“Go Ye Into the Whole World...”

The Epiphany of Our Lord

*** 

Dear faithful,

Ludwig and Gertrud were children of a poor widow. When their father died, Ludwig was 7 and Gertrud was 6 years old. After her husband’s death, the mother looked with even greater care for the upbringing of her children.

She often told them about the poor pagan children in China and in Africa who did not know Our Lord and who had never heard of Child Jesus. The lively compassion for the Gentiles gave rise to a firm decision in their hearts.

“I want to become a missionary and go to the savage peoples“, Ludwig said to his sister one day. “And I‘m going with you!“, little Gertrud replied. “You can’t!“, declared Ludwig definitely, “a girl cannot become a missionary.“ – “Of course, she can“, Gertrud explained, “you convert and baptize the savages and I take care of the little children!“ – “All right“, Ludwig answered, “tomorrow, we are going to leave!“ The decision was made!

When the mother had left the house the following morning in order to go to the Holy Mass and to make the necessary purchases, both children dressed quickly, took a large piece of bread leaving as quickly as they could. They hoped to reach faraway Africa or Asia soon.

At lunch-time, the hunger was noticeable. They therefore consumed their bread and went on their way. That is when they came to a creek. But how should they cross the water?

Ludwig soon knew what to do. He collected some big stones and threw them into the creek. Full of trust in God, they tried to cross the dangerous creek, and indeed they succeeded. On the other bank they believed to be already in the land of the savages. – “Be quiet!“, Ludwig whispered and pointed to a tall man near the tree, “that is certainly a savage; we have to go to him!“

The children were approaching quietly so as not to frighten the savage. When they were close enough, Ludwig politely took off his cap and asked, “Mister Savage, have you ever been baptized?” The large man replied testily: “Why does this concern you, little fellow?“

Terrified, Gertrud plucked his brother’s sleeve and whispered: “Let’s go, I am afraid.“ – But Ludwig did not give up; he asked more kindly than before: “Mr. Savage, have you already been baptized?“ – “Well“, replied the latter, “why do you think that I am a savage?“

Now Ludwig told him, how he and his sister had gone away in the morning in order to get to Africa and convert the savages there, and why they think there must probably be the land of the savages because the way was very long and the sun was shining very hot.

Then the face of the strange gentleman cleared up to a friendly smile. He took the little boy on his knees and Ludwig had to tell him the whole story again. He described with enthusiasm what the mother told them about the poor unbelieving pagans far away, how they would die without baptism and without knowing Jesus, and they may be lost forever; and how he and his sister decided to convert these people.

During this child story the man was moved to tears!

“You are not in Africa yet. But you do not have to go that far to meet a savage“, he replied. “Here is one in front of you, a European who has already been baptized but who is perhaps even worse than those you want to seek. But from now on I want to become a real Christian. Are you satisfied?“

Of course, the children were happy to have converted an unbeliever. The man brought the two children back to their mother, told her the whole story, and wished her good luck because her teaching had already produced such fruits in her children.

The mother who has already been very worried about the children was relieved now. Yes – she was very happy that her children brought a lost soul back to God.

Dear faithful!

This is one little missionary story out of many others. All of them have their origins in the today’s feast. The wise men sought and found the Saviour by a star and they returned converted to their homeland. The first pagan mission! And they brought this joy to the pagan people in their country.

I remember well the crib in the kindergarten. There was a Moor with a cash box. When he got a coin, he nodded with his mobile head. It was a collection for the pagan people in Africa in order to give them the necessary instructions to receive baptism.

Missions are also our job: Pagan mission and mission of the indifferent Christians. Jesus ordered us before His Ascension: “Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.“ (Mark 16:16)

We don‘t need to go to Africa to convert people. How many unbaptized people live in our country? Buddhists, Mohammedans, unbaptized children of Catholic parents…

May everybody find the Saviour in the manger and may he announce this joy to his fellow men!

The mission begins in our family, in our house. That is why we have our house or our flat blessed on the feast of Epiphany. Everybody who enters our house should find Jesus, Mary and saint Joseph. Everybody should find holy pictures, blessed water and Christian books there! Everybody should find a prayer-life there! Morning prayer, evening prayer and prayers before and after the meal. May we help our fellow men, particularly in their spiritual needs! Amen.

 Fr. Martin Fuchs´s sermon on 6^th January 2019, Prague, Czechia
source  rexcz.blogspot.com

The Lifesaver

Fr. Martin Fuchs´s sermon on 2^nd December 2018, Prague, Czechia

The First Sunday of Advent

***

Father Konrad Kümmel in one of his books “On God’s hand“ described the following true story:

When Father Bruno was four years old, he fell into a creek very close to his parents´ house. A man, who happened to walk down the way, saw the little boy and jumped into the water to save the boy’s life.

He took the totally wet boy to his parents. Both, his father and his mother, did not realize that the boy had disappeared. With many thanks, the mother invited the lifesaver to stay with them for a few days. But he refused. Since the parents were poor, the mother took the miraculous medal from the boy´s neck and put it around the rescuer’s neck saying: “Carry this medal and pray one Hail Mary every day and add the prayer: ´O Mary! conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!´ We cannot give you a more precious gift than this. You will receive the blessing from Heaven, especially at the hour of your death.“ After the lunch, the stranger left the house without telling his name.

Later on, Father Bruno thought a lot about this accident and why God saved him from drowning. Again and again he wanted to know his lifesaver. He was also persuaded that God had given him a special mission. He had entered a monastery and when he became a priest, he asked his superior to send him to Africa.

But there he got sick. He had to leave the mission and was sent to the port cities: to Cape Town, Williamstown, Port Elizabeth and other places.

One morning, when he visited the city hospital, he found an old man who was badly suffering. His health was apparently exhausted by hardships and a disorderly life and could not be restored. Father Bruno greeted him very kindly in English but the patient replied with an English cursive word and then added in German that the man in the black cassock should leave him alone.

“You are a compatriot of mine!“, said Father Bruno with joy ignoring the rude reception. “Oh, how glad I am!“

The old man was surprised and asked: “Are you also from Germany?“ – “Yes“, the religious replied and then a conversation began. But the patient asked for not talking of religion and faith. “Otherwise“, he added “I start cursing so that you will certainly go on and leave me alone.“

With compassion, the priest looked at the old, depraved sinner. Despite of all, he did not give up the hope of saving his soul. He decided to pray for him and he consoled himself with the fact that he still had time because the old man would have to stay longer in the hospital.

The days afterwards Father Bruno had to think again and again of Hell in which the old man would come soon.

But then, he was suddenly called to the sick man who suffered from a faintness attack. He did everything to make him receive the Holy Sacraments; it was in vain. The attack passed. The patient became calmer. Father Bruno warned him to make the necessary steps otherwise he would certainly go to Hell.

The old man replied: “I do not believe in Hell.“ – “So you do not want to believe,“ the religious said in astonishment, “what Christ has solemnly taught, what the Catholic Church and the Holy Scripture teaches, what all Christians believe, that there is a condemnation?“

“Oh, I would believe in Hell“, the old man replied, “but I don’t believe that Hell lasts forever.“ “Do you think that the Lord is following your faith?“ – “I only claim that Hell is not eternal“, the old man answered. “But then, it is not Hell, it is just purgatory“, said the priest, “please think of it again!“ So it went back and forth, until Father Bruno left the room.

During the following days, Father Bruno was stuck by a true terror that he himself might go to Hell. He had generally fulfilled his duties but his whole life seemed to be an empty dream. Shaken to the core, he asked God for mercy and compassion for so many lost hours. He wanted to enter a stricter order to make penance.

But then, we see him back at the bedside of the old man. He asked him again what he would think of Hell. “Leave me alone!“, he replied. “If I am condemned to Hell, I would like to rest here.“ – “Who says that you should be condemned? It only happens if it is your decision; but if you convert, God gives you special graces, otherwise he could have called you years ago.“ – “It is too late to convert“, laughed the patient with scary sparkling eyes.

Then Father Bruno came to him, took gently and quietly his right arm and spoke in a soft voice: “Dear brother! No, it is not too late, it is still the eleventh hour. The Savior, the Son of God, shed His Blood also for you. For your immortal soul he suffered and died on the cross.” The old man listened attentively to the words of the priest.

“Father“, he said, “you are very friendly to me and I don’t want to swear anymore. But I don‘t think that I could be saved. What you have said about Christ is far too high and too much for me. Perhaps you have a special sign by which you can prove that Christ has really shed His Blood for me.“

Father Bruno answered: “May Our Lord forgive your terrible obstinacy! The Lord taught it! If you don’t believe, it will happen to you as it happened to the rich man in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man, who was in Hell, wanted a special sign for his brothers. But he got the answer: ´They have Moses and the prophets; if they hear not them, neither will they believe, if one rise again from the dead.´“ (Luke 16:30-31)

As he spoke, his eyes fell over the desperate sick man to the picture of the Immaculate Conception hanging on the wall. Then he noticed a little string with a medal around the patient’s neck. Father Bruno recognized at first glance that it was a miraculous medal which the old unbeliever wore. 

Trembling with joyful excitement, he took the medal to his hands and asked the patient: “Tell me how did you come to his medal? Do you know what it means?“ – “I have had it for a long time; it belongs to me and I don’t give it to anyone; it is a keepsake“, the old man replied. – “Certainly from your mother“, said Father Bruno, “is she still alive?“ – “No, not from my mother, but from another one from the Bas-Rhin, “was the equanimous answer, “her little boy fell into the creek. I happened to see him and I took him out. The woman thanked me very much and did not last until she had taken this medal from the little boy’s neck and given it to me. It was a dear, good woman, and so I have taken the medal as a reward. She insisted that I wear it for all my life…and to do something every day what I don’t want to talk about now.“

At this moment, the priest put his arms around the old man and exclaimed: “O Lord be praised for a thousand times! Now, I tell you what you don’t want to talk about. The name of the village where you saved the little boy is…. And it is four hours from the city…away, and it is now exactly 32 years ago when this accident happened. It was in the afternoon. The creek is situated near a garden. You crossed the garden and in front of the house there was a sign of a baker hanging on the wall.

The man and the woman wanted you to stay with them, but you refused. The woman who gave you the medal wanted you to pray one Hail Mary every day and the little prayer ´O Mary! conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!´ - Have you kept the promise?“

“Why not?“, was the answer. “I promised it to the dear lady and I have kept it. But how can you know that?“ – “Because the woman was my own mother and because the child you saved was me!“ exclaimed the Father.

He could hardly believe it and repeatedly looked at the religious. But now Father Bruno told him that he had had no peace, until he had been sent from his monastery to Cape Town and other port cities, to this very hospital where his life saver was.

“So, I had to follow you from home to this place to save your soul as you once saved my physical life. God has worked such an obvious miracle for you only because you prayed at least one Hail Mary every day. Is this not a sufficient sign and proof for you to have full hope to believe firmly that the Saviour shed His Blood for you, suffered for you and have given you full satisfaction? Will you continue to resist the call of his grace?“

“No, oh no, the Lord may forgive me, poor sinner; I want to do what you want!“ was the patient’s answer. And he placed his life confession confidently in the priestly heart of the one whom he had once saved, and he received the Holy Communion with great devotion. It was the highest time! He died shortly afterwards. Father Bruno, however, lived on and the longer he lived, the more severe and penitent he was.

Dear faithful!

This story looks like a fairy-tale, but it is a true story! May we have confidence in the Immaculate Conception! May we carry the miraculous medal and pray one Hail Mary with the invocation: "O Mary! conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!" Amen.


Source  http://rexcz.blogspot.com

Will the Son of Man still find the Faith on the Earth?

The Popes John XXIII and Paul VI "inspired by the Holy Spirit" had promised us a Conciliar Springtime: we had to open the windows of the old church accused of confining itself to the past, to open to a bright future, that was not going not to fail to achieve the modern Church, adapted, finally, to modern man "king of the Earth and henceforth prince of heaven" (Paul VI on the day after the moon landing), adapted for liberty of conscience, one of the "Rights of Man of 1789" and fruit of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that will open your eyes and you will be like gods" (Genesis 3: 5), also adapted to the dialogue with the enemies of the Church in order to convert wolves into lambs ... a dialogue which has ended as badly as that of the fable. 

Paul VI had to admit that "after the Council, the smoke of Satan had invaded the Church" but refused to admit the true cause: the Council itself, the Trojan Horse of the ideas of Freemasonry," master stroke of Satan.

 "After sixty years of the Conciliar Religion, the population has become unhooked from religious practice. The youth have turned their backs on it. Priestly vocations have tended to disappear. The churches are abandoned in the hundreds This collapse of the French ecclesiastical fabric is explained by one main cause: the post-conciliar pastoral ministry, its contempt for the tradition of the Church and Faith of  "the old days." Today 25% of ordinations in France are performed under "extraordinary form" and come from religious communities remaining a little or more "faithful" to certain elements or traditional appearances, which are the only things to attract vocations. "From this set of undeniable facts it appears that today there is a Church that lives and a Church that dies". (Extract of "Testimony of a Country Priest)

Those who were at the Council and afterwards, explained to us that Tradition no longer interested anybody and could - or should - be abandoned without harm to the Church, were mistaken! And they deceived the faithful and the priests. Faced with this statement of total bankruptcy how can we not recall that Our Lord and the Apostles  warned us that in the last days will come a general apostasy, that only a very small remnant will resist to this torrent of iniquity: "Will the Son of Man still find the Faith on the Earth? If these days were not shortened, no one would be saved. "(Luke 18, 8) The culmination of this unprecedented catastrophe explodes in the face of these Conciliar prelates with scandals and the concealment of unnatural sins (Romans v. 20-32) in which the highest hierarchy is involved: "Only he who perseveres to the end will be saved." (Matt. 24:13) Until the triumph of
the Heart Immaculate of Mary which She promised us in Fatima, in the meantime, we must remain faithful to our duty and try to do something in the modest measure of the two gifts of the gospel that the Lord has entrusted to us. Like the small guard who does not surrender!

Such is moreover the providential name of the property where the Saint Louis Grignon de Montfort Seminary is currently situated, whichgrows slowly but surely. Thus, two years from now, if God wills, the first ordinations will take place thanks to your inexhaustible generosity. May God and Our Lady give you back a hundredfold, dear benefactors.

 Bishop Jean-Michel Faure SAJM

Charity remains forever

  A Sermon delivered Saturday 17th May, vigil of Pentecost, 1975 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

 

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

My dear friends, my dear brethren: It seems to me that a day such as this could not be better chosen for the conferral of ordinations. If all the Sacraments give the Holy Ghost, it is indeed true and accurate to say that the Sacrament of Ordination confers the Holy Ghost in a very special way upon those who, in the future, will be called upon to pour Him forth, to give Him to souls in the Sacraments which it will be their duty to bestow on the souls confided to their care. Therefore we rejoice today to be able to give the Sacrament of Ordination to the diaconate to one of our seminarians, as well as Ordination to the minor orders: to the two first minor orders, and the second two minor orders.

 

And we shall take advantage of these few moments to speak to you of what the Feast of Pentecost suggests to us. Let us attempt to imagine to ourselves what the day of the Ascension may have been like, and the moment when Our Lord ascended into heaven. The Apostles, seeing Our Lord ascend towards heaven and disappear in the clouds, kept their eyes fixed on heaven. . . and we can easily understand them. These men who had lived with Our Lord must certainly have had this sentiment - I should say, this instinct, if one may say so, to know and to understand that they had had in their presence heaven itself. For what is heaven if not Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Word of God? They did indeed, then, have heaven in their very hands, after a fashion: they could taste it! And this presence of Our Lord beside them must have enchanted them, and given them an unalterable peace and serenity, an absolute confidence.

 

But now Our Lord escapes from their view and disappears. And that is why their eyes remained fixed on the heavens. Angels came to say to them, "What are you doing here? Why are you waiting? One day Jesus will return even as He has ascended." So the Apostles gathered in the Cenacle to await the coming of the Holy Ghost. For that is what Our Lord wished to give them. Heaven had disappeared from their eyes and almost from their hearts. Now it is indeed heaven that Our Lord wished to give them, and to give them through the Holy Ghost: for He is nothing other than that. The Holy Ghost in our hearts, this is heaven in our hearts... paradise begun in our souls! If we understood well who the Holy Ghost is and the grace which God gives us through the Holy Ghost from the day of our Baptism, and in all the Sacraments we receive, and especially in Holy Communion, we should understand that it is heaven that we receive.

 

The Apostles were filled with the Spirit of Jesus at the moment of Pentecost, and thus heaven took possession of their souls, and of their hearts, and never again did they separate themselves from this Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. They then understood all that Jesus had told them. They understood what heaven was in relation to earth, what the spirit was in relation to the flesh, what these ineffable goods, these eternal goods were next to temporal things. They understood - until then, they had not understood.

 

And what was the influence of the Holy Ghost in their souls? Saint Paul describes it for us twice - once when he enumerates the different fruits of the Holy Ghost in souls. I will not list them all for you, but he speaks of patience, kindness, meekness, peace: fruits of the Holy Ghost in our hearts. And he repeats it when he speaks of the benefits of charity, the qualities of charity: Caritas benigna est, caritas patiens est; caritas omnia suffert, omnia credit, omnia sperat. Charity is patient, charity suffers, charity believes, charity hopes, charity loves. . .charity remains forever. This is what Saint Paul enumerates and what he describes of charity and the fruits of the Holy Ghost. And that is what the Holy Ghost is; it is in that that we recognize whether we have the Holy Ghost in us - if we are humble, meek, charitable, peace-loving: these are the fruits that Our Lord gives to those who receive the Holy Ghost.

 

This Holy Ghost Whom we have within us: what does He give us? What does He inspire in us? Let us listen to what the Acts of the Apostles have to recount. The Acts of the Apostles say that, as soon as the Apostles had received the Holy Ghost, they spoke... they spoke. They had received tongues of fire which signed them, which marked them, which manifested the descent of the Holy Ghost upon them; but these tongues of fire designated nothing other than that henceforth they had hearts of fire - hearts of fire which forced them to speak. And speak of whom, of what? Of Our Lord Jesus Christ - for it is the Spirit of Jesus that they had received. -I shall send you my spirit. . . MY spirit." So it is the Spirit of Our Lord, and they spoke of Our Lord.

 

And the sentence perhaps the most characteristic of the discourse of Saint Peter when, filled with the Holy Ghost, he could not restrain himself from speaking, from preaching the Gospel, from preaching Our Lord to those who surrounded him. . . He said: "Non est in alio aliquo salus." "Non est nomen sub caelum datum hominibus per quem omnes salvi fieri debent." There is no other name by which we must be saved. There is no name other than that in which all men must receive salvation. This is the essential truth, the capital truth, the truth which summarizes all the truth of the Church. The Church was founded only for that: to bring salvation to souls through Our Lord Jesus Christ, in Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

And consequently, it is the duty of the Church, and it will be your duty, my dear friends, the duty of each one of you, dear friends, when you are priests, when you will have the mission of preaching the Gospel, to preach the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is with that that the Holy Ghost inspired the Apostles: the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is King! He has the right to reign. . .He has the right! And it is an historical fact - His presence in history can no longer be ignored by men; no man can ignore that Our Lord came to save him. And those who know that Our Lord came and, consequently, that God came among men to save us, must accept His reign: the reign of Our Lord. Not only His reign in individuals, in all persons; not only His reign in each one of us: but His reign in the family, in the home. . . but His reign in the State! Ah, here it is something much more difficult: to admit that Our Lord ought to reign over the nations. He is the King of all nations! He it is who will judge - who will judge all princes and kings. This is spoken of already in the Psalms.

 

And consequently we ought to be heroes of the kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ. That is what we must preach everywhere - that there will be no happiness here below without the kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ; that no good will be done here below without Our Lord Jesus Christ. We can do nothing without the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is He who is the source of all our meritorious acts. We can merit nothing whatsoever toward heaven if we have not in us the grace and spirit of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

These are truths which are evident for Christians, evident for the Church - but which men do not want to receive and which many Catholics no longer want to receive. They find it inadmissible to say that there is no salvation outside of the Church, that there is no salvation outside of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And quite recently, I read in the report of the episcopal synod that one could accept that there are possibilities of salvation through every religion. Now this is absolutely false, contrary to all the doctrine of the Church. There is NO possibility of salvation through a false religion, through an erroneous religion. There is salvific value only in the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently in the Catholic Church. And all those who are saved will always be saved through the Catholic Church, even if they are of other religions, even if they have lived in other religions. They cannot be saved, they cannot enter heaven unless through Our Lord Jesus Christ. There will be nothing in heaven other than the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ: that is obvious. How could anyone who is not a member of the Mystical Body go to heaven? For Our Lord Jesus Christ IS heaven! He is God, and God is heaven. Consequently whoever is not united to Our Lord will not be in heaven, will not go to heaven - no one who is not a member of the Mystical Body of Our Lord.

 

These are truths of which we must remind ourselves. And I believe that I can say for certain that if, unfortunately, our seminary and our work here are persecuted, it is precisely because we affirm these truths. Because the world no longer wants to hear these truths. And because one must conform oneself to ‘modern man,’ one must listen to ‘modern man.’ What is this ‘modern man’? Who is he? What does he represent, if not often the man who does not believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ, and who does not want to believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ. . .who refuses the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. . .who refuses His grace? Men no longer want to believe in the supernatural; they no longer want to believe in the grace of Our Lord. They now believe only in man - in man, who now by his science seems to want to govern the world in the place of God.

 

 As for us, we affirm the contrary: the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We want Him to reign: and that is why we adore Him, and seek to adore Him in a manner worthy of Him, worthy of His presence in the Holy Eucharist. That is why we love our ceremonies, why we are attached to this Liturgy which truly expresses what we think in our hearts, what we think in the depths of our souls: that Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist and that we honor Him as God. He is our King: He has the right to our reverences, He has the right to our genuflections, He has the right to our bows; He has the right to songs worthy of Him, worthy of heaven, which recall the chant of the angels. This is what we wish. We wish to honor Him also in our faith, in the doctrine we teach to the young men who come here to receive it: to receive the true faith, the doctrine which teaches us that God is everything and that man is nothing, that Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation, and that He is the only means of salvation that we must preach to all those who wish to be saved.

 

This is what we affirm; this is what we believe. But that goes against the current of present-day ecumenism, which wants precisely to level this religion, to bring our Catholic religion down to the level of the Protestant religion and of other religions. That we shall never accept. . . never! There is no God other than Our Lord Jesus Christ. We know neither Luther nor Buddha nor those other heads of religions who are and were merely inspired by the devil to turn men away from the truth and from Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

We want to consider Our Lord as our King. We want Him to reign in our homes, in our families, in our states. We shall never accept that, in our states, all religions be placed on the same level. Without doubt this is impossible to wish for at once; but we must retain the principle. Otherwise there are no more public rights for the Church: those public rights which give the Church powers in civil societies. The Church is a society which has powers in the civil society, which ought to be recognized by the civil society.

 

Certainly in our time, through the malice of men, these powers are no longer recognized, or very little. And alas, even in the countries where they are still recognized, these countries are persecuted by those who ought rather to defend them! Who armed the hand that killed Schussnig? Who armed the hand that killed Garcia Moreno? Who harasses Franco and who harassed Salazar when they were Christian men of state who wanted Our Lord to reign in their countries? They are the ones who are persecuted! They are the ones who are investigated! They are the ones who suffer assassination attempts! Because they want Our Lord to reign in their countries. Why was Joan of Arc burned? Because she wanted to establish the reign of Our Lord in our country, in the nation of France.

 

This is what we must think; this is what we must believe. And this persecution which we are undergoing today is nothing other than that; it must not be placed on any other plane. It is not on details that we are attacked. We are attacked because we want the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ; because we affirm as much, because we do all that this reign might be established - that the reign of God, the reign of Our Lord might be established, the reign as well of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That is why we are persecuted; we know it well.

And particularly by those in the Church who collaborate with the enemy. Unfortunately among those who collaborate with the enemy there are some who have important posts in the Church and who, through their important posts, strive to compel us as well into this pact with the enemy; who try to draw us into compromises that are absolutely inadmissible and that are contrary to the royalty of Our Lord Jesus Christ, contrary to the honor of God, contrary to the honor of Our Lord and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And that we do not want... none of these intercommunions, for example, of ‘eucharistic hospitalities’ as they are now called. These are all blasphemies and sacrileges which we cannot accept.

 

"Quis ut Deus?" This is what we must say. "Quis ut Jesus Christus?" Who is like Our Lord Jesus Christ? This is what we must believe. This was the cry of Joan of Arc, the cry of Saint Michael the Archangel that she repeated, and it is this that we ought to repeat, that we ought to keep ever in our hearts.

 

Whatever the persecutions that we may undergo, we must remain united to Our Lord, united to the Blessed Virgin Mary; united to Our Holy Father the Pope, united to all the bishops of the Church. But perhaps sometimes, in being united to them, at the same time united against them in a certain manner, if they say things which are inadmissible. If on the one hand they say acceptable things and on the other hand they say inadmissible things, we shall be with them when they say admissible things, but we shall be against them when they say things which are inadmissible. For they are destroying themselves, and they are destroying the Church. And we want on the contrary to build up the Church, to construct it on the unchanging foundations, not on foundations of our own making; on foundations such as those of which I have just spoken to you, those which are inspired by the Holy Ghost, and have always been inspired by the Holy Ghost. Such is our desire. Indeed, our goal is none other than that.

 

And we ask today of the Holy Ghost, and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was filled with the Holy Ghost, to keep us ever in this faith, in this love, in this charity, in this unity. We are not seeking to add anything to the unchanging faith. If God gives us the grace to follow tradition, the grace to remain in the light of the Holy Ghost, we shall not take glory in this, but we shall pray that God grant that this light shall illumine once again, as of old, all the nations of Europe and the entire world.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

+ Marcel Lefebvre on Pentecost Sunday, 1975

Ecône, Switzerland

 

Source SSPXMC 

The Hail Mary of a Protestant

A little six-year-old Protestant boy had often heard his Catholic companions reciting the prayer "Hail Mary." He liked it so much that he copied it, memorized it and would recite it every day. "Look, Mommy, what a beautiful prayer," he said to his mother one day. "Never again say it," answered the mother. "It is a superstitious prayer of Catholics who adore idols and think Mary a goddess. After all, she is a woman like any other. Come on, take this Bible and read it. It contains everything that we are bound to do and have to do." From that day on the little boy discontinued his daily "Hail Mary" and gave himself more time to reading the Bible instead.

One day, while reading the Gospel, he came across the passage about the Annunciation of the Angel to Our Lady. Full of joy, the little boy ran to his mother and said: "Mommy, I have found the 'Hail Mary' in the Bible which says: 'Hail full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women.' Why do you call it a superstitious prayer?"

On another occasion he found that beautiful Salutation of St. Elizabeth to the Virgin Mary and the wonderful canticle MAGNIFICAT in which Mary foretold that "the generations would call her blessed."

He said no more about it to his mother but started to recite the "Hail Mary" every day as before. He felt pleasure in addressing those charming words to the Mother of Jesus, our Savior.

When he was fourteen, he one day heard a discussion on Our Lady among the members of his family. Every one said that Mary was a common woman like any other woman. The boy, after listening to their erroneous reasoning could not bear it any longer, and full of indignation, he interrupted them, saying:

"Mary is not like any other children of Adam, stained with sin. No! The Angel called her FULL OF GRACE AND BLESSED AMONGST WOMEN. Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ and consequently Mother of God. There is no higher dignity to which a creature can be raised. The Gospel says that the generations will proclaim her blessed and you are trying to despise her and look down on her. Your spirit is not the spirit of the Gospel or of the Bible which you proclaim to be the foundation of the Christian religion."

So deep was the impression which the boy's talk had made that his mother many times cried out sorrowfully: "Oh my God! I fear that this son of mine will one day join the Catholic religion, the religion of Popes!" And indeed, not very long afterwards, having made a serious study of both Protestantism and Catholicism, the boy found the latter to be the only true religion and embraced it and became one of its most ardent apostles.

Some time after his conversion, he met his married sister who rebuked him and said indignantly: "You little know how much I love my children. Should any one of them desire to become a Catholic, I would sooner pierce his heart with a dagger than allow him to embrace the religion of the Popes!"

Her anger and temper were as furious as those of St. Paul before his conversion. However, she would change her ways, just as St. Paul did on his way to Damascus. It so happened that one of her sons fell dangerously ill and the doctors gave up hope of recovery. Her brother then approached her and spoke to her affectionately, saying:

"My dear sister, you naturally wish to have your child cured. Very well, then, do what I ask you to do. Follow me, let us pray one 'Hail Mary' and promise God that, if your son recovers his health, you would seriously study the Catholic doctrine, and should you come to the conclusion that Catholicism is the only true religion, you would embrace it no matter what the sacrifices may be."

His sister was somewhat reluctant at the beginning, but as she wished for her son's recovery, she accepted her brother's proposal and recited the "Hail Mary" together with him. The next day her son was completely cured. The mother fulfilled her promise and she studied the Catholic doctrine. After long preparation she received Baptism together with her whole family, thanking her brother for being an apostle to her.

The story was related during a sermon given by the Rev. Fr. Tuckwell. "Brethren," he went on and said, "the boy who became a Catholic and converted his sister to Catholicism dedicated his whole life to the service of God. He is the priest who is speaking to you now! What I am I owe to Our Lady. You, too, my dear brethren, be entirely dedicated also to Our Lady and never let a day pass without saying the beautiful prayer, 'Hail Mary', and your Rosary. Ask her to enlighten the minds of Protestants who are separated from the true Church of Christ founded on the Rock (Peter) and 'against whom the gates of hell shall never prevail.'" 

www.olrl.org/stories/

To fulfil God's Will - by Fr. Martin Fuchs

Dear faithful!

Before the Ascension, Our Lord said to His disciples:

“Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover.“ (Mk 16:15-18)

In the first centuries, the extraordinary graces, the charisms such as to work miracles, to speak in tongues, to look into the hearts and into the future were much more numerous. But when the Catholic Faith was proved enough, they became less. God is absolutely free to provide these graces. He gives these gifts to build up the Mystical Body, Church, to spread the true Faith.

Recipients of these gifts are especially united to Christ and work for the salvation of the souls. They have to suffer much. The cross is the way to Heaven.

Extraordinary graces or charisms are not a proof that the recipient will go infallibly to Heaven. The Saviour himself once said: “Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.“ (Mt 7:22-23)

As Father Pio died on the 22^nd September 1968, exactly 50 years ago, I want to speak about this charismatic person. He never said the New Mass by the way.

His charisms were very numerous. He had the charism to look into the hearts, the charism of bilocation. He had stigmata. Souls from the Purgatory came to him to ask for his help. He could speak foreign languages without having learnt them. He could look into the future. Wonderful odour indicated his presence. He fell into ecstasy and saw wonderful things. He healed the possessed people. He could heal the ill people. Let us consider this special grace.

Antonio D’Onofrio, rickety and crippled, rose from the kneeling bench, when he was touched by the wounded hands of Father Pio. He no longer hunched.

Little Di Chiara, at Father Pio´s command, put down the orthopaedic splints that covered her legs crippled by polio and began walking.

A famous surgeon, Professor Valdoni, said: “Our science cannot explain what is happening there.“

But there were cases when Father Pio did not heal.

One day a man was brought to him. He had been suffering from blindness for years. Father Pio very seriously looked at the blind and asked him:

“You have the choice! If you will be happy here on earth, you will not be happy in the Eternity.“

The blind answered after a short time with tears in his eyes: “Father, father, I prefer to be happy in the eternity!“ Father Pio consoled him by giving his blessing.

A noble lady had already been in a medical treatment for two years without success because of her ill foot. When she asked Father Pio for his help and for his prayers, he answered: “You must make up first the unjust inheritance. This is the reason why you suffer.”

And to a young man who was completely crippled after a car accident and could barely speak, Father Pio said: “If you haven’t had this accident, you would be a murderer now. This accident was a great gift for you.”

Another lady asked Father Pio: “Why have I been ill already for thirty years? I can scarcely manage my household.“ And Father Pio replied: “This is a great grace because Our Lord has elected you to suffer for your two brothers who lead bad lives and your other related persons are not better. You must suffer for their salvation. But in two years you will be cured. Every suffering is a grace, even if hen we cannot understand why.”

A very special man was Pietro Cugino, called Petruccio. He did not want to be healed. He was born in 1913 and very often went to church “Santa Maria delle Grazie“ in San Giovanni Rotondo. He never missed the Holy Mass and received the Holy Communion every day. Petruccio was blind but he helped wherever he could. In the evening he had his supper with other monks in the refectory of the monastery. And Father Pio encouraged him to eat.

One day, Father Pio asked him: “Haven´t you ever wished to see? The answer was of disarming innocence: “I have never thought of it.“ Father Pio insisted: “Would you like to see again?“ Petruccio replied: “I don’t know what to answer.” Father Pio kept on insisting: “If you like, we pray to Our Lady who is so good and has so much power over the heart of her son Jesus.“

But Petruccio went on: “Father, I was not born blind. My Lord has taken away my eyesight when I was twelve years old. If God had done this, he certainly had His reasons. And when He had His reasons, why should I pray against the will of God? Why should I pray for something He gave me at the beginning and took it away at a later time?”

This answer was very difficult to understand. Difficult for many but not for the saint Capuchin. Father Pio wanted to make sure and continued: “But do you want to see or not?”

Petruccio answered even more clearly: “Father, Our Lord knows exactly what He does. I always want to fulfil the will of God. If my Lord gives my eyesight back and this would be an occasion of sin, I prefer to renounce.“

This answer showed Father Pio that Petruccio saw much more better than other people with the best eyes. He saw with the eyes of the Faith. Touched by this answer, Father Pio embraced him.

Petruccio received the same embrace on the 31st March 2005 when his blind eyes could see the light, the light that no eye has ever seen on earth, the light that God has prepared for those who love Him. (I Cor. 2:9).

Dear faithful,

Charisms are given to a person to lead people to the true Faith or to convert them from a life of sin.

We must suffer to reach Heaven, suffer to expiate, and repair sins, our sins and the sins of other people.

We must suffer if it is God´s will. The greatest thing on earth is to fulfil God´s will. Lord, help us to carry our cross! Let us fulfil Your will! Amen.

 

Source http://rexcz.blogspot.com