CAPG's Blog 

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.

• "In August of 1917 Our Lady told the children, "pray much and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because there is no one to make sacrifices for them." As to the kinds of sacrifices Our Lady was asking, she revealed to Sr. Lucia on one occasion: "The good Lord is allowing Himself to be appeased . . . but He Himself complains most bitterly and sorrowfully about the small number of souls in His grace who are willing to renounce whatever the observance of His laws requires of them."

• "Many persons," Sr. Lucia explained, "feeling that the word penance implies great austerities, and not feeling that they have the strength for great sacrifices, become discouraged and continue a life of lukewarmness and sin." Then she said Our Lord explained to her: "The sacrifice required of every person is the fulfillment of his duties in life and the observance of My law. This is the penance that I now seek and require." Source: Rosary Center

"Today is a Friday, traditionally a day of fasting and abstinence from meat. Fasting is Apostolic, it expands our ability to love, it casts out demons and brings peace to Holy Church. Fast for the Holy Father, for the bishops, for your pastor, for vocations, for unity, for the dying, the sick, for victims of abuse, for the troubled, for peace, for those suffering through natural disasters. FAST!" Monsignor Ferrari

Remember, O most loving Heart of Jesus, that they for whom I pray are those for whom You prayed so earnestly the night before Your death. These are they to whom You look to continue with You in Your sorrows when others forsake You, who share Your griefs and have inherited your persecutions, according to Your word: That the servant is not greater than his Lord.

Remember, O Heart of Jesus, that they are the objects of the worldʼs hatred and Satanʼs deadliest snares. Keep them then, 0 Jesus, in the safe citadel of Your Sacred Heart and there let them be sanctified in truth. May they be one with you and one among themselves, and grant that multitudes may be brought through their word to believe in You and love You. Amen.

Source: CAPG

Painting of Saint Anthony, by Piero di Cosimo, c. 1480

"Wrath is about to strike the Church and she is about to be delivered up to men who are like to senseless beasts. For I saw the table of the Lord's house, and mules around it standing on all sides in a ring and kicking up their hoofs at what was within, the same as the kicking you have when a frisking herd runs wild. You surely heard," he said, "how I moaned; I heard a voice saying: "My altar shall be desecrated."

So spoke the old man; and two years later came the present assault of the Arians and the plundering of the churches, when they took the vessels by force and had them carried away by the pagans; when, too, they forced the pagans from the shops to their meetings and in their presence did as they pleased on the sacred table. Then we all realized that the kicking of the mules presaged to Antony what the Arians are now doing like so many senseless beasts.

When he saw this vision, he consoled his companions, saying: "Do not be discouraged, Children, for as the Lord has been angry, so will He bring us recovery later. And the Church will quickly regain the beauty that is hers and shine with her wonted splendor. You will see the persecuted restored and irreligion retreating again to its proper haunts and the true faith asserting itself everywhere with complete freedom. Only, do not defile yourselves with the Arians. This their teaching is not of the Apostles, but of the demons and their father, the Devil. Indeed, it is sterile and unreasonable, and it lacks right sense - like the senselessness of mules."(...)
"He exhorted them "not to grow lax in their efforts nor to lose heart in the practice of the ascetic life, but to live as though dying daily; and, as I have said before, to work hard to guard the soul from filthy thoughts; to emulate holy men. Do not go near the Meletian schismatics, for you know their wicked and unholy teaching. Have nothing to do with the Arians, for the irreligion of these is plain to everyone.And if you should see the judges supporting them, you must not permit yourself to be confused: this will come to an end - it is a phenomenon that is mortal and bound to last for but a short time. Therefore, keep yourselves clean from these and watch over the tradition of the Fathers, and, above all, the orthodox faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, as you have learned it from the Scriptures and as you have often been put in mind of by me."

Source:The Life of Saint Antony, by St. Athanasius

Prayer: " We unite, great Saint, with the universal Church in offering you the homage of our affectionate veneration, and in praising our Emmanuel for the gifts He bestowed on you. How sublime a life was yours, and how rich in fruit were your works! Verily, you are the Father of a great people and one of the most powerful auxiliaries of the Church of God. We beseech you, therefore, pray for the Monastic Order, that it may re-appear in all its ancient fervour, and pray for each member of the great Family. Fevers of the body have been often allayed by your intercession and we beg for a continuance of this your compassionate aid — but the fevers of our soul are more dangerous and we beg your pity and prayers that we may be delivered from them. Watch over us, in the temptations which the enemy is unceasingly putting in our way. Pray for us that we may be vigilant in the combat, prudent in avoiding dangerous occasions, courageous in the trial and humble in our victory.

    The angel of darkness appeared to you in a visible shape, but he hides himself and his plots from us. Here again, we beg your prayers that we be not deceived by his craft. May the fear of God’s judgements and the thought of eternity penetrate into the depth of our souls. May prayer be our refuge in every necessity, and penance our safeguard against sin. But above all, pray that we may have that which you counselled above all —the love of Jesus — of that Jesus who, for love of us, deigned to be born into this world so that He might merit for us the graces with which we might triumph — of that Jesus who humbled Himself even so far as to suffer temptation that so He might show us how we were to resist and fight."

Source: Dom Prosper Gueranger:

"I will go peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church: for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where true Faith first began, seek it among those who received it from God Himself." St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Basilica de la santissima annunziata, Florence (Source: wikipedia)

"Passing through a curtain, my eye was struck with hundreds of persons kneeling; but the gloom of the chapel, which is lighted only by the wax tapers on the altar and a small window at the top darkened with green silk, made every object at first appear very indistinct, while that kind of soft and distant music which lifts the mind to a foretaste of heavenly pleasures called up in an instant every dear and tender idea of my soul; and forgetting Mrs. Fillicchi, companions, and all the surrounding scene, I sank on my knees in the first place I found vacant, and shed a torrent of tears at the recollection of how long I had been a stranger in the house of my God, and the accumulated sorrow that had separated me from it. I need not tell you that I said our dear service with my whole soul, as far as in its agitation I could recollect.

When the organ ceased, and Mass was over, we walked round the chapel. The elegance of ceilings in carved gold, altars loaded with gold, silver, and other precious ornaments, pictures of every sacred subject, and the dome a continued representation of different parts of Scripture - all this can never be conceived by description; nor my delight in seeing old men and women, young women and all sorts of people kneeling promiscuously about the altar, as inattentive to us and other passengers as if we were not there." p 131

"High Altar in the Medici Chapel, Florence which particularly impressed Mrs. Seton."

"A sensation of delight struck me so forcibly that as I approached the great altar, formed all of the most precious stones and marbles that could be produced, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior," came in my mind with a fervor which absorbed every other feeling. It recalled the ideas of the offerings of David and Solomon to the Lord, when the rich and valuable productions of nature and art were devoted to His Holy Temple and sanctified to His Service." p 132

Source: Mrs. Seton, foundress of the American Sisters of Charity, by Fr. Joseph Dirvin, CM 1962

Wikipedia

"10. Pray also without ceasing for other men: for there is hope of repentance in them, that they may attain unto God. Let them therefore at least be instructed by your works, if they will be no other way, Be ye mild at their anger; humble at their boasting: to their blasphemies, return your prayers: to their error, your firmness in the faith: when they are cruel, be ye gentle; not endeavoring to imitate their ways: (let us be their brethren in all kindness and moderation, but let us be followers of the Lord; for who was ever more unjustly used? more destitute? more despised?) that so no herb of the devil may be found in you; but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety both of body and spirit, in Christ Jesus.

11. The last times are come upon us: let us therefore be very reverent, and fear the long suffering of God, that it be not to us unto condemnation. For let us either fear the wrath that is to come, or let us love the grace that we at present enjoy; that by the one or other of these, we may be found in Christ Jesus, unto true life. Besides him, let nothing be worthy of you; for whom also I bear about these bonds, those spiritual jewels, in which I would to God that I might arise through your prayers: of which I entreat you to make me always partaker, that I may be found in the lot of the Christians of Ephesus, who have always agreed with the Apostles, through the power of Jesus Christ.

(...)

13. Let it be your care therefore to come more fully together, to the praise and glory of God. For when ye meet fully together in the same place, the powers of the devil are destroyed, and his mischief is dissolved by the unity of your faith. And indeed, nothing is better than peace; by which all war both spiritual and earthly, is abolished.

14. Of all which nothing is hid from you, if ye have perfect faith and charity in Christ Jesus, which are the beginning and end of life. For the beginning is faith; the end charity. And these two joined together, are of God: but all other things which concern a holy life are the consequences of these. No man professing a true faith, sinneth; neither does he who has charity, hate any. The tree is made manifest by its fruit, [Matt. xii, 33] So they who profess themselves to be Christians, are known by what they do. For Christianity is not the work of an outward profession; but shews itself in the power of faith, if a man be found faithful unto the end.

16. Do not be deceived, my brethren. Those who ruin homes will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, if those who do this to gratify the flesh are liable to death, how much more a man who by evil doctrine ruins the faith in God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such a filthy creature will go into the unquenchable fire, as will anyone that listens to him.

17.The Lord permitted myrrh to be poured on His head that He might breathe incorruption upon the Church. Do not let yourselves be anointed with the malodorous doctrine of the Prince of this world, for fear he may carry you off into captivity, away from the life that is in store for you. Why do we not all become wise, having received knowledge of God, that is Jesus Christ! Why do we perish in folly, failing to appreciate the gift which the Lord has sent us in truth!"

Source: St. Ignatius of Antioch Epistles To the Ephesians, 1946 p66

Saint Catherine of Siena, Wake Forest NC

"The persecutions which the evil enemy has stirred up at various times against the most holy sacrifice of the Mass are a proof how sacred a thing it must be, and how obnoxious to the devil; otherwise he would not attack it with such violence. (...)

From the days of the apostles until the present time the holy sacrifice of the Mass has had no more vehement opponent than the unhappy Martin Luther, who not only attacked but decried this divine mystery. He did not do this of himself, nor when he first apostatized, but at a later period, and at the instigation of the devil. In fact the deluded man himself acknowledges in his writings that his teaching comes from the devil, and only at the suggestion of the evil one has he abolished the Mass as an act of idolatry, although he must have known full well that the devil is the hater of all that is good, and teaches mankind naught but what is evil."

(...)

If the people are ignorant of the great value of holy Mass they do not love and esteem it as they ought; they never go to Mass on week-days, and on Sundays and holidays they are too often indifferent, irreverent, superficial; they absent themselves on a mere pretext, and without the slightest scruple of conscience.

But if they understand the vast efficacy and value of the holy Mass, they cannot fail to prize more highly this costly treasure, to love it deeply, and assist at the divine oblation with greater reverence. There is in the Catholic Church no mystery more important, more consoling, more salutary, than this sublime mystery of the altar. If this truth were recognized aright, we should certainly see a larger attendance at Mass on week-days."

Source:Cochem's Explanation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

"The Pope had very special and peculiar difficulty in dealing with the Catholic Modernists; for Modernism was very insidious in its methods. The Modernists said: there may be difficulties about the dogmas of faith from the point of view of philosophy and historical criticism; they may not be philosophically and historically true; but, even so, their religious value remains, for they can be believed by faith. To the ordinary faithful Faith meant intellectual assent to truths on the authority of the word of God. It seemed, then, as if the Catholic Modernists were not impugning the intellectual truth of the dogmas of faith. But the Modernists meant by Faith the use of dogmas as rules of action; we should live and act, they said, as if Christ were God, as if He had arisen from the dead, as if He were really present in the Blessed Eucharist. There was then an equivocal use of the word "faith".

The true faith of the Church was being undermined. Intellectual assent to the dogmas of faith on the authority of God would be impossible if the dogmas themselves were philosophically or historically false. Thus Modernism was a formula or prescription for an easy imperceptible death to Christianity. But Pope Pius X. intervened, and saved his people from the poisoned prescriptions of the Modernists." The Catholic Book Bulletin, Vol 1 P33-34 1911, Modernism and the Old Faith by Very Rev. Fr. Daniel Goghlan, D.D.

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.

“Go teach,” said Christ to His Apostles. Teach what? Not the opinions of Peter, James or John, not the sayings of Matthew, Philip or Bartholomew, not this or that system of belief, or these or those deductions of human reason; but “the things that I have commanded you.” And the command laid upon the twelve Apostles is still honored and obeyed by the priest in the Church of God. The priest, then, teaches, not in his own name, nor does he propose a doctrine thought out in deep study, but, “God exhorting through him” on account of his unity with the chair of Peter, he but echoes the divine voice, heard throughout Judea in the dawn of Chris­tianity. The priest speaks and the world listens, not because of his words of deep reasoning, nor on account of his faultless diction, nor because of his fervent eloquence, but because he speaks as one having authority, the authority given by Jesus to His Apostles, and by them transmitted to him."

Source: The Priesthood by Rev. M.S. Smith (The Homelitic Monthly and Pastoral Review, Trinity Sunday, May 1922) Special thanks to Robert Olson

"Active life, with all its labor and fatigues endured for the sake of Christ whom we serve in our neighbor, is very meritorious; "happy, however is the home where Mary causes the complaint of Martha" and refuses to take away from prayer a life which ordinary occupations might appear to claim.

God is indeed the author of all grace and wishes to be recognized as such; and contemplative life, which puts souls in direct contact with him, assures their personal sanctification more fully and obtains more efficaciously the graces by which a Christian apostleship becomes fruitful.

Let us esteem at its just value the position that Jesus reserves to Mary, and if He calls us to share in Martha's solicitude, let us endeavor like the Saints, to make up by the spirit of prayer, for what is wanting in active life."

Source: Daily Missal with Vespers for Sundays & Feasts By Gaspar Lefebvre · 1925