Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christum imperat!

Viva Christo Rey! A Blessed Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King to you all!

Damsel of the Faith

October 29th marks the glorious Solemnity of Christ the King.  Here is my post from last year:

https://damselofthefaith.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/christ-the-king/

Please give Pope Pius XI’s Encyclical on the Feast of Christ the King a read.  A very important Encyclical on the Social Kingship of Christ the King:

http://www.catholictradition.org/Encyclicals/primas.htm

Let us pray that Christ will once again be King over Society and dare we say, acknowledged as King within the Church, for He has been dethroned.

Viva Christo Rey!  Our Lord is our King and He rules over His Kingdom, the Catholic Church, forever and ever!

A Blessed Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King to all!

The following is a sermon from Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre for the Feast of Christ the King, given October 28, 1979:

My dear brethren,

In the magnificent encyclical Quas Primas of His Holiness Pope Pius XI, instituting the Feast of Christ the King, the Pope explains…

View original post 2,000 more words

The origin of the Feast of Christ the King

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The King of Heaven rightfully deserves to reign gloriously over the Church and the world.

http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/liturgy-christ-king-all-kings-shall-adore-him-all-nations-shall-serve-him

A summary of the instiution of the feast of Christ the King by Pope Pius XI, and its importance in today’s environment.

In his Encyclical of December 11, 1925, Pope Pius XI denounced the great modern heresy of secularism. It refuses to recognize the rights of God and His Christ over persons and over society itself, as though God did not exist.

The Holy Father thus instituted the feast of Christ the King to be a public, social and official declaration of the royal rights of Jesus, as God the Creator, as The Word Incarnate, and as Redeemer. This feast makes these rights to be known and recognized, in a way most suitable to man and to society by the sublimest acts of religion, particularly by Holy Mass. In fact, the end of the Holy Sacrifice is the acknowledgment of God’s complete dominion over us, and our complete dependence on Him.

The Holy Father expressed his wish that this feast should be celebrated towards the end of the liturgical year, on the last Sunday of October, as the consummation of all the mysteries by which Jesus has established His royal powers and nearly on the eve of All Saints, where He already realizes them in part in being “the crown of all saints”; until He shall be the crown of all those on earth whom He saves by the application of the merits of His Passion in the Mass (Secret).

The end of the Eucharist, says the Catechism of the Council of Trent, is “to form one sole mystic body of all the faithful” and so to draw them in the worship which Christ, king-adorer, as priest and victim, rendered in a bloody manner on the cross and now renders, in an unbloody manner, on the stone altar of our churches and on the golden altar in heaven, to Christ, king-adored, as Son of God, and to His Father to whom He offers these souls (Preface).

Source: Dom Gaspar Lefebvre, OSB, 1945, adapted and abridged.

Pray for the Poor Souls

A timely reminder as the Month of the Holy Souls approaches.

http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/great-charity-prayer-poor-souls

As with each November, we are pleased to accept names of the deceased to be remembered at our altars during Holy Mass.

The dead cannot speak. Their souls’ most fervent request – prayer – cannot be transmitted to us. Due to this silence, it is easy for us to slowly forget those who have passed, even our dearest friends and family members. For this reason, our Holy Mother Church has dedicated a month for these souls, still very much a part of the Mystical Body of Christ. She asks us to redouble our efforts in prayer and sacrifice for them, to assist them to their heavenly reward.

Fr. Jurgen Wegner, District Superior – United States, recently wrote:

I urge you take advantage of this important opportunity to relieve the poor souls in purgatory, particularly in this time of crisis when prayers for the deceased have greatly diminished in number and in fervor. I therefore encourage you to pray earnestly for the dead during the month of November. By visiting a cemetery and praying even mentally each day from November 1st to the 8th, one may also gain a plenary indulgence for the faithful departed. Please click here for specific instructions on how to obtain indulgences.”
The Regina Coeli House, headquarters of the SSPX in the United States, is accepting names of the deceased. We will place these names on our chapel’s altar to be remembered at the commemoratio pro defunctis of every Mass offered during the month of November.

You may submit to us names of your departed loved ones by one of three ways:

Filling out this online form
Emailing them to holysouls@sspx.org
Printing out and mailing in this form (PDF) to the Regina Coeli House at
Regina Coeli House
11485 N. Farley Road
Platte City, MO 64079

No stipend is required for this act of charity, but if you would like to offer a gift to the Regina Coeli House, you may do so, either by mail or by visiting our donation page.

We recommend your dilligence to this prayerful charity with the words of St. Thomas More who wrote of the Poor Souls:

If you pity the poor, there is none so poor as we who have not a coat to put on our backs … If you pity any man in pain, you never knew pain like ours whose fire so far surpasses in heat all the fires that ever burned on earth as a real fire on earth surpasses one painted on canvas.”

Marriage tips from Bl. Karl and Zita of Austria

The Anniversary of Bl. Karl and Zita’s Wedding is his Feast day and rightfully so, for their marriage was a true union of Catholic love, devotion and holiness, the kind that should be imitated by all couples. Read on:

https://aleteia.org/2017/02/14/5-saintly-marriage-tips-from-blessed-charles-of-austria-and-his-bride-zita/

“There’s a reason why the Church chose the date of their wedding to be Blessed Charles’ feast day

Traditionally the Church celebrates the life of a saint every year on the date of his or her death, a day that marks their entrance into heaven. However, this is not the case with Blessed Charles of Austria.

Instead, the Church chose a date from his life that had great significance and paved the way for his sainthood: his wedding anniversary, October 21.

Blessed Charles, besides being the last Emperor of Austria (and ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) and a leader who worked tirelessly for peace during World War I, was a family man and a loyal husband to his wife, Zita. They were married for 11 years before his early death in 1922, and raised 8 children.

Being the head of an empire at war certainly has its many difficulties, but in the midst of it all Charles never forgot the importance of his marriage. In fact, his marriage to Zita provided his children and subjects a model to strive after and imitate.

Here are five marriage tips based on the life of Blessed Charles of Austria and Servant of God Zita that can inspire us and help married couples live up to their vows “until death do us part.”

1) Remember the primary goal of marriage is to get your spouse to heaven.

The day before their royal wedding, Charles said to Zita, “Now let’s help each other get into heaven.” It is easy to forget that marriage, above all things, is a sacrament. This means that God grants married couples special graces to fulfill their state in life, aimed at the ultimate destination of heaven. God desires our happiness and we can achieve that happiness by recognizing the role we have in helping our spouse lead a holy life. This is certainly not easy, but with God all things are possible.

2) Entrust your marriage to God and to the Blessed Mother.

Charles and Zita knew that if they wanted to “help each other get to heaven,” they needed all the help they could get. Besides getting married in a Catholic ceremony, the couple had a special engraving on the inside of their wedding rings. The inscription read in Latin “Sub tuum praesidium confugimus, sancta Dei Genitrix” (“We fly to Thy protection, O Holy Mother of God”). It is an ancient prayer that expressed their desire to place their marriage under the watchful care of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Additionally, before going on a honeymoon the royal couple made a pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Mariazell, dedicated to Our Lady Magna Mater Austriae (Great Mother of Austria). Marriage can often be very difficult and so couples should not be afraid to ask God and his Mother for help.

3) After the wedding day, it is no longer “me,” but “we.”

Often there is the temptation in marriage to live separate lives where the husband has “his job” and the wife has “her job.” Decisions are made separately and spouses don’t “meddle” in each other’s affairs. Charles and Zita, on the contrary, viewed themselves more of a team. Zita was very interested in the occupation of her husband and was not afraid to give her thoughts. She would often travel with Charles when on political trips in addition to taking an active role in the social concerns of the empire.

Besides working together as a royal couple, Charles and Zita actively taught their children the truths of the faith. It was not simply “Zita’s job” to teach the children how to pray, but Charles also instilled in his children a love of God and personally taught them their prayers. They took seriously the biblical ideal of “becoming one flesh” in all things.

4) Continually fan the flame of love.

Being an emperor during World War I meant Charles had to travel and make vital military decisions. This pained Charles as he had to be away from his wife and family. Charles decided to install a telephone line from his military headquarters to the imperial palace for the purpose of calling Zita multiple times a day. He would call the palace simply to talk with Zita as well as see how the children were doing. Charles understood that even with his many responsibilities, his marriage and family needed top priority. He knew that a marriage would fail if it was not nurtured with opportunities to keep the flame of love alive.

5) Love each other with an everlasting love that endures through any trial.

Newly married couples are often surprised at how quickly the initial excitement of love wears off and find themselves not “feeling” the same love they had for their spouse. This lack of a “feeling” can discourage a couple, especially when in the midst of a trial. Charles and Zita, however, did not stop loving each other even when difficulties arose. After facing the humiliation of being exiled from their own country, Charles and Zita clung to each other stronger than ever. Soon after they faced an even bigger test of their love when Charles contracted pneumonia and was quickly on his death bed.

Charles’ last words to his wife were, “I love you endlessly.” Zita, for the next 67 years, wore black clothes to signify her mourning. She never stopped loving him until her own death, when she was reunited with him in heaven. Their love was more than a “feeling,” but a choice to love each other “until death do us part” and beyond.”

 

 

The unchangeable Church

Archbishop Lefebvre speaks about the magnitude of the loss of Faith in the Church. Taken from a sermon to his Italian faithful in Venice – April 7, 1980.

“Surely, something is wrong in the Church, because if there are no longer any seminaries there will in the future be no more priests – thus, there will no longer be the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. What will become of the Church? All this is unbelievable! They have changed, yes. They have changed, but why? They have done this, of course, with the idea of saving the Church, of doing something new. Before the Council there was a real decrease of fervor and therefore they thought that by changing, the Church would become more alive. But one cannot change what Jesus Christ has established. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the Sacraments, the Creed, our catechism, the Sacred Scriptures – all come from Jesus Christ. To change them is to change the establishment of Jesus Christ. Impossible! One cannot say that the Church has been mistaken; if something is wrong one must look for the reason somewhere, but not in the Church. They also say that the Church must change as modem man changes, that as man has a new way of life, so too the Church must have another doctrine – a new Mass, new Sacraments, a new catechism, new seminaries – and, in this way, everything has gone to ruin. Everything has been ruined!”

“Throughout the world, everywhere I have been, I have visited groups of Catholics like you, who ask themselves: “What is happening in the Church?” The Church is hardly recognizable today. The ceremonies – the half-Protestant, half-Catholic liturgy – are a circus; it is no longer a Mystery. The Sacred Mystery of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass – a great Mystery, heavenly and sublime – is no longer considered such. One no longer feels the supernatural character of the Mass; those who are present have a feeling of emptiness and no longer know whether they have been at a Catholic ceremony or at some kind of secular gathering.

This is an inadmissible situation. The faithful, good and simple people, are opposed to it. Because they intuitively know that there is something which is not right in this reform. They see seminaries empty; the novitiates of religious communities empty throughout the world.”

“When I was baptized, the priest asked my godparents: “What does this child ask of the Church?” They replied: “Faith. He asks Faith from the Church.” And even today I still ask Faith from the Church – the Catholic Faith. Why do the godparents ask Faith of the Church for the child? They do so to enable him to obtain everlasting life. If it is the Faith that obtains everlasting life, then it is this Faith that I want- and I don’t want to change it!

The Catholic Faith is the Catholic Faith. The Creed is the Creed. They cannot be changed. One cannot change the Catechism; one cannot change the Mass, transforming it into a meal as the Protestants have.

The Mass is a Sacrifice, the Sacrifice of the Cross and, as the Council of Trent says, it is the same Sacrifice as Calvary, with the only difference being that one is bloody and the other unbloody. But the two are the same; the same priest – Jesus Christ, and the same Victim – Jesus Christ.

If the Victim is truly Jesus Christ, God, our Creator and our Redeemer, who shed all His Blood for our souls, it is impossible to receive Him in our hands like just any piece of bread. And it is therefore impossible for a Catholic not to have respect and adoration, if he truly believes that in the Blessed Sacrament is Jesus Christ – God Himself – the Creator, our Judge, who will be seen coming in the clouds of heaven to judge the entire world.”

 

 

 

The Consecration: To make Something out of nothing

The Consecration is the greatest miracle in the Church. God created out of nothing, but the priest makes nothing into Something.

“The Roman Rite, in important parts, goes back at least to the fourth century, more exactly to the time of Pope Damasus (366-384). The Canon of the Mass had attained by the time of Gelasius I (492-496) the form it has kept until now, apart from some modifications made under Gregory I (590 -604). The only thing which the popes have unceasingly insisted upon since the fifth century is that the Roman Canon must be adopted; their argument being that it went back to the Apostle St. Peter.”  ~Monsignor Klaus Gamber, The Reform of the Roman Liturgy: Its Problems and Background

“The moment of Consecration is the moment most important and solemn, the most sublime and touching, the most holy and fruitful of the whole sacrificial celebration; for it includes that glorious and unfathomably profound work, namely, the accomplishment of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, in which all the marvels of God’s love are concentrated as in a focus of heat and light.”  ~J.A. Jungmann, The Mass of the Roman Rite

“And thenceforth, the Apostles, and their successors in the priesthood, began to lift to heaven that ‘clean oblation’ foretold by Malachy, through which the name of God is great among the gentiles. And now, that same oblation in every part of the world and at every hour of the day and night, is offered and will continue to be offered without interruption till the end of time: a true sacrificial act, not merely symbolical, which has a real efficacy unto the reconciliation of sinners with the Divine Majesty.” ~Pope Pius XI, “Ad Catholici Sacerdotii”, 1935 A.D

 

Society of St. Pius X saves architectural jewel in the Netherlands

http://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/society-st-pius-x-saves-architectural-jewel-netherlands-32465

Despite the decline of Faith in the Netherlands and much of Europe, pockets of Catholics keeping the Faith continue to be a shining beacon, a light of Catholic Truth and tradition, saving and restoring the lost treasures of our ancestors.

The church of St. Willibrord was built in the 1870’s, when the Catholic hierarchy was reestablished in the Netherlands.

Nestled in the historic center of Utrecht, it is one of the city’s hidden treasures and one of the most beautiful neo-Gothic churches in the country. The Society of St. Pius X has just become the owner of this monumental jewel.

Very richly decorated and in perfect condition after a splendid interior restoration, the edifice reproduces in a unique way the spirit of medieval art that preceded Calvinist iconoclasm. The monumental organ built by Michaël Maarschalkerweerd is another of the church’s attractions.

In the ‘60s, this jewel came close to being destroyed, but fortunately it has since been classified as a historical monument and designated as a pilot program for the preservation of the European architectural patrimony.

The Priestly Society of St. Pius X is now the building’s owner and will celebrate Mass there on Sundays at 5:00 p.m. In order to celebrate the event with appropriate pomp, the ceremony of the reconciliation and blessing of the church will take place on November 12, 2017, at 10:30 a.m., followed by a Pontifical High Mass celebrated by the Superior General, Bishop Bernard Fellay.

Why a reconciliation ceremony? Because the previous association, in order to cover the operating costs, organized cultural events in the church; some were acceptable, concerts, for example, but others were entirely inappropriate given the dignity of the edifice. The sanctuary must also be blessed, because the church was desacralized when it was put up for sale and then bought by the Society.

By restoring to the true cult an architectural jewel consecrated to St. Willibrord (657-739), first bishop of Utrecht, apostle of Frisia and the Netherlands where his feast is celebrated on November 7, the Society of St. Pius X gives a concrete illustration of its patron saint’s motto: omnia instaurare in Christo.

Our Lady of Lepanto – Arrayed in victory

Today is the great Feast of Lepanto, where Our Lady, more glorious than an army in battle array gave victory to an army of God against the enemies of God and Church. Today millions of poles pray along the borders for their country and the world against the Islamic invasion, God bless them!

Taken from an article entitled “The Pope of the Rosary and the Victory of Lepanto” published in “De Vita Contemplativa” (Monthly magazine for monasteries), Year VII, Number 5, May 2013:

THE VICTORY OF LEPANTO, GAINED BY THE CHRISTIAN ARMY AGAINST THE INVADING FORCES OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE IS THE IMMORTAL VICTORY NOT ONLY OF CHRISTIANITY; BUT ALSO THE POWER OF PRAYER, SINCE POPE PIUS V, TOGETHER WITH ALL THE FAITHFUL, WAS PRAYING MANY ROSARIES AT THE SAME TIME.

“…During the whole of his pontificate, [Pope Pius V] ceased not to organise the Christian forces to overcome the Turkish power, which at that time had reached its greatest splendour. To such end, he called for prayers and penitential processions, which he personally took part in, notwithstanding his labours and pains caused by his sickness. ‘For many day – says the Cardinal of St Severina – the Holy Father abstained from every external occupation in order to attend to prayer alone.’ And God began to reward the zeal of His Vicar with miraculous facts. These prodigies happened so frequently, that Soliman, aware of the physical and moral cures wrought by the penances of the Holy Father, was heard to exclaim: ‘I fear more the prayers of this Pope than all the soldiers of the Emperor.’

Being thus assured in advance of heavenly assistance, St Pius took up wholeheartedly the organisation of the Crusade. In the final days of the year 1570 all seemed to be compromised, all lost; but then in the month of July 1571 the Holy Alliance was drawn up and on the horizon could be glimpsed the dawn of the great day of Lepanto.

This masterpiece of diplomacy was the work of one man who was not a politician but a Saint and who had never wished to be involved in politics. To bring peace between Venice and Spain was something which seemed impossible, seeing that Spain dominated almost all the rest of Italy and which tolerated, with gritted teeth, the Republic of the Adriatic which dominated the sea. But the Pope, by means of long and difficult labour, was able to do it, and thus on September 15th 1571, the Christian fleet, under the command of Don John of Austria and of the legate Mark Anthony Colonna, sailed from Messina to fight the Turkish fleet.

On the morning of October 7th, the fleet was in the vicinity of the Gulf of Lepanto… [T]hey doubted not the victory and so great was the faith they had in the prayers of St Pius V, that when the wind, which had firstly been against them, changed direction, directing the smoke of the gunners towards the Turks, they took it as a prelude to the divine assistance and as a heralding sign of the fulfilment of the prediction of the Holy Father… Just before midday they prepared themselves for battle which lasted for several hours, until at last the Christian fleet was completely victorious.

It was almost five o’clock in the evening when the battle ended. On October 7th 1571, at the same hour, St Pius, who after the departure of the fleet had redoubled his penances and prayers, was examining with some of the Prelates the accounts of Bussotti, his treasurer. All of a sudden, almost as if by an irresistible impulse, he arose, went to the window and fixed his gaze towards the East as one in ecstasy. Then, returning to the Prelates, his eyes shining with a divine light, he said: ‘Let us do our business works no more – he said – but rather go to thank God. The Christian fleet has obtained the victory.’ He took leave of the Prelates and went immediately to the Chapel, where a Cardinal, having heard the happy news, found him immersed in tears of joy.

The Holy Father Pius V attributed the triumph of Lepanto to the intercession of the Virgin and wanted the invocation ‘Auxilium christianorum, ora pro nobis’ to be added to the Litany of Loreto, establishing a feast in honour of Our Lady of Victories on October 7th.”

 

Treasury of the Church

Our Lord has made the Church the dispenser of the mysteries of salvation.

“The only begotten Son of God … ‘made unto us from God, wisdom, justice, sanctification and redemption’ [1 Cor. 3], ‘… by His own blood entered once into the holies having obtained eternal redemption’ [Heb. 9:12]. ‘For not with corruptible things as gold or silver, but with the precious blood of His very (Son) … He has redeemed us’ [cf. 1 Pet. 1:18-19], who innocent, immolated on the altar of the Cross is known to have poured out not a little drop of blood, which however on account of union with the Word would have been sufficient for the redemption of the whole human race, but copiously as a kind of flowing stream, so that ‘from the soles of His feet even to the top of His Head no soundness was found in Him’ [Is. 1:6]. Therefore, how great a treasure did the good Father acquire from this for the Church militant, so that the mercy of so great an effusion was not rendered useless, vain or superfluous, wishing to lay up treasures for His sons, so that thus the Church is an infinite treasure to men, so that they who use it, become the friends of God [Wis. 7:14]. Indeed this treasure … through blessed Peter, the keeper of the keys of heaven and his successors, his vicars on earth, He has committed to be dispensed for the good of the faithful, both from proper and reasonable causes, now for the whole, now for partial remission of temporal punishment due to sins, in general as in particular (according as they know to be expedient with God), to be applied mercifully to those who truly repentant have confessed. Indeed, to the mass of this treasure the merits of the Blessed Mother of God and of all the elect from the first just even to the last, are known to give their help; concerning the consumption or the diminution of this there should be no fear at any time, because of the infinite merits of Christ…as well as for the reason that the more are brought to justification by its application, the greater is the increase of the merits themselves.” ~Clement VI, “Unigenitus Dei Filius”, 1343 A.D.)

Prayers for the Faithful of Cuba

September has been quite a month for natural disasters. From hurricanes to earthquakes, many thousands have suffered the effects of the wrath of God for our many sins. We pray God’s mercy upon those grievously affected and upon those who have lost their lives.

http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/urgent-appeal-faithful-cuba-32173

Cuba has been devastated by Hurricane Irma. We appeal to your charity to help our faithful on the island.

“Caritas Christi urget nos! The charity of Christ presseth us!,” as St. Paul the Apostle reminds us.

Cuba has been devastated by Hurricane Irma. The flood rains, the winds that took down everything in their way, the sea that flooded the lands have left apocalyptic ruins in their wake. Mudslides, flooding, lack of electricity and water, shortage of medicine and food: such is the aftermath of this hurricane that considerably worsened the lot of the Cuban people.

The Society of St. Pius X, spurred on by Christian charity, according to the teaching of St. Paul, wishes to help its parishes in Havana and Matanzas. So to all Catholics who can offer any help, please assist in easing the sufferings of our Cuban brothers.

If you wish to participate by buying clothing, food and medicine, please contact Fr. Pierre Mouroux, head of the mission on the island, as soon as possible: p.mouroux@fsspx.email

May God reward you for your charity and generosity!

Source: FSSPX.Actualidad – 9/19/2017