The Big 3

The Archangels

September 29th is the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels.

Most names don’t reveal very much about the person who carries them. But that’s not true of the angels whom we honor. Michael, whose name means “Who is like God,” is known for his great power in fighting against Satan and his demons. Gabriel’s name means “strength,” and he certainly gave strength to Mary when he told her she would be the Mother of God (Luke 1:28). Raphael’s name means “healer,” and he is the one who cured Tobit’s blindness (Tobit 11).

We can’t help but admire the archangels. Like all the angels, they have remarkable abilities. As pure spirits, their knowledge and power are beyond our comprehension. But they’re not like the superheroes in our comics. They live to serve God and worship him. Their wonderful gifts are only a pale reflection of his infinite perfection and beauty. What’s more, as amazing as they are, they really are “fellow servants” along with us, and their inspiration can lead us to worship God more fully (Revelation 19:10).

Perhaps the best way to honor the archangels is to join them in worshipping Jesus. We can take our cue from Nathanael; Jesus told him he would see “the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51). We have that same opportunity at every Mass. We may not see the angels, but they are there, adoring Jesus on the altar. Along with them, we can be caught up in the love and holiness of the Son of God and be moved to lay our lives down before him.

What’s more, we can do something the angels can’t. We can actually receive Jesus as our nourishment. All the qualities of God that the angels share—his wisdom, love, and beauty—are contained in the Eucharist. And that’s what we are privileged to take into our very bodies! There is nothing more inspiring than to see that God loves us enough to share his very life with us. The next time you attend Mass, know that you are in the company of angels, and join them in giving him all the praise and worship your heart can muster!

“Thank you, Lord, that you have made me lower than the angels, yet you come to me as the bread of life. May I be open to all the grace you want to pour out on me in your body and blood.”

This article is adapted from a Meditation that originally appeared in the September 2008 issue of the Word Among Us Magazine.

http://wau.org/resources/article/re_the_archangels/

A Revelation

War broke out in heaven;
Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.
The dragon and its angels fought back,
but they did not prevail
and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,
who is called the Devil and Satan,
who deceived the whole world,
was thrown down to earth,
and its angels were thrown down with it.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,
who accuses them before our God day and night.
They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them.”

~ Revelations 12:7-12

Micha'el - Slayer of That Great Dragon

 THE SAINT MICHAEL PRAYER

Can a prayer be inspired by a battle?  Pope Leo XIII (pictured below) wrote the Saint Michael prayer, printed below, in 1884, after supposedly seeing a frightening vision: evil spirits, trying to fulfill Satan’s boast to destroy our Lord’s Church within a century, were engaging in fierce attacks against it. 

Although the Pontiff also saw St. Michael casting Satan (also known as the devil) and his demons back into Hell in his vision, he was so horrified by what he had seen he felt compelled to help defend our faith in this struggle.

In the Saint Michael prayer he throws down the gauntlet to “the father of lies” as Jesus calls the devil in John’s Gospel (8:44), by enlisting the help of a very special Archangel:

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host,
by the Divine Power of God,
cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

St. Michael makes a great general in this fight between Christ and Satan for our souls! After all, we read in Revelation (12:7-9) that “there was a great battle in heaven; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon...and that great dragon...who is called the devil and Satan, who seduces the whole world...was cast unto the earth, and his angels [the demons] were thrown down with him.”

St. Michael’s very name (in Hebrew, Micha’el meaning “Who is like to God?”) denotes the war cry uttered in that battle. Note that when we talk about Satan or the devil here we are also referring to his “army” of fallen angels, the evil spirits referred to in the Saint Michael prayer.

As a special patron and protector of the Church, St. Michael has been assigned to fight against Satan; to protect faithful souls from him, especially at their death; to champion God’s people; and, further along this line, to escort them to their judgment.

Pope Leo XIII saw to it that the Saint Michael prayer was recited after every low Mass throughout the world. (The low Mass, discontinued in 1970 after Vatican II, was said by a priest alone, with no music.) This prayer is not said at Mass today, but in 1994 Pope John Paul II urged the faithful keep to reciting it.

Although we tend to downplay the notion of the devil as being too quaint or outmoded today, he does indeed exist and not just as a symbol of evil, or as character in a fairytale to frighten us.

We obviously can’t excuse all our sins and failures by saying, as the comedian Flip Wilson did in a line he made famous, “The devil made me do it!” After all, God allows us to be tempted but gives us the grace and the free will to choose Him and not the devil.

Still, we shouldn’t assume the devil is just some cartoon figure. Priests such as Father Malachi Martin and Father Gabriele Amorth have written extensively of their struggles with demons during exorcisms.

One of Satan’s greatest assets is his camouflage, the belief that he doesn’t exist, as Father Martin once noted in his acclaimed book Hostage to the Devil. Father Martin felt strongly that disbelief in Satan and the forces of evil leaves us unable to resist them.

On the subject of resistance, keep in mind that we can and should say
the Saint Michael prayer at church or just on our own during the day for spiritual protection for ourselves and for others as well!

Satan was unable to destroy the Catholic Church in the 20th century, but certainly our faith withstood terrible onslaughts just from Hitler and Stalinalone. We are still engaged in that war that has gone for all of human history, in one form or another, between God and the devil.

Each of us has had our own battles against the dark side trying to turn us away from eternal life with our Creator. Satan’s idea for our eternal life is one spent with him in hatred and misery and he’s after as many souls as he can get!

As St. Peter once noted “be sober and watch, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). “The evil spirits who roam about the world seeking the ruin of souls” mentioned in the Saint Michael prayer have surely been busy, but in asking for help we can fight back against them every day.

Prayer and the sacraments are an essential part of what St. Paul called the “armor of God” in his letter to the Ephesians. The Saint Michael prayer can help us indeed “stand against the deceits of the devil" (Eph 6:11) by “taking the shield of faith” (Eph 6:16). Remember, God permits us to be tempted by the devil but gives us the grace to resist him through prayer in our daily lives.

Let us not be afraid to ask for St. Michael’s help in this prayer and others listed here like it. We need to remember that each time we pray we work to defeat our real enemies, not each other, but rather the devil and his evil spirits.

As St. Paul put it, we fight “not against flesh and blood but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness” (Eph 6:12). With God’s help in prayer they can all be overcome. 

http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/the-saint-michael-prayer.html

Why you should eat angel food cake today

September 29, Feast of St. Michael:

·                     Upcoming From Thy Bounty Fair: Angels (With ideas and suggestions!)

·                     Michaelmas Feasting from Wales

·                     Apple Chicken

·                     Instant Gnocchi for Michaelmas

·                     St. Michael's Waffles

·                     From Thy Bounty Fair - Feasting with the Angels!

·                     Apple Cake for Michaelmas

·                     Angel Food Blackberry Trifle for Michaelmas

·                     Gluten-Free Feasting for the Angels

·                     Celebrating Michaelmas and Nameday Prayers for the Family

Happy St. Michael's Day!

Feast of St. Michael  (Michaelmas) There are seven Archangels in all, but only the three mentioned in Sacred Scripture are commemorated liturgically; St. Gabriel's Feast is on 24 March, and St. Raphael's Feast is on 24 October (the Guardian Angels are remembered on 2 October. The other archangels, whom we know from the Book of Enoch, are Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jeramiel.) Today, though, we honor St. Michael the Archangel, whose very name in Hebrew means, "Who is Like God." St. Michael is described in the Golden Legend, written in A.D. 1275 by Jacobus de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, thus: For like as Daniel witnesseth, he shall arise and address in the time of Antichrist against him, and shall stand as a defender and keeper for them that be chosen. [Daniel 10:13, 12] He also fought with the dragon and his angels, and casting them out of heaven, had a great victory. [Apocalypse 12:7-9] He also had a great plea and altercation with the devil for the body of Moses, because he would not show it; for the children of Israel should have adored and worshipped it. [Jude 1] He received the souls of saints and brought them into the paradise of exultation and joy. He was prince of the synagogue of the Jews, but now he is established of our Lord, prince of the church of Jesu Christ. And as it is said, he made the plagues of Egypt, he departed and divided the Red Sea, he led the people of Israel by the desert and set them in the land of promission, he is had among the company of holy angels as bannerer. And bearing the sign of our Lord, he shall slay by the commandment of God, right puissantly, Antichrist that shall be in the Mount of Olivet. And dead men shall arise at the voice of this same archangel. And he shall show at the day of judgment the Cross, the spear, the nails and the crown of thorns of Jesu Christ. Expounding on St. Michael's final victory over the Antichrist, the Golden Legend continues: The fourth victory is that the archangel Michael shall have of Antichrist when he shall slay him. Then Michael, the great prince, shall arise, as it is said Danielis xii.: “He shall arise for them that be chosen as a helper and a protector, and shall strongly stand against Antichrist.” And after, as the Gloss saith: “Antichrist shall feign him to be dead, and shall hide him three days,” and after, he shall appear saying that he is risen from death to life, and the devils shall bear him by art magic, and shall mount up into the air, and all the people shall marvel and worship him. And at the last he shall mount up on the Mount of Olivet, and when he shall be in a pavilion, in his siege [seat], entered into that place where our Lord ascended, Michael shall come and shall slay him. Of which victory is understood, after St. Gregory, that which is said in the Apocalypse. The battle is made in heaven. This word of the treble battle in heaven is expounded of the battle that he had with Lucifer when he expulsed him out of heaven, and of the battle that he had with the devils that torment us. St. Michael is our warrior against the Evil One, and is the one we call on in times of temptation, especially with our Prayer to St. Michael: St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into Hell, Satan and all the other evil spirits, who wander throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. This great champion of Israel has made many important appearances throughout the years. In A.D. 590, during the reign of Pope Gregory, a great pestilence swept through Rome. During a procession and litanies led by the Holy Father there, St. Michael appeared over the Castel Sant'Angelo -- a building which wasformerly Hadrian's tomb, but which was converted to papal use, connected to the Vatican by a long tunnel. A statue of St. Michael sits atop the building today (picture at top right). Mont St. Michel was built to St. Michael's honor off the coast of Normandy, France. Our warrior Saint is said to have appeared there in 708 to St. Aubert, Bishop of Avranches (picture at bottom right). He also, along with SS. Margaret and Catherine, appeared to St. Joan of Arc (d. 1431) when she was thirteen years old, encouraging her to assist Charles VII in defeating the English. She later told her judges, "I saw them with these very eyes, as well as I see you." St. Michael is patron of knights, policemen, soldiers, paramedics, ambulance drivers, etc., and also danger at sea, for the sick, and of a holy death. He is usually depicted in art carrying a sword and/or shield, battling Satan.

When The Frost Is On The Pumpkin

The Natural Season

Psalm 144:15-16
"The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord:
and thou givest them meat in due season.
Thou openest thy hand,
and fillest with blessing every living creature."

Oh, delicious Autumn! Trees lavish with spice colors... the earthy smell of their leaves burning in hypnotic flames... the rich colors of grapes, apples, pumpkin, and squash, of gold and scarlet flowers... the invigorating air inviting warm sweaters... The season is marked by a bounty that lends itself well to some wonderful holidays, especially Martinmas and the secular American and Canadian Thanksgivings (the fourth Thursday in November and October 2, respectively). This delightful poem, written in an old Hoosier dialect by James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 - July 22, 1916), conveys the feeling of Autumn so well:

When the Frost is on the Pumpkin

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,
And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens,
And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;
O, it's then's the times a feller is a-feelin' at his best,
With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bare-headed, and goes out to feed the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees,
And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees;
But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a pitcur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,
And the raspin' of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn;
The stubble in the furries --kindo' lonesome-like, but still
A-preachin' sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill;
The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;
The hosses in theyr stalls below -- the clover overhead!
O, it sets my hart a-clickin' like the tickin' of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock!

Then your apples all is getherd, and the ones a feller keeps
Is poured around the cellar-floor in red and yeller heaps;
And your cider-makin' 's over, and your wimmern-folks is through
With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and sausage, too!
I don't know how to tell it -- but ef sich a thing could be
As the Angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me
I'd want to 'commondate 'em -- all the whole-indurin' flock --
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock!

In the midst of this beautiful time, things wizen and seem to begin to die. The air grows cooler, the earth stiffens, the trees tire of holding their leaves. And during this waning we remember our dead -- on 1 November, the victorious dead (All Saints, or All Hallows Day), and on 2 November, the dead being purified (All Souls Day). These Days of the Dead begin with the eve of All Hallows, or "Hallowe'en," an unofficial evening of remembering the frightening fate of the damned and how we can avoid it. There can't be a more appropriate time for such a night than Autumn, when foggy mists are likely, and bonfires helpful.

http://www.fisheaters.com/customstimeafterpentecost8.html

Today in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy

St. Padre Pio Feast Day Mass

San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy

“When we meet the Lord, He will not ask us if were successful, but surely He will ask if we tried.”

~ Saint Pio

Your and your family will be included in this Mass.

These Special Intentions will also be included in this Mass:

-          Our military veterans - living and deceased

Prayer to Honor God’s Gifts

I come to you, dear Saint Pio, to seek your blessing on all I say and do this day.

Guide me to see and appreciate the good in everyone I meet.

Help me put into action the gifts, talents, and abilities God has entrusted to me.

Be present to me this day, dear Padre Pio, and from your place in Heaven intercede before Almighty God for my loved ones and for my intentions.

“I cannot cease imploring blessing for you from out dear Jesus.

May the blessings of Our Lord descend upon you, your home, and all your loved ones.”

~ Saint Pio

Padre Pio Foundation of America

Cromwell, CT

www.padrepio.com

Why you should drink a Cappuccino today

September 23, Feast of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) (New):

·                     Cappuccino Mousse for St. Pio

·                     Feast of Padre Pio - Italian Sausage and Pasta

·                     Cappuccino Mousse Trifle

Happy St. Matthew's Day

Matthew was a Jew who worked for the occupying Roman forces, collecting taxes from other Jews. The Romans were not scrupulous about what the "tax farmers" got for themselves. Hence the latter, known as "publicans," were generally hated as traitors by their fellow Jews. The Pharisees lumped them with "sinners" (see Matthew 9:11-13). So it was shocking to them to hear Jesus call such a man to be one of his intimate followers.

Matthew got Jesus in further trouble by having a sort of going-away party at his house. The Gospel tells us that "many" tax collectors and "those known as sinners" came to the dinner. The Pharisees were still more badly shocked. What business did the supposedly great teacher have associating with such immoral people? Jesus' answer was, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' I did not come to call the righteous but sinners" (Matthew 9:12b-13). Jesus is not setting aside ritual and worship; he is saying that loving others is even more important.

No other particular incidents about Matthew are found in the New Testament.

Comment: 
From such an unlikely situation, Jesus chose one of the foundations of the Church, a man others, judging from his job, thought was not holy enough for the position. But he was honest enough to admit that he was one of the sinners Jesus came to call. He was open enough to recognize truth when he saw him. "And he got up and followed him" (Matthew 9:9b).

The Mystery of San Gennaro's Blood

Sep 19: Feast of St. Januarius (San Gennaro)

San Gennaro, the Bishop of Naples (or Benevento) was beheaded, with his Companions, at Pozzuoli in A.D. 305 by Diocletian for refusing to worship pagan idols. Ever since at least A.D. 1389, his dried blood, a solid mass inside a silver reliquary in the Cappella del Tesoro (Chapel of the Treasure) of the 13th c. Naples Cathedral (the "Duomo"), liquifies, and sometimes even "boils"; if it doesn't, disaster is said to follow.

His blood is kept in two vials inside the reliquary which is topped by a crown and a cross. When the Bishop takes the vial to the Altar that holds the Saint's head, the people, who gather by the thousands, pray that the blood becomes liquid once again. If the miracle takes place, the officiant proclaims, "Il miracolo é fatto!" and waves a white handkerchief. Then a Te Deum is sung and the reliquary is taken to the altar rail so the faithful can kiss the vial.

This miracle takes place on the first Saturday before the first Sunday of May (and during the 8 days that follow), on his Feast (and during the octave of his Feast), and, sometimes, on December 16.

Because he is the Patron Saint of Napoli, he is dear to the Southern Italian people, and in New York City, where there's a large Italian American population, there's a huge San Gennaro celebration in Little Italy. 

How Islamic Violence Provoked The Crusades

This video discusses the Islamic violence against Eastern Christians in the Syrian region during the Middle Ages, and how it provoked the Crusades as a defensive response. The idea that the Crusades were an unprovoked act of violence against Islamic civilization is simply nonsense and not historical. This video makes use of several important medieval primary sources from the Middle East, including Aristakes' 11th Century Armenian History, and the Chronicle of Michael the Syrian. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imTY5izhTDo

Some important sources:
The full text of Aristakes' History
http://rbedrosian.com/a1.htm

Info on Michael the Syrian:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_...

An article by leading Crusades historian Tom Madden
http://ignatiusinsight.net/features20...

An excellent book by an Egyptian scholar entitled "The Decline of Eastern Christianity Under Islam"
http://books.google.com/books?id=C2Gg...

The Seven Dolors

Our Lady of Sorrows
This feast dates back to the 12th century. It was especially promoted by the Cistercians and the Servites, so much so that in the 14th and 15th centuries it was widely celebrated throughout the Catholic Church. In 1482 the feast was added to the Missal under the title of "Our Lady of Compassion." Pope Benedict XIII added it to the Roman Calendar in 1727 on the Friday before Palm Sunday. In 1913, Pope Pius X fixed the date on September 15. The title "Our Lady of Sorrows" focuses on Mary's intense suffering during the passion and death of Christ. "The Seven Dolors," the title by which it was celebrated in the 17th century, referred to the seven swords that pierced the Heart of Mary. The feast is like an octave for the birthday of Our Lady on September 8th.
—Excerpted from Our Lady of Sorrows by Fr. Paul Haffner (Inside the Vatican, September 2004)

This feast is dedicated to the spiritual martyrdom of Mary, Mother of God, and her compassion with the sufferings of her Divine Son, Jesus. In her suffering as co-redeemer, she reminds us of the tremendous evil of sin and shows us the way of true repentance. May the numerous tears of the Mother of God be conducive to our salvation; with which tears Thou, O God, art able to wash away the sins of the whole world.

As Mary stood at the foot of the Cross on which Jesus hung, the sword of sorrow Simeon had foretold pierced her soul. Below are the seven sorrows of Mary:

1. The prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:25-35)
2. The flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)
3. Loss of the Child Jesus for three days (Luke 2:41-50) 
4. Mary meets Jesus on his way to Calvary (Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17)
5. Crucifixion and Death of Jesus (John 19:25-30)
6. The body of Jesus being taken from the Cross (Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37)
7. The burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47)

Symbols: heart pierced with a sword; heart pierced by seven swords; winged heart pierced with a sword; flowers: red rose, iris (meaning: "sword-lily"), cyclamen.

Patron: people named Dolores, Dolais, Deloris, Dolorita, Maria Dolorosa, Pia, and Pieta.

Things to Do:

• Teach your children the Seven Sorrows of Mary. Read more about this devotion. September is traditionally dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.
• Present different art pieces of Our Lady of Sorrows, or illustration of one of her sorrows, for meditation and discussion. There are so many different pieces from all different eras, countries and mediums. Search words for art titles would be Lamentation, Deposition, Pieta, Dolorosa, Sorrows, etc. Some samples: 
• The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin by Albrecht Durer
• Michelangelo's Pieta
• Pieta by Giovanni Bellini
• Vincent Van Gogh's Pieta
• Titian's Mater Dolorosa
• Different artists on the Presentation in the Temple
• Various artists on the Flight into Egypt
• Discuss why Mary is called the Queen of Martyrs.
• Make a heart-shaped cake for dessert, decorated with the swords piercing the heart.
• Think of ways to make reparation to Mary for the sins committed against Our Lord.
• Pray the short prayer or ejaculation, Holy Mother, imprint deeply upon my heart the wounds of the Crucified.
• Read or sing the Stabat Mater, perhaps incorporating it with the Stations of the Cross.
• In Italy, the title of Our Lady of Sorrows is Maria Santissima Addolorata. This devotion began in the 1200s. She is the patron of many Italian cities. In southern Italy there is La Festa della Madonna dei Sette Dolori (the festival of the Seven Sorrows of the Madonna), instituted in 1423, also called Madonna dell’Addolorata Festival. The food connected to this festival is cuccia salata, wheat berries cooked in meat broth and layered with goat or pork.

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2014-09-15

Stabat Mater

Stabat Mater Dolorosa, often referred to as Stabat Mater, is a 13th-century Catholic hymn to Mary, variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III. It is about the Sorrows of Mary.

The title of the sorrowful hymn is an incipit of the first line, Stabat mater dolorosa ("The sorrowful mother stood").[4] The Stabat Mater hymn, one of the most powerful and immediate of extant medieval poems, meditates on the suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ's mother, during his crucifixion. It is sung at the liturgy on the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Stabat Mater has been set to music by many composers, with the most famous settings being those by Palestrina, Pergolesi, Alessandro Scarlatti and Domenico Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Haydn, Rossini, Dvořák, and Poulenc.

Stabat Mater by Vivaldi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc_XS4WUmqY

Stabat Mater – Gregorian Chant with organ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8a0E5uHgSo

Stabat Mater by Palestrina:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPnufDDPXFY

Stabat mater dolorosa juxta Crucem lacrimosa, dum pendebat Filius. Cuius animam gementem, contristatam et dolentem pertransivit gladius. O quam tristis et afflicta fuit illa benedicta, mater Unigeniti! Quae mœrebat et dolebat, pia Mater, dum videbat nati pœnas inclyti. Quis est homo qui non fleret, matrem Christi si videret in tanto supplicio? Quis non posset contristari Christi Matrem contemplari dolentem cum Filio? Pro peccatis suæ gentis vidit Iesum in tormentis, et flagellis subditum. Vidit suum dulcem Natum moriendo desolatum, dum emisit spiritum. Eia, Mater, fons amoris me sentire vim doloris fac, ut tecum lugeam. Fac, ut ardeat cor meum in amando Christum Deum ut sibi complaceam. Sancta Mater, istud agas, crucifixi fige plagas cordi meo valide. Tui Nati vulnerati, tam dignati pro me pati, pœnas mecum divide. Fac me tecum pie flere, crucifixo condolere, donec ego vixero. Juxta Crucem tecum stare, et me tibi sociare in planctu desidero. Virgo virginum præclara, mihi iam non sis amara, fac me tecum plangere. Fac, ut portem Christi mortem, passionis fac consortem, et plagas recolere. Fac me plagis vulnerari, fac me Cruce inebriari, et cruore Filii. Flammis ne urar succensus, per te, Virgo, sim defensus in die iudicii. Christe, cum sit hinc exire, da per Matrem me venire ad palmam victoriæ. Quando corpus morietur, fac, ut animæ donetur paradisi gloria. Amen.

At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to her Son to the last. Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, all His bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword has passed. O how sad and sore distressed was that Mother, highly blest, of the sole-begotten One. Christ above in torment hangs, she beneath beholds the pangs of her dying glorious Son. Is there one who would not weep, whelmed in miseries so deep, Christ's dear Mother to behold? Can the human heart refrain from partaking in her pain, in that Mother's pain untold? For the sins of His own nation, She saw Jesus wracked with torment, All with scourges rent: She beheld her tender Child, Saw Him hang in desolation, Till His spirit forth He sent. O thou Mother! fount of love! Touch my spirit from above, make my heart with thine accord: Make me feel as thou hast felt; make my soul to glow and melt with the love of Christ my Lord. Holy Mother! pierce me through, in my heart each wound renew of my Savior crucified: Let me share with thee His pain, who for all my sins was slain, who for me in torments died. Let me mingle tears with thee, mourning Him who mourned for me, all the days that I may live: By the Cross with thee to stay, there with thee to weep and pray, is all I ask of thee to give. Virgin of all virgins blest!, Listen to my fond request: let me share thy grief divine; Let me, to my latest breath, in my body bear the death of that dying Son of thine. Wounded with His every wound, steep my soul till it hath swooned, in His very Blood away; Be to me, O Virgin, nigh, lest in flames I burn and die, in His awful Judgment Day. Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, be Thy Mother my defense, be Thy Cross my victory; While my body here decays, may my soul Thy goodness praise, Safe in Paradise with Thee. Translation by Edward Caswall Lyra Catholica (1849)

Are Freemasons the Descendents of the Knights Templar?

Freemasonry’s Origin

The story begins, as so many do, with the Catholic Church and its restless struggle against sin.

Masonic myth suggests that it all began with Huramabi, also called Hiram 2 Chron 2:13, the father of Hiram King of Tyre. Freemasonry calls the king’s father Hiram Abif. No evidence independent of Freemasonry supports its myth of a Hiram Abif who is killed and raised from death by the strong grip of the lion’s paw. By contrast, Rabbi Yeshua finds support in the major non-Christian historians Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius and others.

Scottish Rite Freemasonry’s 30th degree ritual asserts that the Masonic craft had its origins in the Knights Templar, a Catholic military order formed in Jerusalem in 1118 to support the Crusades. They were first quartered in the Temple Mount’s royal palace, hence their name, in effect, Knights of the Temple. The 30th degree refers to “… those Knights Templar of whom we are the true successors.”

When King Philip IV ascended the throne of France in 1307, he arrested all of the Knights Templar in France, some two thousand, and sent Pope Clement V a list of charges against the order. Among them was the charge that the Templars worshiped a human head.

The Shroud of Turin, then called the Edessa Cloth, is described in ancient texts as a tetradiplon, a Greek word meaning towel. The literal translation, however, means doubled-in-four. By folding the cloth to half-length, then quarter-length, then one-eighth length (doubled-in-four), only the face of Jesus is visible on a wide cloth as shown in a tenth century diptych of the Image of Edessa. At times, the cloth was very likely framed such that only the face was visible through a round hole in the middle of the frame. Dr. John Jackson used a raking light test and high magnification to reveal fold marks on the Shroud exactly where expected for such folding. A Templar painting of the head, discovered in England in 1951, bears a striking resemblance to the Shroud image.

Pope Clement V, after investigation, suppressed the order in 1312. The last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, whose name is associated today with a Masonic order for youth, was burned at the stake in 1314. Freemasonry’s historical hatred for the Catholic Church has its origins in Pope Clement V’s suppression of the Knights Templar and is sustained by Catholic opposition to Freemasonry’s interest in the occult.

Some evidence exists for a connection between the Knights Templar and Freemasonry. Templars were not persecuted in England as they were in France, but they were driven underground. Some of these covert Templars may have become Masons. There are also legends that the stone masons who had built the great Catholic cathedrals, particularly renowned for their skills, formed guilds or lodges so that when they arrived in a town their credentials would be recognized, using secret passwords and grips as journeyman cards. When the Protestant Reformation stopped new church construction some lodges disbanded while others admitted honorary “speculative” members to survive. The first such Masonic lodge is said to have come into existence in 1599 in Aitchison’s Haven, Scotland. These accounts live in mists and shadows. The historical record offers some evidence, but a paper trail showing continuity does not begin until 1717 when four craft lodges gathered at the Apple Tree Tavern near Covent Garden in London to set up a constitution for Free and Accepted Masons.

The basic lodge of Freemasonry is called the “blue lodge.” There are numerous “appendant bodies” such as the Scottish Rite or the York Rite, but the blue lodge alone confers the first three degrees including the third or Master Mason degree.

Most Masons remain blue lodge Masons all their lives and never enter an appendant body.

http://www.secondexodus.com/words/f-j/f/free-masonry/

Martyred by the Muslims

Saints Nunilo and Alodia – Protect us from the Islamists

Saints Nunilo and Alodia (died c. 842/51) were a pair of child martyrs from Huesca. Born of a mixed marriage, they eschewed the Islam of their father in favor of their mother's Christianity. They were executed by the Muslim authorities of Huesca in accordance with sharia law as apostates. Their feast day is 22 October.

The girls were arrested during the persecutions conducted by Abd ar-Rahman II, the emir of Córdoba in Spain. When they refused to disavow their faith they were placed in a brothel and later beheaded. Their relics were revered at Leyre in the tenth and eleventh centuries, when a portal was fashioned bearing their image, which still survives.

The Translatio sanctarum Nunilonis et Alodiae, a short account of the translation of their relics to the monastery of Leyre in 851, survives in two tenth-century manuscripts. The children's relics were translated from Huesca to Leyre by Oneca, the wife of Íñigo Arista, King of Navarre. There are some discrepancies between the account of the martyrdom in the Translatio and that recorded by Eulogius of Córdoba.

How Rood!

In a.d. 326, St. Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, discovered the true cross of Jesus near the site that generations had venerated as the Mount of Crucifixion. Upon discovering the cross, everyone fell to their knees and cried out, “Lord, have mercy!” A church was built on the site—the Church of the Holy Sepulcher—and the cross was placed in a prominent position within the building. The church was consecrated on September 13, 335, and the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross was celebrated annually on the following day, September 14.  About three hundred years later, the cross was taken as plunder by the Persian emperor Khosrau II but was reclaimed fourteen years later by the Roman emperor Heraclius, who brought it to Constantinople where it was once again triumphantly exalted.

This feast was observed in Rome before the end of the seventh century. It commemorates the recovery of the Holy Cross, which had been placed on Mt. Calvary by St. Helena and preserved in Jerusalem, but then had fallen into the hands of Chosroas, King of the Persians. The precious relic was recovered and returned to Jerusalem by Emperor Heralius in 629.

The lessons from the Breviary tell us that Emperor Heraclius carried the Cross back to Jerusalem on his shoulders. He was clothed with costly garments and with ornaments of precious stones. But at the entrance to Mt. Calvary a strange incident occurred. Try as hard as he would, he could not go forward. Zacharias, the Bishop of Jerusalem, then said to the astonished monarch: "Consider, O Emperor, that with these triumphal ornaments you are far from resembling Jesus carrying His Cross." The Emperor then put on a penitential garb and continued the journey.

Historically today is also the feast of St. Notburga, a peasant who lived in the Tyrol, Austria and St. Maternus, Bishop of Cologne.

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Triumph of the Cross
This day is also called the Exaltation of the Cross, Elevation of the Cross, Holy Cross Day, Holy Rood Day, or Roodmas. The liturgy of the Cross is a triumphant liturgy. When Moses lifted up the bronze serpent over the people, it was a foreshadowing of the salvation through Jesus when He was lifted up on the Cross. Our Mother Church sings of the triumph of the Cross, the instrument of our redemption. To follow Christ we must take up His cross, follow Him and become obedient until death, even if it means death on the cross. We identify with Christ on the Cross and become... Continue reading on the website.