceive and he is loser who moves about like a winner. His light dazzles like the fireworks but does not last. Instead the light of the Lord is "gentle and permanent".
Never dialogue with the devil
The devil, the Pope said, knows how to seduce us in our vanity and curiosity and we buy everything, falling into temptation. Knowing that a thought, a desire or move is dangerous and we still go there, it is like approaching the devil who is like a chained angry dog that can still bite.
Unlike Eve who thought herself a “great theologian” and fell, the Pope said we must never dialogue with the devil because he wins, he is more intelligent than us. On the contrary, Jesus in the desert responds to the devil with the Word of God, hunts down demons, sometimes asking his name but doesn't dialogue.
Pray, watch, fast
Recalling the advice of Jesus to watch, do penance and fast, Pope Francis said we too must do so but never enter into dialogue with the devil. And in moments of temptation we must approach the mother, like frightened children do. According to the Russian mystics, in times of spiritual upheavals, take refuge under the mantle of the great Mother of God, the Pope said.
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2018 Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed - 05/13/2018
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Today's Word - fortitude [fawr-ti-tood]
Dictionary Definition:
Word Origin: 1350-1400; Middle English < Latin fortitūdō strength, firmness, courage, equivalent to forti(s) strong + -tūdō -tude
1. mental and emotional strength in facing difficulty, adversity, danger, or temptation courageously:
Never once did her fortitude waver during that long illness.
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Today's Reading 1 - Acts 1:15-17, 20-26
15 One day Peter stood up to speak to the brothers -- there were about a hundred and twenty people in the congregation,16 'Brothers,' he said, 'the passage of scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit, speaking through David, foretells the fate of Judas, who acted as guide to the men who arrested Jesus-
17 after being one of our number and sharing our ministry.
20 Now in the Book of Psalms it says: Reduce his encampment to ruin and leave his tent unoccupied. And again: Let someone else take over his office.
21 'Out of the men who have been with us the whole time that the Lord Jesus was living with us,
22 from the time when John was baptising until the day when he was taken up from us, one must be appointed to serve with us as a witness to his resurrection.'
23 Having nominated two candidates, Joseph known as Barsabbas, whose surname was Justus, and Matthias,
24 they prayed, 'Lord, you can read everyone's heart; show us therefore which of these two you have chosen
25 to take over this ministry and apostolate, which Judas abandoned to go to his proper place.'
26 They then drew lots for them, and as the lot fell to Matthias, he was listed as one of the twelve apostles.
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Today's Psalms - Psalms 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20
1 [Of David] Bless Yahweh, my soul, from the depths of my being, his holy name;2 bless Yahweh, my soul, never forget all his acts of kindness.
11 As the height of heaven above earth, so strong is his faithful love for those who fear him.
12 As the distance of east from west, so far from us does he put our faults.
19 Yahweh has fixed his throne in heaven, his sovereign power rules over all.
20 Bless Yahweh, all his angels, mighty warriors who fulfil his commands, attentive to the sound of his words.
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Today's Reading 2 - First John 4:11-16
11 My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we too should love one another.12 No one has ever seen God, but as long as we love one another God remains in us and his love comes to its perfection in us.
13 This is the proof that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us a share in his Spirit.
14 We ourselves have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world.
15 Anyone who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God.
16 We have recognized for ourselves, and put our faith in, the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
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Today's Gospel Reading - Mark 16:15-20
Ascension of The Lord
"Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News!"
He lives in our midst!
1. Opening prayer
Lord Jesus, send Your Spirit to help us to read the Scriptures with the same mind that You read them to the disciples on the way to Emmaus. In the light of the Word, written in the Bible, You helped them to discover the presence of God in the disturbing events of Your sentence and death. Thus, the cross that seemed to be the end of all hope became for them the source of life and of resurrection.Create in us silence so that we may listen to Your voice in Creation and in the Scriptures, in events and in people, above all in the poor and suffering. May Your word guide us so that we too, like the two disciples from Emmaus, may experience the force of Your resurrection and witness to others that You are alive in our midst as source of fraternity, justice and peace. We ask this of You, Jesus, son of Mary, who revealed to us the Father and sent us Your Spirit. Amen.
~2. Reading
a) A key to the reading:The liturgy of the feast of the Ascension presents us with a scene where Jesus appears to the disciples and confers on them the mission of going to the whole world to proclaim the Good News. The text of Mark's Gospel (Mk 16:9-20) is the final section of the appendix of that Gospel (Mk 16:15-20). We expand the brief commentary to include the whole of the appendix. During the reading we need to pay attention to the following point: "To whom does Jesus appear, what are the various aspects of the mission and what are the signs of His presence in the community?"
b) A division of the text as an aid to the reading:
Mark 16:9-11: Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene.
Mark 16:12-13: Jesus appears to two disciples.
Mark 16:14-18: Jesus appears to the eleven and gives them a mission.
Mark 16:19-20: Jesus ascends into heaven in the presence of the disciples.
c) The Gospel: Mark 16:15-20
Jesus said to his disciples: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
~3. A moment of prayerful silence
so that the Word of God may penetrate and enlighten our life.
~4. Some questions to help us in our personal reflection.
a) How do we handle discerning and verifying the news we hear today? What news today would be able to make us change our lives completely as news of the Resurrection did back then?
b) To whom does Jesus manifest Himself alive and how do they react (Mk 16:9-20)?
c) In this text, who has the greatest difficulty in believing in the resurrection?
d) As Paul says, "God brought us to life with Christ…and gave us a place with Him in heaven" (Eph 2:6). How does this affirmation help us to understand the meaning of the Ascension?
e) What are the signs of Jesus' presence within the community? What is the meaning of each sign? What is our personal involvement, reaction and response to each?
f) What signs best convince people today of the presence of Jesus in our midst?
~5. A key to the reading to enter deeper into the theme.
i) The context:
The appendix of Mark's Gospel offers a list of Jesus' appearances (Mk 16:9-20). There are other lists but they do not always coincide. The list given by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians is quite different (1Cor 15:3-8). These differences show that, in the beginning, Christians were not concerned about describing or proving the resurrection. For them, faith in the resurrection was so vivid and evident that there was no need to prove it. The communities themselves, living and persevering among so many challenges and persecutions from the Roman Empire, were living proof of the truth of the resurrection.
The people of that time were not easily convinced of things. They demanded proof all along the way, from the Pharisees to Thomas. Considerable weight must be given to the way the first communities lived out their witness. The Gospels are not a general history book. Much is also handed down through tradition (Jn 21:25). Consider, even in that time, the Jews paid to create false news stories of the Resurrection. Belief within the first communities, despite death and persecution, is more convincing than logical arguments for us today. Their radical change of life proves they experienced Jesus and the Gospel in reality.
ii) Commentary on the text:
a) Mark 16:9-11: Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, but the other disciples do not believe her.
Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene and she announces this to the others. To come into the world, God chose to depend on the yes of Mary of Nazareth (Lk 1:38). To be recognized as living in our midst, He chose to depend on the word of Mary Magdalene who had been freed from seven devils.
Mark says that Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. In this he agrees with the other three Evangelists (cf. Mt 28:9-10; Jn 20:16; Lk 24:9-11). But on the list of appearances given in the Letter to the Corinthians (1Cor 15:3-8), there is no mention of any appearances to the women. The first Christians found it difficult to believe the witness of women. This was a condition of the society at the time.
b) Mark 16:12-13: Jesus appears to two disciples
The story of Jesus' appearance to the two disciples who were walking in the fields is probably a reference to Jesus' appearance to the disciples from Emmaus who, on returning, shared their experience of the resurrection with "the eleven” and their companions (Lk 24:33-34). Only here, Mark differs from Luke because the others did not believe in the witness of the two disciples.
c) Mark 16:14: Jesus scolds the eleven for their incredulity
Finally, Jesus appears to the eleven disciples gathered at table and scolds then because they have not believed those who had seen Him risen. For the third time, Mark makes reference to the resistance of the disciples to believe the witness of those who had experienced the resurrection of Jesus. Why does Mark insist so much on the incredulity of the disciples? Probably to teach two things: first, that faith in the risen Jesus is transmitted through the faith of those who give witness to it; second, that no one must give up hope when doubt or confusion arises in one's heart. Even the eleven had doubts!
d) Mark 16:15-18: The signs that go with the proclamation of the Good News
Jesus immediately confers the mission of announcing the Good News to all creation. The requirement for anyone who wishes to be saved is this: to believe and be baptized. To those who have the courage to believe in the Good News and are baptized, He promises the following signs: (1) they will drive out devils; (2) they will speak in new tongues; (3) they will hold snakes in their hands; (4) if they drink poison it will not harm them; (5) they will lay hands on the sick and these will be healed. These signs take place even now:
* to drive out devils is to fight the power of evil that chokes life. The life of many people has improved since they entered in community and have started to live the good news of the presence of God. By participating in the life of the community, they drive out evil from their lives.
* to speak in new tongues: is to begin to communicate with others in a new way. Sometimes we meet someone whom we have never met before, but it is as if we have known each other for a long time. This is because we speak the same language of love. The way of thinking about others and speaking to them is different than what our original inclination was.
* to hold snakes in one's hand and to overcome poison: there are so many things that poison our life and living together. Gossip breaks down relationships for instance, as does envy, hate, pride, and many others. Those who live in the presence of God can overcome these deadly poisons. “Snakes”, as in serpents, can refer back to the devil’s interaction in the Garden. We are able to restrain these demons who attack us.
* to heal the sick: wherever we have a clearer awareness of the presence of God, we find also special care for those excluded and marginalized, especially the sick. What best restores health is welcoming and loving care. To “lay hands on” means to touch. It demands more than tossing a donation in a cup. Touching creates a bond of friendship, whereas a donation is more like a transaction.
e) Mark 16:19-20: Through the community, Jesus continues His mission
The Jesus who, in Palestine, welcomed the poor and revealed to them the love of the Father, is the same Jesus who now continues to be present in our midst in our communities, from couples to families to parishes and religious orders. Through us, He continues His mission of revealing the Good News of the love of God for the poor. To this day, the resurrection still takes place. No earthly power can neutralize the force that comes from faith in the resurrection (Rom 8:35-39). A community that wants to witness to the resurrection must be a sign of life, must fight against the power of death. So that the world may become a place of life, that community must believe that another world is possible. Above all, where the life of the people is in danger because of a system of death that is imposed, the community must be a living proof of the hope that conquers the world, without fear of unhappiness!
iii) Further information on the Gospel of Mark - God's surprises:
From the start, Mark's Gospel insists that "The time has come…and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News" (Mk 1:15). This initial request for conversion and faith shows us the door through which we have access to Jesus and the Good News of God that He brings. There is no other access. Faith demands belief in Jesus, in His Word, accepting Him unconditionally. We are invited to not shield ourselves with any name or title, doctrine or custom, and to keep ourselves always open to the surprises of God which demand a constant conversion. Names and titles, doctrines and customs, devotions and pleadings are like a tag that we wear on our chest for identification. The tag is important because it helps us and directs us when necessary to meet a person we are looking for. But when we meet, we do not look at the tag any more, but at the face! Very often, when we meet the person we are looking for he or she is quite different from what we imagined before. The meeting always carries some surprises! More so our meeting with God in Jesus. Throughout Mark's Gospel there are many surprises for the disciples, and these come from where they least expect them:
* from a pagan who gives Peter a lesson because he recognizes the presence of God in the crucified one (Mk 15:39);
* from a poor widow who gives her all to share with others (Mk 12:43-44);
* from a blind man who annoys the disciples by calling out and who does not even have a definite belief (Mk 10:46-52);
* from marginalized little ones who believe in Jesus (Mk 9:42);
* from those who use the name of Jesus to fight evil but who do not belong to the "Church" (Mk 9:38-40);
* from an anonymous woman who scandalizes the disciples by her manner of acting (Mk 14:3-9);
* from a father of a family who is obliged to carry the cross and becomes a model disciple (Mk 15:21)
* from Joseph of Arimathea who risks everything by asking for the body of Jesus to give it burial (Mk 15:43).
* from women who, then, could not be official witnesses but were chosen by Jesus as expert witnesses of His resurrection (Mk 15:40.47; 16:6.9-10).
In a word: The twelve disciples who were specially called by Jesus (Mk 3:13-19) and who were sent by Him on a mission (Mk 6:7-13), failed. Peter denied Him (Mk 14:66-72), Judas betrayed Him (Mk 14:44-45) and all fled (Mk 14:50). But it is precisely through their failure that is shown the strength of faith of the others who were not part of the group of the chosen twelve. The community must clearly be aware that it does not own Jesus nor does it own all the criteria of the action of God in our midst. Jesus does not belong to us, but we, the community, the Church, belong to Jesus, and Jesus is of God (1Cor 3:23). The greatest surprise of all is the resurrection!
~ 6. Psalm 27 (26)
Courage born of faith
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me,
uttering slanders against me,
my adversaries and foes,
they shall stumble and fall.
Though a host encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in His temple.
For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble;
He will conceal me under the cover of His tent,
He will set me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up
above my enemies round about me;
and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud,
be gracious to me and answer me!
Thou hast said, "Seek ye My face."
My heart says to Thee,
"Thy face, Lord, do I seek."
Hide not Thy face from me.
Turn not Thy servant away in anger,
Thou who hast been my help.
Cast me not off, forsake me not,
O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me up.
Teach me Thy way, O Lord;
and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord; be strong,
and let your heart take courage;
yea, wait for the Lord!
~ 7. Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for the word that has enabled us to understand better the will of the Father. May Your Spirit enlighten our actions and grant us the strength to practice that which Your Word has revealed to us. May we, like Mary, Your mother, not only listen to but also practice the Word. You who live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Reference:
Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
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Featured Item from Litany Lane
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Saint of the Day: Feast Day of Our Lady of FatimaFeast Day: May 13
Patron Saint:
Attributes:
Our Lady of Fátima (Portuguese: Nossa Senhora de Fátima, European Portuguese: [ˈnɔsɐ sɨˈɲoɾɐ dɨ ˈfatimɐ])
is a title for the Virgin Mary due to her reputed apparitions to three
shepherd children at Fátima, Portugal on the thirteenth day of six
consecutive months in 1917, beginning on May 13. The three children were
Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto.
The title of Our Lady of the Rosary
is also sometimes used to refer to the same apparition (although it was
first used in 1208 for the reputed apparition in the church of Prouille),
because the children related that the apparition called herself the
"Lady of the Rosary". It is also common to see a combination of these
titles, i.e.
Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima (Portuguese: Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Fátima). The
events at Fátima gained particular fame due to their elements of
prophecy and eschatology, particularly with regard to possible world war
and the conversion of Soviet Russia. The reported apparitions at Fátima
were officially declared "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church.
History
Page from Ilustração Portuguesa,
29 October 1917, showing the people looking at the miracle of the sun
during the Fátima apparitions attributed to the Virgin Mary.
On
May 13, 1917, ten year old Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and
Francisco Marto were herding sheep at a location known as the Cova da
Iria
near their home village of Fátima, Portugal. Lúcia described seeing a
woman "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and
stronger than a crystal ball filled with the most sparkling water and
pierced by the burning rays of the sun."
Further appearances were reported to have taken place on the thirteenth
day of the month in June and July. In these, the woman exhorted the
children to do penance and Acts of Reparation
as well as making personal sacrifices to save sinners. The children
subsequently wore tight cords around their waists to cause themselves
pain, performed self-flagellation using stinging nettles,
abstained from drinking water on hot days, and performed other works of
penance. According to Lúcia's account, in the course of her
appearances, the woman confided to the children three secrets, now known
as the Three Secrets of Fátima.
Thousands of people flocked to Fátima and Aljustrel in the following
months, drawn by reports of visions and miracles. On August 19, 1917,
the provincial administrator and anticlerical Freemason, Artur Santos
(no relation to Lúcia Santos), believing that the events were
politically disruptive, intercepted and jailed the children before they
could reach the Cova da Iria that day. Prisoners held with them in the
provincial jail later testified that the children, while upset, were
first consoled by the inmates, and later led them in praying the rosary.
The administrator interrogated the children and tried unsuccessfully to
get them to divulge the contents of the secrets. In the process, he
threatened the children, saying he would boil them in a pot of oil, one
by one unless they confessed. The children refused, but Lúcia told him
everything short of the secrets, and offered to ask the Lady for
permission to tell the Administrator the secrets.
That month, instead of the usual apparition in the Cova da Iria on the
13th, the children reported that they saw the Virgin Mary on 15 August,
the Feast of the Assumption, at nearby Valinhos.
Photograph taken during the reputed "Dance of the Sun" at Fátima on 13 October 1917.
As
early as July 1917 it was claimed that the Virgin Mary had
promised a miracle for the last of her apparitions on October 13, so
that all would believe. What happened then became known as "Miracle of
the Sun". A crowd believed to number approximately 70,000,
including newspaper reporters and photographers, gathered at the Cova
da Iria. The incessant rain had finally ceased and a thin layer of
clouds cloaked the silver disc of the sun. Witnesses said later it could
be looked upon without hurting the eyes.
Lúcia, moved by what she said was an interior impulse, called out to
the crowd to look at the sun. Witnesses later spoke of the sun appearing
to change colors and rotate like a wheel. Not everyone saw the same
things, and witnesses gave widely varying descriptions of the "sun's
dance". The phenomenon is claimed to have been witnessed by most people
in the crowd as well as people many miles away.
While the crowd was staring at the sun, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta
said later they were seeing lovely images of the Holy Family, Our Lady
of Sorrows with Jesus Christ, and then Our Lady of Mount Carmel. They
said they saw Saint Joseph and Jesus bless the people. The children were aged 10, 9, and 7 at the time.
Columnist Avelino de Almeida of O Século (Portugal's most influential newspaper, which was pro-government in policy and avowedly anti-clerical),
reported the following: "Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose
aspect was biblical as they stood bare-headed, eagerly searching the
sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all
cosmic laws - the sun 'danced' according to the typical expression of
the people." Eye specialist Dr. Domingos Pinto Coelho, writing for the newspaper Ordem
reported "The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at
another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceeding
fast and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the
sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat". The
special reporter for the October 17, 1917 edition of the Lisbon daily, O Dia,
reported the following, "...the silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy
purple light was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken
clouds...The light turned a beautiful blue, as if it had come through
the stained-glass windows of a cathedral, and spread itself over the
people who knelt with outstretched hands...people wept and prayed with
uncovered heads, in the presence of a miracle they had awaited. The
seconds seemed like hours, so vivid were they."
Chapel of Apparitions, built at the place where the Fátima apparitions were reported
No movement or other phenomenon of the sun was registered by scientists at the time.
According to contemporary reports from poet Afonso Lopes Vieira and
schoolteacher Delfina Lopes with her students and other witnesses in the
town of Alburita, the solar phenomenon was visible from up to forty
kilometers away. Not all witnesses reported seeing the sun "dance". Some
people only saw the radiant colors, and others, including some
believers, saw nothing at all.
Since no scientifically verifiable physical cause can be adduced to
support the phenomenon of the sun, various explanations have been
advanced to explain the descriptions given by numerous witnesses. A
leading conjecture is a mass hallucination possibly stimulated by the
religious fervor of the crowds expectantly waiting for a predicted sign.
Another conjecture is a possible visual artifact caused by looking at
the sun for a prolonged period. As noted by Auguste Meessen, a professor
at the Institute of Physics, Catholic University of Leuven, looking directly at the Sun can cause phosphene
visual artifacts and temporary partial blindness. He has proposed that
the reported observations were optical effects caused by prolonged
staring at the sun. Meessen contends that retinal after-images produced
after brief periods of sun gazing are a likely cause of the observed
dancing effects. Similarly Meessen states that the colour changes
witnessed were most likely caused by the bleaching of photosensitive
retinal cells.
Meessen observes that solar miracles have been witnessed in many places
where religiously charged pilgrims have been encouraged to stare at the
sun. He cites the apparitions at Heroldsbach in Germany (1949) as an
example where exactly the same optical effects as at Fátima were
witnessed by more than 10,000 people.
There is no evidence that people who came to Fátima, even those
expecting a miracle, were staring at the sun before Lúcia spoke. Most
would have been focused on the tree where the children said the
apparition appeared. Some onlookers reported other phenomena, including
luminous mist and the showers of flower petals seen around and above the
tree during previous visitations.
In addition to the Miracle of the Sun, the seers at Fátima indicated
that the apparition prophesied a great sign in the night sky which would
precede a second great war.
On January 25, 1938, bright lights, an aurora borealis appeared all
over the northern hemisphere, including in places as far south as North
Africa, Bermuda and California. It was the widest occurrence of the
aurora since 1709 and people in Paris and elsewhere believed a great fire was burning and fire departments were called.
Lúcia, the sole surviving seer at the time, indicated that it was the
sign foretold and so apprised her superior and the bishop in letters the
following day. Just over a month later, Hitler seized Austria and eight months later invaded Czechoslovakia.
Three Secrets of FátimaFirst two secrets
The First secret was a vision of hell, which Lúcia describes in her Third Memoir, as follows:
The Second secret included Mary's instructions on how to save souls
from hell and convert the world to the Christian faith, also revealed by
Lúcia in her Third Memoir:
The Third secret, a vision of the death of the Pope and other religious figures, was transcribed by the Bishop of Leiria and reads:
Controversy around the Third Secret
The Vatican
withheld the Third Secret until 26 June 2000, despite Lúcia's
declaration that it could be released to the public after 1960. Some
sources, including Canon Barthas and Cardinal Ottaviani,
said that Lúcia insisted to them it must be released by 1960, saying
that, "by that time, it will be more clearly understood", and, "because
the Blessed Virgin wishes it so."
When
1960 arrived, rather than releasing the Third Secret, the Vatican
published an official press release stating that it was "most probable
the Secret would remain, forever, under absolute seal." After this
announcement, immense speculation over the content of the secret
materialized. According to the New York Times,
speculation over the content of the secret ranged from "worldwide
nuclear annihilation to deep rifts in the Roman Catholic Church that
lead to rival papacies."
Some
sources claim that the four-page, handwritten text of the Third Secret
released by the Vatican in the year 2000 is not the real secret, or at
least not the full secret. In particular, it is alleged that Cardinals
Bertone, Ratzinger and Sodano
engaged in a systematic deception to cover-up the existence of a
one-page document containing the so-called words of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, which some believe contains information about the Apocalypse and a
great apostasy. These sources contend that the Third Secret actually
comprises two texts, where one of these texts is the published four-page
vision, and the other is a single-page letter allegedly containing the
words of the Virgin Mary which has been concealed.
The Vatican has maintained its position that the full text of the
Third Secret was published in June 2000. According to a December 2001
Vatican press release (subsequently published in L'Osservatore Romano),
Lúcia told then Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone in an interview that the
secret had been completely revealed and published - that no secrets
remained. Bertone, along with Cardinal Ratzinger, co-authored The Message of Fátima,
the document published in June 2000 by the Vatican that allegedly
contains a scanned copy of the original text of the Third Secret.
During
his apostolic visit to Portugal between May 11 and 14, 2010 on the
occasion of the 10th anniversary of the beatification of Jacinta and
Francisco Marto, Pope Benedict XVI
explained in a rare conversation with reporters that the interpretation
of the third secret did not stop with the interpretation of a
prediction of the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square in 1981. The Third Secret of Fátima,
said Benedict XVI, "has a permanent and ongoing significance" and that
"its significance could even be extended to include the suffering the
Church is going through today as a result of the recent reports of
sexual abuse involving the clergy".
Fate of the three children
Sister
Lúcia reported seeing the Virgin Mary again in 1925 at the Dorothean
convent at Pontevedra, Galicia (Spain). This time she said she was asked
to convey the message of the First Saturday Devotions. By her account a
subsequent vision of Christ as a child reiterated this request.
Sister
Lúcia was transferred to another convent in Tui or Tuy, Galicia in
1928. In 1929, Sister Lúcia reported that Mary returned and repeated her
request for the Consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart.
Sister
Lúcia reportedly saw Mary in private visions periodically throughout
her life. Most significant was the apparition in Rianxo, Galicia,
in 1931, in which she said that Jesus visited her, taught her two
prayers and delivered a message to give to the church's hierarchy.
In
1947, Sister Lúcia left the Dorothean order and joined the Discalced
Carmelite order in a monastery in Coimbra, Portugal. Lúcia died on
February 13, 2005, at the age of 97. After her death, the Vatican,
specifically Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (at that time, still head of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith),
ordered her cell sealed off. It is believed this was because Sister
Lúcia had continued to receive more revelations and the evidence needed
to be examined in the course of proceedings for her possible
canonization.
Sister
Lúcia's cousins, the siblings Francisco (1908–1919) and Jacinta Marto
(1910–1920), were both victims of the Great Spanish Flu Epidemic of
1918-20. Francisco and Jacinta were declared venerable by Pope John Paul
II in a public ceremony at Fátima on May 13, 1989. He returned there on
May 13, 2000 to declare them 'blessed' (a title of veneration below
that of sainthood; see Canonization). Jacinta is the youngest
non-martyred child ever to be beatified.
In 1936 and again in 1941, Sister Lúcia claimed that the Virgin Mary
had predicted the deaths of two of the children during the second
apparition on June 13, 1917. Besides Lúcia's account, the testimony of
Olímpia Marto (mother of the two younger children) and several others
state that her children did not keep this information secret and
ecstatically predicted their own deaths many times to her and to curious
pilgrims.
In
fact, it was the first thing Jacinta told her mother when she spoke to
her after the initial apparition.According to the 1941 account, on 13
June, Lúcia asked the Virgin if
the three children would go to heaven when they died. She said that she
heard Mary reply, "Yes, I shall take Francisco and Jacinta soon, but you
will remain a little longer, since Jesus wishes you to make me known
and loved on Earth. He wishes also for you to establish devotion in the
world to my Immaculate Heart."
Exhumed
in 1935 and again in 1951, Jacinta's face was found incorrupt or immune
to decay. Francisco's body, however, had decomposed.
Consecration of Russia
Statue of Pope Pius XII in Fátima, Portugal.
According
to Sister Lúcia, the Virgin Mary promised that the Consecration of
Russia would lead to Russia's conversion and an era of peace.
Pope Pius XII, in his Apostolic Letter Sacro Vergente of 7 July 1952, consecrated Russia to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pius XII wrote,
In
1952 the Pope said to the Russian people and the Stalinist regime that
the Virgin Mary was always victorious. "The gates of hell
will never prevail, where she offers her protection. She is the good
mother, the mother of all, and it has never been heard, that those who
seek her protection, will not receive it. With this certainty, the Pope
dedicates all people of Russia to the immaculate heart of the Virgin.
She will help! Error and atheism will be overcome with her assistance
and divine grace."
Popes
Pius XII and John Paul II both had special relations to Our Lady of
Fátima. Pope Benedict XV began Pacelli's church career, elevating him to
archbishop in the Sistine Chapel
on May 13, 1917, the date of the first reported apparition. Pius XII
was laid to rest in the crypt of Saint Peter's Basilica on October 13,
1958, the Feast of Our Lady of Fátima.
Pope
John Paul II again consecrated the entire world to the Virgin
Mary in 1984, without explicitly mentioning Russia. Some believe that
Sister Lúcia verified that this ceremony fulfilled the requests of the
Virgin Mary. However, in the Blue Army's Spanish magazine, Sol de Fátima,
in the September 1985 issue, Sister Lúcia said that the ceremony did
not fulfill the Virgin Mary's request, as there was no specific mention
of Russia, and "many bishops attached no importance to it." In 2001,
Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone issued a statement, claiming that he had met
with Sister Lúcia, who reportedly told him, "I have already said that
the consecration desired by Our Lady was made in 1984, and has been
accepted in Heaven." Sister Lúcia died on February 13, 2005, without
making any public statement of her own to settle the issue.
Some maintain that, according to Lúcia and Fátima advocates such as Abbe Georges de Nantes, Fr. Paul Kramer and Nicholas Gruner,
Russia has never been specifically consecrated to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary by any Pope simultaneously with all the world's bishops, which
is what Lúcia in the 1985 interview had said Mary had asked for.
However, by letters of August 29, 1989 and July 3, 1990, she stated
that the consecration had been completed; indeed in the 1990 letter in
response to a question by Rev. Father Robert J. Fox, she confirmed:
I come to answer your question, "If the consecration made by Pope John Paul II on March 25, 1984 in union with all the bishops of the world, accomplished the conditions for the consecration of Russia according to the request of Our Lady in Tuy on June 13 of 1929?" Yes, it was accomplished, and since then I have said that it was made. And I say that no other person responds for me, it is I who receive and open all letters and respond to them.
In the meantime, the conception of
Theotokos Derzhavnaya Orthodox Christian venerated icon points out that
Virgin Mary is considered actual Tsarina of Russia by the religious
appeal of Nicholas II thus Consecration of Russia may refer to return of
Russian monarchy.
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima is one of the largest Marian shrines in the world. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima (also known as the Fátima Shrine, the Sanctuary of Fátima or Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary)
is a Roman Catholic Marian basilica in Fátima, Portugal. Its
construction began in 1928 and it was consecrated in October 1953.
The basilica is built at the site of the
Marian apparitions reported by three Portuguese children in 1917 and
known as Our Lady of Fátima. The tombs of Blessed Francisco Marto,
Blessed Jacinta Marto and Sister Lúcia, the three children, are in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary. Scenes of the Marian apparitions are shown in stained glass.
The fifteen church altars are dedicated to the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.
The large church organ was installed in 1952 and has about twelve
thousand pipes. Four statues of the four great apostles of the Rosary
and to the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary are at the four
corners of the Basilica: Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Saint Dominic, Saint John Eudes and Saint Stephen, King of Hungary.
The shrine attracts a large number of Roman Catholics,
and every year pilgrims fill the country road that leads to the shrine
with crowds that approach one million on May 13 and October 13, the
significant dates of the Fátima apparitions. Overall, about four million pilgrims visit the basilica every year.
The Chapel of Apparitions is at the very heart of the
basilica. The exact location of the apparitions is marked by a marble
pillar which holds a statue of the Virgin Mary.
The Paul VI Pastoral Center was inaugurated on May 13, 1982, by Pope John Paul II,
as a center for study and reflection on the message of Fátima. It can
seat over two thousand people and has accommodation for four hundred
pilgrims.
The treasury of the sanctuary holds the Irish Monstrance
considered to be one of the most significant works of religious art
from Ireland. The monstrance was gifted to the basilica in 1949.
The entrance to the Fátima Sanctuary,
which is to the south of the rectory, is a segment of the Berlin Wall
intended to emphasize the belief that the Rosary prayers influenced the
fall of the Berlin Wall related to the Consecration of Russia based on
the Our Lady of Fátima messages.
The large statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which stands in the niche
above the main entrance of the basilica, was sculpted by American priest
Thomas McGlynn, O.P. Father McGlynn spent considerable time with the
visionary Sister Lúcia
as she described for him in detail how Mary looked during her
appearances to the children. The statue is not what Father McGlynn had
in mind when he approached Sister Lúcia, but is more accurately
described as a collaboration between visionary and sculptor, producing
perhaps the most accurate representation of Our Lady of Fátima ever to
be sculpted. The statue was presented as a gift from the Catholic people
of the United States to the Sanctuary of Fátima in 1958.
Fátima Prayers and Reparations
Many
Roman Catholics
recite prayers based on Our Lady of Fátima. Lúcia later said that, in
1916, she and her cousins had several visions of an angel calling
himself the "Angel of Portugal" and the "Angel of Peace" who taught them
to bow with their heads to the ground
and to say "O God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you. I ask
pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do
not love you." Lúcia later set this prayer to music and a recording
exists of her singing it. It was also said that sometime later the angel
returned and taught them a eucharistic devotion now known as the Angel
Prayer.
Lúcia said that the Lady emphasized Acts of Reparation
and prayers to console Jesus for the sins of the world. Lúcia said that
Mary's words were "When you make some sacrifice, say 'O Jesus, it is
for your love, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for sins
committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.'" At the first
apparition, Lúcia wrote, the children were so moved by the radiance they
perceived that they involuntarily said "Most Holy Trinity, I adore you!
My God, my God, I love you in the Most Blessed Sacrament."
Lúcia also said that she heard Mary ask for these words to be added to
the Rosary after the Gloria Patri prayer: "O my Jesus, pardon us, save
us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in
most need."
In
the tradition of Marian visitations, the "conversion of sinners" is not
necessarily religious conversion to the Roman Catholic Church,
for that would be the "conversion of heretics or apostates who are
'outside the church and alien to the Christian Faith' according to Pope
Leo XIII in his encyclical on the Unity of the Church, Satis Cognitum".
Conversion of sinners refers to general repentance and attempt to amend
one's life according to the teachings of Jesus for those True Catholics
who do profess the faith truly, but are fallen into sins. Lúcia wrote
that she and her cousins defined "sinners" not as non-Catholics but as
those who had fallen away from the church or, more specifically,
willfully indulged in sinful activity, particularly "sins of the flesh"[53]
and "acts of injustice and a lack of charity towards the poor, widows
and orphans, the ignorant and the helpless" which she said were even
worse than sins of impurity.
Pilgrimage
Statue depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary as described by Sister Lúcia of Fátima.
An estimated 70,000 people assembled to witness the last of the promised appearances of the Lady in the Cova da Iria
on October 13, 1917. The widely reported miracle of the sun was a
factor that led to Fátima quickly becoming a major centre of pilgrimage.
Two million pilgrims visited the site in the decade following the
events of 1917. A small chapel - the Capelinha
- was built by local people on the site of the apparitions. The
construction was neither encouraged nor hindered by the Catholic Church
authorities. On May 13, 1920, pilgrims defied government troops to
install a statue of the Virgin Mary in the chapel,
and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
was first officially celebrated there in January 1924. A hostel for the
sick was begun in that year. In 1927 the first rector of the sanctuary
was appointed and a set of Stations of the Cross were erected on the
mountain road. The foundation stone for the present basilica was laid
the next year.
1930 was the year both of official church recognition of the
apparition events as "worthy of belief" and the granting of a papal indulgence to pilgrims visiting Fátima.
In 1935 the bodies of the visionaries Jacinta and Francisco were
reinterred in the basilica. The coronation of the statue of Our Lady of
Fátima there in 1946 drew such large crowds that the entrance to the
site had to be barred.
Today pilgrimage to the site goes on all year round and additional
chapels, hospitals and other facilities have been constructed. The
principal pilgrimage festivals take place on the thirteenth day of each
month, from May to October, on the anniversaries of the original
appearances. The largest crowds gather on 13 May and 13 October, when up
to a million
pilgrims have attended to pray and witness processions of the statue of
Our Lady of Fátima, both during the day and by the light of tens of
thousands of candles at night.
Political aspects
From
the French Revolution onwards the Catholic Church had adopted an
increasingly embattled world view and from the pontificate of Pius IX
the Church had been waging war against the so-called twin enemies of
liberalism and socialism. At the same time religion had become
predominantly a female activity by the early twentieth century.
The
numerical predominance of women within the Catholic Church went
alongside a corresponding development of female divine symbols. Dramatic
affirmations of feminine power were given in the apparitions of the
Virgin Mary which occurred all over Western Europe from the 1840s. The
Virgin, usually in the form of the Immaculate Conception, revealed
herself to female seers, often children. When Our Lady appeared to
Catherine Labouré, Bernadette Soubirous, Lúcia Santos at Fátima, or to
the children at Beauraing later, in 1932, and Mariette Beco in 1933,
these dramatic affirmations of divine power in an increasingly
irreligious/secular age, a transformation more strongly felt in the
Western world, offered 'proof' of the power of heaven against "the
onslaughts of secularizing governments".
"The Marian militancy of the Jesuit congregations divided the world
into two camps, those who would defend the Virgin and those who would
defile her. In the wake of the apparitions at Fatima in Portugal such a
view of the world appeared to be shared by the Virgin herself. The
'secrets of Fatima' revealed periodically by the seer Lucia showed
Mary's concern with the apostacy of Soviet Russia and the threat of communist anticlericalism.
Our
Lady of Fatima presented a vision of a world divided. Rome, and
Mary, were ranged against the Soviet Union in a struggle between the
redeemed and the fallen. With the advent of the Spanish Second Republic,
the Virgin Mary [would be] seen on Spanish soil at Ezquioga. Ramona
Olazabal insisted Mary had marked the palms of her hands with a sword.
Seers gained much credence in Integrist and Carlist
circles. The visions at Ezquioga were widely covered in the press, as
were the sixteen other visitations of the Virgin to Spain in 1931. There
was also the Fatima story, an officially sanctioned apparition, the
cult of which, far from being condemned, was actively encouraged by the
Church. As the forces of the Republic gathered strength in Spain, the
Virgin Mary was to be found leading the armies of the faithful ranged
against the Godless."
The
Blue Army of Our Lady is made up of Catholics and non-Catholics who
believe that by dedicating themselves to daily prayer (specifically, of
the Rosary) they can help to achieve world peace and put an end to the
error of communism. In 1952, a feature film, The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, was released. Critics held that the film overplayed the role of socialist
and other leftist elements in Portuguese government as the
"adversaries" of the visions. They state that since the government was
controlled not by socialists but by Freemasons at the time,
most government opposition to the visions would have been motivated by
concern for separation of church and state, not by atheistic,
antitheistic or Communistic ideology. Other critics have stated that
only the enemies of the message propose such a belief.
Official position of the Catholic Church
Inside the Basilica of the Rosary
Private revelations do not form part of the deposit of faith of the Catholic Church,
and its members are not bound to believe in any of them. However, as a
matter of prudence, assent would normally be expected of a Catholic
based on the discernment of the Church and its judgment that an
apparition is worthy of belief.
After a canonical enquiry, the visions of Fátima were officially
declared "worthy of belief" in October 1930 by the Bishop of
Leiria-Fátima.
Ecclesiastical
approbation does not imply that the Church provides an
infallible guarantee on the supernatural nature of the event.
Theologians like Karl Rahner argued however, that Popes, by
authoritatively fostering the Marian veneration in places as Fátima and
Lourdes, motivate the faithful into an acceptance of divine faith.[65] Popes Pius XII, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI
all voiced their acceptance of the supernatural origin of the Fátima
events in unusually clear and strong terms. After the local bishop had
declared that (1) the visions of the three children are credible and (2)
the veneration of the Blessed Virgin is permitted, the Portuguese
bishops approved and declared the genuine supernatural nature of the
event. The Vatican responded with granting indulgences and permitting
special Liturgies of the Mass to be celebrated in Fátima.[15]
In 1939, Eugenio Pacelli, who was consecrated bishop on May 13,
1917—the day of the first apparition—was elected to the papacy as Pius
XII, and became the Pope of Fátima.
One year after World War II had started, Sister Lúcia asked Pope Pius
XII to consecrate the world and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
She repeated this request on December 2, 1940, stating in the year 1929,
the Blessed Lady requested in another apparition the consecration of
Russia to her Immaculate Heart. She promised the conversion of Russia
from its errors.
On May 13, 1942, the 25th anniversary of the first apparition and the
silver jubilee of the episcopal consecration of Pope Pius XII, the
Vatican published the Message and Secret of Fátima. On October 31, 1942,
Pope Pius XII,
in a radio address, informed the people of Portugal about the
apparitions of Fátima, consecrating the human race to the Immaculate
Heart of the Virgin with specific mention of Russia. On December 8, 1942, the Pontiff officially and solemnly declared this
consecration in a ceremony in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. On May 13,
1946, Cardinal Masalla, the personal delegate of Pius XII, crowned in
his name Our Lady of Fátima, as the Pope issued a second message about
Fátima:
On 1 May 1948, in
Auspicia Quaedam, Pope Pius XII requested the consecration to the
Immaculate Heart of every Catholic family, parish and diocese.
On May 18, 1950, the Pope again sent a message to the people of
Portugal regarding Fátima: "May Portugal never forget the heavenly
message of Fátima, which, before anybody else she was blessed to hear.
To keep Fátima in your heart and to translate Fátima into deeds, is the
best guarantee for ever more graces". In numerous additional messages, and in his encyclicals Fulgens Corona (1953), and Ad Caeli Reginam (1954), Pius XII encouraged the veneration of the Virgin in Fátima.
At the end of the Second Vatican Council Pope Paul VI
renewed the consecration of Pius XII to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
and, in an unusual gesture, announced his own pilgrimage to the
sanctuary on the fiftieth anniversary of the first apparition. On May
13, 1967, he prayed at the shrine together with Sister Lúcia. This
historic gesture further cemented the official support for Fátima. Pope John Paul II
credited Our Lady of Fátima with saving his life following the
assassination attempt on Wednesday, May 13, the Feast of Our Lady of
Fátima, in 1981.
He followed the footsteps of Paul VI, on May 12, 1987, to express his
gratitude to the Virgin Mary for saving his life. The following day, he
renewed the consecration of Pius XII to the Immaculate Heart of the
Virgin.
On May 12 and 13, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI visited the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima
and strongly stated his acceptance of the supernatural origin of the
Fátima apparitions. On the first day, the Pope arrived at the Chapel of
Apparitions to pray and gave a Golden Rose to Our Lady of Fátima "as
a homage of gratitude from the Pope for the marvels that the Almighty
has worked through you in the hearts of so many who come as pilgrims to
this your maternal home". The Pope also recalled the "invisible hand" that saved John Paul II and said in a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary that "it
is a profound consolation to know that you are crowned not only with
the silver and gold of our joys and hopes, but also with the 'bullet' of
our anxieties and sufferings".
On the second day, Pope Benedict's homily pronounced in front of more
than 500,000 pilgrims a reference to the Fátima prophecy about the
triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and related it to the final
"glory of the Most Holy Trinity".
References
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Featured Item from Litany Lane
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Today's Snippet I: Fatima, Portugal
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| Panoramic view of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima (with the Chapel of the Apparitions and the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary) |
Fátima is a civil parish in the municipality of Ourém, in the Portuguese Centro
region. With a population of 11,538 inhabitants in 2011, the parish
actually encompasses several villages and localities of which Fátima,
with a population of 7,756 residents, is the largest. Part of the urban
agglomeration of Leiria, it is 187 km (116 mi) south of Porto and 123 km (76 mi) north of Lisbon.
It has been permanently associated with the Marian apparitions that
occurred in Cova da Iria in 1917 and which were later recognized by the
Catholic Church.
History
A close-up of the Christian pilgrams during the Miracle of the Sun, on 13 October 1917
An image of the crowd during the last apparition in Cova da Iria
The parish was founded in 1568, when it was annexed by the Collegiate of Ourém (Portuguese: Colegiada de Ourém).
The history of Fátima is associated with three children: Lúcia and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who on 13 May 1917, while guarding their sheep in Cova da Iria, witnessed an apparition of a lady dressed in white. Cova da Iria is now the Chapel of Apparitions or Portuguese: Capela das Aparições. The lady, later referred to as Our Lady of the Rosary, indicated that she was sent by God with a message of prayer, repentance and consecrations. She visited the children each month on the 13th day from May 13 - October 13. The last apparition occurred on October 13th, and was witnessed by 70,000 pilgrims, who saw the Miracle of the Sun. In addition, Our Lady of Fátima sent a message that consisted of three secrets: first, a vision of Hell where the souls of the sinful would travel without prayer; the second, prophesied the beginning of the Second World War; and ultimately, the mysterious third secret, which was written down by Lúcia dos Santos in 1944, and held by the Vatican, since 1957.
Lucia became a nun and as Sister Lúcia, she recounted three visits from an angel to her and her cousins. Between April and October in 1916 this angel invited them to pray and do penitence. The angel visited them twice in Loca do Cabeço and once by the well in Lúcia's garden. Jacinta died in 1919 and Francisco in 1920 from the Spanish flu Epidemic of 1918-1920, and were later beatified on 13 May 2000 by Pope John Paul II. Lucia lived until 2005.
In order to mark the location of the apparitions, a wooden arch with a cross was constructed in Cova da Iria. The faithful began to travel in pilgrimage to the site. On 6 August 1918, with donations from the public, a small chapel was begun, built from rock and limestone and covered in tile. With a width of 3.3 metres (11 ft) by 2.8 metres (9.2 ft) length, and 2.85 metres (9.4 ft) height, it began to become a center of Marian worship, receiving names such as a fé. Fátima, cidade da Paz (the faith of Fatima, City of Peace), or Terra de Milagres e Aparições (Land of Miracles and Apparitions).
The construction of the sanctuary brought local development to the region, which eventually allowed the town of Fátima to be elevated to the status of city on 12 July 1997. Actually, there was a movement in the parish, primarily from the economic sector, who desired that Fátima become its own municipality. But, the project, which was led by engineer Júlio Silva, ex-president of the Junta de Freguesia, was vetoed on July 2003 by Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, resulting in disappointment among its residents.
Geography
Fátima is located on the Estremenho Limestone Massif, on the flanks of the Serra de Aire, approximately 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level. The geology of the Serras de Aire and Candeeiros gives rise to an arid landscape with a rocky ground interspersed with limestone outcroppings. There are various geological formations in the region including sinkholes, uvalas and polje (like the Polje de Minde-Mata), as well as karst grottoes, caves with stalactites and stalagmites, in addition to lapiez fields.The climate is characterized by heavy precipitation during the winter with approximately 1,400 millimetres (55 in) annually and warm, dry summers.
The trees in this area are primarily dominated by Holly oak (Quercus ilex), Portuguese oak (Quercus faginea), Strawberry trees (Arbutus unedo), Buckthorn and Olive trees, all of which are resistant to the precipitation extremes of the climate. There are also areas of savannah, strips of land bounded by walls of loose stone.
Until 1917, Fátima was an unknown village involved in shepherding and agriculture. It became known worldwide because of the Marian apparitions seen by three young shepherds, occurring between 13 May and 13 October 1917. About 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from Fátima is Aljustrel, a small hamlet where the three shepherd children were born. To the west, near Aljustrel, is Loca do Cabeço, a smaller agglomeration of rocky outcroppings where, in 1916, an angel appeared twice to the three children.
Culture
The Sanctuary of Fátima, in Cova da Iria, is the principal focus of visitors. Annually pilgrims regularly fill the country roads leading to the shrine. Numbers can reach hundreds of the thousands on 13 May and 13 October, the significant dates of the apparitions in Fátima.Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima
Our Lady of Fátima Basilica, bearing the images of Francisco and Jacinta Marto.
Interior view of Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary.
The Chapel of Apparitions at Fátima.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fátima (also known as the Fátima Shrine, the Sanctuary of Fátima or Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary)
is a Roman Catholic Marian basilica in Fátima, Portugal. Its
construction began in 1928 and it was consecrated in October 1953.
The
basilica is built at the site of the Marian apparitions reported by
three Portuguese children in 1917 and known as Our Lady of Fátima. The
tombs of Blessed Francisco Marto, Blessed Jacinta Marto and Sister
Lúcia, the three children, are in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary. Scenes of the Marian apparitions are shown in stained glass.
The fifteen church altars are dedicated to the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.
The large church organ was installed in 1952 and has about twelve
thousand pipes. Four statues of the four great apostles of the Rosary
and to the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary are at the four
corners of the Basilica: Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Saint Dominic, Saint John Eudes and Saint Stephen, King of Hungary.
The shrine attracts a large number of Roman Catholics,
and every year pilgrims fill the country road that leads to the shrine
with crowds that approach one million on May 13 and October 13, the
significant dates of the Fátima apparitions. Overall, about four million pilgrims visit the basilica every year.
The Chapel of Apparitions is at the very heart of the
basilica. The exact location of the apparitions is marked by a marble
pillar which holds a statue of the Virgin Mary.
The Paul VI Pastoral Center was inaugurated on May 13, 1982, by Pope John Paul II,
as a center for study and reflection on the message of Fátima. It can
seat over two thousand people and has accommodation for four hundred
pilgrims.
The treasury of the sanctuary holds the Irish Monstrance
considered to be one of the most significant works of religious art
from Ireland. The monstrance was gifted to the basilica in 1949.[4]
The
entrance to the Fátima Sanctuary, which is to the south of the rectory,
is a segment of the Berlin Wall intended to emphasize the belief that
the Rosary prayers influenced the fall of the Berlin Wall related to the
Consecration of Russia based on the Our Lady of Fátima messages.
The large statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which stands in the niche
above the main entrance of the basilica, was sculpted by American priest
Thomas McGlynn, O.P. Father McGlynn spent considerable time with the
visionary Sister Lúcia
as she described for him in detail how Mary looked during her
appearances to the children. The statue is not what Father McGlynn had
in mind when he approached Sister Lúcia, but is more accurately
described as a collaboration between visionary and sculptor, producing
perhaps the most accurate representation of Our Lady of Fátima ever to
be sculpted. The statue was presented as a gift from the Catholic people
of the United States to the Sanctuary of Fátima in 1958.
References
- ^ Trudy Ring, 1996, International Dictionary of Historic Places, ISBN 978-1-884964-02-2 page 245
- ^ Leo Madigan, A Pilgrim's Handbook to Fatima, Gracewing Press ISBN 0-85244-532-6 page 168
- ^ Regis St. Louis and Robert Landon, 2007, Portugal, Lonely Planet Press ISBN 978-1-74059-918-4 page 290
- Walsh, William Thomas (1 October 1954), Our Lady of Fatima, Random House, ISBN 978-0385028691
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Today's Snippet II: Sanctuary of Fatima
In addition to the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary (Portuguese: Basilicia da Nossa Senhora de Rosário), it comprises the Chapel of the Lausperene (Portuguese: Capela de Lausperene), a great oak tree (near which the Marian Apparitions occurred), a monument to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Portuguese: Monumento ao Sagrado Coração de Jesus) and the Chapel of the Apparitions (Portuguese: Capelinha das Aparições), where three children Lucia Santos and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, were first visited by Mary. In addition, several other structures and monuments were built in the intervening years to commemorate the events associated with the events in 1916, including: the Hostel/Retreat House of Our Lady of Sorrows (Portuguese: Albergue e Casa de Retiros de Nossa Senhora das Dores), the rectory, the Hostel/Retreat of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Portuguese: Casa de Retiros de Nossa Senhora do Carmo), a segment of the Berlin Wall (marking the consecration of Russia to the Sacred Heart of Christ), monuments to Fathers Formigão and Fischer, a High Cross (by artist Robert Schad), and individual monuments to Pope Paul VI, Pope Pius XII, Pope John Paul II and D. José Alves Correia da Silva (who had important roles in the history of site) and the Pastoral Centre of Paul VI (Portuguese: Centro Pastoral de Paulo VI).
Across from the main sanctuary is the much larger Basilica of the Holy Trinity constructed after 1953, owing to the limited scale of the Sanctuary for large-scale pilgrimages and religious services.
History
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| Lúcia Santos, Francisco Jacinta Marto, 1917. |
Victims of the 1918 flu pandemic epidemic, both cousins (Francisco and Jacinta Marto) died on 4 April 1919 and 20 February 1920 (in Aljustrel and Lisbon), respectively. Along with the Three Secrets of Fátima, their stories (and that of Lucia), would be linked to religious construction that followed in Fátima. A small chapel, the Capelinha das Aparições (Chapel of the Apparitions) was begun on 28 April 1919 by local people: its construction was neither hindered or encouraged by church authorities.
On 13 May 1920, pilgrims defied government troops to install a statue of the Virgin Mary in the chapel, while the first officially celebrated mass occurred on 13 October 1921. A hostel for the sick was also begun in the same year, but the original chapel was destroyed on 6 March 1922.
The first investigations (canonical process) by the Roman Catholic Church in regards to the events at Fátima began on 3 May 1922. Meanwhile, small Chapel of the Appariations was rebuilt and functioning by 1923. It would take the next four years to see a change in attitude from the Roman Catholic church; on 26 July 1927, the Bishop of Leiria, presided over the first religious service at Cova da Iria, that included the blessing of the 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) stations of the cross on the mountain road to the site from Reguengo do Fetal.
On 13 May 1928, the first foundation stone was laid in the construction of the basilica and colonnade of Fátima, a process that continued until 1954. The construction of the colonnade, by architect António Lino began in 1949 and extended to 1954. Meanwhile, on 13 October 1930, the Roman Catholic Church permitted the existence of the first cult of Nossa Senhora de Fátima (Our Lady of Fátima). Even before the completion of the complex, the mortal remains of Jacinta Marto was moved from her modest grave in Vila Nova de Ourém (where she had been buried following her death) to Fátima (12 September 1935), and later (on 1 May 1951) to the completed basilica sanctuary. Her brother's remains, were moved from the cemetery in Fátima to the basilica on 13 March 1952. An organ was also mounted that same year in the completed church, by the firm Fratelli Rufatti of Pádua.
Before this period, on 13 May 1942, a large pilgrimage had already to marked the 25th anniversary of the apparitions. Two years later (on 13 May 1946), Cardinal Massella, Pontifical Legate, crowned the image of Our Lady of Fátima in the Chapel of the Apparitions, marking a complete reversal in the official posture of the Vatican See towards the events at Fátima. On 7 October 1953 the Church of the Sanctuary of Fátima was consecrated, and within a year, Pope Pius XII conceded the church the title of Basilica in his short Luce Superna document (November 1954).
.jpg) |
| The Calvary in Fátima, Portugal. |
The sections of the organ, until this time dispersed throughout the basilica were united in one unit in 1962, in the high choir.
On 13 May 1967, Pope Paul VI visits Fátima to mark the 50th anniversary of the first apparitions.
On 19 September 1977, the civil parish was elevated to the status of town.
Between 12–13 May 1982, in a pilgrimage to Fátima by Pope John Paul II, the first cornerstone of the Capela do Sagrado Lausperene was laid: the construction would continue until 1987. Its completion and consecretaion on 1 January 1987 was attributed to donations and gifts from the Austrian association Cruzada de Reparação pelo Rosário para a Paz no Mundo (Rosary Repair Crusade for World Peace). Pope John Paul II would return once more on 12–13 May 1991 to preside over the international pilgrimage anniversary.
On 4 June 1997, the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic elevated the town of Fátima to the status of city.
Following several years of building, on 24 August 2006, the first attempts to classify the sanctuary as a national patrimony were begun, in terms of the transitory regime, but was incomplete due to a sunset clause of 8 September 2001.
The shrine attracts every year a large number of Roman Catholic pilgrims, from Portugal and all around the world. This international stature gave Fátima the title of "Shrine of the World". Every year pilgrims fill the country road that leads to the shrine with crowds that approach one million on May 13 and October 13, the significant dates of the Fátima apparitions. Overall, about four million pilgrims visit the basilica every year.
Architecture
Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary
The carillon consists of 62 bells, created and tempered in Fátima by José Gonçalves Coutinho, of Braga. The largest bell weighs approximately 3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb) and the clapper about 90 kilograms (200 lb). The clock is the work of Bento Rodrigues, also of Braga. The angels on the main facade are the author of Albano França. The statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in the niche of the spire, is 4.73 metres (15.5 ft) tall and weighs 14 tons.
At the entrance to the basilica, over the main portico, is a mosaic representing the Holy Trinity crowning Mary. It was executed by officials of the Vatican and blessed by Cardinal Eugénio Paccelli, future Pope Pious XII, so-called Pope of Fátima. A large statue of Our Lady of Fatima, which stands in a niche above the main entrance of the basilica, was sculpted by American priest Thomas McGlynn. Father McGlynn spent considerable time with Sister Lúcia as she described to him in detail how Mary looked during her appearances to the children. The statue is not what Father McGlynn had in mind when he approached Sister Lúcia, but is more accurately described as a collaboration between visionary and sculptor, producing perhaps the most accurate representation of Our Lady of Fátima: the statue was presented as a gift from the Catholic people of the United States to the Sanctuary of Fátima in 1958.
Many of the events of the Marian apparitions at Fátima are depicted in the stained glass windows in the basilica, while fifteen altars within the church are dedicated to the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. At the four corners of the basilica are statues of the four great apostles of the Rosary and to their devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Saint Dominic, Saint John Eudes and Saint Stephen, King of Hungary.
A five-section organ (grande organ, positive, recitative, solo and echo) actioned by a console of five keyboards and pedals is installed in the choir. It has 152 registers and approximately 12,000 lead, tin and wood tubes, with the largest 11 metres (36 ft) in height and the smallest 9 millimetres (0.35 in). Initially, the organ was divided into its five parts and dispersed within the basilica, but it was re-formed in 1962 and installed in its present location.
Chapel of the Sacred Lausperene
The Chapel of the Sacred Lausperene (Portuguese: Capela do Sagrado Lausperene), is situated at the end of the left colonnade of the basilica. The stained-glass windows at its entrance represent manna in the desert and the Last Supper.Chapel of the Apparitions
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| The Chapel of the Apparitions |
Other places and monuments
Pope John Paul II inaugurated the Paul VI Pastoral Center May 13, 1982, as a center for study and reflection on the message of Fátima. It can seat over two thousand people and has accommodation for four hundred pilgrims.The treasury of the sanctuary holds the Irish Monstrance considered to be one of the most significant works of religious art from Ireland. The monstrance was gifted to the basilica in 1949.
Near the entrance to the Fátima Sanctuary, south of the rectory, is a segment of the Berlin Wall intended to emphasize the belief that the Rosary prayers influenced the fall of the Berlin Wall related to the Consecration of Russia based on the Our Lady of Fátima messages.
Sources
- AAVV, ed. (2004), Caminhos do Espírito, Percursos da Arte, Região de Turismo Leiria / Fátima; [Paths of the Spirit, Paths of Art, Leiria Tourist Region] (in Portuguese), Leiria, Portugal, pp. 153–160
- Fátima: 75 anos [Fatima: 75 years] (in Portuguese), Fátima: Comissão Central das Comemorações do 75.º Aniversário das Aparições de Nossa Senhora de Fátima, 1992
- Silva, Patrick Coelho da, O Santuário de Fátima: arquitetura portuguesa do século XX [The Shrine of Fatima: Portuguese architecture of the twentieth century] (in Portuguese), Porto, Portugal: Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada à Universidade Fernando Pessoa
- Vasconcelos, João (1996), Romarias - II - um inventário dos Santuários de Portugal [Pilgrimages: An inventory of the Shrines of Portugal] (in Portuguese), II, Lisbon: Olhapim Editores
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Snippet III: Devotion to The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
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| Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Scapular |
The Sacred Heart (also known as Most Sacred Heart of Jesus) is one of the most famous religious devotions to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity.
This devotion is predominantly used in the Catholic Church and among some high-church Anglicans and Lutherans. The devotion especially emphasizes the unmitigated love, compassion, and long-suffering of the heart of Christ towards humanity. The origin of this devotion in its modern form is derived from a French Roman Catholic nun, Marguerite Marie Alacoque, who said she learned the devotion from Jesus during a mystical experience. Predecessors to the modern devotion arose unmistakably in the Middle Ages in various facets of Catholic mysticism.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the Sacred Heart has been closely associated with Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ. In his encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor, Pope Pius XI stated: "the spirit of expiation or reparation has always had the first and foremost place in the worship given to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus". The Golden Arrow Prayer directly refers to the Sacred Heart. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is sometimes seen in the Eastern Catholic Churches, where it remains a point of controversy and is seen as an example of Liturgical Latinisation.
The Sacred Heart is often depicted in Christian art as a flaming heart shining with divine light, pierced by the lance-wound, encircled by the crown of thorns, surmounted by a cross and bleeding. Sometimes the image shown shining within the bosom of Christ with his wounded hands pointing at the heart. The wounds and crown of thorns allude to the manner of Jesus' death, while the fire represents the transformative power of divine love.
The Feast of the Sacred Heart has been in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar since 1856, and is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost. As Pentecost is always celebrated on Sunday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart always falls on a Friday.
History of Devotion
Early devotion
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| Sacred Heart of Jesus Ibarrará, 1896 |
From the time of John the Evangelist and Paul of Tarsus there has always been in the Church something like devotion to the love of God, but there is nothing to indicate that, during the first ten centuries of Christianity, any worship was rendered to the wounded Heart of Jesus. It is in the eleventh and twelfth centuries that the first indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart are found. It was in the fervent atmosphere of the Benedictine or Cistercian monasteries, in the world of Anselmian or Bernardine thought, that the devotion arose, although it is impossible to say positively what were its first texts or who were its first devotees. It was already well known to St. Gertrude, St. Mechtilde, and the author of the Vitis mystica (previously ascribed to St. Bernard, now attributed to St. Bonaventure).
From the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, the devotion was propagated but it did not seem to have developed in itself. It was everywhere practised by individuals and by different religious congregations, such as the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carthusians, etc. It was, nevertheless, a private, individual devotion of the mystical order. Nothing of a general movement had been inaugurated, except for similarities found in the devotion to the Five Wounds by the Franciscans, in which the wound in Jesus's heart figured most prominently.
In the sixteenth century, the devotion passed from the domain of mysticism into that of Christian asceticism. It was established as a devotion with prayers already formulated and special exercises, found in the writings of Lanspergius (d. 1539) of the Carthusians of Cologne, the Louis of Blois (Blosius; 1566), a Benedictine and Abbot of Liessies in Hainaut, John of Avila (d. 1569) and St. Francis de Sales, the latter belonging to the seventeenth century.
The historical record from that time shows an early bringing to light of the devotion. Ascetic writers spoke of it, especially those of the Society of Jesus. The image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was everywhere in evidence, largely due to the Franciscan devotion to the Five Wounds and to the habit formed by the Jesuits of placing the image on their title-page of their books and the walls of their churches.
Nevertheless, the devotion remained an individual, or at least a private, devotion. Jean Eudes (1602–1680) made it public, gave it an Office, and established a feast for it. Père Eudes was the apostle of the Heart of Mary; but in his devotion to the Immaculate Heart there was a share for the Heart of Jesus. Little by little, the devotion to the Sacred Heart became a separate one, and on August 31, 1670, the first feast of the Sacred Heart was celebrated in the Grand Seminary of Rennes. Coutances followed suit on October 20, a day with which the Eudist feast was from then on to be connected. The feast soon spread to other dioceses, and the devotion was likewise adopted in various religious communities. It gradually came into contact with the devotion begun at Paray, and resulting in a fusion of the two.
Visions of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
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| St Margaret Mary Alacoque, Giaquinto 1765 |
The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart in the form it is known today was Visitandine Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690), who claimed to have received visions of Jesus Christ. There is nothing to indicate that she had known the devotion prior to the revelations, or at least that she had paid any attention to it. The revelations were numerous, and the following apparitions are especially remarkable:
- On December 27, probably 1673, the feast of St. John, Margaret Mary reported that Jesus permitted her, as he had formerly allowed St. Gertrude, to rest her head upon his heart, and then disclosed to her the wonders of his love, telling her that he desired to make them known to all mankind and to diffuse the treasures of his goodness, and that he had chosen her for this work.
- In probably June or July, 1674, Margaret Mary claimed that Jesus requested to be honored under the figure of his heart, also claiming that, when he appeared radiant with love, he asked for a devotion of expiatory love: frequent reception of Communion, especially Communion on the First Friday of the month, and the observance of the Holy Hour.
- During the octave of Corpus Christi, 1675, probably on June 16, the vision known as the "great apparition" reportedly took place, where Jesus said, "Behold the Heart that has so loved men ... instead of gratitude I receive from the greater part (of mankind) only ingratitude ...", and asked Margaret Mary for a feast of reparation of the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi, bidding her consult her confessor Father Claude de la Colombière, then superior of the small Jesuit house at Paray. Solemn homage was asked on the part of the king, and the mission of propagating the new devotion was especially confided to the religious of the Visitation and to the priests of the Society of Jesus.
A few days after the "great apparition", Margaret Mary reported everything she saw to Father de la Colombière, and he, acknowledging the vision as an action of the Spirit of God, consecrated himself to the Sacred Heart and directed her to write an account of the apparition. He also made use of every available opportunity to circulate this account, discreetly, through France and England. Upon his death on February 15, 1682, there was found in his journal of spiritual retreats a copy in his own handwriting of the account that he had requested of Margaret Mary, together with a few reflections on the usefulness of the devotion. This journal, including the account and an "offering" to the Sacred Heart, in which the devotion was well explained, was published at Lyons in 1684. The little book was widely read, especially at Paray. Margaret Mary reported feeling "dreadful confusion" over the book's contents, but resolved to make the best of it, approving of the book for the spreading of her cherished devotion. Outside of the Visitandines, priests, religious, and laymen espoused the devotion, particularly the Capuchins, Margaret Mary's two brothers, and some Jesuits. The Jesuit Father Croiset wrote a book called The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a book which Jesus is said to have told Margaret to tell Fr. Croiset to write, and Fr. Joseph de Gallifet, also a Jesuit, promoted the devotion.
Papal Approvals
The Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart was a nun from Sisters of the Good Shepherd Congregation who requested, in the name of Christ Himself, to Pope Leo XIII that he consecrate the entire World to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The death of Margaret Mary Alacoque on October 17, 1690, did not dampen the zeal of those interested; on the contrary, a short account of her life published by Father Croiset in 1691, as an appendix to his book "De la Dévotion au Sacré Cœur", served only to increase it. In spite of all sorts of obstacles, and of the slowness of the Holy See, which in 1693 imparted indulgences to the Confraternities of the Sacred Heart and, in 1697, granted the feast to the Visitandines with the Mass of the Five Wounds, but refused a feast common to all, with special Mass and Office. The devotion spread, particularly in religious communities. The Marseilles plague, 1720, furnished perhaps the first occasion for a solemn consecration and public worship outside of religious communities. Other cities of the South followed the example of Marseilles, and thus the devotion became a popular one. In 1726 it was deemed advisable once more to importune Rome for a feast with a Mass and Office of its own, but, in 1729, Rome again refused. However, in 1765, it finally yielded and that same year, at the request of the queen, the feast was received quasi-officially by the episcopate of France. On all sides it was asked for and obtained, and finally, in 1856, at the urgent entreaties of the French bishops, Pope Pius IX extended the feast to the Roman Catholic Church under the rite of double major. In 1889 it was raised by the Roman Catholic Church to the double rite of first class.
After the letters of Mother Mary of the Divine Heart (1863–1899) requesting, in the name of Christ Himself, to Pope Leo XIII consecrate the entire World to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Father commissions a group of theologians to examine the petition on the basis of revelation and sacred tradition. This investigation was positive. And so in the encyclical letter Annum Sacrum (on May 25, 1899) this same pope decreed that the consecration of the entire human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus should take place on June 11, 1899. In this encyclical letter the Pope attached Later Pope Leo XIII encouraged the entire Roman Catholic episcopate to promote the devotion of the Nine First Fridays and he established June as the Month of the Sacred Heart. Leo XIII also composed the Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart and included it in Annum Sacrum.
Pope Pius X decreed that the consecration of the human race, performed by Pope Leo XIII be renewed each year. Pope Pius XI in his encyclical letter Miserentissimus Redemptor (on May 8, 1928) affirmed the Church's position with respect to Saint Margaret Mary's visions of Jesus Christ by stating that Jesus had "manifested Himself" to Saint Margaret and had "promised her that all those who rendered this honor to His Heart would be endowed with an abundance of heavenly graces." The encyclical refers to the conversation between Jesus and Saint Margaret several times[2] and reaffirmed the importance of consecration and reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Finally, Venerable Pope Pius XII, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Pope Pius IX's institution of the Feast, instructed the entire Roman Catholic Church at length on the devotion to the Sacred Heart in his encyclical letter Haurietis aquas (on May 15, 1956). On May 15, 2006, also Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, on the 50th Anniversary of the encyclical Haurietis Aquas, about the Sacred Heart, by Pope Pius XII. In his letter to Father Kolvenbach, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the importance of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Worship and Devotion
The Roman Catholic acts of consecration, reparation and devotion were introduced when the feast of the Sacred Heart was declared. In his Papal Bull Auctorem Fidei, Pope Pius VI praised devotion to the Sacred Heart. Finally, by order of Leo XIII, in his encyclical Annum Sacrum (May 25, 1899), as well as on June 11, he consecrated every human to the Sacred Heart. The idea of this act, which Leo XIII called "the great act" of his pontificate, had been proposed to him by a religious woman of the Good Shepherd from Oporto (Portugal) who said that she had supernaturally received it from Jesus. Since c. 1850, groups, congregations, and States have consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart. In 1873, by petition of president Gabriel García Moreno, Ecuador was the first country in the world to be consecrated to the Sacred Heart, fulfilling God's petition to Saint Margaret Mary over two hundred years later.
Peter Coudrin of France founded the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary on December 24, 1800. A religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, the order is best known for its missionary work in Hawaii. Mother Clelia Merloni from Forlì (Italy) founded the Congregation of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Viareggio, Italy, May 30, 1894. Worship of the Sacred Heart mainly consists of several hymns, the Salutation of the Sacred Heart, and the Litany of the Sacred Heart. It is common in Roman Catholic services and occasionally is to be found in Anglican services. The Feast of the Sacred Heart is a solemnity in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, and is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost. As Pentecost is always celebrated on Sunday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart always falls on a Friday.
The Enthronement of the Sacred Heart is a Roman Catholic ceremony in which a priest or head of a household consecrates the members of the household to the Sacred Heart. A blessed image of the Sacred Heart, either a statue or a picture, is then "enthroned" in the home to serve as a constant reminder to those who dwell in the house of their consecration to the Sacred Heart. The practice of the Enthronement is based upon Pope Pius XII's declaration that devotion to the Sacred of Jesus is "the foundation on which to build the kingdom of God in the hearts of individuals, families, and nations..."
Alliance with the Immaculate Heart of Mary
The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is based on the historical, theological and spiritual links in Catholic devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The joint devotion to the hearts was first formalized in the 17th century by Saint Jean Eudes who organized the scriptural, theological and liturgical sources relating to the devotions and obtained the approbation of the Church, prior to the visions of Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque.
In the 18th and 19th centuries the devotions grew, both jointly and individually through the efforts of figures such as Saint Louis de Montfort who promoted Catholic Mariology and Saint Catherine Labouré's Miraculous Medal depicting the Heart of Jesus thorn-crowned and the Heart of Mary pierced with a sword. The devotions, and the associated prayers, continued into the 20th century, e.g. in the Immaculata prayer of Saint Maximillian Kolbe and in the reported messages of Our Lady of Fatima which stated that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be honored together with the Heart of Mary.
Popes supported the individual and joint devotions to the hearts through the centuries. In the 1956 encyclical Haurietis Aquas, Pope Pius XII encouraged the joint devotion to the hearts. In the 1979 encyclical Redemptor Hominis Pope John Paul II explained the theme of unity of Mary's Immaculate Heart with the Sacred Heart. In his Angelus address on September 15, 1985 Pope John Paul II coined the term The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and in 1986 addressed the international conference on that topic held at Fátima, Portugal.
The Miraculous Medal
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| The Miraculous Medal |
The Sacred Heart has also been involved in (and been depicted) in saintly apparitions such as those to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830 and appears on the Miraculous Medal.
On the Miraculous Medal, the Sacred Heart is crowned with thorns. The Immaculate Heart of Mary also appears on the medal, next to the Sacred Heart, but is pierced by a sword, rather than being crowned with thorns. The M on the medal signifies the Blessed Virgin at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was being crucified.
Religious imagery depicting the Sacred Heart is frequently featured in Roman Catholic, and sometimes Anglican and Lutheran homes. Sometimes images display beneath them a list of family members, indicating that the entire family is entrusted to the protection of Jesus in the Sacred Heart, from whom blessings on the home and the family members are sought. The prayer "O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee" is often used. One particular image has been used as part of a set, along with an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In that image, Mary too was shown pointing to her Immaculate Heart, expressing her love for the human race and for her Son, Jesus Christ. The mirror images reflect an eternal binding of the two hearts.
The Scapular of the Sacred Heart and the Scapular of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary are worn by Roman Catholics.
In Eastern Catholicism
Devotion to the Sacred Heart may be found in some Eastern Catholic Churches, but is a contentious issue. Those who favour purity of rite are opposed to the devotion, while those who are in favour of the devotion cite it as a point of commonality with their Latin Catholic brethren.
Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Jesus Christ, in his appearances to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, promised these blessings to those who practice devotion to his Sacred Heart. This tabular form of promises was not made by Saint Margaret Mary or her contemporaries. It first appeared at 1863. In 1882, an American businessman spread the tabular form of the promises profusely throughout the world, the twelve promises appearing in 238 languages. In 1890, Cardinal Adolph Perraud deplored this circulation of the promises in the tabular form which were different from the words and even from the meaning of the expressions used by St. Margaret Mary, and wanted the promises to be published in the full, authentic texts as found in the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque:
- I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
- I will give peace in their families.
- I will console them in all their troubles.
- I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
- I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
- Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
- Tepid souls shall become fervent.
- Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
- I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
- I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
- Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
- In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.
The last promise has given rise to the pious Roman Catholic practice of making an effort to attend Mass and receive Communion on the first Friday of each month.
Great efficacy of converting people has been attached to the use of the image of the Sacred Heart.
"Even at the hour of death, incredulous, indifferent, hardened souls have been converted by simply showing them a picture of the Sacred Heart, which sufficed to restore these sinners to the life of hope and love, in a word, to touch the most hardened. It would, indeed, be a great misfortune to any apostolic man to neglect so powerful a means of conversion, and in proof of this I will mention a single fact which will need no comment. A religious of the Company of Jesus had been requested by the Blessed Margaret Mary to make a careful engraving of the Sacred Heart. Being often hindered by other occupations, there was much delay in preparing this plate. ' This good father,' writes the saint, 'is so much occupied by Mon- signor d'Autun in the conversion of heretics, that he has neither time nor leisure to give to the work so ardently desired by the Heart of our Divine Master. You cannot imagine, my much-loved mother, how greatly this delay afflicts and pains me. I must avow confidently to you my belief that it is the cause of his converting so few infidels in this town. I seem constantly to hear these words : ' That if this good father had acquitted himself at once of his promise to the Sacred Heart, Jesus would have changed and converted the hearts of these infidels, on account of the joy He would have felt at seeing Himself honoured in the picture He so much wishes for. As, however, he prefers other work, even though to the glory of God, to that of giving Him this satisfaction, He will harden the hearts of these infidels, and the labours of this mission will not be crowned with much fruit.'
Scapular of the Sacred Heart
The devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus also involve the Scapular of the Sacred Heart. It is a Roman Catholic devotional scapular that can be traced back to Saint Margaret Marie Alacoque who herself made and distributed badges similar to it. In 1872 Pope Pius IX granted an indulgence for the badge and the actual scapular was approved by the Congregation of Rites in 1900. It bears the representation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on one side, and that of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Mother of Mercy on the other side. Prayer, Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the Heart of Thy well-beloved Son and upon the acts of praise and satisfaction which He renders unto Thee in the name of sinners; and do Thou, in Thy great goodness, grant pardon to them who seek Thy mercy, in the name of the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, world without end.
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Snippet IV: Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
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| Immaculate heart of Mary Scapular |
The Immaculate Heart of Mary (also known as The Sacred Heart of Mary) is a devotional name used to refer to the interior life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love for God the Father, her maternal love for her son Jesus, and her compassionate love for all persons. The consideration of Mary's interior life and the beauties of her soul, without any thought of her physical heart, does not constitute the traditional devotion; still less does it consist in the consideration of the heart of Mary merely as a part of her pure body. In 1855 the Mass of the Most Pure Heart formally became a part of Catholic practice. The two elements are essential to the devotion, just as, according to Roman Catholic theology, soul and body are necessary to the constitution of man.
Eastern Catholic Churches occasionally utilize the image, devotion, and theology associated with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. However, this is a cause of some controversy, some seeing it as a form of liturgical instillation. The Roman Catholic view is based on Mariology, as exemplified by Pope John Paul II's Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae which builds on the total Marian devotion pioneered by Louis de Montfort.
Traditionally, the heart is pierced with seven wounds or swords, in homage to the seven dolors of Mary. Consequently, seven Hail Marys are said daily in honor of the devotion. Also, roses or another type of flower may be wrapped around the heart
Veneration and devotion
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| Immaculate Heart Mary, Seven Dolors |
Veneration of the Heart of Mary is analogous to worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is, however, necessary to indicate a few differences in this analogy, the better to explain the character of Roman Catholic devotion to the Heart of Mary. Some of these differences are very marked, whereas others are barely perceptible. The Devotion to the Heart of Jesus is especially directed to the "Divine Heart" as overflowing with love for humanity, presented as "despised and outraged". In the devotion to the Mary, on the other hand, the attraction is the love of this Heart for Jesus and for God. Its love for humans is not overlooked, but it is not so much in evidence nor so dominant.
A second difference is the nature of the devotion itself. In devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Roman Catholic venerates in a sense of love responding to love. In devotion to the Heart of Mary, study and imitation hold as important a place as love. Love is more the result than the object of the devotion, the object being rather to love God and Jesus better by uniting one's self to Mary for this purpose and by imitating her virtues. It would also seem that, although in the devotion to the Heart of Mary the heart has an essential part as symbol and sensible object, it does not stand out as prominently as in the devotion to the Heart of Jesus; devotion focuses rather on the thing symbolized, the love, virtues, and sentiments of Mary's interior life.
The Immaculate Heart has also been involved in (and been depicted) in saintly Marian apparitions such as those to Saint Catherine Labouré in 1830 and appears on the Miraculous Medal. On the Miraculous Medal, the Immaculate Heart is pierced by a sword. The Sacred Heart of Jesus also appears on the medal, next to the Immaculate Heart, but is crowned with thorns, rather than being pierced by a sword. The M on the medal signifies the Blessed Virgin at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was being crucified.
Our Lady of Fatima asked that, in reparation for sins committed against her Immaculate Heart, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months the Catholic:
- Go to Confession (within 8 days before or after the first Saturday)
- Receive Holy Communion
- Recite five decades of the Rosary
- Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary
She promised that, whoever would ever do this, would be given at the hour of his death, the graces necessary for salvation.
History of devotion
The history of the devotion to the Heart of Mary is connected on many points with that to the Heart of Jesus. The attention of Christians was early attracted by the love and virtues of the Heart of Mary. The gospels recount the prophecy delivered to her at Jesus' presentation at the temple: that her heart would be pierced with a sword. This image (the pierced heart) is the most popular representation of the Immaculate Heart. The St. John's Gospel further invited attention to Mary's heart with its depiction of Mary at the foot of the cross at Jesus' crucifixion. St. Augustine said of this that Mary was not merely passive at the foot of the cross; "she cooperated through charity in the work of our redemption".
Statue depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary as described by Sister Lucia of Fátima.
Another Scriptural passage to help in bringing out the devotion was the twice-repeated saying of Saint Luke, that Mary kept all the sayings and doings of Jesus in her heart, that there she might ponder over them and live by them. A few of Mary's sayings, also recorded in the Gospel, particularly the Magnificat (the words Mary is reported to have said to describe the experience of being pregnant with Jesus), disclose new features in Marian psychology. Some of the Church Fathers also throw light upon the psychology of Mary, for instance, Saint Ambrose, when in his commentary on The Gospel of Luke he holds Mary up as the ideal of virginity, and Saint Ephrem, when he poetically sings of the coming of the Magi and the welcome accorded them by the humble mother. Some passages from other books in the Bible are interpreted as referring to Mary, in whom they personify wisdom and her gentle charms. Such are the texts in which wisdom is presented as the mother of lofty love, of fear, of knowledge, and of holy hope. In the New Testament Elizabeth proclaims Mary blessed because she has believed the words of the angel who announced that she would become pregnant with Jesus, although she was still a virgin; the Magnificat is an expression of her humility. In answering the woman of the people, who in order to exalt the son proclaimed the mother blessed, Jesus himself said: "Blessed rather are they that hear the word of God and keep it." The Church Fathers understood this as an invitation to seek in Mary that which had so endeared her to God and caused her to be selected as the mother of Jesus, and found in these words a new reason for praising Mary. St. Leo said that through faith and love she conceived her son spiritually, even before receiving him into her womb, and St. Augustine tells us that she was more blessed in having borne Christ in her heart than in having conceived him in the flesh.
It is only in the twelfth, or towards the end of the eleventh century, that slight indications of a regular devotion are perceived in a sermon by St. Bernard (De duodecim stellis), from which an extract has been taken by the Church and used in the Offices of the Compassion and of the Seven Dolours. Stronger evidences are discernible in the pious meditations on the Ave Maria and the Salve Regina, usually attributed either to St. Anselm of Lucca (d. 1080) or St. Bernard; and also in the large book "De laudibus B. Mariae Virginis" (Douai, 1625) by Richard de Saint-Laurent, Penitentiary of Rouen in the thirteenth century. In St. Mechtilde (d. 1298) and St. Gertrude (d. 1301) the devotion had two earnest adherents. A little earlier it had been included by St. Thomas Becket in the devotion to the joys and sorrows of Mary, by Blessed Hermann (d.1245), one of the first spiritual children of Saint Dominic, in his other devotions to Mary, and somewhat later it appeared in St. Bridget's "Book of Revelations". Johannes Tauler (d. 1361) beholds in Mary the model of a mystical soul, just as St. Ambrose perceived in her the model of a virginal soul. St. Bernardine of Siena (d.1444) was more absorbed in the contemplation of the virginal heart, and it is from him that the Church has borrowed the lessons of the second nocturn for the feast of the Heart of Mary. St. Francis de Sales speaks of the perfections of this heart, the model of love for God, and dedicated to it his "Theotimus."
During this same period one finds occasional mention of devotional practices to the Heart of Mary, e.g., in the "Antidotarium" of Nicolas du Saussay (d. 1488), in Julius II, and in the "Pharetra" of Lanspergius. In the second half of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth, ascetic authors dwelt upon this devotion at greater length. It was, however, reserved to Saint Jean Eudes (d. 1681) to propagate the devotion, to make it public, and to have a feast celebrated in honor of the Heart of Mary, first at Autun in 1648 and afterwards in a number of French dioceses. He established several religious societies interested in upholding and promoting the devotion, of which his large book on the Coeur Admirable (Admirable Heart), published in 1681, resembles a summary. Jean Eudes' efforts to secure the approval of an office and feast failed at Rome, but, notwithstanding this disappointment, the devotion to the Heart of Mary progressed. In 1699 Father Pinamonti (d. 1703) published in Italian a short work on the Holy Heart of Mary, and in 1725, Joseph de Gallifet combined the cause of the Heart of Mary with that of the Heart of Jesus in order to obtain Rome's approbation of the two devotions and the institution of the two feasts. In 1729, his project was defeated, and in 1765, the two causes were separated, to assure the success of the principal one.
Alliance with the Sacred Heart
The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary is based on the historical, theological and spiritual links in Catholic devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The joint devotion to the hearts was first formalized in the 17th century by Saint Jean Eudes who organized the scriptural, theological and liturgical sources relating to the devotions and obtained the approbation of the Church, prior to the visions of Saint Marguerite Marie Alacoque.
In the 18th and 19th centuries the devotions grew, both jointly and individually through the efforts of figures such as Saint Louis de Montfort who promoted Catholic Mariology and Saint Catherine Labouré's Miraculous Medal depicting the Heart of Jesus thorn-crowned and the Heart of Mary pierced with a sword. The devotions, and the associated prayers, continued into the 20th century, e.g. in the Immaculata prayer of Saint Maximillian Kolbe and in the reported messages of Our Lady of Fatima which stated that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be honored together with the Heart of Mary.
Popes supported the individual and joint devotions to the hearts through the centuries. In the 1956 encyclical Haurietis Aquas, Pope Pius XII encouraged the joint devotion to the hearts. In the 1979 encyclical Redemptor Hominis Pope John Paul II explained the theme of unity of Mary's Immaculate Heart with the Sacred Heart. In his Angelus address on September 15, 1985 Pope John Paul II coined the term The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and in 1986 addressed the international conference on that topic held at Fátima, Portugal.
Feast days
Fatima Statue of Pope Pius XII, who consecrated Russia and the World: Just as a few years ago We consecrated the entire human race to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, so today We consecrate and in a most special manner We entrust all the peoples of Russia to this Immaculate Heart...
In 1799 Pius VI, then in captivity at Florence, granted the Bishop of Palermo the feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary for some of the churches in his diocese. In 1805 Pius VII made a new concession, thanks to which the feast was soon widely observed. Such was the existing condition when a twofold movement, started in Paris, gave fresh impetus to the devotion. The two factors of this movement were, first of all, the revelation of the "miraculous medal" in 1830 and all the prodigies that followed, and then the establishment at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires of the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Refuge of Sinners, which spread rapidly throughout the world and was the source of numberless alleged graces. On 21 July 1855, the Congregation of Rites finally approved the Office and Mass of the Most Pure Heart of Mary without, however, imposing them upon the Universal Church.
During the third apparition at Fátima, Portugal on 13 July 1917, the Virgin Mary allegedly said that "God wishes to establish in the world devotion to her Immaculate Heart" in order to save souls from going into the fires of hell and to bring about world peace, and also asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. Pope Pius XII, in his Apostolic Letter of 7 July 1952, Sacro Vergente consecrated Russia to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.
On 25 March 1984, Pope John Paul II fulfilled this request again, when he made the solemn act of consecration of the world, and implicitly Russia, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary before the miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary of Fatima brought to Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican for the momentous occasion. Sister Lucia, OCD, then the only surviving visionary of Fatima, confirmed that the request of Mary for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was accepted by Heaven and therefore, was fulfilled. Again on 8 October 2000, Pope John Paul II made an act of entrustment of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the new millennium.
Roman Catholic feast days
Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1944 to be celebrated on 22 August, coinciding with the traditional octave day of the Assumption. In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the celebration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the day, Saturday, immediately after the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This means in practice that it is now held on the day before the third Sunday after Pentecost.
At the same time as he closely associated the celebrations of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Pope Paul VI moved the celebration of the Queenship of Mary from 31 May to 22 August, bringing it into association with the feast of her Assumption.
Those who use the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal or an earlier one (but not more than 17 years before 1962) observe the day established by Pius XII.
References:
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
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Today's Snippet V: Acts of Reparation
(Morning offering First Friday and First Saturday Devotions)
In the Roman Catholic tradition, an Act of Reparation is a prayer or devotion with the intent to repair the "sins of others", e.g. for the repair of the sin of blasphemy, the sufferings of Jesus Christ or as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary.[1] These prayers do not usually involve a petition for a living or deceased beneficiary, but aim to repair sins.
In his encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor Pope Pius XI defined reparation as follows:
The creature's love should be given in return for the love of the Creator, another thing follows from this at once, namely that to the same uncreated Love, if so be it has been neglected by forgetfulness or violated by offense, some sort of compensation must be rendered for the injury, and this debt is commonly called by the name of reparation.[2]
Pope John Paul II referred to reparation as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".[3]
Theological basis and history
The Catechism of the Catholic Church 2157 states:
- The Christian begins his day, his prayers, and his activities with the Sign of the Cross: "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." The baptized person dedicates the day to the glory of God and calls on the Savior's grace which lets him act in the Spirit as a child of the Father.
"All that we do without offering it to God is wasted," Saint John Mary Vianney preached. According to Catholic theology, the worth of an action in the eyes of God is found in the intention, i.e. what takes place in the heart of each person, on whether the person lives based on the love for God (the greatest commandment) or love for self. Thus, Catholic spirituality encourages the practice of fixing one's intention towards loving God at the very beginning of the day, through the morning offering. Catholic authors also encourage repeating this offering throughout the day, especially at the start of one's professional work which takes a large part of each day.
The morning offering is an essential part of the theology of sanctification of work, or the use of work, secular or otherwise, as a means of arriving at personal sanctity. The other element in this theology is the actual work done with spirit of excellence in consonance with the intention of offering something "worthy" to the sanctity, majesty and the goodness of the Father God.
"All that we do without offering it to God is wasted." - Saint John Mary Vianney
This theology is also supported by private revelation to some saints. For example, Sister Josefa Menéndez (1890-1923) reported that she heard Jesus Christ tell her: "When you awake, enter at once into My Heart, and when you are in it, offer My Father all your actions united to the pulsations of My Heart . . . If [a person is] engaged in work of no value in itself, if she bathes it in My Blood or unites it to the work I Myself did during My mortal life, it will greatly profit souls . . . more, perhaps, than if she had preached to the whole world. You will be able to save many souls that way."
Saint Mechtilde (1241-1298), a popular saint during the time of Dante and who was mentioned in his Divine Comedy, also had visions of Jesus Christ and transmitted the following words of Jesus: "When you awake in the morning, let your first act be to salute My Heart, and to offer Me your own . . . Whoever shall breathe a sigh toward Me from the bottom of his heart when he awakes in the morning and shall ask Me to work all his works in him throughout the day, will draw Me to him . . . For never does a man breathe a sigh of longing aspiration toward Me without drawing Me nearer to him than I was before." It is also said that the morning offering helps "refresh and recharge" the soul, preparing the soul to face each day with the help of God himself.[1]
The morning offering has been an old practice in the Church but it started to spread largely through the Apostleship of Prayer, started by Fr. Francis X. Gautrelet, S.J, and specially through the book written by another Jesuit, Reverend Henry Ramière, S.J., who in 1861, adapted the Apostleship of Prayer for parishes and various Catholic institutions, and made it known by his book "The Apostleship of Prayer", which has been translated into many languages.
Duty of Reparation and Devotion
In the encyclical Miserentissimus Redemptor Pope Pius XI called acts of reparation a duty for Roman Catholics:We are holden to the duty of reparation and expiation by a certain more valid title of justice and of love, of justice indeed, in order that the offense offered to God by our sins may be expiatedThe pontiff further emphasized, "Moreover this duty of expiation is laid upon the whole race of men"
Prayers of Reparation
A number of prayers as an Act of Reparation to the Virgin Mary appear in the Raccolta Catholic prayer book (approved by a Decree of December 15 1854, and published in 1898 by the Holy See). The Raccolta includes a number of diverse prayers for reparation.[4]
- The Rosary of the Holy Wounds (which does not include the usual rosary mysteries) focuses on specific redemptive aspects of Christ's suffering in Calvary, with emphasis on the souls in purgatory.[5]
- A well known Act of Reparation to Jesus Christ and for the reparation of blasphemy is The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion (Prayer) first introduced by Sister Marie of St Peter in 1844. This devotion (started by Sister Marie and then promoted by the Venerable Leo Dupont) was approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1885.[6]
- A frequently offered Act of Reparation to The Holy Trinity is based on the messages of Our Lady of Fatima and is usually called the Angel Prayer.[7][8]
Morning Offering Devotion
John Paul II: Morning Offering is “of fundamental importance in the life of each and every one of the faithful."
In Roman Catholicism, the Morning Offering is a prayer said by an individual at the start of the day in order to consecrate the day to Jesus Christ. It serves the purpose of preparing the Catholic to focus completely on Christ and give to him all that he or she does during the day. There are several different forms of Offering.
Pope John Paul II said that the Morning Offering is “of fundamental importance in the life of each and every one of the faithful."
The Morning offering is meant to be prayed first thing in the morning, upon waking up. Throughout the day, a Christian offers up everything – joys and successes, difficulties and sacrifices, to Jesus, uniting them to His sufferings and merits so that one’s works gain the merit they can never have apart from Him.
The Morning Offering is suggested to be renewed many times throughout the day with simple short prayers (called "aspirations"), e.g. "I will serve!"; "I offer my work unto you."
A specific Morning offering to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was composed by Fr. François-Xavier Gautrelet in 1844. It reflects the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and is also an Acts of reparation for sins:
- O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
- I offer you my prayers, works, joys, sufferings of this day,
- in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.
- I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart;
- the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, the reunion of all Christians;
- I offer them for the intentions of our bishops and of all members of the Apostleship of Prayer,
- and in particular for those recommended by the Holy Father this month.
- Amen.
First Friday Devotions
The First Friday Devotions are a set of Catholic devotions to especially recognize the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and through it offer reparations for sins. In the visions of Christ reported by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century, several promises were made to those people that practiced the First Fridays Devotions, one of which included final perseverance.[1]
According to the words of Christ through His apparitions to St. Margaret Mary, there are several promises to those that practice the First Friday Devotions:
"In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour."[2]
The devotion consists of several practices that are performed on the first Fridays of nine consecutive months. On these days, a person is to attend Holy Mass and receive communion.[3] If the need arises in order to receive communion in a state of grace, a person should also make use of the Sacrament of Penance before attending Mass. In many Catholic communities the practice of the Holy Hour of meditation during the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament during the First Fridays is encouraged. [4]
First Friday - Communion of Reparation
Receiving Holy Communion as part of First Friday Devotions is a Catholic devotion to offer reparations for sins through the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the visions of Christ reported by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century, several promises were made to those people that practiced the First Fridays Devotions, one of which included final perseverance.[9]
The devotion consists of several practices that are performed on the first Fridays of nine consecutive months. On these days, a person is to attend Holy Mass and receive communion.[10] In many Catholic communities the practice of the Holy Hour of meditation during the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament during the First Fridays is encouraged. [11]
First Friday Promises
- I will give them all of the graces necessary for their state of life.
- I will establish peace in their houses.
- I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
- I will be their strength during life and above all during death.
- I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings.
- Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
- Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
- Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
- I will bless every place where a picture of my heart shall be set up and honored.
- I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
- Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
- I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.[5]
First Saturday Devotions
The First Saturdays Devotion (or Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Blessed Virgin Mary) is a Catholic practice which, according to the visionaries, has been requested by the Virgin Mary in several visitations, notably Our Lady of Fátima and the subsequent Pontevedra apparitions. This devotion, and the marian apparitions, have been officially embraced by the Roman Catholic Church.The devotion fits on the Catholic tradition to venerate the Virgin Mary particularly on Saturdays, which originated in the scriptural account that, as the Mother of Jesus Christ, her heart was to be pierced with a sword, as prophesied during the presentation of Jesus in the temple; such sword was the bitter sorrow during the Crucifixion of Jesus (which Catholic devotees understand as the union of the Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart of Jesus -- see Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Apparitions). Such sorrow is particularly bitterly endured on Holy Saturday after Jesus was placed on the Sepulcher (before the Resurrection on Easter). Devotees of Fátima believe that the First Saturdays help to console the sorrows of God, Jesus, and the Virgin Mary for the sins against Her Immaculate Heart.
The Act of First Saturday Reparation
When Lúcia Santos experienced the Pontevedra apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she heard her promise to grant great graces, especially at the hour of death, in particular the salvation of the soul, for the believer who for Five Consecutive First Saturdays of Month (5 Saturdays in 5 months) receives Holy Communion and practices the following exercises as an Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Queen of Heaven:- Sacramental confession
- To receive Holy Communion
- A 5 Decades Rosary is recited
The activities of the Five First Saturdays devotions are different from similar devotions on other days in that all should be done with the specific intention in the heart of making reparation to the Blessed Mother for blasphemies against her, her name and her holy initiatives.
Sister Lúcia, the only Fátima visionary to survive into adulthood reported that the Blessed Mother came to her in her convent at Pontevedra, Spain with the following statement:
- Look, my daughter, at my Heart encircled by these thorns with which men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, strive to console me, and so I announce: I promise to assist at the hour of death with the grace necessary for salvation all those who, with the intention of making reparation to me, will, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, say five decades of the beads, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.
Acts of Reparation to The Holy Trinity
Roman Catholic tradition include specific prayers and devotions as Acts of Reparation for insults and blasphemies against the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Sacrament. Similar prayers as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary and Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ also existFatima prayer to the Holy Trinity
This prayer is based on the 20th century apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, and is attributed to an angel who appeared to the visionaries. It is sometimes called the Angel Prayer. The apparitions of Fatima have been approved by the Holy Catholic Church, thus deemed worthy of belief.In Catholic tradition, Saint Michael is the prince of the church of Jesus Christ and also the defender of Israel. Having revealed the Chaplet of Saint Michael to a Portuguese nun in the 18th Century, Saint Michael is often associated with being the angel that prepared the children shepherds for the visit of the Blessed Mother of God in Fatima, and thus to him it is attributed the prayer.
Words of the prayer:
- O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg the conversion of poor sinners.
Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ
Roman Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions as Acts of Reparation for insults and blasphemies against Jesus Christ and the Holy Name of Jesus. These include the sufferings during the Passion of Jesus. Similar prayers as Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary and Acts of Reparation to The Holy Trinity also exist.These prayers are recited with the intent to repair the sins of others, e.g. when the name of Jesus Christ is taken in vain, for the repair of the sin of blasphemy or the insults against and sufferings of Jesus in Calvary. Pope John Paul II referred to reparation as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".
Specific Roman Catholic organizations with this purpose exist. For instance, the Archconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday was founded by Msgr. Pierre Louis Parisis in 1847 and the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was founded in 1851 by the Venerable Leo Dupont, the "Holy Man of Tours". In 1950, the Venerable Abbot Hildebrand Gregori formed the organization "Prayerful Sodality" which in 1977 became the Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face.
The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion
Sister Marie of St Peter with the Golden Arrow. The three rings symbolize the Holy Trinity
On March 16, 1844 Jesus reportedly told Sr. Marie:
"Oh if you only knew what great merit you acquire by saying even once, Admirable is the Name of God , in a spirit of reparation for blasphemy."
Sister Mary stated that Jesus told her that the two sins which offend him the most grievously are blasphemy and the profanation of Sunday. He called this prayer the "Golden Arrow", saying that those who would recite it would pierce Him delightfully, and also heal those other wounds inflicted on Him by the malice of sinners. Sr. Mary of St. Peter saw, "streaming from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, delightfully wounded by this 'Golden Arrow,' torrents of graces for the conversion of sinners.[2][1][3]
The Golden Arrow Holy Face Devotion (Prayer)
This prayer is part of the Roman Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus and appears in the book “The Golden Arrow”, the autobiography of Sr. Marie of St Peter. In her book she wrote that in her visions Jesus told her that an act of sacrilege or blasphemy is like a "poisoned arrow", hence the name “Golden Arrow” for this reparatory prayer. [1] Words of the prayer:[2][1]- May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable,
- most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God
- be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored
- and glorified in Heaven, on earth,
- and under the earth,
- by all the creatures of God,
- and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
- in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
- Amen.
Rosary of the Holy Wounds
Venerable Marie Martha Chambon.
She reported that Jesus Christ appeared to her asked her to unite her sufferings with His as an Act of Reparation for the sins of the world. It also has special applicability to the souls in purgatory.[6][7]
Prayer of reparation for insults and blasphemies
Words of the prayer:[8]- O Jesus, my Savior and Redeemer, Son of the living God, behold, we kneel before Thee and offer Thee our reparation; we would make amends for all the blasphemies uttered against Thy holy name, for all the injuries done to Thee in the Blessed Sacrament, for all the irreverence shown toward Thine immaculate Virgin Mother, for all the calumnies and slanders spoken against Thy spouse, the holy Catholic and Roman Church. O Jesus, who hast said: "If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it to you", we pray and beseech Thee for all our brethren who are in danger of sin; shield them from every temptation to fall away from the true faith; save those who are even now standing on the brink of the abyss; to all of them give light and knowledge of the truth, courage and strength for the conflict with evil, perseverance in faith and active charity! For this do we pray, most merciful Jesus, in Thy name, unto God the Father, with whom Thou livest and reignest in the unity of the Holy Spirit world without end. Amen
Acts of Reparation to the Virgin Mary
Roman Catholic tradition and Mariology include specific prayers and devotions as acts of reparation for insults and blasphemies against the Blessed Virgin Mary. Similar prayers as Acts of Reparation to Jesus Christ and Acts of Reparation to The Holy Trinity also exist.m Some such prayers are provided in the Raccolta Roman Catholic prayer book, first published in association with the Roman Catholic Congregation of Indulgences in 1807.The Raccolta is a book, published from 1807 to 1950, that listed Roman Catholic prayers and other acts of piety, reparation, such as novenas, for which specific indulgences were granted by Popes. The Raccolta (literally meaning "collection" in Italian) is an abbreviation of its full title: Raccolta delle orazioni e pie opere per le quali sono sono concedute dai Sommi Pontefici le SS. Indulgenze ("Collection of Prayers and Good Works for Which the Popes Have Granted Holy Indulgences"). The text was in Italian, with the prayers themselves given in Latin. By his bull Indulgentiarum Doctrina of 1 January 1967, Pope Paul VI ordered a revision of the collection of indulgenced prayers and works "with a view to attaching indulgences only to the most important prayers and works of piety, charity and penance". In 1968 it was replaced by the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, listing fewer specific prayers but including new general grants that apply to a wide range of prayerful actions.
The Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, which is in Latin, differs from the Italian-language Raccolta in listing "only the most important prayers and works of piety, charity and penance". On the other hand, it includes new general grants of partial indulgences that apply to a wide range of prayerful actions, and it indicates that the prayers that it does list as deserving veneration on account of divine inspiration or antiquity or as being in widespread use are only examples of those to which the first these general grants applies: "Raising the mind to God with humble trust while performing one's duties and bearing life's difficulties, and adding, at least mentally, some pious invocation". In this way, the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, in spite of its smaller size, classifies as indulgenced an immensely greater number of prayers than were treated as such in the Raccolta.
Reparation for insults to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Words of the Prayer from Raccolta:- O blessed Virgin, Mother of God, look down in mercy from Heaven, where thou art enthroned as Queen, upon me, a miserable sinner, thine unworthy servant. Although I know full well my own unworthiness, yet in order to atone for the offenses that are done to thee by impious and blasphemous tongues, from the depths of my heart I praise and extol thee as the purest, the fairest, the holiest creature of all God's handiwork. I bless thy holy name, I praise thine exalted privilege of being truly Mother of God, ever Virgin, conceived without stain of sin, Co-Redemptrix of the human race. I bless the Eternal Father who chose thee in an especial way for His daughter; I bless the Word Incarnate who took upon Himself our nature in thy bosom and so made thee His Mother; I bless the Holy Spirit who took thee as His bride. All honor, praise and thanksgiving to the ever-blessed Trinity who predestined thee and loved thee so exceedingly from all eternity as to exalt thee above all creatures to the most sublime heights. O Virgin, holy and merciful, obtain for all who offend thee the grace of repentance, and graciously accept this poor act of homage from me thy servant, obtaining likewise for me from thy Divine Son the pardon and remission of all my sins. Amen.
Reparation for blasphemy against the Blessed Virgin Mary
Words of the Prayer from Raccolta:
- Most glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, turn thine eyes in pity upon us, miserable sinners; we are sore afflicted by the many evils that surround us in this life, but especially do we feel our hearts break within us upon hearing the dreadful insults and blasphemies uttered against thee, O Virgin Immaculate. O how these impious sayings offend the infinite Majesty of God and of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ! How they provoke His indignation and give us cause to fear the terrible effects of His vengeance! Would that the sacrifice of our lives might avail to put an end to such outrages and blasphemies; were it so, how gladly we should make it, for we desire, O most holy Mother, to love thee and to honor thee with all our hearts, since this is the will of God. And just because we love thee, we will do all that is in our power to make thee honored and loved by all men. In the meantime do thou, our merciful Mother, the supreme comforter of the afflicted, accept this our act of reparation which we offer thee for ourselves and for all our families, as well as for all who impiously blaspheme thee, not knowing what they say. Do thou obtain for them from Almighty God the grace of conversion, and thus render more manifest and more glorious thy kindness, thy power and thy great mercy. May they join with us in proclaiming thee blessed among women, the Immaculate Virgin and most compassionate Mother of God.
- Recite Hail Mary three times.
Acts of Reparation Mentioned in Apparitions
The need for reparation has been mentioned in some Marian apparitions. The messages of Our Lady of Akita, which were formally approved by the Holy See in 1988 by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) include the following statement attributed to the Blessed Virgin Mary:
Roman Catholic theology asserts that it was by voluntary submission that Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone for man's disobedience and sin and that his death made reparation for the sins and offenses of the world. Catholicism professes that by adding their prayers, labours, and trials to the redemption won by Christ's death, Christians can attempt to make reparation to God for their own offenses and those of others. Protestant Christians believe that the prize is already won by Christ for those who believe, wholly apart from their merit, or lack thereof, and that obedience and service to Christ is an outflowing of the new life that he purchased for them in his death on the cross.
The theological doctrine of reparation is the foundation of the numerous confraternities and pious associations which have been founded, especially in modern times, to make reparation to God for the sins of men. The Archconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday was founded 28 June, 1847, in the Church of St. Martin de La Noue at St. Dizier in France by Mgr. Parisis, Bishop of Langres. With a similar object, the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was established at Tours, about 1851, through the piety of M. Dupont, the "holy man of Tours". In 1883 an association was formed in Rome to offer reparation to God on behalf of all nations. The idea of reparation is an essential element in the devotion of the Sacred Heart, and acts of reparation were once common public devotions in Roman Catholic churches. One of the ends for which the Eucharist is offered is for reparation. A pious widow of Paris conceived the idea of promoting this object in 1862. By the authority of Pope Leo XIII the erection of the Archconfraternity of the Mass of Reparation was sanctioned in 1886.
- "Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with my Son, for souls who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates."
Organizations for Reparation
Specific Catholic organizations (including Pontifical Congregations) whose focus is reparation have been formed:[13][14]- The Archconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday was founded by Msgr. Pierre Louis Parisis in 1847.
- The Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was founded in 1851 by the Venerable Leo Dupont, the "Holy Man of Tours".
- In 1886 Pope Leo XIII authorized the formation of the Archconfraternity of the Mass of Reparation in Rome.
- In 1950, the Venerable Abbot Hildebrand Gregori formed the organization "Prayerful Sodality" which in 1977 became the Pontifical Congregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face.
Theological issues
From a theological view, reparation is closely connected with those of atonement and satisfaction, and thus belonging to some of the deepest mysteries of the Christian Faith. Christian theology teaches that man is a creature who has fallen into original sin from an original state of grace in which he was created, and that through the Incarnation, Passion, and Death of Jesus Christ, he has been redeemed and restored again in a certain degree to the original condition.Roman Catholic theology asserts that it was by voluntary submission that Jesus Christ died on the cross to atone for man's disobedience and sin and that his death made reparation for the sins and offenses of the world. Catholicism professes that by adding their prayers, labours, and trials to the redemption won by Christ's death, Christians can attempt to make reparation to God for their own offenses and those of others. Protestant Christians believe that the prize is already won by Christ for those who believe, wholly apart from their merit, or lack thereof, and that obedience and service to Christ is an outflowing of the new life that he purchased for them in his death on the cross.
The theological doctrine of reparation is the foundation of the numerous confraternities and pious associations which have been founded, especially in modern times, to make reparation to God for the sins of men. The Archconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday was founded 28 June, 1847, in the Church of St. Martin de La Noue at St. Dizier in France by Mgr. Parisis, Bishop of Langres. With a similar object, the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was established at Tours, about 1851, through the piety of M. Dupont, the "holy man of Tours". In 1883 an association was formed in Rome to offer reparation to God on behalf of all nations. The idea of reparation is an essential element in the devotion of the Sacred Heart, and acts of reparation were once common public devotions in Roman Catholic churches. One of the ends for which the Eucharist is offered is for reparation. A pious widow of Paris conceived the idea of promoting this object in 1862. By the authority of Pope Leo XIII the erection of the Archconfraternity of the Mass of Reparation was sanctioned in 1886.
References
- ^ Acts of Reparation http://catholicism.about.com/od/prayers/qt/Reparation_HN.htm
- ^ Miserentissimus Redemptor Encyclical of Pope Pius XI [1]
- ^ Vatican archives http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/2000/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_20001021_riparatrici_en.html
- ^ Joseph P. Christopher et al., 2003 The Raccolta, St Athanasius Press ISBN 978-0-9706526-6-9
- ^ Michael Freze, 1993, Voices, Visions, and Apparitions, OSV Publishing ISBN 0-87973-454-X
- ^ Dorothy Scallan. The Holy Man of Tours. (1990) ISBN 0-89555-390-2
- ^ Our Lady of Fatima http://www.fatima.org/
- ^ Story of Fatima http://www.salvemariaregina.info/SalveMariaRegina/SMR-104.html
- ^ Peter Stravinskas, 1998, OSV's Catholic Encyclopedia, OSV Press ISBN 0-87973-669-0 page 428
- ^ Roman Catholic worship: Trent to today by James F. White 2003 ISBN 0-8146-6194-7 page 35
- ^ Meditations on the Sacred Heart by Joseph McDonnell 2008 ISBN 1-4086-8658-9 page 118
- ^ Lucia Santos, Memoir 1, pp. 45-48, and Memoir 2, p. 82 and 93, in Fatima in Lucia's Own Words, entire text online.
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia
- ^ Byzantine Catholic Church in America - Hildebrand Gregori a Step Closer to Canonization
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Book 6, Chapter 12
THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST
A few days before the Ascension of the Lord while the blessed Mary was engaged in the one of the above–mentioned exercises, the eternal Father and the Holy Ghost appeared in the Cenacle upon a throne of ineffable splendor surrounded by the choirs of angels and saints there present and other heavenly spirits, which had now come with the divine Persons. Then the incarnate Word ascended the throne and seated Himself with the other Two. The ever humble Mother of the Most High, prostrate in a corner of a room, in deepest reverence adored the most blessed Trinity, and in it her own incarnate Son. The eternal Father commanded two of the highest angels to call Mary, which they did by approaching Her, and in sweetest voices intimating to Her the divine will. She arose from the dust with the most profound humility, modesty and reverence. Accompanied by the angels She approached the foot of the Throne, humbling herself anew. The eternal Father said to Her: “Beloved, ascend higher!” (Luke 14, 10). As these words at the same time effected what they signified, She was raised up and placed on the throne of royal Majesty with the three divine Persons. New admiration was caused in the saints to see a mere Creature exalted to such dignity. Being made to understand the sanctity and equity of the works of the Most High, they gave new glory and praise proclaiming Him immense, Just, Holy and Admirable in all his counsels.
The Father then spoke to the blessed Mary saying: “My Daughter, to Thee do I entrust the Church founded by my Onlybegotten, the new law of grace He established in the world, and the people, which He redeemed: to Thee do I consign them all.” Thereupon also the Holy Ghost spoke to Her: “My Spouse, chosen from all creatures, I communicate to Thee my wisdom and grace together with which shall be deposited in thy heart the mysteries, the works and teachings and all that the incarnate Word has accomplished in the world.” And the Son also said: “My most beloved Mother, I go to my Father and in my stead I shall leave Thee and I charge Thee with the care of my Church; to Thee do I commend its children and my brethren, as the Father has consigned them to Me.” Then the three Divine Persons, addressing the choir of holy angels and the other saints, said: “This is the Queen of all created things in heaven and earth; She is the Protectress of the Church, the Mistress of creatures, the Mother of piety, the Intercessor of the faithful, the Advocate of sinners, the Mother of beautiful love and holy hope (Eccli. 24, 24); She is mighty in drawing our will to mercy and clemency. In Her shall be deposited the treasures of our grace and her most faithful heart shall the tablet whereon shall be written and engraved our holy law. In her are contained the mysteries of our Omnipotence for the salvation of mankind. She is the perfect work of our hands, through whom the plenitude of our desires shall be communicated and satisfied without hindrance in the currents of our divine perfections. Whoever shall call upon Her from his heart shall not perish; whoever shall obtain her intercession shall secure for himself eternal life. What She asks of Us, shall be granted, and We shall always hear her requests and prayers and fulfill her will; for She has consecrated Herself perfectly to what pleases Us.” The most blessed Mary, hearing Herself thus exalted, humiliated Herself so much the deeper the more highly She was raised by the right hand of the Most High above all the human and angelic creatures. As if She were the least of all, She adored the Lord and offered Herself, in the most prudent terms and in the most ardent love, to work as a faithful servant in the Church and obey promptly all the biddings of the divine will. From that day on She took upon Herself anew the care of the evangelical Church, as a loving Mother of all children; She renewed all the petitions She had until then made, so that during the whole further course of her life they were most fervent and incessant, as we shall see in the third part, where will appear more clearly what the Church owes to this great Queen and Lady, and what blessings She gained and merited for it.
On that same day, by divine dispensation, while the Lord was at table with the eleven Apostles, other disciples and pious women gathered at the Cenacle to the number of one hundred and twenty; for the divine Master wished them to be present at his Ascension. Moreover, just as He had instructed the Apostles, so He now wanted to instruct these faithful respectively in what each was to know before his leaving them and ascending into heaven. All of them being thus gathered and united in peace and charity within those walls in the hall of the last Supper, the Author of life manifested Himself to them as a kind and loving Father and said to them:
“My sweetest children, I am about to ascend to my Father, from whose bosom I descended in order to rescue and save men. I leave with you in my stead my own Mother as your Protectress, Consoler and Advocate, and as your Mother, whom you are to hear and obey in all things. Just as I have told you, that he who sees Me sees my Father, and he who knows Me, knows also Him; so I now tell you, that He who knows my Mother, knows Me; he who hears Her, hears Me; and who honors Her, honors Me. All of you shall have Her as your Mother, as your Superior and Head, so shall also your successors. She shall answer doubts, solve your difficulties; in Her, those who seek Me shall always find Me; for I shall remain in Her until the end of the world, and I am in Her now, although you do not understand how.” This the Lord said, because He was sacramentally present in the bosom of his Mother; for the sacred species, which She had received at the last Supper, were preserved in Her until consecration of the first Mass, as I shall relate further on. The Lord thus fulfilled that which He promised in saint Matthew: “I am with you to the consummation of the world” (Matth. 28, 20). The Lord added and said: “You will have Peter as the supreme head of the Church, for I leave him as my Vicar; and you shall obey him as the chief highpriest. Saint John you shall hold as the son of my Mother; for I have chosen and appointed him for this office on the Cross.” The Lord then looked upon his most beloved Mother, who was there present and intimated his desire of expressly commanding that whole congregation to worship and reverence Her in a manner suited to the dignity of Mother of God, and of leaving this command under form of a precept for the whole Church. But the most humble Lady besought her Onlybegotten to be pleased not to secure Her more honor than was absolutely necessary for executing all that He had charged Her with; and that the new children of the Church should not be induced to show Her greater honor than they had shown until then. On contrary, She desired to divert all the sacred worship of the Church immediately upon the Lord himself and to make the propagation of the Gospel redound entirely to the exaltation of his holy name. Christ our Savior yielded to this most prudent petition of his Mother, reserving to Himself the duty of spreading the knowledge of Her at a more convenient and opportune time yet in secret He conferred upon Her new extraordinary favors, as shall appear in the rest of this history.
In considering the loving exhortations of their Divine Master, the mysteries which He had revealed them, and the prospect of his leaving them, that whole congregation was moved to their inmost hearts; for He had enkindled in them the divine love by the vivid faith of his Divinity and humanity. Reviving within them the memory of his words and his teachings of eternal life, the delights of his most loving companionship, and sorrowfully realizing, that they were now all at once to be deprived of these blessings, they wept most tenderly and sighed from their inmost souls. They longed to detain Him, although they could not, because they saw it was not befitting; words of parting rose to their lips, but they could not bring themselves to utter them; each one felt sentiments of sorrow arising amid feelings both of joy and yet also of pious regret. How shall we live without such a Master? they thought. Who can ever speak to us such words of life and consolation as He? Who will receive us so lovingly and kindly? Who shall be our Father and protector? We shall be helpless children and orphans in this world. Some of them broke their silence and exclaimed: “O most loving Lord and Father! O joy and life of our souls! Now that we know Thee as our Redeemer, Thou departest and leavest us! Take us along with Thee, O Lord; banish us not from thy sight. Our blessed Hope, what shall we do without thy presence? Whither shall we turn, if thou goest away? Whither shall we direct our steps, if cannot follow Thee, our Father, our Chief, and our Teacher?” To these and other pleadings the Lord answered by bidding them not to leave Jerusalem and to persevere in prayer until He should send the Holy Spirit, the Consoler, as promised by the Father and as already foretold to the Apostles at the last Supper. Thereupon happened, what I shall relate in the next chapter.
The most auspicious hour, in which the Onlybegotten of the eternal Father, after descending from heaven in order to assume human flesh, was to ascend by his own power and in a most wonderful manner to the right hand of God, the Inheritor of his eternities, one and equal with Him in nature and infinite glory. He was to ascend, also, because He had previously descended to the lowest regions of the earth, as the Apostle says (Ephes. 4, 9), having fulfilled all that had been written and prophesied concerning his coming into the world, his Life, Death and the Redemption of man, and having penetrated, as the Lord of all, to the very centre of the earth. By this Ascension he sealed all the mysteries and hastened the fulfillment of his promise, according to which He was, with the Father, to send the Paraclete upon his Church after He himself should have ascended into heaven (John 16, 7). In order to celebrate this festive and mysterious day, Christ our Lord selected as witnesses the hundred and twenty persons, to whom, as related in the foregoing chapter, He had spoken in the Cenacle. They were the most holy Mary, the eleven Apostles, the seventy–two disciples, Mary Magdalen, Lazarus their brother, the other Marys and the faithful men and women making up the above–mentioned number of one hundred and twenty.
With this little flock our divine Shepherd Jesus left the Cenacle, and, with his most blessed Mother at his side, He conducted them all through the streets of Jerusalem. The Apostles and all the rest in order, proceeded in the direction of Bethany, which was less than half a league over the brow of mount Olivet. The company of angels and saints from limbo and purgatory followed the Victor with new songs of praise, although Mary alone was privileged to see them. The Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was already divulged throughout Jerusalem and Palestine. Although the perfidious and malicious princes and priests had spread about the false testimony of his being stolen by disciples, yet many would not accept their testimony nor give it any credit. It was divinely provided, that none of the inhabitants of the city, and none of the unbelievers or doubters, should pay any attention to this holy procession, or hinder it on its way from the Cenacle. All, except the one hundred and twenty just, who were chosen by the Lord to witness his Ascension into heaven, were justly punished by being prevented from noticing this wonderful mystery, and the Chieftain and Head of this procession remained invisible to them.
The Lord having thus secured them this privacy, they all ascended mount Olivet to its highest point. There they formed three choirs, one of the angels, another of the saints, and a third of the Apostles and faithful, which again divided into two bands, while Christ the Savior presided. Then the most prudent Mother prostrated Herself at the feet of her Son worshipping Him with admirable humility, She adored Him as the true God and as the Redeemer of the world, asking his last blessing. All the faithful there present imitated Her and did the same. Weeping and sighing, they asked the Lord, whether He was now to restore the kingdom of Israel (Acts 1, 6). The Lord answered, that this was a secret of the eternal Father and not to be made known to them; but, for the present, it was necessary and befitting, that they receive the Holy Ghost and preach, in Jerusalem, in Samaria and in all the world, the mysteries of the Redemption of the world.
Jesus, having taken leave of this holy and fortunate gathering of the faithful, his countenance beaming forth peace and majesty, joined his hands and, by his own power, began to raise himself from the earth, leaving thereon the impression of his sacred feet. In gentlest motion He was wafted toward the aerial regions, drawing after Him the eyes and the hearts of those first–born children, who amid sighs and tears vented their affection. And as, at the moving of the first Cause of all motion, it is proper that also the nether spheres should be set in motion, so the Savior Jesus drew after Him also the celestial choirs of the angels, the holy Patriarchs and the rest of the glorified saints, some of them with body and soul, others only as to their soul. All of them in heavenly order were raised up together from the earth, accompanying and following their King, their Chief and Head. The new and mysterious sacrament, which the right hand of the Most High wrought on this occasion for his most holy Mother, was that He raised Her up with Him in order to put Her in possession of the glory, which He had assigned to Her as his true Mother and which She had by her merits prepared and earned for Herself. Of this favor the great Queen was capable even before it happened; for her divine Son had offered it to Her during the forty days which He spent in her company after his Resurrection. In order that this sacrament might be kept secret from all other living creatures at that time, and in order that the heavenly Mistress might be present in the gathering of the Apostles and the faithful in their prayerful waiting upon the coming of the Holy Ghost (Acts 1, 14), the divine power enabled the blessed Mother miraculously to be in two places at once; remaining with the children of the Church for their comfort during their stay in the Cenacle and at the time ascending with the Redeemer of the world to His heavenly throne, where She remained for three days. There She enjoyed the perfect use of all her powers and faculties, whereas She was more restricted in the use of them during that time in the Cenacle.
Amidst this jubilee and other rejoicings exceeding all our conceptions that new divinely arranged procession approached the empyrean heavens. Between the two choirs of angels and saints, Christ and his most blessed Mother made their entry. All in their order gave supreme honor to Each respectively and to Both together, breaking forth in hymns of praise in honor of the Authors of grace and of life. Then the eternal Father placed upon the throne of his Divinity at His right hand, the incarnate Word, and in such glory and majesty, that He filled with new admiration and reverential fear all the inhabitants of heaven. In clear and intuitive vision they recognized the infinite glory and perfection of the Divinity inseparably and substantially united in one personality to the most holy humanity, beautified and exalted by the pre–eminence and glory due to this union, such as eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, nor ever has entered into the thoughts of creatures (Is. 54, 4).
On this occasion the humility and wisdom of our most prudent Queen reached their highest point; for, overwhelmed by such divine and admirable favors, She hovered at the footstool of the royal throne, annihilated in the consciousness of being a mere earthly creature. Prostrate She adored the Father and broke out in new canticles of praise for the glory communicated to his Son and for elevating in Him the deified humanity to such greatness and splendor. Again the angels and saints were filled with admiration and joy to see the most prudent humility of their Queen, whose living example of virtue, as exhibited on that occasion, they emulated among themselves in copying. Then the voice of the eternal Father was heard saying: “My Daughter, ascend higher!” Her divine Son also called Her, saying: “My Mother rise up and take possession of the place, which I owe Thee for having followed and imitated Me. The Holy Ghost said: “My Spouse and Beloved, come to my eternal embraces!” Immediately was proclaimed to all the blessed the decree of the most holy Trinity, by which the most blessed Mother, for having furnished her own life–blood toward the Incarnation and for having nourished, served, imitated and followed Him with all the perfection possible to a creature, was exalted and placed at the right hand of her Son for all eternity. None other of the human creatures should ever hold that place or position, nor rival Her in the unfailing glory connected with it; but it was to be reserved to the Queen and to be her possession by right after her earthly life, as of one who pre–eminently excelled all the rest of the saints.
In fulfillment of this decree, the most blessed Mary was raised to the throne of the holy Trinity at the right hand of her Son. At the same time She, with all the saints, was informed, that She was given possession of this throne not only for all the ages of eternity, but that it was left to her choice to remain there even now and without returning to the earth. For it was the conditional will of the divine Persons, that as far as they were concerned, She should now remain in that state. In order that She might make her own choice, She was shown anew the state of the Church upon earth, the orphaned and necessitous condition of the faithful, whom She was left free to assist. This admirable proceeding of the divine Providence was to afford the Mother of mercy an occasion of going beyond, so to say, even her own Self in doing good and in obliging the human race with an act of love similar to that of her Son in assuming a passible state and in suspending the glory due to his body during and for our Redemption. The most blessed Mother imitated Him also in this respect, so that She might be in all things like the incarnate Word. The great Lady therefore, having clearly before her eyes all the sacrifices included in this proposition, left the throne and, prostrating Herself at the feet of the Three Persons, said: “Eternal and almighty God, my Lord, to accept at once this reward, which thy condescending kindness offers me, would be to secure my rest; but to return to the world and continue to labor in mortal life for the good of the children of Adam and the faithful of thy holy Church, would be to the glory and according to the pleasure of thy Majesty and would benefit my sojourning and banished children on earth. I accept this labor and renounce for the present the peace and joy of thy presence. Well do I know, what I possess and receive, but I will sacrifice it to further the love Thou hast for men. Accept, Lord and Master of all my being, this sacrifice and let thy divine strength govern in the undertaking confided to me. Let faith in Thee be spread, let thy holy name be exalted, let thy holy Church be enlarged, for Thou hast acquired it by the blood of thy Onlybegotten and mine; I offer myself anew to labor for thy glory and for the conquest of the souls, as far as I am able.”
Such was the sacrifice made by the most loving Mother and Queen, one greater than ever was conceived by creature, and it was so pleasing to the Lord, that He immediately rewarded it by operating in Her those purifications and enlightenments, which I have at other times mentioned as necessary to the intuitive vision of the Divinity; for so far She had on this occasion seen only by abstractive vision. Thus elevated She partook of the beatific vision and was filled with splendor and celestial gifts, altogether beyond the power of man describe or conceive in mortal life.
In order to finish this chapter, and with it this second part, I return to the congregation of the faithful, whom we left so sorrowful on mount Olivet. The most holy Mary did not forget them in the midst of her glory; as they stood weeping and lost in grief and, as it were, absorbed in looking into the aerial regions, into which their Redeemer and Master had disappeared, She turned her eyes upon them from the cloud on which She had ascended, in order to send them her assistance. Moved by their sorrow, She besought Jesus lovingly to console these little children, whom He had left as orphans upon the earth. Moved by the prayers of his Mother, the Redeemer of the human race sent down two angels in white and resplendent garments, who appeared to all the disciples and the faithful and spoke to them: “Ye men of Galilee, do not look up to heaven in so great astonishment, for this Lord Jesus, who departed from you and has ascended into heaven, shall again return with the same glory and majesty in which you have just seen him” (Acts 1, 11). By such words and others which they added they consoled the Apostles and disciples and all the rest, so that they might not grow faint, but in their retirement hope for the coming and the consolation of the Holy Ghost promised by their divine Master.
WORDS OF THE QUEEN
The Virgin Mary speaks to Sister Mary of Agreda, Spain
My daughter, thou wilt appropriately close this second part of my life by remembering the lesson concerning the most efficacious sweetness of the divine love and the immense liberality of God with those souls, that do not hinder its flowing. It is in conformity with the inclinations of his holy and perfect will to regale rather than afflict creatures, to console them rather than cause them sorrow, to reward them rather than to chastise them, to rejoice rather than grieve them. But mortals ignore this divine science, because they desire from the hands of the Most high such consolations, delights and rewards, as are earthly and dangerous, and they prefer them to the true and more secure blessings. The divine Love then corrects this fault by the lessons conveyed in tribulations and punishments. Human nature is slow, coarse and uneducated; and if it is not cultivated and softened, it gives no fruit in season, and on account of its evil inclinations, will never of itself become fit for the most loving and sweet interactions with the highest Good. Therefore it must be shaped and reduced by the hammer of adversities, refined in the crucible of tribulation, in order that it may become fit and capable of the divine gifts and favors and may learn to despise terrestrial and fallacious goods, wherein death is concealed.
I counted for little all that I endured, when I saw the reward which the divine Goodness had prepared for me; and therefore He ordained, in his admirable Providence that I should return to the militant Church of my own free will and choice. This I knew would redound to my greater glory and to the exaltation of his holy name, while it would provide assistance to his Church and to his children in an admirable and holy manner (I Tim. 1, 17). It seemed to me a sacred duty, that I deprive myself of the eternal felicity of which I was in possession and, returning from heaven to earth, gain new fruits of labor and love for the Almighty; this I owed to the divine Goodness, which had raised me up from the dust. Learn therefore, my beloved, from my example, and excite thyself to imitate me most eagerly during these times, in which the holy Church so disconsolate and overwhelmed by tribulations and in which there are none of her children to console her. In this cause I desire that thou labor strenuously, ready to suffer in prayer and supplication, and crying from the bottom of thy heart to the Omnipotent. And if it were necessary thou shouldst be willing to give thy life. I assure thee, my daughter, thy solicitude shall be very pleasing in the eyes of my divine Son and in mine.
Let it all be for the glory and honor of the Most high, the King of the ages, the Immortal and Invisible (I Tim. 1, 17), and for that of his Mother, the most blessed Mary, through all the eternities!
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Catholic Catechism
PART ONE
Part One: The Profession of Faith
(14 -Those who belong to Christ through faith and Baptism must confess their baptismal faith before men.16 First therefore the Catechism expounds revelation, by which God addresses and gives himself to man, and the faith by which man responds to God (Section One). The profession of faith summarizes the gifts that God gives man: as the Author of all that is good; as Redeemer; and as Sanctifier. It develops these in the three chapters on our baptismal faith in the one God: the almighty Father, the Creator; his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior; and the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, in the Holy Church (Section Two).)
26 We begin our profession of faith by saying: "I believe" or "We believe". Before expounding the Church's faith, as confessed in the Creed, celebrated in the liturgy and lived in observance of God's commandments and in prayer, we must first ask what "to believe" means. Faith is man's response to God, who reveals himself and gives himself to man, at the same time bringing man a superabundant light as he searches for the ultimate meaning of his life. Thus we shall consider first that search (Chapter One), then the divine Revelation by which God comes to meet man (Chapter Two), and finally the response of faith (Chapter Three).
CHAPTER TWO - GOD COMES TO MEET MAN
50 By natural reason man can know God with certainty, on the basis of his works. But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of divine Revelation.1 Through an utterly free decision, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. This he does by revealing the mystery, his plan of loving goodness, formed from all eternity in Christ, for the benefit of all men. God has fully revealed this plan by sending us his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
ARTICLE 2 - THE TRANSMISSION OF DIVINE REVELATION
74 God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth":29 that is, of Christ Jesus.30 Christ must be proclaimed to all nations and individuals, so that this revelation may reach to the ends of the earth:
- God graciously arranged that the things he had once revealed for the salvation of all peoples should remain in their entirety, throughout the ages, and be transmitted to all generations.31
75 "Christ the Lord, in whom the entire Revelation of the most high God is summed up, commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel, which had been promised beforehand by the prophets, and which he fulfilled in his own person and promulgated with his own lips. In preaching the Gospel, they were to communicate the gifts of God to all men. This Gospel was to be the source of all saving truth and moral discipline."32
In the apostolic preaching. . .
76 In keeping with the Lord's command, the Gospel was handed on in two ways:
- orally "by the apostles who handed on, by the spoken word of their preaching, by the example they gave, by the institutions they established, what they themselves had received - whether from the lips of Christ, from his way of life and his works, or whether they had learned it at the prompting of the Holy Spirit";33
- in writing "by those apostles and other men associated with the apostles who, under the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit, committed the message of salvation to writing".34
. . . continued in apostolic succession
77 "In order that the full and living Gospel might always be preserved in the Church the apostles left bishops as their successors. They gave them their own position of teaching authority."35 Indeed, "the apostolic preaching, which is expressed in a special way in the inspired books, was to be preserved in a continuous line of succession until the end of time."36
78 This living transmission, accomplished in the Holy Spirit, is called Tradition, since it is distinct from Sacred Scripture, though closely connected to it. Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes."37 "The sayings of the holy Fathers are a witness to the life-giving presence of this Tradition, showing how its riches are poured out in the practice and life of the Church, in her belief and her prayer."38
79 The Father's self-communication made through his Word in the Holy Spirit, remains present and active in the Church: "God, who spoke in the past, continues to converse with the Spouse of his beloved Son. And the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel rings out in the Church - and through her in the world - leads believers to the full truth, and makes the Word of Christ dwell in them in all its richness."39
II. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRADITION AND SACRED SCRIPTURE
One common source. . .
80 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal."40 Each of them makes present and fruitful in the Church the mystery of Christ, who promised to remain with his own "always, to the close of the age".41
. . . two distinct modes of transmission
81 "Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit."42
"And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching."43
82 As a result the Church, to whom the transmission and interpretation of Revelation is entrusted, "does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence."44
Apostolic Tradition and ecclesial traditions
83 The Tradition here in question comes from the apostles and hands on what they received from Jesus' teaching and example and what they learned from the Holy Spirit. The first generation of Christians did not yet have a written New Testament, and the New Testament itself demonstrates the process of living Tradition.
Tradition is to be distinguished from the various theological, disciplinary, liturgical or devotional traditions, born in the local churches over time. These are the particular forms, adapted to different places and times, in which the great Tradition is expressed. In the light of Tradition, these traditions can be retained, modified or even abandoned under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium.
III. THE INTERPRETATION OF THE HERITAGE OF FAITH
The heritage of faith entrusted to the whole of the Church
84 The apostles entrusted the "Sacred deposit" of the faith (the depositum fidei),45 contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, to the whole of the Church. "By adhering to [this heritage] the entire holy people, united to its pastors, remains always faithful to the teaching of the apostles, to the brotherhood, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. So, in maintaining, practicing and professing the faith that has been handed on, there should be a remarkable harmony between the bishops and the faithful."46
The Magisterium of the Church
85 "The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ."47 This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome.
86 "Yet this Magisterium is not superior to the Word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication and expounds it faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is drawn from this single deposit of faith."48
87 Mindful of Christ's words to his apostles: "He who hears you, hears me",49 the faithful receive with docility the teachings and directives that their pastors give them in different forms.
The dogmas of the faith
88 The Church's Magisterium exercises the authority it holds from Christ to the fullest extent when it defines dogmas, that is, when it proposes, in a form obliging the Christian people to an irrevocable adherence of faith, truths contained in divine Revelation or also when it proposes, in a definitive way, truths having a necessary connection with these.
89 There is an organic connection between our spiritual life and the dogmas. Dogmas are lights along the path of faith; they illuminate it and make it secure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our intellect and heart will be open to welcome the light shed by the dogmas of faith.50
90 The mutual connections between dogmas, and their coherence, can be found in the whole of the Revelation of the mystery of Christ.51 "In Catholic doctrine there exists an order or hierarchy of truths, since they vary in their relation to the foundation of the Christian faith."52
The supernatural sense of faith
91 All the faithful share in understanding and handing on revealed truth. They have received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, who instructs them53 and guides them into all truth.54
92 "The whole body of the faithful. . . cannot err in matters of belief. This characteristic is shown in the supernatural appreciation of faith (sensus fidei) on the part of the whole people, when, from the bishops to the last of the faithful, they manifest a universal consent in matters of faith and morals."55
93 "By this appreciation of the faith, aroused and sustained by the Spirit of truth, the People of God, guided by the sacred teaching authority (Magisterium),. . . receives. . . the faith, once for all delivered to the saints. . . The People unfailingly adheres to this faith, penetrates it more deeply with right judgment, and applies it more fully in daily life."56
Growth in understanding the faith
94 Thanks to the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the understanding of both the realities and the words of the heritage of faith is able to grow in the life of the Church:
- "through the contemplation and study of believers who ponder these things in their hearts";57 it is in particular "theological research [which] deepens knowledge of revealed truth".58
- "from the intimate sense of spiritual realities which [believers] experience",59 the sacred Scriptures "grow with the one who reads them."60
- "from the preaching of those who have received, along with their right of succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth".61
95 "It is clear therefore that, in the supremely wise arrangement of God, sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium of the Church are so connected and associated that one of them cannot stand without the others. Working together, each in its own way, under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they all contribute effectively to the salvation of souls."62
IN BRIEF
96 What Christ entrusted to the apostles, they in turn handed on by their preaching and writing, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to all generations, until Christ returns in glory.
97 "Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture make up a single sacred deposit of the Word of God" (DV 10) in which, as in a mirror, the pilgrim Church contemplates God, the source of all her riches.
98 "The Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every generation all that she herself is, all that she believes" (DV 8 § 1).
99 Thanks to its supernatural sense of faith, the People of God as a whole never ceases to welcome, to penetrate more deeply and to live more fully from the gift of divine Revelation.
100 The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.
29 1 Tim 2:4.
30 cf. Jn 14:6.
31 DV 7; cf. 2 Cor 1:20; 3:16-4:6.
32 DV 7; cf. Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15.
33 DV 7.
34 DV 7.
35 DV 7 § 2; St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3,3,1:PG 7/1,848; Harvey,2,9.
36 DV 8 § 1.
37 DV 8 § 1.
38 DV 8 § 3.
39 DV 8 § 3; cf. Col 3:16.
40 DV 9.
41 Mt 28:20.
42 DV 9.
43 DV 9.
44 DV 9.
45 DV 10 § 1; cf. 1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 1:12-14 (Vulg.).
46 DV 10 § 1; cf. Acts 2:42 (Greek); Pius XII, apostolic constitution, Munificentissimus Deus, 1 November 1950:AAS 42 (1950), 756, taken along with the words of St. Cyprian, Epist. 66, 8:CSEL 3/2,733: "The Church is the people united to its Priests, the flock adhering to its Shepherd."
47 DV 10 § 2.
48 DV 10 para 2.
49 Lk 10:16; cf. LG 20.
50 Cf. Jn 8:31-32.
51 Cf. Vatican Council I:DS 3016:nexus mysteriorum; LG 25.
52 UR II.
53 Cf. 1 Jn 2:20,27.
54 Cf. Jn 16:13.
55 LG 12; cf. St. Augustine, De praed. sanct. 14,27:PL 44,980.
56 LG 12; cf. Jude 3.
57 DV 8 § 2; cf. Lk 2:19,51.
58 GS 62 § 7; cf. GS 44 § 2; DV 23; 24; UR 4.
59 DV 8 § 2.
60 DV 8 § 2.
61 St. Gregory the Great, Hom. in Ez. 1,7,8:PL 76,843D.
62 DV 10 § 3.
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RE-CHARGE: Heaven Speaks to Young Adults
To all tween, teens and young adults, A Message from Jesus: "Through you I will flow powerful conversion graces to draw other young souls from darkness. My plan for young men and women is immense. Truly, the renewal will leap forward with the assistance of these individuals. Am I calling you? Yes. I am calling you. You feel the stirring in your soul as you read these words. I am with you. I will never leave you. Join My band of young apostles and I will give you joy and peace that you have never known. All courage, all strength will be yours. Together, we will reclaim this world for the Father. I will bless your families and all of your relationships. I will lead you to your place in the Kingdom. Only you can complete the tasks I have set out for you. Do not reject Me. I am your Jesus. I love you...Read this book, upload to your phones/ipads.computers and read a few pages everyday...and then Pay It Forward...
Reference
- Recharge: Directions For Our Times. Heaven Speaks to Young Adults. recharge.cc.
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