CAPG's Blog 

We Catholics have a great share in this Exaltation of the Cross. It is our special trust, our badge, our glory. Like the first Christians, it is ours to honor, to use, to be known by. Those who have fallen from the true faith have laid it aside as childish and not fit for the mature. But the Gospel was preached to the childlike, and the Kingdom of Heaven reserved for them. So we will keep our childlike ways, and loyally use the sacred sing. We will make it with reverence, with confidence, with joy. And the day will come when we who are signed with the Sign of the Cross upon our foreheads will go forth to meet our Redeemer, and He will acknowledge us to be His own. Like Constantine, by that sign we shall conquer.

Source:  The Manual of the Holy Catholic Church, McGovern, James J. (James Joseph), 1906

The bishop saying Mass, administering the sacraments or preaching the Gospel is the most perfect image of Christ. He does so according to the laws of the universal church. In him the clergy and people see Christ the Bishop of eternity. "He that receiveth you receiveth me. He that despiseth you despiseth me." That relates not only to the Pope. to the bishop, but in a less degree to any pastor, to any minister of Christ. For the ministers of Christ preach not themselves but "Christ and Him crucified."

The bishop is the head of the diocese. He is the father of all the faithful in the diocese. For he brings forth his spiritual children, his priests and clergymen by rite of holy ordination. They are the images of himself. The Priests he ordains are his sons whom he brings forth to God. He feeds his children by the words of life, by good example, by heavenly food, by the teachings of eternal life.

Happy is the diocese and the clergy who have a bishop after the heart of Jesus Christ, who lives the life of the Master.

The good bishop loves his clergy; looks on them as a father on his children; he upholds the good priest; he rewards the men of God; he defends the weak; he treats them with justice, benignity, gentleness, kindness; he is clothed with the bowels of the mercy of Jesus Christ, with forgiveness looking down from on high on those who falter on the way.

Behold his name will be called blessed, his clergy and people will love him, they will uphold him; like Moses on the mount, they will stand under his weary hands, strengthening him till he gains the victory over all enemies of the Lord and of his church. Both clergy and people will love him because he is "like unto the only begotten Son of God full of grace and truth" who "for us men and for our salvation left the bosom of his Father, came down from heaven and was made man and dwelt among us: to show pastors how to rule their subjects.

Source: Christ's Kingdom on Earth, or, The Church and Her Divine Constitution , organization, and Framework: Explained for the People by Fr. James Meagher 1892

O good Jesus! Our Master, deliver Thy servants from the persecutions of their enemies. Have pity on Thy people and turn their sorrow into joy. In the disordered state of society, there is no one to whom we can have recourse, unless to Thee, O God! Cast Thine eyes upon Thy Church; she mourns and Thou alone can come to her assistance. Lord, give not over Thy servants to those who hate us, and let them not triumph over us. Remember us, O Lord, and deliver us from our afflictions, Thou who livest and reignest for ever and Ever. Amen

Source: Month of the Sacred Heart or practical meditations for each day of the month of June by the Abbé Berlioux. 1885

Nazareth, NC, Nov 29 1946
The twins returned to Nazareth on Thanksgiving Day. It was near Thanksgiving Day in 1924 when Lawrence and Clarence Hill first arrived at Catholic Orphanage here, the little Catholic community on the hill outside of Raleigh. Looking so much alike that the Sisters could not tell them apart, they were only six years old then.

When they returned on Thanksgiving Day, 1946, it was for the celebration of Father Clarence Hill’s first High Mass. Father Lawrence Hill, who was ordained a year before his brother, was deacon.

The twins were at the orphanage for 13 years. It was while they were at Nazareth that they made their separate decisions to become priests – Father Lawrence Hill deciding first and Father Clarence Hill making the same decision shortly after.
Lawrence enrolled at Belmont Abbey, the Benedictine school in North Carolina, after his graduation in 1937. Clarence worked for a year, then followed his brother to Belmont. In 1939, Clarence enrolled at St. Gregory’s Seminary near Cincinnati. He completed his work at Mount St. Mary’s of the West. Lawrence studied at Our Lady of Angels seminary in Niagara Falls.

The mother of the twins, Mrs. Mary Hill, lives at Lansing, Michigan. Both priests are now in the Diocese of Raleigh. Father Lawrence Hill is at St. Lawrence’s in Asheville as assistant pastor. He was assigned there recently after a year a High Point, which is where he lived before entering the orphanage. Father Clarence is assigned to the Home Mission Apostolate at Whiteville, N.C.

Source: Catholic News

What father, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? (Mt 7:9)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It is with great sadness that we learned of Pope Francis’ decision to abrogate the main provisions of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI on July 7, 2007. After decades of divisions and quarrels, that Motu Proprio was, for all the Catholic faithful, a work of peace and reconciliation.

Rome violates the word given by Pope Benedict XVI with brutality and intransigence, far from the much vaunted fraternal welcoming.

The explicit will of Pope Francis, stated in the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes, of July 16, 2021, is to see the celebration of the Mass of the Tradition of the Church disappear. This decision drives us to great dismay. How can we understand this rupture with the traditional Missal, a “venerable and ancient” actualization of the “law of faith,” which has bore fruit through so many nations, so many missionaries, and so many saints? What harm is done by the faithful who simply want to pray as their ancestors had done for centuries? Can we be unaware that the Tridentine Mass converts many souls, that it attracts young and fervent assemblies, that it arouses many vocations, that it has given rise to seminaries, religious communities, monasteries, that it is the backbone of many schools, youth groups, catechism activities, spiritual retreats, and pilgrimages?

Many of you, Catholic brothers and sisters, priests, and bishops, have shared with us your failure to understand this and your deep sorrow: thank you for your many testimonies of support.

To promote peace within the Church, in order to build unity in charity, and also to lead Catholics to reconnect with their own heritage by making as many people as possible discover the riches of liturgical tradition, the treasure of the Church: those were the goals pursued by Summorum Pontificum. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI witnesses his work for reconciliation destroyed during his own lifetime.

In a time steeped in materialism and torn by social and cultural divisions, liturgical peace appears to us as an absolute necessity for the Faith and for the spiritual life of Catholics in a world that is dying of thirst. The drastic restriction of the authorization to celebrate Mass in its traditional form will bring back mistrust, doubt, and it heralds the return of an agonizing liturgical war for the Christian people.

We solemnly affirm, before God and before men: 

We will not let anyone deprive the faithful of this treasure which is first of all that of the Church. 

We will not remain inactive in the face of the spiritual suffocation of vocations laid forth in the Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. 

We will not deprive our children of this privileged means of transmitting the faith which is faithfulness to the traditional liturgy.

As children to their father, we request Pope Francis to reverse his decision, by abrogating Traditionis Custodes and restoring full freedom to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, for the glory of God and the good of the faithful. 

Bread rather than stones.

 September 8, 2021, 

on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Signatories:

Bernard Antony, Président de l' AGRIF
Xavier Arnaud, Forum catholique
Victor Aubert, Président d'Academia Christiana
Moh-Christophe Bilek, Notre Dame de Kabylie
François Billot de Lochner, Président Fondation de Service politique
Benjamin Blanchard, Délégué général de SOS Chrétiens d'Orient
Anne Brassié, Journaliste et écrivain
Jacques Charles-Gaffiot, Historien d'art
Thibaud Collin, Professeur agrégé de philosophie
Laurent Dandrieu, Journaliste
Yves Daoudal, Journaliste - Directeur de Blog
Marie-Pauline Deswarte, Docteur en Droit
Stéphane Deswarte, Docteur en Chimie
Cyrille Dounot, Docteur en droit, licencié en droit canonique
Alvino-Mario Fantini, The European Conservative
Claude Goyard, Professeur des universités
Max Guazzini, Avocat
Michael Hageböck, Summorum Pontificum Freiburg
Maike Hickson, Docteur en Littérature, écrivain
Robert Hickson, Professeur, écrivain
Michel De Jaeghere, Journaliste et essayiste
Marek Jurek, Ancien pdt de la Diète de Pologne
Peter Kwasnieswki Ecrivain
Philippe Lauvaux, ULB Paris Assas
Pierre de Lauzun, Haut fonctionnaire Ecrivain
Massimo de Leonardis, President International Commission of Military History
Anne le Pape, Journaliste
Christian Marquant, Président de Paix Liturgique
Michael Matt, The Remnant
Roberto de Mattei, Ancien président du CNR (CNRS italien)
Jean-Pierre Maugendre, Renaissance Catholique
Philippe Maxence, Rédacteur en Chef de L'Homme Nouveau
Charles de Meyer, Président de SOS Chrétiens d'Orient
Paweł Milcarek, Christianitas
Jean-Marie Molitor, Journaliste
Martin Mosebach, Ecrivain
Hugues Petit, Docteur en Droit
Philippe Pichot-Bravard, Docteur en Droit
Jean-Baptiste Pierchon, Docteur en Droit
Hervé Rolland, Vice-Président de ND de Chrétienté
Reynald Secher, Historien
Jean Sévillia, Journaliste, Historien, Ecrivain
Henri Sire, Ecrivain, compositeur, chercheur
Jeanne Smits, Journaliste - Directrice de Blog
Jean de Tauriers, Président de Notre Dame de Chrétienté
Guillaume de Thieulloy, Editeur de presse
Jérôme Triomphe, Avocat
Philippe de Villiers, Ancien ministre, écrivain

Source: Rorate Caeli , Liturgy Guy et Forum Catholique

Prayer for Sanctification of Priests

O Jesus, eternal pastor of souls, hear our prayer on behalf of our priests and hear in it thy own eternal desire. Are not priests the object of thy most tender and exquisite care, that profound love in which are summed up all thy affections for souls? Let us confess our unworthiness to have good priests. But thy mercy is infinitely greater than our folly and wickedness.

O Jesus, grant that only those ascend to thy priesthood who are called by Thee; enlighten pastors in their choice, inspire directors with a spirit of counsel, and teachers in the cultivation of vocations. Give us priests who are angels of purity, models of humility, seraphs of holy love, heroes of self-sacrifice, apostles of thy glory, and saviors and sanctifiers of souls.

Have pity on the ignorant who should be enlightened, on the sons of toil who call for someone to save them from error and redeem them in thy name, on all the children and youths who cry for such as may save them and bring them to Thee, on so many who suffer and have need of a heart which will find them consolation in Thine.

What a number of souls would arrive at perfection through the ministry of holy priests!

Then, O Jesus, have compassion again on the crowds who hunger and thirst. Grant that Thy priesthood may bring to Thee fainting humanity, and let the earth be once again renewed, the Church exalted, and the reign of thy Heart established in peace.

Immaculate Virgin, Mother of the Eternal Priest, and thou thyself a priest at the altar, who hadst for thy first son of adoption St. John, the beloved priest of Jesus, who didst preside in the cenaculum, mistress and queen of the Apostles; deign to utter with thy sacred lips this our humble prayer; do thou make its accents to penetrate to the Heart of thy divine Son, and, all-powerful in thy supplication, obtain for the Church of thy Son Jesus a perennial renewal of Pentecost.

Amen.

Raccolta
St. Pius X, November 9, 1907

Source: CAPG

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Holy Virgin Mary, pray for us.

O adorable Face, which was adored with profound respect by Mary and Joseph when they saw Thee for the first time, have mercy on us.
O adorable Face, which in the Stable of Bethlehem didst ravish with joy the angels, the shepherds and the Magi,
O adorable Face, which in the Temple didst transpierce with a dart of love the saintly old man Simeon and the prophetess Anna,
O adorable Face, which was bathed in tears in Thy holy infancy,
O adorable Face, which, when Thou didst appear in the Temple at twelve years of age, didst fill with admiration the Doctors of the law,
O adorable Face, white with purity and ruddy with charity,
O adorable Face, more beautiful than the sun, more lovely than the moon, more brilliant than the stars,
O adorable Face, fresher than the roses of spring,
O adorable Face, more precious than gold, silver, and diamonds
O adorable Face, whose charms are so ravishing, and whose grace is so attractive,
O adorable Face, whose every feature is characterized by nobility,
O adorable Face, contemplated by angels,
O adorable Face, sweet delectation of the Saints,
O adorable Face, masterpiece of the Holy Ghost, in which the Eternal Father is well pleased.
O adorable Face, delight of Mary and Joseph,
O adorable Face, ineffable mirror of the Divine perfections,
O adorable Face, whose beauty is always ancient and always new,
O adorable Face, which appeasest the wrath of God,
O adorable Face, which makest the devils tremble,
O adorable Face, treasure of graces and of blessings,
O adorable Face, exposed in the desert to the inclemencies of the weather,
O adorable Face, scorched with the heat of the sun and bathed with sweat in Thy journeys, O adorable Face, whose expression is all divine,
O adorable Face, whose modesty and sweetness attracted both the just and sinners,
O adorable Face, which gavest a holy kiss to the little children, after having blessed them,
O adorable Face, troubled and weeping at the tomb of Lazarus,
O adorable Face, brilliant as the sun, and radiant with glory on the Mountain of Tabor,
O adorable Face, sorrowful at the sight of Jerusalem, and shedding tears on that ungrateful city,
O adorable Face, bowed down to the earth, in the Garden of Olives, and covered with confusion for our sins,
O adorable Face, bathed in a bloody sweat,
O adorable Face, kissed by the traitor Judas,
O adorable Face, whose sanctity and majesty smote the soldiers with fear and cast them to the ground,
O adorable Face, struck by a vile servant, shamefully blindfolded, and profaned by the sacrilegious hands of Thine enemies,
O adorable Face, defiled with spittle, and bruised by innumerable buffets and blows,
O adorable Face, whose Divine look wounded the heart of Peter, with a dart of sorrow and love,
O adorable Face, humbled for us at the tribunals of Jerusalem,
O adorable Face, which didst preserve Thy serenity when Pilate pronounced the fatal sentence,
O adorable Face, covered with sweat and blood, and falling in the mire under the heavy weight of the Cross,
O adorable Face, worthy of all our respect, veneration and worship,
O adorable Face, wiped with a veil by a pious woman on the road to Calvary,
O adorable Face, raised on the instrument of most shameful punishment,
O adorable Face, whose brow was covered with Thorns,
O adorable Face, whose eyes were filled with tears of blood,
O adorable Face, into whose mouth was poured gall and vinegar,
O adorable Face, whose hair and beard were plucked out by the executioners,
O adorable Face, which was made like to that of a leper,
O adorable Face, whose incomparable beauty was obscured under the dreadful cloud of the sins of the world,
O adorable Face, covered with the sad shades of death,
O adorable Face, washed and anointed by Mary and the holy women and wrapped in a shroud,
O adorable Face, inclosed in the sepulcher,
O adorable Face, all resplendent with glory and beauty on the day of the Resurrection,
O adorable Face, all dazzling with light at the moment of Thy Ascension,
O adorable Face, hidden in the Eucharist,
O adorable Face, which will appear at the end of time, in the clouds, with great power and great majesty,
O adorable Face, which wilt cause sinners to tremble,
O adorable Face, which wilt fill the just with joy for all eternity,
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

Source: Soeur Marie de Saint Pierre,

Holy Face Devotion

I sat in the school of sorrow,
The Master was teaching there;
But my eyes were dim with weeping,
And my heart was full of care.

Instead of looking upward,
And seeing His face Divine
So full of the tenderest pity
For weary hearts like mine.

I only thought of the burdens,
The cross that before me lay,
So hard and heavy to carry
That it darkened the light of day.

So, I could not learn my lesson,
And say, Thy will be done;
And the Master came not near me
As the weary hours went on.

At last in my weary sorrow,
I looked from the cross above,
And I saw the Master watching
With a glance of tender love.

He turned to the cross before me,
And I thought I heard Him say:
"My child, thou must bear thy burden
And learn thy task to-day.

I may not tell the reason,
' Tis enough for thee to know
That I, the Master, am teaching,
And give this cup of woe."

So I stooped to that weary sorrow;
One look at that face Divine
Had given me power to trust Him,
And say, " Thy will, not mine."

And thus I learnt my lesson,
Taught by the Master alone;
He only knows the tears I shed,
But He has wept His own.

And from them comes a brightness
Straight from the Home above,
Where the School of Life will be ended,
And the cross will show the love.

Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, Who hast entrusted the whole work of Thy redemption, the welfare and salvation of the world, to priests as Thy representatives, through the hands of Thy most holy Mother and for the sanctification of Thy priests and candidates for the priesthood I offer Thee this present day wholly and entirely, with all its prayers, works, sacrifices, joys, and sorrows.

Give truly holy priests who, inflamed with the fire of Thy divine love, seek nothing but Thy greater glory and the salvation of our souls.

And thou, Mary, good Mother of priests, protect all priests in the dangers of their holy vocation and, with the loving hand of a Mother, also lead back to the Good Shepherd those poor priests who have become unfaithful to their exalted vocation and have gone astray.

Capg