- La prière, église Saint-Bonnet ( Léon Augustin Lhermitte 1844-1925) (Prayer, Saint Bonnet's Church)

"Some old-fashioned Catholics of long ago, we are told, would genuflect before entering a seat in any sort of auditorium. The incongruity of such an action, especially in a temple of entertainment, must have been amusing to a casual onlooker. The thoughtful man, however, would find something impressive in such an out of place devotion. For its occurrence would argue a solidly established familiarity with the Church and a corresponding lack of acquaintance with the theater and all its kindred.

Habitual though it might be, the bending of the knee by an old-fashioned Catholic before the altar of his God would necessarily be both deep and reverent. He knew that he was bowing in humble adoration before the Lord of all, before the Savior hidden in the tabernacle.

Judging from the genuflections demonstrated in church by some of the modern generation, the presence of our Lord on the altar is not so keenly comprehended. The faint inclination, the hasty dip, the slouchily indifferent bending of the knee can only indicate habit and custom based on little of thought or comprehension. For surely if the careless in this little ritualistic recognition of the Eucharist truly realized the Monarch before Whom they bowed they would at once become careful, devout and reverent. Catholic Transcript."

Source: Our Young People, V.39 #7, July 1930

• Lenten Resolution Worksheet
  

"The practice of Lent is not today what it was in the past. The black fast common in the day of our fathers and grandfathers, would seem to our day and generation a burden too heavy to be borne: the rules of the fast have been lightened and dispensations are multiplied to fit the burden to the back of a people less physically strong than their forbears, living in a time of hurry and strain. In this the Church has acted as a tender Mother, solicitous for the bodies as well as the souls of her children.

But the Church is not alone a tender Mother: she is first and always a faithful Spouse. The law of Christ is her law, the words of Christ are her words; she would not subtract from them one iota, nor will she ever admit that her children cannot follow where He has led. Others may say that His words must not be taken literally; that His law cannot be rigorously applied in the struggle of our complex life; that no man can aspire to the Christ life. Not so, the Spouse of Christ, the Catholic Church. She knows and she believes that Christ is the Son of God, the Divine Word: that He is Eternal Truth Who can neither deceive nor be deceived: that He is Infinite Wisdom Whose commands are possible and Whose counsels are delightful. Has He not said: “Follow Me,” and “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”?

Now the command to do penance was uttered by her Lord and Master in no uncertain terms: “Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke xiii. 3-5). And again, after His resurrection, He built up the faltering faith of His disciples by asserting the necessity of His Passion and of the continuance of the work of penance: “It behooved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead the third day: that penance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name” (Luke xxiv. 46, 47). How, then, may we reconcile the mitigation of the fast and multiplied dispensations with the Church’s fidelity to the exact teaching of the Master? To find the answer we must penetrate more deeply the mind of our Mother; we must analyze more carefully the meaning of penance and study its purposes more attentively.

If we look into the mind of our Mother, we will find her always tender, often indulgent, but never weak: her aim is not to spoil, but to strengthen: to build up, not to tear down. What she concedes to the weakness of the body is not to enervate the soul but to provide it with a more virile temple, a more active co-partner in the following of Christ. If the external circumstances of penance are changed, it is only to stress more deeply the hidden significance of the inevitable divine law: “Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.” Every year the Holy Spirit within her invites her children, most urgently, to turn aside from the busy marts of men and follow our Lord into the desert. Those whose strength permits them the privilege of sharing literally His fast, she warns that “the letter without the spirit is dead”; those whose weakness does not permit them that privilege, she reminds that they are not thereby excused. For them, too, is the ringing call of the Master: “Deny thyself, take up thy cross and follow Me,” and it may not be evaded: all may not fast with Christ but all must pray with Him in the desert, if they would not perish.

Now, then, as never before, perhaps, it becomes us to take stock of what Lent is to mean to us in practice, to enter more fully into the self-denials of prayer and acquire more truly the spirit of penance.

Only thus will we be really in touch with the mind of our Mother, faithful to the leading of the Holy Spirit of Love, and obedient to the behest of our Divine Savior and Model: “Be ye perfect.” For, as St. Paul reminds us, only “if we be dead with Him,” shall we “also live with Him” (2 Tim.
ii. 11).

Source: Lent In Practice, (The Spirit of Penance) by Father John Burke C.S.P.

"The Church can be persecuted, she can be weakened, but she cannot be destroyed. she will always come back with a greater strength.
During the French Revolution: this is a rather remarkable blessed here, he has not been canonized yet I think: Blessed Noel Pinot. Most people have never heard of him! He was born in 1747, he became a priest, a parish priest. In 1788, everything was still thought to be peaceful. The revolution did not really happened overnight but no one thought of it in 1788! Few people did! He was made an abbé, a pastor. In 1789, the Revolution came. In 1790, there was the Civil Constitution of the Clergy which was directly attacking the Church. He, like other priests, had to take the oath for which he was imprisoned, he was not allowed to function at all, then there were a reaction, he was free for a while, and then again under oppression. He went around saying Mass in private, visiting the sick, anointing people, baptizing. But finally, he was caught. He was betrayed, as so often happens, by someone to whom he had shown great kindness. He was arrested in his Mass vestments, put in prison for 12 days, roughly treated. At the end of the 12 days, he was asked to take the oath again, he refused, and was sentenced to the guillotine. He went to the guillotine still wearing his Mass vestments. On the way, he said those words: the old beginning prayers said at the foot of the altar, "Introibo ad altare Dei. Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam". (I will go to the altar of God. To God, the joy of my youth!) He was going to offer his last sacrifice, the sacrifice of himself." -- Msgr. Jeffrey Ingham:  Fortnight for Freedom Homily (June 29, 2017)

• Biography of Blessed Noel Pinot: Saint Joseph de Clairval Abbaye,Letter of September 12, 2014

Prayer to Blessed Noel Pinot for Priests under Persecution:

Blessed Noel Pinot, who shared in the Sacred Priesthood of Jesus, the Sovereign Priest, deign to show us, your servants, the power of your intercession. Enlighten and strengthen priests; render them, like you, invincible in their defense of the Faith. Foster priestly and religious vocations in our parishes; fill those aspiring to the priesthood and the religious life with an ardent zeal. Obtain for the faithful the grace to better know and practice their religion. Ensure that families are faithful in carrying out their duties and grant that they be humble and respectful towards their pastors.

Preserve children and the youth from the many perils which threaten their beliefs and virtues; undo the plots of those who wish to tear them away from the maternal bosom of the Church. As you did during your life, aid the sick and the infirm; strengthen those who suffer and struggle. Finally, bless and crown with success the apostolic labors of the ministers of Christ and of all the Church militant, with the aim of restoring to our dear France the reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Blessed Noel Pinot, pray for us. (General Vicar A. Oger, Angers, France (July 10th, 1944)