CAPG's Blog 

"If you desire the worship that you give to God to be pleasing to Him and valuable for the salvation of your soul, put it properly into practice.

Begin by preparing for holy Mass as soon as you are awake, uniting yourself to all the Masses which are being said at that moment. When the bell rings to call you to the house of God, consider the fact that it is Jesus Christ Himself calling you. Start out immediately, so that you will have a moment to meditate upon the tremendous act at which you are about to assist.

Do not say, like those people who have no religion, that you have plenty of time, that you will be there soon enough. But say, rather, with the Holy Prophet: "I rejoice when I am told that we are going into the house of the Lord." When you come out from your home, think about what you are going to do and what you are going to ask of God.

Begin by clearing your mind of earthly matters so that you will be thinking of God only. Avoid all sorts of unnecessary conversations which serve no other purpose than to make you hear Mass badly. When you enter the church, recall to yourself what the holy patriarch Jacob said: "How awesome is this place! How holy it is! It is truly the house of God and the gateway to heaven!" When you get to your place, humble yourself profoundly as you think of your own unworthiness and the greatness of your God, Who, nevertheless, in spite of your sins, wishes to suffer you in His holy presence.

Make an act of faith with all your heart. Ask God to give you the grace to lose none of the many favors which He grants to those who come here with good dispositions. Open your heart so that the word of God may enter it, take root in it, and bear fruit there for eternal life.

Before leaving the church, do not fail to thank God for the graces He has just given you and go straight home, fully occupied with the thoughts of what you have seen and heard.

Yes, my dear children, if we conducted ourselves in this manner, we should never come away from the services of the Church without being filled with a fresh desire for heaven and a new disgust for ourselves and the things of this earth. Our hearts and our minds would be given over altogether to God and not at all to the world. Then the house of God would truly be for us the gateway to Heaven. That is what I desire for you"

Source: The Sermons of the Cure d'Ars 1960 (Public Domain)

Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen

"To all foregoing considerations permit me to add that the salvation of souls is the great work of priests, whose holy office was founded simply for man's salvation. How weighty are the obligations of priests! What a burden is laid upon their shoulders! Listen to the words of the Prophet Ezechiel, " I will seek that which was lost; and that which was driven away, I will bring again. And I will bind up that which was broken and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong I will preserve: and I will feed them in judgment." (Ezech. 34, 16). Five things must be observed to discharge these sacerdotal obligations.

The first is for the priest to conduct himself so that his life may be a model of priestly devotion. "Be Thou an example of the faithful in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in chastity." (1 Tim. 4, 12). "In all things shew thyself an example of good works, in doctrine, in integrity, in gravity." (Titus 2, 7). A priest should be such that he may say at all times, " For we are the good odour of Christ unto God" (2. Cor. 2, 15). Thus, he should be a living example of charity, purity, sobriety, humility and patience. He should be like John the Baptist, " A voice of one crying in the wilderness" (Luke 3, 4) that is, crying to sinners in the wilderness of the world: "Do penance".

Do you not know that the robe of the Great High Priest was adorned with little bells to show, as st. Jerome explains, that the priest should be totus vocalis, all voice, and that everything about him should be a tongue preaching and instructing those who come in contact with him.

Nothing is so potent as the example given by the priest be it good or bad. Thus, St. Gregory says that priests deserve eternal damnation as often as they give bad example to those confided to their care.

The priest should be "a burning and shining light". (St. John 5, 35), burning before God, shining before men; burning in prayer, shining in action; burning by example, shining by doctrine. "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven," says St. Matthew (5, 16). And St. Bernard says that "the light shed by a priest must be so strong and so bright that the wind of vanity will not extinguish it."

The second thing that the priest must do is to instruct the faithful on their Christian obligations.. He must teach them to know and love God, to fear and serve Him through obedience to His Commandments. He must lead them to know their Savior, His principal mysteries, Jesus and Mary, the Church and the Sacraments. They must be made to pray in gratitude and petition for pardon and help. They should learn to recite their daily prayers with utmost care, the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Creed and the Confiteor. Through exhortations from the pulpit and in catechism classes, the priest should encourage the faithful to cooperate to the fullest extent in their own salvation.

 Thirdly, he should eradicate spiritual disorders from the lives of the flock. To do this he must know this people and their conduct. He should be unsparing in his pains to track down and root out evils which may exist; he should frequently visit the schools to instruct and guide the young in the way of salvation. He should enjoin great respect for the church and all holy places, insisting on proper deportment there at all times. He should keep everything pertaining to the altar in good order and see that the liturgical functions are carried our with the dignity becoming the King of heaven and earth.

Fourthly, the priest should practice charity. He should be affable and kind to all without distinction. He should be assiduous in visiting the sick, especially those in danger of death. He should console the afflicted and the needy, and be ever kind to the poor. He should advise those who seek his fatherly counsel, correct those who are wayward and seek to put an end to any quarreling among his parishioners.

Fifthly, he must administer the Sacraments with holiness, for the glory of God and becomingly lest though carelessness he neglect any requisite. Above all else, he should apply himself heartily to the administration of the Sacrament of Penance, for though it he will know the state of his people, their spiritual needs and weaknesses. Through it he will find the means of curing the ailments of their souls. He will open to them unexplored avenues of grace, will spread before them in his instructions and encouragements a banquet of heavenly delicacies.

These are the chief obligations of the priest and he must be ever vigilant lest even one souls be neglected or lost for the Sovereign Pastor will hold him responsible, and the price of Christ's Blood will be visited upon him: "I will require his blood at thy hand." ( Exech. 3, 20). I mention neglect for this makes him a murdered in God's eyes, a murdered of souls committed to his charge.

St. John Chrysostom observes that when priest allow themselves to fall into sin, the people quickly follow. Every soul will be held to a strict accounting of his misdeeds, but the priest will also be held responsible for those of his flock who fall because of his example.

"If each individual soul will find it difficult to render an account of his works on judgment Day, " says St. Augustine, "What must be said of priests, who must give an accounting of the souls committed to their care?"

Source: The Priest His Dignity And Obligations St John Eudes

Saint Gabriel, the Archangel, El Greco

"’Twas you, Gabriel, that taught us the salutation with which we should greet Mary full of grace. You were the first to pronounce these sublime words, which you brought from Heaven. The children of the Church are now, day and night, repeating these words of yours. Pray for us that we may say them in such a manner as that our Blessed Mother may find them worthy of her acceptance.

Angel of Strength, Friend of Mankind, relent not in your ministry of aiding us. We are surrounded by terrible enemies. Our weakness makes them bold. Come to our assistance, get us courage. Pray for us during these days of conversion and penance. Obtain for us the knowledge of all we owe to God in consequence of that ineffable mystery of the Incarnation of which you were the first witness. We have forgotten our duties to the Man-God, and we have offended Him: enlighten us, that so, henceforth, we may be faithful to His teachings and examples. Raise up our thoughts to the happy abode where you dwell. Assist us to merit the places left vacant by the fallen Angels, for God has reserved them for His elect among men.

Pray, Gabriel, for the Church Militant, and defend her against the attacks of Hell. The times are evil. The spirits of malice are let loose, nor can we make stand against them unless with God’s help. It is by His holy Angels that He gives victory to His Spouse. Be thou, Strength of God, foremost in the ranks. Drive heresy back, keep schism down, foil the false wisdom of men, frustrate the policy of the world, arouse the well-minded from apathy that thus, the Christ whom you announced may reign over the Earth He has redeemed, and that we may sing together with you and the whole angelic choir: Glory be to God! Peace to men!" Dom Gueranger

Prayer to the Holy Angels for Parishes

All you legions and choirs of Angels, please make haste to come to the aid and defense of our One Holy Roman Catholic Church. Led by St. Michael, may She be protected from destruction within by all modernistic attempts that try to diminish the true presence of God and take away His proper and due respect! In particular, come to the aid of my parish (name your parish) that it may remain or be remade to be a place of reverence and a stronghold from which the One True Triune God may continue to lead and strengthen us. Amen.

"Temptation is necessary to us to make us realize that we are nothing in ourselves.

St. Augustine tells us that we should thank God as much for the sins from which He has preserved us as for those which He has had the charity to forgive us. If we have the misfortune to fall so often into the snares of the Devil, we set ourselves up again too much on the strength of our own resolutions and promises and too little upon the strength of God. This is very true. When we do nothing to be ashamed of, when everything is going along according to our wishes, we dare to believe that nothing could make us fall. We forget our own nothingness and our utter weakness. We make the most delightful protestations that we are ready to die rather than to allow ourselves to be conquered.

We see a splendid example of this in St. Peter, who told our Lord that although all others might be scandalized in Him, yet he would never deny Him. Alas! To show him how man, left to himself, is nothing at all, God made use, not of kings or princes or weapons, but simply of the voice of a maidservant, who even appeared to speak to him in a very indifferent sort of way. A moment ago, he was ready to die for Him, and now Peter protests that he does not even know Him, that he does not know about whom they are speaking. To assure them even more vehemently that he does not know Him, he swears an oath about it. Dear Lord, what we are capable of when we are left to ourselves!

There are some who, in their own words, are envious of the saints who did great penances. They believe that they could do as well. When we read the lives of some of the martyrs, we would, we think, be ready to suffer all that they suffered for God; the moment is short lived, we say, for an eternity of reward. But what does God do to teach us to know ourselves or, rather, to know that we are nothing? This is all He does: He allows the Devil to come a little closer to us.Look at this Christian who a moment ago was quite envious of the hermit who lived solely on roots and herbs and who made the stern resolution to treat his body as harshly. Alas! A slight headache, a prick of a pin, makes him, as big and strong is he is, sorry for himself. He is very upset. He cries with pain. A moment ago, he would have been willing to do all the penances of the anchorites -- and the merest trifle makes him despair! Look at this other one, who seems to want to give his whole life for God, whose ardor all the torments there are cannot damp. A tiny bit of scandal-mongering .... a word of calumny .... even a slightly cold reception or a small injustice done to him .... a kindness returned by ingratitude .... immediately gives birth in him to feelings of hatred, of revenge, of dislike, to the point, often, of his never wishing to see his neighbor again or at least of treating him coldly with an air which shows very plainly what is going on in his heart. And how many times is this his waking thought, just as it was the thought that almost prevented him from sleeping?

Alas, my dear brethren, we are poor stuff, and we should count very little upon our good resolutions!"

Source: The Sermons of the Cure d'Ars 1960 (Public Domain)

Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen

Crucifix, Mother of Mercy Catholic Church, Washington NC

"The contemplation of Calvary is heartbreaking. The very name Golgotha connotes a world of woe. The ghastly deeds done upon the hill outside of Jerusalem are like a nightmare to devoted Christians. Even to the imagination the Crucifixion is a hideous thing. The swish of scourges upon naked flesh, the spatter of blood, the demoniacal cries of the mob of fanatics and murderers, the sound of the crunching of nails driven powerfully into human flesh and sinews, the inhuman shout of triumph when their Victim was nailed to His cross, the crude, coarse jesting, the blasphemous banter, all the unknown, incredible cruelty of an Oriental mob- it is enough to make the heart stand still with horror.
But we have no right to shrink from witnessing the tragedy of Calvary. If we know not Calvary, we know not Christ. We dare not, like cowardly Christians, omit the cross from our Christianity. God forbid we should glory except in the cross of Christ."

Source: A Thought a Day for Lent, Rev. James M Gilles, C.P.; Paulist Press, 1923.

"What a sad life does he lead who wants both to please the world and to serve God! It is a great mistake to make, my friends.

Apart from the fact that you are going to be unhappy all the time, you can never attain the stage at which you will be able to please the world and please God. It is as impossible a feat as trying to put an end to eternity.

Take the advice that I am going to give you now and you will be less unhappy: give yourselves wholly to God or else wholly to the world.

Do not look for and do not serve more than one master, and once you have chosen the one you are going to follow, do not leave him.

You surely remember what Jesus Christ said to you in the Gospel: you cannot serve God and Mammon; that is to say, you cannot follow the world and the pleasures of the world and Jesus Christ with His Cross. Of course you would be quite willing to follow God just so far and the world just so far!

Let me put it even more clearly: you would like it if your conscience, if your heart, would allow you to go to the altar in the morning and the dance in the evening; to spend part of the day in church and the remainder in the cabarets or other places of amusement; to talk of God at one moment and the next to tell obscene stories or utter calumnies about your neighbor; to do a good turn for your next-door neighbor on one occasion and on some other to do him harm; in other words, to do good and speak well when you are with good people and to do wrong when you are in bad company"

Source: The Sermons of the Cure d'Ars 1960 (Public Domain)

Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen

Traditional Latin Mass, Holy Name Cathedral Raleigh, NC

"Saint Bonaventure says, that in the Mass God manifests to us all the love which he has borne us, and includes in it, as in a compendium, all His benefits. (...)

On this account the devil has always endeavored to abolish the Mass throughout the world by means of heretics, making them the precursors of Antichrist, who before all things will endeavor to abolish, and in fact will, in punishment of sins of men, succeed in abolishing the holy sacrifice of the altar, according to the prediction of Daniel: And strength was given him against the continual sacrifice, because of sins: and truth shall be cast down on the ground, and he shall do and shall prosper. (Daniel 8,12)."

Source: Sacerdos sanctificatus; or, Discourses on the Mass and Office Alphonsus Liguori