CAPG's Blog 

"But yet the Son of Man, when He cometh, shall He find, think you, faith on earth? St. Luke, 28.8.

By this question our Divine Lord intends us to understand that, when He comes, He shall find many who do not believe, many who have fallen from the faith. It foretells that there shall be apostasies; and if apostasies, therefore that He shall still find the truth; but He will find also those that have fallen from it. And this is what the Holy Ghost, speaking by the Apostle, has distinctly prophesied. St. Paul says, "Now the Spirit manifestly saith that, in the last times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error, and doctrines of devils." And again, St. John says, "Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heart that Antichrist cometh, even now there are become many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last hour." The meaning therefore of our Lord is this: not that when He comes He will not find the Church He founded in all the plenitude of its power, and the faith He revealed in all the fullness of its doctrine. "The city seated upon the hill cannot be hid." The Holy Catholic Church is the "light of the world," and so shall be to the end. It can never be separated from its Divine Head in heaven. The Spirit of Truth, who came on the day of Pentecost, according to our Divine Lord's promise, will abide with it forever: therefore when the Son of God shall come at the end of the world, there shall be His Church as in the beginning, in the amplitude of its Divine authority, in the fullness of its Divine faith, and the immutability of its teaching. He will find then the light shining in vain in the midst of many who will be willingly blind; the teacher in the midst of multitudes, of whom many will be willingly deaf: they will have eyes, and see not; and ears, and hear not; and hearts that will not understand. As it was at His first coming, so shall it be at His second. This, then is the plain meaning of our Lord's words."
Source: Catholic Oratory: A Compilation of Sacred and Sublime Orations by Card. James Gibbons

"That you may walk; worthy of God. Col 1.10"

"Brethren", says St. Paul, in the Epistle of this Sunday, "we cease not to pray for you,...that you may walk worthy of God." These words may, no doubt, be understood to mean that we should live in such a way as to be worthy to receive God in His Real Presence at the time of Holy Communion, and by His grace at all times; and, finally, to receive Him, and to be received by Him, in His eternal kingdom of glory. But there is another sense, perhaps a more natural one, and certainly a more special one, in which we may understand them.

This sense is, that we should live in a way worthy of, and suitable to, the dignity and the favor which He has conferred upon us, in making or considering us worthy, as the apostle goes on to say, "to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light" that is, in bringing us into, and making us members of His one, true and Holy Catholic Church. In other words, that we should behave in such a way as to be creditable to Him and to His holy church, to which we belong.

Now, this is a point the importance of which cannot be overrated, and which we are too apt to forget. We lose sight of the fact that the honor of God and of His church has been placed in our hands, and confided to our charge; so that every sin which we commit, besides its own proper malice, has the malice of an indignity to the holy state to which we have been called. For this reason, a sin committed by a Catholic is always greater than the same sin committed by any one else; not only on account of the greater grace and clearer light which he has received, but also because God is more specially robbed of His honor by it.

You all see this plainly enough when it is a question of a sin committed by one who has been called to the ecclesiastical or religious state. If a priest or a religious is guilty of any offense, though it be but a small one, you are scandalized by it, not only because he ought to have been better able to avoid it, but also because it dishonors God's choice of him to be a special image in this world of His divine goodness.

But you forget that you also, merely because you are Catholics, dishonor God, and bring Him and His holy religion into contempt by the sins which you commit. It is plain enough, however, that you do, though in a somewhat less degree than those whom He has more specially chosen.

And other people do not forget it, though you may. "Look at those Catholics," the world outside is continually saying; "they may belong to the true church, but they do not do much honor to it. See how they drink, lie, and swear. If that is all the good it does one to be a Catholic, I would rather take my chance of saving my soul somewhere else than be reckoned among such people."

Now, it is all very true that such talk as this is unjust and unfair, and that the very persons who say such things may really be much worse, at least considering their temptations, than those whom they find fault with. But still they have a right to find fault that those whom God has brought into the True Church are not evidently as much better as they ought to be, than those whom He has not; and you cannot altogether blame them for finding fault with Him rather than with yourselves, and saying that this Catholic Church of His is rather a poor instrument to save the world with.

Remember then, my brethren, that a bad Catholic is a disgrace to His Church, and a dishonor to Almighty God, who founded it. A story is told of a man who, when drunk, would deny that he was a Catholic; he had the right feeling on this point, though he committed a greater sin to save a less one. Imitate him, not in denying your faith, but in taking care not to disgrace it; for God will surely require of you an account, not only of your sins, but also of the dishonor which they have brought on the holy name by which are you are called."

Source: Five minute sermons for Low Masses on all Sundays of the year the Paulist Fathers

Litany to Saint Edmund by the Society of St. Edmund

"Not only was the power of the Crown opposed to him, with its haughty pretensions and impatience of ecclesiastical control, not only were the rude and overbearing barons bent on defying his authority, but, harder still to be borne, the spirit of the world had invaded the Church herself. Relaxation of discipline had crept into the cloister and was fast undermining the monastic life. Mercenary foreigners, intruded into English benefices, sought only their own gain, instead of feeding the flock of Christ. The people were burdened with heavy taxation, the prelates and clergy being further crippled by the heavy subsidies levied on them to relieve the Pope's necessities.

When a man of Edmund's simple rectitude and elevation of character saw himself face to face with such abuses, he must needs attack and grapple with them. At the time of his elevation to the primacy (1233) Henry III had just escaped from the trammels of a long minority. He loved to surround himself with foreigners, with whom he constantly endeavored to fill every office in Church and State. Although he was far from possessing the ungovernable temper of his grandfather, or the irreligious and sad disposition of his father, he was weak and wilful, and, like them, determined to stretch the royal prerogative, and usurp rights which brought him into conflict with the Church. The Archbishop addressed to him a strong remonstrance on his neglect of his subjects, the preference he showed for aliens, his practice of keeping episcopal sees and benefices vacant, and otherwise despoiling the Church. By a threat of excommunication, he compelled him to dismiss Peter des Roches, his unworthy counselor, together with his adherents.

When the King found that the primate was not to be moved from the attitude he had at the outset assumed of defending the rights of clergy and laity against royal oppression, he took the resolution of asking the Pope to send a legate to England. He rightly calculated that the straits to which the Holy Father was driven by the Emperor Frederick would naturally lead him to conciliate the King of England as much as possible, in order that he might consent to the demand of a tenth of the ecclesiastical revenues which was made on behalf of the see of Rome.

(...)

His chief motive in desiring the Legate to be sent was the idea that his superior ecclesiastical authority would act as a counterpoise to the archbishop's influence, and serve to nullify his opposition to the royal measures. St. Edmund entered an energetic protest against the presence of the Legate. It proved, as he anticipated, no small embarrassment to him. Although the Legate acted with discretion, yet his authority in virtue of his office enabled him to supersede the archbishop's authority, to annul his decisions and revoke his sentences. At one time when the difficulties of his position pressed hard upon St. Edmund, it was said that St. Thomas of Canterbury appeared to him, bidding him be steadfast and act manfully. Taking his hand, he passed it over  his head, that he might feel the scar of his fatal wound, bidding Edmund suffer death as he did, rather than relinquish any of the liberties and franchises of Holy Church.

St. Edmund's persistent protests were unavailing. "Seeing," says the Chronicler, Matthew Paris, "the Church in England to be day by day more trodden underfoot, robbed of her possessions, despoiled of her liberties, life became unsupportable to him, and he could not endure to see the evils which were upon the land.' Mortified and baffled on every side; persecuted by the bad; misrepresented by the good;  supported by hardly any, even of those who were bound by their sacred office to support him; opposed by the monks, who sought to emancipate themselves from episcopal jurisdiction, and by the bishops, who resisted his attempts to make a visitation of the diocese of London, he presently withdrew from the unequal contest. Like St. Thomas and Stephen Langton, he took refuge within the abbey of Pontigny (France), which thus for the third time opened its hospitable portals to shelter a persecuted archbishop of Canterbury, forced to exile himself from his native land. Death followed quickly on his flight; he expired at Soissy within twelve months after quitting these shores."
A Short History of the Catholic Church in England Bp. William Robert Bernard Brownlow Catholic Truth Society, 1895 page 230

Prayer to Our Lady and St. John by St. Edmund

"O happy and spotless and blessed for ever; O matchless and incomparable virgin, Mother of God, Mary, most acceptable temple of God, sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, gate of the kingdom of Heaven,  through whom, after God, the whole world lives; inclines the eyes of thy compassion to my unworthy prayers, and be to me, a sinner, compassionate and helpful in all things. O most blessed John, familiar friend of Christ, who by the same our Lord Jesus Christ was chosen as a virgin and loved  by Him above all the rest, who was made partaker, beyond all others, of heavenly secrets, who didst become His glorious apostle and evangelist; I call upon thee also along with Mary, mother of the same Savior, that thou wouldst deign along with her to bestow thine aid on me.

O ye two heavenly jewels, Mary and John together! O ye two luminaries glittering with Divine Splendor in God's presence! by your beams dissipate the mists of my vices. Ye are the twain in whom God the Father, by His only Son built up a house for Himself; in whom also the only-begotten Son of God the Father, out of regard for undefiled virginity, confirmed the special privilege of His love. Whilst hanging on the Cross, He said to the one: "Woman, behold thy son!" Then He said to the other, "Behold thy mother!" In the tenderness of that most holy love whereby, at that time, ye were united together as mother and son, according to the Divine pronouncement, I, a sinner, on this day, commend to you both my body and my soul; that, every hour and every moment, you would deign to be my steadfast protectors within and without, and to be my kind mediators with God. For I firmly believe and undoubtedly confess that your will is God's will; and what you will not, that God does not will. Hence, whatever you ask of God, that you obtain without delay.

Through that most powerful efficacy which belongs to you of right ask for me health of body and soul. Be it your care, I entreat, to obtain for me by your invincible prayers that the sweet Spirit may visit my heart and deign to dwell there; that He may cleanse it from all defilement of sin; that He may adorn it with all virtues; that He would cause me to stand perfect and to persevere in the love of God and my neighbor; and that, after this life's course is run, He would bring me to the joys of His elect. This I ask of the generous Paraclete, the best Bestower of graces, who, consubstantial and co-eternal with Father and Son, with Them and in Them, liveth and reigneth, Almighty God, in the midst of His saints. Amen."

Life of St. Edmund of Canterbury by Rev. Fr. Wilfrid Wallace  1893

"The rage of tyrants who were masters of the world, spread the faith which they vainly endeavored by fighting against heaven to extinguish. The martyrs who died for it, sealed it with their blood, and gave a testimony to Jesus Christ, which was, of all others, the strongest and most persuasive. Other Christians who fled, became the apostles of the countries whither they went. Whence St. Austin compares them to torches, which, if you attempt to put them our by shaking them, are kindled, and flame so much the more. The martyrs, by the meekness and fervor of their lives, and their constancy in resisting evil to death, converted an infidel world, and disarmed the obstinacy of the most implacable enemies of the truth.

But what judgments must await those Christians who, by the scandal of their sloth and worldly spirit, dishonor their religion, blaspheme Christ, withdraw even the faithful from the practice of the gospel, and tempt a Christian world to turn infidel?" The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal saints, Vol 11. Rev. Fr. Alban Butler 1821

Four Crowned Martyrs, who chose to glorify God in martyrdom rather than to honor pagan gods—pray for us!  Faith ND

We pray Thee, O almighty and Eternal God, Who through Jesus Christ Hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy; that thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue, with unchanging faith, in the confession of Thy name.

We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life our Pope Francis, the vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ in the government of His Church; our own bishop ...; all the other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise among us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation.

We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgments decreed, assist, with the Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the President of the United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people, over whom he presides, by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by faithful execution of the law in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality.

Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government; so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge, and may perpetuate to us the blessings of equal liberty.

We pray for his Excellency the Governor of this State, for the members of the Assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare; that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise to Thy unbounded mercy all our brethren and fellow citizens, throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge, and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and, after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.

Finally, we pray Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith, and repose in the sleep of peace: the souls of our parents, relations, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation; and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship, and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance.

To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus, Our Lord and Savior.
Amen.

Archbishop John Carroll

Election Novena Prayer to the Holy Face of Jesus

O Lord Jesus Christ, in presenting ourselves before Your adorable Face, to ask of You the graces of which we stand most in need, we beseech You, above all, to give us that interior disposition of never refusing at any time to do what You require of us by Your Holy Commandments and Your Divine inspirations. O Good Jesus, Who has said: “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you,” give us, O Lord, that faith which obtains all, or supply in us what may be deficient. Grant us, by the pure effect of Thy Charity and for Thy eternal glory, the graces we need and which we look for from Thine infinite mercy, particularly   (here mention the favor desired). Amen.

Be merciful to us, O God, and reject not our prayers when, amid our afflictions, we call upon Your Holy Name and seek with love and confidence Your Adorable Face.   Amen.  We thank You, O Lord, for all Thy benefits, and we entreat You to engrave in our hearts feeling of love and gratitude, putting upon our lips songs of thanksgiving to Your eternal praise. Amen. - By Venerable Leo Dupont, the "Holy Man of Tours"

Source: CLMC

Traditional Roman Rite, Sacred Heart Downtown Raleigh (Former Cathedral)

It is "Contrary to reason and to sound liturgical theology to assert that a form of the Roman Rite celebrated uninterruptedly for some 15 centuries is no longer a valid form of the Roman Rite" Cardinal Raymond Burke

"Listen to what our Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, says: " God in heaven and I on earth, we desire nothing more ardently than prayer and sacrifice for priests...Let us beg God that He may give holy priests! If we have this, all else will follow; but if this be wanting, all else will avail nothing." It was from this trend of thought that the idea of the Priest's Saturday" took its origin, which idea the Superior General of the Salvatorian Fathers placed before the Holy Father in special private audience on November 21, 1934. His Holiness was much pleased with the plan and said, in conclusion: "We heartily praise and bless the work....We repeat, the thing pleases Us, We praise and bless it heartily."

What is the plan?

The Priest's Saturday:

It is something quite simple and easy, yet immeasurable great in its results. You should make it a point to offer the Saturday after the First Friday of each month to your Savior, through the hands of Mary, the great mediatrix of all graces, for the sanctification of all the priests and students for the priesthood throughout the whole world. For this purpose you should give the Saturday wholly and entirely to Him, that is to say, Holy Mass, Holy Communion, all prayers, labors, sacrifices, joys and sorrows. Whatever you cannot do on this day (Holy Mass and Holy Communion) you ought to supply immediately on Sunday. So there is really nothing new for you to do. You merely offer up this Saturday (or even every Saturday or some other day) for the sanctification of priests. It is not a case of any sodality of fraternity or anything like that. Like the First Friday in honor of the Sacred Heart, the Priest's Saturday seeks to become something religiously observed by all the Catholics of the world.

(...) Concern about the holiness of priests is the concern of the Heart of the Divine Savior and of His blessed Mother. Therefore, you also should be sure to take part in this "apostolate to the apostles. " The Holy Father, all bishops, all priests, all students for the priesthood, and especially also your own pastor, earnestly beg of you thus to participate."

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.

Source: Priest's Saturday Series, #2 Prayers and Devotions for Priest's Day.

Priests' First Saturday

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.

In addition to the above make it a point also to recite frequently the following:

Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, Who Hast entrusted the weal and woes of Thy Holy Church to priests, with all the fervor of my heart I recommend to Thee the wants of my pastor and all priests. Enrich them more and more with true priestly sanctity. Give them generous, all embracing, apostolic hearts, full of love for Thee and for all Thy souls, so that they, being themselves sanctified in Thee, may sanctify us who are confided to their care, and may lead us safely to heaven. Bestow upon them in rich abundance all Thy priestly graces!

Let them ever give us a glowing example of love and fidelity towards Holy Mother Church, towards the Pope, and bishops, and grant that by word and example they may shine as models of every virtue.

Most loving Jesus, bless all their priestly labors and sacrifices! Bless all their prayers and words at the altar and in the confessional, in the pulpit, and in school, in confraternities, and at the bedside of the sick!
Protect and preserve them in all dangers from within and from without.

Divine Savior, give to Thy Church priests who abound in true holiness! Call many good boys and young men to the priestly and religious state! Aid and sanctify all those who are to become Thy priests! And to the souls of departed priests grant everlasting rest.

But to me give a true spirit of faith and humble obedience, in order that in my pastor I may ever behold the representative of God and willingly follow all his teachings. Amen