Father Doetterl extols Catholics (1938)
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 30, 2024 at 12:00AM in From the Past
"Henderson's Catholic pastor, Rev. Leo Gerard Doetterl, yesterday in his church uttered a prayer, calling upon God for a most unusual favor. Father Doetterl's prayer, a copy of which was furnished by him follows:
" Dear Heavenly Father, I beg of you, in your love for the souls of there people of Henderson, arouse in the hearts of these dear people an interest in the serious business of knowing and cherishing that which constitutes right believing and right living. Give them a hunger for correct faith and for correct morals. Cure them of this Eastern North Carolina curse of religious indifference. Eighty percent of Henderson's people are neither Catholic nor Protestant church-goers. They are indifferentists. They frame their own faith they make expediency their only guide in morals. They do not even ask what it the holy will of God. As I see it, Christ may as well not have come upon earth that first Christmas night, as far as these people are concerned. They do not investigate which is the true Church; they show by their actions that they are not concerned whether there is a church actually founded by the Son of God. They do not care about His Sacraments.
My dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, you once said, "I wish that thou wert hot or cold; but, because thou are neither hot not cold, I begin to vomit thee forth from my mouth." It is the only occasion, dear Jesus when you went so far, in your human discouragement, as to speak of vomiting. You were disgusted with cold and unfeeling religious indifference.
Dear Lord and God, those dear people, without Faith, and without fixed Morals, seem not to think about right and wrong until their own sons and daughters are in disgrace before the bar of civil justice. Teach these people to make the precious inheritance of right believing and of right living an important part of the home atmosphere, a chief duty on the part of parental training, and a central factor in their philosophy of life. If this is too much to ask, that Faith and Divine Love be suddenly returned them after long years of indifference, please, dear God, send us a few spirited bigots, strong bigots, who will utter publicly their hoary false charges against your holy church, that we may publicly answer them, that we may vindicate your holy church, that the virtuous element among the people here may clearly discover that the sweet voice of the Savior still rings with authority throughout the ancient church, and that your holy church still can furnish complete credentials, and can still bring perfect peace to those who are humble enough to pray and earnest enough to investigate. Take away from others that bondage of spirit but which they cling to a man-made sect which they themselves know is not thy church. Give them all at least the spirit of honest search and inquiry. The soul and core of the religious spirit is the desire to do the will of our Maker. Give them all this restless desire, until they have learned the truth which will make them free, the truth which you have forever bequeathed to your one authorized agency on earth, the changeless and indestructible church of Rome. Amen." August 1, 1938 Henderson Daily Dispatch
Thirtieth Day: By a Good Intention to Make even our most Trivial Actions and Sufferings Meritorious, and Offer them for the Deliverance of the Holy Souls
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 30, 2024 at 12:00AM in Meditations
As rational beings we should have a distinct object in view in all our actions. By performing even the most trivial act from the motive to please our dear Lord, and to do His holy Will, it may become meritorious. These acts must not be contrary to the Commandments of God and His holy Church, and the person performing them must be in the state of grace. People who are working from early in the morning till late at night can assist the suffering souls in an efficacious manner by offering their toil and fatigue in union with the merits of Jesus and Mary for the relief of the suffering souls. Sick persons, and those enduring mental sufferings, such as temptations, scruples, contempt, slander, unjust treatment; those who mourn for the loss of a near relative or a dear friend, ect., may make the same intention in regard to their particular suffering.
Prayer: My dear Redeemer, how many occasions have I lost of gaining merits by a good intention, and of thus assisting Thy holy spouses! Pardon my negligence and graciously assist me to turn every precious moment of time to advantage by a good intention, and to make up for the past. In union with Thy merits and those of Thy holy Mother Mary and all the saints I unite all my thoughts, words, deeds, and spiritual and bodily sufferings for the future, till may last breath, and offer them for the suffering souls. In return I beseech the holy souls to obtain for me, and all those for whom I am in duty and love bound to pray, spiritual and temporal favors, and abundant grace to lead a holy life and persevere to the end of their life. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Priests in Purgatory: My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine Agony in the Garden, in Thy Scourging and Crowning with thorns, in the Way to Calvary, in Thy Crucifixion and Death, have mercy on the souls of priests in Purgatory, especially those most forgotten and who have no one else to pray for them. I wish to remember all those priests who ministered to me, the priests my heart has never forgotten, and for those that I no longer recall due to my frailty of memory. Do Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure; call them and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in Paradise.
Pope Saint Pius X and Saint John Vianney, pray for us and especially for our priests. Amen
Special Intercession: Pray for the souls who spent time uselessly, and were negligent in making and renewing the good intention.
Lord grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. (Three times)
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!
Source: Manual of the Purgatorian Society, Redemptorist Fathers. 1907Saint Andrew, Apostle and Martyr
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 30, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
Saint Andrew Christmas Novena:
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen. (15 times)
"The Feast of St. Andrew has
been kept since the fourth century on November 30. St. Andrew was both
and Apostle and a Martyr. The collect tells us that he was called to
govern and teach the Church; and the Epistle and the Gospel deal with
the Vocation of him who was the first among the Apostles to know Jesus
Christ. When he was called he immediately left his nets to become a
fisher of men, and "his sound hath gone forth into all the earth to
preach the gospel of peace." After the coming of the Holy Ghost he
preached in Palestine, and then taught in Scythia, Epirus and Thrace.
"But
all have not obeyed the Gospel" (Epistle), and Saint Andrew ere long
became the Apostle of the Cross. The priests of Achaia describe his
martyrdom at Patras. He died on that special form of cross which has
ever since been called after him, and "the Lord received his sacrifice
in the odor of sweetness" (Alleluia). His body, having been fist taken
to Constantinople, was in 1210 moved to the Cathedral at Amalfi, in the
kingdom of Naples. In 1462, his head was placed by Pius II. in the
basilica of St. Peter, his brother. His name is inscribed in the Canon
of the Mass. Let us, with Saint Andrew, follow Christ even to the
Cross." Daily Missal with Vespers for Sundays & Feasts
"ST. ANDREW was an apostle of Jesus Christ.
Pray for all who succeed to his sublime functions. Pray for all bishops and pastors, that they may be quickened with the spirit and zeal of the apostles, for the good of the Church, and of the flocks entrusted to their charge.
St. Andrew was a martyr, and died upon a cross. Pray for all under crosses and afflictions. Beseech Almighty God to give them the patience of this apostle, that in their patience they may possess their souls, and reap the fruit of the cross in lasting consolations.
St Andrew, the brother of St. Peter, and disciple of St. John Baptist, had no sooner heård from St. John, that Christ was the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, than he followed him; and informing his brother of the treasure which he had found, conducted him likewise to Christ. An excellent step to the apostleship, and proper means to become a true disciple. Christ came to seek that which was lost, and those who enter his school, must not come without this charity. All stand in need of his help; and there is no better way of securing this, than by helping others, and communicating to them what light we have, for their instruction. For Christ being in all his members, in this we do service not only to them, but to him, and oblige him to protect us, and more plentifully to pour forth his blessings upon us, for our perpetual establishment in all good.
Those who act thus, have reason to rejoice on this festival, and raise their hopes to a lively confidence in the assistance of heaven: since God, who is infinite in charity, cannot deny his grace to those who, being made after his own likeness, endeavour daily to perfect this image by the sincere imitation of his charity. It were to be wished that all Christians would petition this day for the increase of this charity: that as they profess themselves members of Christ, they would give this solid proof of it, by concurring with their Head, as far as their circumstances permit, in giving life to the world.
This is what Christ has undertaken; and all who are truly incorporated in him, will, to the utmost of their power, contribute to carrying on his work. The wickedness of the world, and the general corruption of Christians, afford too frequent opportunities of practising this charity. Whoever makes one of any company, must too often observe the want of it, in the common abuses of profaning God's holy name, of hurtful, uncharitable, and loose discourses, and excesses which are inconsistent with the humility, modesty, and temperance of the gospel. And how have these evils so far gained ground, but because Christians have not courage to shew their dislike of what is evil, but rather weakly comply than reprove what they know deserves it? They have found Christ themselves, but dare not, with this apostle, inform their friends
where he is; but by joining with them in their infirmities or disorders,
help to confirm them in their darkness. This weakness must be renounced
this day; that while we honour this apostle, we may imitate his
virtues, his charity, zeal, and courage; and endeavour to render these
so fashionable, that it may become friendly and familiar among
Christians to put one another in mind of their faults, for bringing them nearer to Christ, and to heaven." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
