"O Mary! Conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."

"It is true, that the day of triumph announced by the venerated Montfort, appears far distant; one might says that the kingdom of God on earth is more compromised than ever. The wicked make unexampled efforts to demolish the social edifice; they are numerous, powerful and possessed of incalculable resources. But for the Church, when all seems lost, then is her triumph at hand. God sometimes permits the malice of men to exceed all bounds, that His power may be the more manifest when the moment of their defeat arrives.

All the united efforts of the Church's enemies in the course of ages, all their errors, hatred and violence directed against her, the Spouse of Christ, are now concentrated in what is termed the Revolution - that is, anti-Christianity reduced to a system and propagated throughout the world, it is Satan usurping the place of Jesus Christ.

But He who has conquered the world, and put to flight the prince of the world, will not permit Himself to be dethroned. He will reign, and even now, before our eyes, is His kingdom being prepared, by the mediation of the Immaculate Mary, of whom the promise was made that she should crush the serpent's head, and to whom alone belongs the privilege of destroying all heresies arising upon earth." The miraculous medal : its origin, history, circulation, results by M. Aladel C.M.

"A NOBLE virgin of Alexandria; who in her youthful years sought satisfaction in the study of virtue, and in improving her mind in Christian learning. She became so inflamed with a zeal for truth, that meeting the emperor Maximinus II. she reproached him with injustice and cruelty, for persecuting the innocent Christians. By her reasoning she also triumphed over an assembly of the most acute philosophers; and persuaded them to sacrifice their lives for Christ, though they had undertaken, by the emperor's order, to reason her out of her faith. Upon which, Maximinus being enraged, and finding that no reasons or flatteries could prevail, commanded her to be scourged, to be kept in prison without friends or food, and to have her body torn on a wheel. Her constancy overcoming these torments, she was at length beheaded, and so finished a glorious martyrdom, in the year 302. In this saint, all virgins and other Christians have a lesson to condemn their reading of plays and romances, and all their usual vanities, which only dissipate and weaken their minds; and to encourage them to a better study, whereby they may come to the knowledge of God and themselves, and discover those ways, which lead to happiness.

How can we pretend to be disciples of Christ except by following him? And do we follow Christ, when we greedily seek what he renounced, admire what he despised, and love what he hated? Do we, when we walk in all the ways of pride, self-love and the world, follow him, who teaches the contempt of the world and of ourselves? His ways are not our ways: we go on in our own, and say that we follow his. But is this the imitation or following of Christ? It is what the world calls so; but till we take another method, in seeking to be humble, meek and patient, to do the will of God, and refer all to his glory, we may bear the name of Christians, but we cannot, in spirit and truth, be disciples of Christ." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

Saint John of the Cross, by Zurbaran

"Live in faith and hope, though it be in darkness, for in this darkness God protects the soul. Cast your care upon God for you are His and He will not forget you. Do not think that He is leaving you alone, for that would be to wrong Him." St. John of the Cross.

Saint Cecilia, Public Domain

"Let's pray to Saint Cecilia on her feast day, so that music in our churches will once again be an instrument of elevation to God, not a profanation of the sacred." Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Nov. 22. 2020.

"A noble virgin of Rome; who being instructed in the faith of Christ, gave her heart to Him from her tender years, chose Him for her spouse, and took holy resolutions of living ever a virgin. But being afterwards, against her will, given in marriage to Valerian, a heathen, she informed him of her resolutions; likewise of her being in custody of an angel. This strange language surprising Valerian, he promised to acquiesce in her proposals, upon condition that he might see the angel. Being baptized for this end, he saw the angel, and was so confirmed in the Christian faith, that soon after, he suffered martyrdom for the same, together with his brother Tiburtius, who had been gained to Christ, by the discourse of St. Cecilia. Upon this, she was apprehended; and having stood out with constancy against all the arguments of the governor, she was commanded to be burnt. The flames, however, not touching her, an executioner was ordered to behead her; who, after three strokes, leaving her half dead, she, on the third day, gave up her soul to the heavenly spouse, under Alexander the emperor, in the year 230. Pray for all in the state of virginity; especially those, who by vow have engaged themselves to God; that He would be their protector, and deliver them from all snares and violence.

Pray for those, who have any thoughts of changing their state; that they may advance nothing in it, but by consulting Heaven, and taking the advice of those, whom God has placed over them for their direction, and by whom He speaks to them. Pray for a clean heart; and that you may be preserved from all that might defile it. Have courage under such trials and temptations, as fall to your portion. While you are ever on your guard to resist, yet submit with as much patience to the trouble, as you would desire to do to the torments of a persecutor. If you can hold out without dejection, and glorify God in your sufferings, the devil, envious of your good, will leave you in peace." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

Music in the Church.

"In the early Church. We known very little concerning the music of the primitive Christian Church. On account of many circumstances that Church was restricted in its religious manifestations, for the greater part of the first three centuries was a time of bitter persecution, when Christians worshiped God in secret and in peril of their lives. Tertullian tells us, however, that in his day psalms were sung in the divine service, and the pagan Pliny knew that Christians honored their God before dawn by the chanting of hymns. The extensive use of music in church ceremonies came later, and is to be largely attributed to St. Ambrose, the great Bishop of Milan, who introduced the singing of psalms "after the manner of the East." Under the fostering care of our Church sacred music developed most wonderfully during the succeeding centuries.

St. Jerome, who seldom failed to criticize when criticism was needed, speaks of singers of his day in words to which some of our modern choirs and church soloists may well hearken: "Let the servant of God sing in such manner that the words of the text rather than the voice of the singer may cause delight, and that the evil spirit of Saul may depart from those that are under its dominion, and may not enter into those who make a theater of the house of the Lord." Can it be possible that the prophetic soul of the Saint foresaw the evils of some of the church music of today, wherein hymns to the Blessed Sacrament are chanted to the dulcet strains of "Juanita," and the sublime words of the Credo are sung to the liveliest melodies of Offenbach?

(...)

The Gregorian Chant: This is the distinctive song of the Church, the interpreter in melody of her prayerful devotion. It is so called from its great founder, St. Gregory the Great, and is also known by the names of Plain, Roman or Choral Chant. It is a grave melody, usually solemn in nature, sung in unison, that is, without harmonizing parts, set to the rhythm of the words, and without strictly measured time.

As a prayer is an utterance by the believing heart, expressing its faith, so the chant, which is the more solemn mode of liturgical prayer, owes to faith its power and its beauty.

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The Beauty of the Chant: As regards the tone used, the ecclesiastical chant is full of variety, for it was created for the purpose of beautifying the Church's services, which are of many kinds. Adoration, thanksgiving, supplication, sorrow, joy, and triumph find in the Gregorian tones their fitting expression. The melody accommodates itself to the word and phrase, to the spirit of the Church, and to the nature of the prayer and praise which are being offered to God. Whether it be the Gloria, the jubilant song of the Angels - The Sanctus, in which we here on earth join in adoration with the celestial spirits - the Agnus Dei, the appeal for mercy addressed to Him Who has taken away sin - the Libera, which is the intercessory prayer for the faithful departed - in each of these the spirit of the words and the devotion of the Church are brought out clearly by the grand and simple melodies of the Gregorian Chant. How beautiful in its solemn and reverential strains is the Preface of the Mass, in which the priest offers the Church's thanksgiving and homage before the throne of God! How replete with sadness and sorrow is the chant of the Lamentations in the office of Holy Week! How expressive of fear and desolation are the mournful notes of the "Dies Irae"! All there varying moods of the Church's praise and prayer are portrayed in the Gregorian Chant without any of the artifices of vocal or instrumental harmonizing that are employed in secular music. Its melodies have sprung from the minds of Saints, singing from the Spirit of God." The Externals of the Catholic Church: Her Government, Ceremonies, Festivals by Rev. Fr. John F. Sullivan 1917

"Enter into your own hearts, and resolve to imitate St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a saint and a queen, who would go with all royal pomp to Holy Mass, but on entering Church, would take the crown from her head, the jewels from her fingers, and, despoiled of all ornament, would remain covered with a veil, so modest in deportment, that she never was seen to direct a glance in any direction but the altar.This so please Almighty God that He chose to make His satisfaction apparent to all, for once, during Mass, the Saint was so glorified with Divine splendor, that the eyes which looked on her were dazzled, and she seemed to all as it were an angel of Paradise.  Make use of this noble example, and be assured you will thus become pleasing to God and to man, and your share in the  Divine Sacrifice will be of the highest profit to you in this life and in the next." The hidden treasure: or, The value and excellence of holy mass. by Blessed Leonard of Port-Maurice 1855 p111

St. Odo of Cluny

" On Christmas-eve, A.D. 877, a noble of Aquitaine implored Our Lady to grant him a son. His prayer was heard; Odo was born, and his grateful father offered him to St. Martin. Odo grew in wisdom and in virtue, and his father longed to see him shine at court. But the attraction of grace was too strong. Odo's heart was sad and his health failed, until he forsook the world and sought refuge under the shadow of St. Martin at Tours. Later on he took the habit of St. Benedict at Baume, and was compelled to become abbot of the great abbey of Cluny, which was then building. He ruled it with the hand of a master and the winningness of a Saint. The Pope sent for him often to aot as peacemaker between contending princes, and it was on one of those missions of mercy that he was taken ill at Rome. At his urgent entreaty he was borne back to Tours, where he died at the feet of "his own St. Martin," A.D. 942.

"The Mass" says St. Odo, Abbot of Cluny, "is the act on which is based the salvation of the World." The Holy Mass: The Sacrifice for the Living and the Dead, by Rev. Fr Michael Müller 1875 p 288.

"When and how was this yearly commemoration of the departed introduced? The time of the introduction of this commemoration cannot be determined; for as easily as the time of Tertullian he mentions that the Christians of his day held a yearly commemoration of the dead. Towards the end of the tenth century St. Odo, abbot of the Benedictines, at Cluny, directed this feast to be celebrated yearly, on the 2nd of November in all the convents of his Order, which usage was afterwards enjoined upon the whole Christian world by Pope John XVI. The feast of this day was probably established in order that, after having on day before rejoiced over the glory of the saints in heaven, we should this day remember in love those who are sighing in purgatory for deliverance.

Prayer: O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that, by our pious supplications, they may obtain the pardon which they have always desires. Who livest and reignest,etc. All Souls' Day. p456  Devout Instructions on the Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays and Holydays Front Cover Leonhard Goffiné Benziger, 1896