The Enemy is Within,The Kiss of Judas Iscariot, by Fr. Michael Rodriguez

OUR LORD PROMISES COMPLETE FORGIVENESS OF SINS AND TEMPORAL PUNISHMENT FOR SINS

 The Divine Mercy promise for the Sunday following Easter (Low Sunday) given by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Saint Faustina:

Our Lord Jesus said, "The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet...Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy."  

- Saint Faustina, Diary, 699. 

How could anyone be indifferent to so generous a Saviour? 

 "Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you." Matthew 11:28 

The following is taken from the book, "The Way of Divine Love" these words of Our Lord to Sr. Josefa Menendez make clear how much He loves us and wants to forgive our sins if we will only let Him:

After the betrayal in the Garden of Olives, Judas wandered away, a fugitive, a prey to the reproaches of his conscience which taxed him with the most execrable of sacrileges. And when he heard that I was condemned to death, he gave himself up to despair and hanged himself.

Who can measure the deep and intense grief of My Heart when I saw this soul so long taught by love... the recipient of My doctrine, one who had so often heard from My lips words of forgiveness for the most heinous crimes, finally throw himself into hell fire?

Ah! Judas, why not throw yourself at My feet that I may forgive you too? If you are afraid to come near Me because of the raging mob that surrounds Me, at least look at Me... My eyes will meet yours, for even now they are lovingly intent upon you.

O all you who are steeped in sin, and who for a time more or less long have lived as wanderers and fugitives because of your crimes... if the offenses of which you have been guilty have hardened and blinded your hearts... if to grant satisfaction to one or other of your passions you have sunk into evil ways... Ah! When the motives or accomplices of your sin have forsaken you, and you realize the state of your soul, O then, do not yield to despair! For as long as a breath of life remains a man may have recourse to mercy and ask for pardon.

If you are still young, if already the scandals of your life have lowered you in the eyes of the world, do not be afraid... Even if there is reason to treat you as a criminal, to insult and cast you off... your God has no wish to see you fall into the flames of hell... On the contrary He ardently desires you to come to Him so that He may forgive you. If you dare not speak to Him, at least look at Him and let the sighs of your heart reach Him, and at once you will find His kind and fatherly hand stretched out to lead you to the springs of pardon and life.

Should it happen that you have spent the greater part of your life in impiety and indifference, and that the sudden approach of the hour of death fills you with blinding despair... Ah! Do not let yourself be deceived, for there is still time for pardon. If only one second of life remains to you, in that one second you can buy back eternal life!

If your whole life has been spent in ignorance and error... if you have been a cause of great evil to other men, to society at large, or to religion, and if through some set of circumstances you have come to realize that you have been deceived... do not allow yourself to be crushed by the weight of your sins and of the evil of which you have been the instrument; but with a soul penetrated with deep contrition throw yourself into an abyss of confidence, and hasten to Him who awaits your return only to pardon you.

The case is the same for a soul that has been faithful to the observance of My law from childhood, but who has gradually cooled off into the tepid and unspiritual ways of an easy life. She has so to say forgotten her soul and its higher aspirations. God was asking of her greater efforts, but blinded by habitual failings, she has fallen into tepidity worse than actual sin, for her deaf and drowsy conscience neither feels remorse nor hears the voice of God.

Then, perhaps, that soul awakens with a shock of realization: life appears to have been a failure, empty and useless for her salvation... She has lost innumerable graces, and the evil one, loath to lose her, makes the most of her distress, plunges her into discouragement, sadness and dejection... and finally casts her into fear and despair.

O soul whom I love, pay no heed to this ruthless enemy... but as soon as possible have recourse to Me, and filled with deepest contrition implore My mercy and have no fear. I will forgive you. Take up again your life of fervor, and you will have back your lost merits, and My grace will never fail you.

Finally, shall I speak to My chosen souls? Supposing that one has spent long years in the constant practice of the Rule and of her religious duties... a soul that I have favored with My grace and instructed by My counsels... a soul long faithful to My voice and to the inspirations of grace... and now this soul has cooled in her fervor on account of some petty passion... occasions of faults not avoided... some yielding to the claims of nature and a general relaxation of effort... and in consequence has fallen to a lower level... to a commonplace kind of life... then lastly, to give it its true name, tepidity. If, for one cause or another, you awake from this torpid state, the devil will instantly attack you in every way, jealous of a soul he hopes to claim. He will try to persuade you that it is too late, and that any effort is useless, he will accentuate your repugnance to make an avowal of your state of soul... he will, so to speak, throttle you to prevent you from seeking and accepting the light... he will do his best to stifle trust and confidence in your soul.

But listen rather to My voice, and let Me tell you how to act: As soon as your soul is touched by grace, and before the struggle has even begun, hasten to My Heart; beg of Me to let a drop of My Blood fall on your soul... Ah! Hasten to My Heart... and be without fear for the past; all has been swallowed up in the abyss of My mercy, and My love is preparing new graces for you. The memory of your lapses will be an incentive to humility and a source of merit, and you cannot give Me a greater proof of affection than to count on My full pardon and to believe that your sins will never be as great as My mercy, which is infinite.

Remain hidden, Josefa, in the abyss of My love, praying that souls may be filled with the same sentiments."

The young Spanish sister to whom these revelations were made died in the early 20^th Century after a short religious life of great suffering and great fidelity. ...this book is something more than an account of extraordinary graces granted to a humble soul; it is the Message which Our Lord Himself desired to be made known to the world. It is His own words. "Tell them... My Heart is not only an abyss of Love; it is also an abyss of Mercy." On November 13th, shortly before her death, Our Blessed Lord said to Sister Josefa: "My words will be light and life for an incalculable number of souls, and I will grant them special graces of conversion and illumination." (from the back cover)

Prayer not only obtains God's grace for ourselves but for others as well. Another quote from the same book ("The Way of Divine Love") expounds on this below:

Josefa writes, "How is it that when prayer is made for a soul month after month there seems to be no result? ... How is it that He who so longs for the conversion of sinners, leaves their hearts untouched, so that many prayers and sacrifices are lost? ... and I spoke to Him of three sinners and especially of two, for whom we have been praying so long!"

"When a soul prays for a sinner with an intense desire for his conversion," Our Lord answered graciously, "his prayer generally obtains the sinner's conversion, though sometimes only at the last moment, and the offense given to My Heart is repaired. But in any case, prayer is never lost, for on the one hand, it consoles Me for the pain sin has occasioned, and on the other, its efficacy and power are applied, if not to that sinner, then to others better disposed to profit by it."

- taken from the book, "The Way of Divine Love"

The following are more words spoken by Jesus to Sr. Josefa Menendez:

"Now, I want something more, for if I long for love in response to My own, this is not the only return I desire from souls: I want them all to have confidence in My mercy, to expect all from My clemency, and never to doubt My readiness to forgive. I am God, but a God of love! I am a Father, but a Father full of compassion and never harsh. My Heart is infinitely holy but also infinitely wise, and knowing human frailty and infirmity, stoops to poor sinners with infinite mercy. I love those who after a first fall come to Me for pardon . . . I love them still more when they beg pardon for their second sin, and should this happen again, I do not say a million times but a million million times, I still love them and pardon them, and I will wash in My Blood their last as fully as their first sin. Never shall I weary of repentant sinners, nor cease from hoping for their return, and the greater their distress, the greater My welcome. Does not a father love a sick child with special affection? Are not his care and solicitude greater? So is the tenderness and compassion of My Heart more abundant for sinners than for the just. This is what I wish all to know. I will teach sinners that the mercy of My Heart is inexhaustible.

Let the callous and indifferent know that My Heart is a fire which will enkindle them, because I love them. To devout and saintly souls I will be "The Way," that making great strides in perfection, they may safely reach the harbor of eternal beatitude. Lastly, of consecrated souls, priests and religious, My elect and chosen ones, I ask, once more, all their love and that they should not doubt Mine, but above all that they should trust Me and never doubt My mercy. It is so easy to trust completely in My Heart." (June 11, 1923).

Also spoken by Our Lord to Sr. Josefa: "As soon as a soul throws itself at My feet and implores My forgiveness, Josefa, I forget all her sins."

To Saint Faustina Jesus said, "My dear daughter, speak to the whole world about my unfathomable Mercy. ... Before coming as a Just Judge, I first come as the King of Mercy."

Also spoken by Jesus to St. Faustina:

"Human misery is not an obstacle to My mercy. My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy: urge all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all."

"Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: "Jesus, I trust in You." I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish."

St. Francis de Sales writes, "Many people are tormented at death with the remembrance of their sins, and seeing that they have done no penance, are tempted to despair." He tells us that there is a perfect remedy - Namely, "to accept death and unite your death with that of Jesus Christ. And I do not at all doubt that he who is grieved for having offended God and accepts death willingly in satisfaction for his sins will immediately obtain pardon."

St. Alphonsus Liguori likewise notes, "To accept death in order that the will of God may be fulfilled, merits for us a reward similar to that of the martyrs, because they accepted death to please God. He who dies in union with the will of God makes a holy death; and the more closely he is united to it, the more holy death he dies. The Venerable Blosius declares that an act of perfect conformity to the will of God at the hour of death not only delivers us from Hell but also from Purgatory."

Pope recalls 'Church of Martyrs' and asks for courage.

Vatican: Pope recalls 'Church of Martyrs' and asks for courage.

Vatican City, April 6, 2013 ( Ecclesia ) - Pope Francisco evoked today in the Vatican "Church of martyrs" of the XXI century and urged Catholics to courageously show their faith without compromise in society.

"To find martyrs one need not go to the catacombs or the Colosseum (Rome): the martyrs still exist in many countries. Christians are persecuted for their faith, in some countries the use of the cross is forbidden, those who do so are punished if they do. Today, in the twenty-first century, our Church is a Church of martyrs, "he said in his homily during the Mass at which he presided in the chapel of Santa Marta, where he resides.

The Argentine Pope warned of the need not to "cut" or "negotiate the faith," as if one could "sell it to whoever makes the best offer", because that would be the beginning of the "road of apostasy, not of allegiance to the Lord. "

Francis questioned those who place their faith "in rose water" and are "lukewarm," emphasizing again that "faith cannot be negotiated."

"There has always been in the history of God's people, the temptation to compromise a bit of faith" and do "as they all do," he continued.

According to the Pope, we must live the faith as "a gift that the Lord makes to all people" and ask to be "strong and courageous", especially at times when you need to "make it (the faith) public".

"May the Lord help us to guard the faith, take it on, to be men and women of faith," he concluded.

The first canonization of the current pontificate, scheduled for May 12, include the Italian Antonio Primaldo and about 800 lay companions, killed "in hatred of the faith" in August 13, 1480, in the city of Otranto, during a raid carried out by Turkish troops.

The Pope also approved on the last day 28, the publication of the decrees that recognize the martyrdom of 62 Catholics killed in the twentieth century because of his faith.

Pope Francisco: witness the faith with courage

Vatican City ( RV )  - Witnessing with the full courage of faith: this is the invitation Francisco this morning by Pope presided at Mass in the chapel of Santa Marta. In celebration attended an Argentine family and some religious of the Daughters of St. Camillus and the Daughters of Our Lady of Charity.

In his brief homily, the Pope said the readings this Sunday of Easter: the first Peter and John boldly testify before the faith of the Jewish leaders despite threats, while the Gospel risen Jesus criticizes the apostles of unbelief who do not believe in that claim to have seen him alive.

The Pope then makes this question: "How are you, our faith? Is it strong? When difficulties come, "we are brave like Peter or a little touchy?". Peter - remarked, silent faith, because faith can not be negotiated. "There has always been - said the Pope - in the history of God's people this temptation: to do "as everyone else," not to be "too hard". "But when we started to negotiate faith, sell it to anyone who gives more, on the path of apostasy, not fidelity to the Lord."

"The example of Peter and John helps us, gives us strength" - also reveals the Pope - but in the history of the Church there are many martyrs today, "because to see them is not necessary to go to the catacombs or the Coliseum: the martyrs are now living in both countries.

Christians - Pope says Francisco - are persecuted for their faith. In some countries they are punished by the mere fact of carrying a cross. Today, in the twenty-first century, our Church is a Church of martyrs, those who say like Peter and John: "We can not silence what we saw and heard." And that - he continued - "gives us strength, give us the strength to bear witness to the life and faith that we receive is the gift that the Lord gives to all people."

But this is a grace. The grace of faith. We ask for it every day. "... Lord protect my faith, make it grow, that my faith becomes strong, courageous, and help me at times - as Peter and John - I make it public. Give me courage. This - he concluded - would be a beautiful prayer to this day: the Lord help us to protect the faith, takes it forward, to be women and men of faith. So be it. "

free translation from:

Fratres in Unum

AN OPEN LETTER OF WELCOME TO THE HOLY FATHER
        FROM BROTHER BRUNO BONNET-EYMARD

The Catholic Counter-Reformation in the 21^st Century

HE IS RISEN !

N° 127 – April 2013

Director : Brother Bruno Bonnet‑Eymard

---

Envoi

MOST Holy Father,

The announcement of your election to the sovereign pontificate on the evening of Wednesday, May 13, was a great surprise for our Community. Nevertheless, your simplicity, and your smile that reminded us of your predecessor, John Paul I, immediately won us over. Rapidly an inexpressible joy overcame us as your sound faith, your ardent piety, and your tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin manifested themselves. It was then that a brother reminded me that in February 2003, our founder, Fr. Georges de Nantes, who departed this life three years ago, had your photograph in his hands and contemplated it at length saying to us : “ It is really the photograph of a saint. I do not grow tired of looking at it. ” Moreover, you correspond exactly to the longings of this beloved Father, of whom one of the maxims was that “ poverty will save the world, ” poverty that you, as it were, have espoused like your patron St. Francis.

If poverty and simplicity are two emblematic virtues of St. Francis of Assisi, they also make us think irresistibly of another Francis dear to our hearts, the blessed little shepherd of Fatima, who prayed so much and sacrificed himself “ for the Holy Father. ” You therefore have a very powerful intercessor close to the Most Blessed Virgin. Perhaps you are even Her chosen one, the person whom She has elected to consecrate Russia to Her Immaculate Heart, as She requested on June 13, 1929 ? Perhaps you are the one who was shown to Jacinta, Francisco’s little sister, in her prophetic visions ?

Be that as it may, you are the new Vicar of Jesus Christ, and I give utterance to the filial homage of all the religious Communities of which I am in charge. Please forgive me for doing it publically, but I do so in the hope that this token of our devoted and confident attachment may reach you more certainly than through “ private ” channels.

I dare ask of you, Most Holy Father, your cherished blessing, for myself and for all our Communities, which are yours, with the certainty that, as the true Vicar of Him Who said : “ Ask and it will be given to you, ” you will not fail to grant it.

I assure you of our prayers for the Church and for you, under the eyes of the Immaculate, Mother of every one of us, forever, in order that She may guard you and make you the diligent instrument of the desires of Her Immaculate Heart, which are none other than those of Her Divine Son.

Brother Bruno of Jesus-Mary 
On behalf of the Little Brothers and Little Sisters of the Sacred Heart,
and the lay members of the Phalange of the Immaculate.

The pope places his bouquet of flowers on the altar of the Most Blessed Virgin, in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

The Catholic Counter-Reformation in the 21st Century

FROM "THE PATH LESS TAKEN" BLOG BY MARY O'REGAN:

FRANCIS: PORTRAIT OF THE POPE AS A YOUNG MAN & AS A YOUNG JESUIT TESTED IN THE DIRTY WAR

                                                                               

Old Customs of Easter Week

1st Sunday of April:
Low Sunday (Dominica in albis)

      (Extracted from Christian Feast and Customs, by Fr Francis X. Weiser)

Blessing of Easter foods (baskets)

In the early days of Christianity all of Easter Week was one continuous feast. Most people abstained from their usual work and attended church services daily. Priests in France used to celebrate two masses daily during Easter Week. A Spanish missal of the ninth century shows three Mass texts for each day of this week.

Because those who were baptized on Holy Saturday wore new white garments, Easter Week is also called "White Week" in the Western Church and the "Week of New Garments" in the Oriental [Eastern] Church. During the whole week the neophytes, in their linen dress and soft sandals, stood close to the altar at all services as a separate group within the sanctuary of the basilica. Daily the bishop would address them with special instructions after the crowds had dispersed. It was the honeymoon of their new life as Christians, a week in intense happiness and spiritual joy. It was only after mass of the Sunday Octave of Easter that they exchanged the white garments for the ordinary dress.

Easter Monday is still in many countries a day of rest and relaxation. First among them is the "Emmaus walk", inspired by the Gospel of the day (Lk. 24). In Germany and Austria, youngsters would play Easter games and sports (Osterspiele) in the Easter field (Osteranger). In French Canada, the Emmaus walk takes the form of a visit to the grandparents.

In Northern Europeans countries, Monday and Tuesday are the traditional days of "switching" and "drenching", customs based on pre-Christian fertility rites. In good-natured mischief the boys will surprise the girls with buckets of water and douse them thoroughly, often reciting some little rhyme.

Friday of Easter is a favorite day for devout pilgrimages (Osterwallfahrt). Praying and singing hymns, the faithful walk for hours preceded by a cross and church banners. In the Austrian Tyrol, people walk ten hours each way. In some sections of German and Austria, the farmers make their pilgrimage on horseback, accompanied by a band playing Easter hymns.

The Sunday after Easter received diverse names. It was called the "Octave of the Pasch" from the earliest centuries. It acquired later the name of "Sunday in White" (see above), hence the "White Sunday." The English term "Low Sunday" comes from the ancient practice of counting the octave day as belonging to the feast, so that Easter actually would last eight days including two Sundays. The primary (high) one is Easter Sunday, and the secondary (low) one the Sunday after Easter. Low Sunday was in medieval times the day for the first communions of children. Dressed in white, they enter the church in solemn procession, holding lighted candles. In some places, each child receives first communion with father and mother kneeling beside him, also receiving the Blessed Sacrament.

THE PASTOR'S CORNER WEEKLY WORDS FROM A SSPX PRIEST

Spiritual Treasures Of My Childhood

I have given much thought in the past few years as to my spiritual formation as a child. My mother and the nuns taught me my prayers and a great love for Our Lady and her holy rosary and Jesus Our Eucharistic Saviour.  However, it was three little Catholic books which I would say have formed my Marian and Eucharistic devotion and piety. St John Bosco says, "only God knows the good that can come about by reading one good Catholic book."   St Alphonsus Liguori says, "Without good books and spiritual reading, it would be morally impossible to save our souls."

All three of these spiritual treasures are available online for the edification of everyone:

JESUS OUR EUCHARISTIC LOVE by Father Stefano Manelli, O.F.M. Conv., S.T.D.


THE SECRET OF THE ROSARY by St Louis Grignion de Montfort


THE WHOLE TRUTH ABOUT FATIMA (MOTHER OF CHRIST CRUSADE)

From the Portuguese Blog Fratres in Unum

Marini, rising from the ashes.

Archbishop Piero Marini in one of his last boasts in the pontificate of Benedict XVI.

Papa Francesco received in audience this morning, Archbishop Piero Marini , master of ceremonies of the celebrated John Paul II and pupil of Annibale Bugnini, who was defenestrated by Benedict XVI for an insignificant dicastery in the Roman Curia.

It is said in the Italian press that Marini, 71, could return to practice some important function within the pontificate of Papa Francesco, perhaps getting the very head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Time (alone) will tell

                                 EASTER WEDNESDAY

Today the Gospel relates the story of the disciples and Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Through the holy Eucharist we are drawn deeper and deeper into the saving death and glorious resurrection of the immortal Christ. Like Cleophas and Luke of Emmaus we are Table-guests of Christ, we know Him, our crucified and risen Lord, in the breaking of the Bread; our cold hearts begin to burn, our blind eyes are opened, and our souls are filled with that paschal peace and joy with which these two disciples hastened from Emmaus back to Jerusalem on that first blessed Easter evening. — Vine and Branches, Martin Hellriegel, 1948.

                                                                               

Catholic Collar And Tie: Lest Liturgical Innovators Forget... Updated

Catholic Collar And Tie: Lest Liturgical Innovators Forget... Updated: Before Vatican II it mattered little who was elected Pope, for the man who took up the Petrine Office knew he was there to guard what his ...