CAPG's Blog 

"Canon 21 of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), binding on the whole Church, lays down the obligation of secrecy in the following words: "Let the priest absolutely beware that he does not by word or sign or by any manner whatever in any way betray the sinner: but if he should happen to need wiser counsel let him cautiously seek the same without any mention of person. For whoever shall dare to reveal a sin disclosed to him in the tribunal of penance we decree that he shall be not only deposed from the priestly office but that he shall also be sent into the confinement of a monastery to do perpetual penance". Catholic Encyclopedia

"O God, who didst make Blessed Raymond, thy confessor, wonderful, in delivering thy faithful from the captivity of the wicked, grant to us through his intercession, that, freed from the chains of sin, we may with free minds pursue those things that are pleasing to thee."

"St. Raymond instructed the faithful and the infidels; and to prevent him from this, his enemies most barbarously closed his mouth with a lock. Oh! How much more just it would be, if such a lock were suspended from your mouth, which you open so frequently to lie, to curse, to blaspheme, to quarrel, to calumniate, to make impure speeches, to sing impure songs, and to talk frivolously in Churches. But believe me, if your mouth is not punished in this world, it will most surely suffer in the next, and as the mouth of St. Raymond, which he used so nobly, and in which he suffered so cruelly, will be specially rewarded in the abode of the angels, so will your wicked mouth be specially punished in the dwelling of the evil spirits. St. Gregory believes that the rich man suffers special pains in his tongue, because he used it at table for indecent speeches, as is yet today the habit of many. The same punishment awaits your tongue, your sinful mouth; and if you wish to escape it, be careful how you use them. Place the fear of God as a guard over them, that they may not utter a word offensive to the Most High. "Hedge in thine ears with thorns, hear not a wicked tongue, and make doors and bars to thy mouth." (Eccles. XXVIII)

St. Raymond, at the close of his days gave fervent thanks to the Almighty for all favors bestowed upon him, and thus ended his life full of heavenly comfort. To give thanks to God is a duty which we ought to perform every morning and evening; for, no day, no night passes in which we, do no partake of the bounty of the Lord. You thank men who bestow kindness upon you; why then do you not thank God who has overwhelmed you with favors, and still grants them to you daily. Do not forget your duty, but attend to is every day. Give thanks to Him also at the end of each month, in consideration of so many benefits which you have received from Him and for which you did not even ask. Whom have you to thank that you did not die during the past four weeks; that you have not been condemned to eternal flames, as so many that have been called away? Whence comes it that you were preserved from the dangers and misfortunes that befell so many others? that time and opportunity are left you to work out your salvation, whilst thousands no longer possess them? Most assuredly, these are all benefits of the Almighty which you deserve much less than a great many others. Is it not just that you should give fervent thanks to God at the end of each month? But is your soul in such a condition that you can end this month or close your life, as peacefully as St. Raymond? Ah! if you had lived as he did, if you had constantly practiced good works, and had borne adversity with his patience, you might be comforted now, as well as at the end of your days. As. however, this is unhappily not the case, repent of your wickedness and indolence with your whole heart, and pray humbly for grace to make better use of the next month. Endeavor to atone, during the same, for your past negligence, that, one day you may not sigh uselessly: " I have had empty months." (Job. VIII) "Who will grant me that I might be according to the months past." (Job XXIX)."

Lives of the saints, Fr. Weninger SJ 1876

"To become a Catholic is simply to return to the truth from which Luther departed. A convert from Protestantism, if asked why he changed his Religion and became a Catholic, may answer that he did so because Luther himself was a Catholic; he may say, Ask Luther why he changed, I have only returned to the truth. This was Count Stolberg's answer to the King of Prussia, who had remarked to him, that he did not like people who changed their Religion. "Neither do I like them, sire," was the reply; "If Luther had not changed, I should have had no occasion to do what I have done; I have only returned to the first Church." "It is a shame," says St. Augustine, "to change one's opinion of it is right and true, but to change a false and dangerous opinion is praiseworthy and useful. As fortitude does not allow a man to become depraved, so obstinacy does not allow him to amend: as the former is praiseworthy, so the latter should be corrected."

One great obstacle to conversion is public opinion. To become a Catholic is simply to perform a duty on which happiness in time and eternity depends; yet hundreds who are convinced that the Catholic Church is the only true Church of Christ, are prevented by fear of censure from following their convictions. They fear displeasing their relations; they dread the opinion of the world, and choose to please men, rather that obey God. They choose to incur the dreadful denunciations of Christ: " Whosoever shall confess me before men, I will also confess him before my Father, who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father, who is in heaven...He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me."

They determine to expose themselves to the eternal anger of God, sooner than incur the displeasure of censure of men. The fear of blame is the rock on which the noblest hearts have suffered eternal shipwreck."

Source: Catholicity, Protestantism, and Infidelity: An Appeal to Candid Americans, By Fr. Franz x. Weninger 1861



"And for as much as Almighty God gave express commandment to the Priests of the ancient law, that they should not approach to His altar to offer unto Him, but first to be washed and invested, not with their profane, but with their holy ornaments, is it not, then, most convenient that the Priest of the new law should be peculiarly adorned, and thereby dispose themselves with much more reverence to handle and touch the most precious Body of our Redeemer and Savior Jesus, than the old Priests and Prophets did, the flesh of sheep and oxen or the body of a brute beast?

Our Priests, therefore, going to the altar thus appareled, do set before our eyes our Savior Jesus as He was at His Passion, and consequently those that scoff at the Priest, thus representing Christ unto us, do nothing else than, with the wicked Jews, scoff and deride at Christ Himself; and even as those Jews put all these ornaments upon our Savior for despite, and the more to dishonor Him, yet Christ's holy Mother and His blessed Apostles did both love Him and reverence Him so much the more entirely, for enduring such reproaches and shame for our sakes; so these men, now-a-days, whose minds are wholly set against the Catholic Church, will mock, perhaps, at the Priest standing at the altar in such apparel, but, contrariwise, the true Christian and Catholic people do esteem and honor him so much the more, who is, by the ordinance of God, exalted to so high a dignity as the present unto us so great a mystery.

To conclude, Priestly habits, so much offensive to the heretics of our age, were so highly respected by Alexander the Great, although a Paynim and idolater, going to Jerusalem with deliberation to ruin it, that he, withholden by the only sight of the Pontifical vestments of the High Priest, and touched instantly with the fear of God, did cast himself from his horse upon the ground, as it were to crave pardon for this sinister designs, and granted to the city and country of Jewry all the privileges, franchises, and immunities, that possibly they could desire, as witnessed Josephus."

Source: A Devout Exposition of the Holy Mass, John Heigham R. Washborne, 1876

"The Catholics are bigoted." But, which, I ask, is the greater bigot, the catholic, who, perhaps quietly dropping his beads, and insulting no one, is yet indeed forcibly attached to his religion, because it is the religion of the saints, and the faith of every age, or the protestant, who, although, it may be, he is not attached to any peculiar creed, still, with relentless animosity, insults his catholic brethren; misrepresenting their tenets, vilifying their characters; casting suspicion upon their sincerity; and calling down upon them, not merely the ill will of the state; but, what is worse, the ill will of their fellow-citizens; which of these, I ask, is the greater bigot! No doubt, it is the latter.

Well; and if so, then it is likewise true, that the bigots of the latter description are, I do not say, general, but exceedingly common, even in the best educated ranks of Protestantism."

Source: The Catholic's Manual. Jacques Bossuet  1817

Pope and Martyr

"God has always raised up holy pastors, zealous to maintain the sacred deposit of the faith of His Church inviolable, and to watch over the purity of its moral, and the sanctity of its discipline. How many conflicts did they sustain! with what constancy, watchfulness, and courage, did they stand their ground against idolatry, heresy, and the corruption of the World!

We enjoy the greatest advantages of the divine grace through their labors; and we owe to God a tribute of perpetual thanksgiving and immortal praise for all those mercies which He has afforded His Church on earth. We are bound also to recommend most earnestly to Him His own work, praying that He exalt the glory of His divine name, by propagating His holy faith on earth: that He continually raise up in His Church shining examples of all virtue, pastors filled with His spirit, and a people disposed to captivate their understandings to His revealed truths, and subject their hearts to the sweet yoke of His holy love and divine law; watchful to abhor and oppose every profane innovation of doctrine, and all assaults and artifices of vice."

Source: The Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Butler

Saint Louis, Sacred Heart Heart Dunn, NC

O Saint Louis IX, inspire our bishop and priests to preach the Faith with courage, constancy, and love. Strengthen them to combat every evil.Pray that God will raise up courageous and honorable civil leaders who will enact laws respecting the dignity of human life and enforce them with justice, truth, and charity.

Pray for all faithful men and women that they will live virtuous and peaceful lives as they journey toward their final goal of Heaven.

Pray that all children may keep their baptismal innocence and be spared from every evil.

Pray that the sanctity of human life will be forever respected. Pray for an increase in holy vocations to the priesthood and religious life.And Saint Louis, as you have left your earthly throne to assume your heavenly throne, pray that we will one day share with you the eternal crown of salvation after our earthly lives are ended. Amen.

"One of the most illustrious members of the Order of Servites was St. Philip Benizi, who exercised the office of General after St. Benedict de Lantella, and who was elected in 1267. St. Philip sent his religious to Poland, Hungary, and even the Indies. He arranged the first constitutions of the order, or rather gathered into one the regulations of his predecessors, and decreed that they should be read in the refectory every Saturday.

About this time, the institution of the Servites was threatened with destruction. In 1215, the Council of Lateran had forbidden the establishment of new religious orders, and this had been confirmed by that of Lyons in 1274. Innocent V, who had become Pope in 1274, took it for granted that the Servites were included in this prohibition, and therefore determined to suppress them. He drew the attention of Cardinal Otthoboni, Protector of the order, to the decree, and having cited St. Philip Benizi to Rome, he forbade him to receive novices or to sell any of the goods of the order, which he confiscated in favor of the Holy See. He at the same time forbade the Servites to hear confessions.

Fortunately for these religious, the Pope lived but a short time, and his successor John XXII, did not press the affair. It was agitated under Nicholas III, Martin IV, and Honorius IV, during which time the Servites had much to suffer on the side of some of the Bishops. Finally, after much deliberation, it was settled in favor of the Servites by Honorius IV, in 1286." [Source: History of Religious Orders, by Rev. Charles Warren Currier 1896 Page 323.]

"Philip Benizi was about to die, and Julianna was but fifteen years of age. Nevertheless, enlightened from on high, the Saint hesitated not: he confided the Order to Juliana's hands, and so slept in the peace of our Lord.
(...)
Benedict XI, in 1304, gave to the Servites the definitive sanction of the Church.

So true is it, that in the counsels of divine Providence, nor rank, nor age, not sex, count for aught! The simplicity of a soul that has wounded the Heart of the Spouse is stronger in her humble submission that highest authority; and her unknown prayer prevails over powers established by God Himself." [ Source: The Liturgical Year: The time after Pentecost, by Dom Gueranger]

Queen of heaven, thy immense love for God maketh thee likewise love His Church. We pray thee, come to its help amidst the ills under which it is now suffering, rent asunder as she is by her own children. Thy prayers, being a mother’s, can obtain all from that God Who loveth Thee so well.

Pray then, pray for the Church; ask for enlightenment for so many unbelievers who are persecuting it, and obtain for faithful souls the necessary strength to resist being caught in the snares of the unbelievers who would drag them down into their own ruin.

Source: St. Alphonsusʼ Prayer Book (Father Edward Saint Omer, Redemptorist.1888)

"How great was the devotion St. Clare felt toward the Sacrament of the Altar is shown by the fact that during the severe illness which had confined her to bed she had herself raised in a sitting position and supported by props, and thus she spun the finest linens. From these she made more than fifty sets of corporals and, enclosing them in silken or purple burses, sent them to different churches in the plains and mountains about Assisi. When about to receive the Body of the Lord, Clare she burning tears and approached with awe, for she feared Him not less hidden in the Sacrament than ruling heaven and earth."
Source: The life of Saint Clare; ascribed to Fr. Thomas of Celano 1910

Holy Deacon! by thy yearning
For the Martyr's glorious crown;
By thy tortures, by thy burning,
By thy death of bright renown;
When the world and flesh and devil
Tempt our souls to sin and evil,
Dear Saint Lawrence, pray for us!

By the love that thou didst ever
To thy Pontiff-Father bear,
Pray that no base act may sever
Us from Peter's loving care!
But when men would once more  lead us,
Into bonds from which Christ freed us,
Dear Saint Lawrence, pray for us!

By the Pontiff's words  of warning,
Bidding all thy sorrow cease,
Words foretelling bitter mourning
Leading unto lasting peace!
That to Jesus in our sadness
We may look for help and gladness,
Dear Saint Lawrence, pray for us!

By thy love, which knew no measure,
For the needy and the old,
Giving them the Church's treasure -
Dearer they than gems and gold!
Teaching us that alms well given
Are but treasures stored in heaven,
Dear Saint Lawrence, pray for us!

By thy fervent love for Jesus,
By thy strong and constant faith,
Or our sinful burdens ease us!
Help us at the hour of death!
When the fears of death confound us,
When the cleansing fires surround us!
Dear Saint Lawrence, pray for us!

Source: The Parochial Hymn Book 1881