Modus Operandi

"Pray, Study, Act" is the method of operating for producing the best results in line with right faith and thought.

"Contemplate and give to others what one has contemplated" (Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Legrance in La Spiritualite dominicaine) is a motto that echos the same idea.

Or again: you cannot give what you have not got. Want to bring peace to the world? First, live in peace.

Church of Christ

The Church is "the guardian and teacher of the revealed word" (Dei Filius, Constitution of Vatican Council I, A.D. 1869-70).

The Church is the hierarchical, visible society established by Jesus Christ in which men and women come to the knowledge of the soul-saving truth. Its end is to bring about the salvation of souls by ensuring the transmission of the truths of faith that must be believed and professed for salvation.

"I believe that the Church, guardian and mistress of the revealed word, was instituted proximately and directly by the true and historical Christ."
- Oath Against the Errors of Modernism by Pope St. Pius X

SSPX Confessions Extended

Superfluous - from the apostolic letter Misericordia et Misera - see http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_letters/documents/papa-francesco-lettera-ap_20161120_misericordia-et-misera.html

"For the Jubilee Year I had also granted that those faithful who, for various reasons, attend churches officiated by the priests of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, can validly and licitly receive the sacramental absolution of their sins. For the pastoral benefit of these faithful, and trusting in the good will of their priests to strive with God’s help for the recovery of full communion in the Catholic Church, I have personally decided to extend this faculty beyond the Jubilee Year, until further provisions are made, lest anyone ever be deprived of the sacramental sign of reconciliation through the Church’s pardon..."

Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s Basilica, on 20 November, the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, in the year 2016, the fourth of my Pontificate.

Love and Lies

"True love is not rigid," one reads in this article.

True love is exclusive. There is no more a plurality of fidelity in religion than there is in marriage. The man who loves truly says with all his heart, "I love you and will love only you and no one else forever."

Anything short of that is shallow sentiment, a waste of breath, a risible lie.

Militia Immaculatae

According to the Brief of Pope Pius XI dated December 18, 1926, the members of the Militia Immaculatae (M.I.) can obtain a plenary indulgence on the following days:
* the day of their enrollment in the M.I. (May 17, 2014),
* the anniversary of the founding of the M.I. (October 16),
* the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8),
* the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25),
* the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (February 11),
* the anniversary of the first appearance of Our Lady of Fatima (May 13),
* the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4), and
* the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (November 27).

Besides the usual conditions for receiving a plenary indulgence (sacramental Confession within eight days, prayer for the intentions of the Popes,  freedom from attachment to sin), one must renew his promise to adhere to the Statutes of the M.I. and to keep them faithfully.

Act of Consecration to the Immaculata
O Immaculata, Queen of heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our Mother who loves us so much and to whom God has entrusted the entire kingdom of mercy!

I, N.N., an unworthy sinner, cast myself down at your feet and implore you with all my heart: deign to accept me utterly and entirely as your possession and your property. Do what you will with me, with all the faculties of my soul and my body, with my whole life, with my death and my eternity.

Dispose of me as it pleases you, so as to fulfill what is said of you: "She will crush the head of the serpent," and also: "Thou alone hast vanquished all heresies throughout the world."

Make me an instrument of your immaculate and merciful hands to serve you, so as to increase as much as possible your honor in so many tepid souls that have fallen away from the Faith and thus to extend the kingdom of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. For upon whatever place you enter, you implore the grace of conversion and sanctification, for all graces come to us from the Sacred Heart of Jesus only through your hands.

Grant me to praise thee, O most Blessed Virgin.

Give me strength against Thine enemies.

Aspiration of the Militia Immaculatae
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee, and for all who do not have recourse to thee, especially for the Freemasons and for those who are commended to they care.

Common in the Pedestrian Sense

Pioneer Institute is a Massachusetts research organization that turned its attention to Common Core to analyze the impact that program has on the quality of education for K-12.

See the 60-page write-up at http://pioneerinstitute.org/common_core/study-finds-common-core-incompatible-catholic-education/

The findings are not flattering. And the insights are equally application for all students, not just Bay Staters.

Literature
 * Study of literature, drama, and poetry are quantitatively reduced by more than half.
* Great literature, when it is included, is merely excerpted.

Math
* The math standards don't prepare students for college-level coursework in science, engineering, and math.
* Good for community-college-level work.

The focus of Common Core is on elementary workforce preparation. Instead of reading about humans to learn about life, students now read a user manual. The curriculum's "informational texts" are a vocational ed formula for producing not just trained workers, but androids - or cyborgs, depending on your genre. The approach is "common" in the pedestrian sense.

Instaurare Omnia in Christo

Instaurare omnia in Christo - "To restore all things in Christ." This was the motto of the pontificate of Pope St. Pius X.

What does it mean to "restore all things in Christ"?

From the encyclical E Supremi Apostolatu of Pope St. Pius X:

"When in every city and village the law of the Lord is faithfully observed, when respect is shown for sacred things, when the Sacraments are frequented, and the ordinances of the Christian life are fulfilled, there will certainly be no more need for us to labor further to see all things restored in Christ."

Truth and Consequence

Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“Religion, with us, is not simply a matter of sentiment, to be carried out by each individual according to his own private taste or preference. It is in our view and belief, a system of truths and consequent practical duties coming to us as a revelation from God, through Christ and His Apostles, and committed to an organization founded by Divine authority, and known to us as the Church. We do not regard the Church as simply a society like others in general, based on mutual consent and for mutual convenience.

“No; we look upon it as a Divine association, unto which Almighty God requires that all should enter…”

- By George M. Searle, C.S.P., in the July edition of The Catholic World

Jeanne d'Arc, 1429

On this date, April 29th, 1429, St. Joan of Arc (1412-1431) led the French force in relieving the city of Orléans, which had been under siege from the English since the previous October.

Having been counseled by St. Michael and other angels, as well as St. Margaret (a 4th century martyr), St. Catherine of Alexandria, and others, the Maid of Domremy acted out of an abundance of patriotic love to help her fellow Frenchmen. At first she balked - "I am a poor girl; I do not know how to ride or fight," she protested. Her Heavenly counselors told her, however, "It is God who commands it.”

Joan's divine mission was miraculously confirmed in the court of the Dauphine, after which she prophesied how Orléans would be delivered. The details of her remarks are recorded in a letter written by Sire de Rotslaer, in which he wrote that the Maid "would save Orléans and would compel the English to raise the siege, that she herself in a battle before Orléans would be wounded by a shaft but would not die of it, and that the King, in the course of the coming summer, would be crowned at Reims..."

Before entering upon her campaign, Joan summoned the King of England to withdraw his troops from French soil. The English commanders were furious at the audacity of the demand, but Joan by a rapid movement entered Orléans on April 30th. Her presence there at once worked wonders. By May 8th the English forts which encircled the city had all been captured, and the siege raised, though on the 7th the Last Crusader was wounded in the breast by an arrow.

End of Lent Novena

Good Friday next week marks the 25^th anniversary of the death of Abp. Marcel Lefebvre.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
* Born: November 29, 1905
* Ordained: September 21, 1929
* Consecrated: September 18, 1947
* Founded the Society: November 1, 1970
* Died: March 25, 1991

Today begins a novena, for private use, ending on the anniversary of the Archbishop's death, asking:
* The triumph of Holy Mother the Church
* The preservation and flourishing of the Society of St. Pius X
* The holiness of his priestly sons and religious

Novena
O Jesus, Eternal High Priest, who deigned to elevate Thy faithful servant Marcel Lefebvre to the episcopal dignity and to grant him the grace of being a fearless defender of the Holy Mass, of the Catholic Priesthood, of Thy Holy Church, and of the Holy See, of being a courageous apostle of Thy Kingdom on earth, of being a devoted servant of Thy holy Mother, and of being a shining example of charity, of humility and of all virtues; bestow upon us now, by his merits, the graces we beseech of Thee, so that, assured of his powerful intercession to Thee, we may one day see him elevated to the glory of the altar. Amen.

Triangulating on the Facts

After His Resurrection, Christ appeared repeatedly to His followers, in a variety of settings, at diverse times, in different circumstances.

Had He appeared only a single time, perhaps once in front of the whole lot of the Apostles and the other disciples, there might have been a tendency later for them to think, “Did it really happen? Did He really come back from the dead, or did we imagine it, convince ourselves of it?”

So no, He appeared to His followers after His Resurrection, again and again, time after time, first over here, then over there, repeating and reinforcing and reiterating that the source of their joy was real and tangible and true.

The chief sources which directly attest the fact of Christ’s Resurrection are the four Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul.

St. Matthew’s Gospel records that He appeared to the holy women, and again on a mountain in Galilee.

St. Mark’ Gospel records that He was seen by Mary Magdalene, by the two disciples at Emmaus, and the Eleven before His Ascension into Heaven.

St. Luke’s Gospel records that He walked with His disciples to Emmaus, appeared to Peter and to the assembled disciples in Jerusalem.

St. John’s Gospel records that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, to the ten Apostles on the first Easter Sunday, to the Eleven a week later, and to the seven disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.

St. Paul records (I Corinthians 15:3-8) that He was seen by Cephas, by the Eleven, by more than 500 brethren, by James, by all the Apostles, and lastly by Paul himself.

- Excerpted from The Angelus, March-April 2016 issue