Reflections and Practices from the Seventh Hour: 11 PM to Midnight

In this third hour of Gethsemane, Jesus asked for help from Heaven; and His pains were so many that He also asked for the comfort of His disciples. And we—do we always ask for help from Heaven in any painful circumstance? And if we turn also to creatures, do we do this with order, and with those who can comfort us in a saintly way? Are we at least resigned, if we do not receive those comforts that we were hoping for, using the indifference of creatures to abandon ourselves more in the arms of Jesus? Jesus was comforted by an Angel. And we—can we say that we are the angel of Jesus by remaining around Him to comfort Him and share in His bitterness? However, in order to be as a true angel for Jesus, it is necessary to take sufferings as sent by Him, and therefore as Divine Sufferings. Only then can we dare to console a God so embittered. Otherwise, if we take pains in a human way, we cannot use them to comfort this Man-God, and therefore we cannot be His angels.

In the pains that Jesus sends to us, it seems that He sends us the chalice in which we must place the fruit of those pains. And these pains, suffered with love and resignation, will turn into a most sweet nectar for Jesus. In every pain we will say, “Jesus is calling us around Him to be His angel. He wants our comforts, and so He makes us share in His pains.”

My Love, Jesus, in my pains I look for Your Heart to rest, and in Your pains I intend to give You shelter with my pains, so that we may exchange them, and I may be Your consoling angel.

From Apostolic times, the Apostles and the first Christian community began to replace the day of the Jewish Passover with that of the commemorate of the Passion and Death of our Lord.  For them, the anniversary of the death of Christ was a very sad day, so to celebrate it worthily, they fasted on that day.  Thus the original celebration of the Christian Pasch (Passover) began with a fast.  This was the Pasch of the Crucifixion.  According to there testimony of St. Irenaeus (125-203), which the Church historian, Eusebius (260-340) mentions, the present Forty Days Fast can be traced back to a time when fasting was restricted to one or two days.  This fast was not regarded as a pre-paschal fast but as the Pasch itself.  According to this testimony, some kept the Paschal fast for one day, others for two, others even more, and some fasted forty hours. (History of the Chruch, 5,24)

In post-apostolic times the Church of the second and third centuries began to attend not only to the sad anniversary of the death of Christ, but also to the joyful anniversary of His Resurrection, so that along with the Pasch of the Crucificaion, the Pasch of the Resurrection with the elimination of the paschal fast slowly gained prominence.  Even in apostolic times some had already begun to abandon the fast on the very day of the Jewish Pasch (Passover), and others on the following Sunday.  According to the testimony of the historian Socrates (379-440), those who celebrated the Pasch together with the Jews, that is, on the fourteenth day if Nisan, affirmed that this had been handed down to them by the Apostles and the evangelist St. John; those who celebrated the feast of the Pasch on the Sunday following the Jewish Pasch, maintained that they had received this custom from Sts. Peter and Paul.  “Neither one,” remarks Socrates, “can produce any written documents to confirm their positions.”  (History of the Church, 5,22)

From this disputes arose between those who celebrated the Pasch with the Jews and those who celebrated it the following Sunday.  These long disputes were finally resolved by the Council of Nicea (325).

The canonical documents of the third century speak of the time when the paschal fast ended.  According to the canons of Hippolytus, the solemn conclusion of the fast took place at the dawn of the Resurrection Day; according to the Didascalia, a the third hour of the night; and according to the Apostolic Constitutions, at cock-crow.

In the third century, the pre paschal fast in some Churches lasted for a whole week, the week that today we call Passion Week.  Toward the end of the third century the Great Fast has been extend to forty days.  The first clear testimonies concerning the fort days pre-paschal fast date from the fourth century.  The first testimony is presented to us by the Council of Nicea, which states that local synods should convene “once before the Forty Days Fast, so that after removing all disorders, a pure gift may be offered to God, and they should convene one other time in the autumn.” (can. 5)

“Because we did not fast we were banished from paradise.  So then let us fast so as to return back to paradise.”  (St. Basil, On Fasting I)

Although our time has brought with it many changes in church laws, traditions, and discipline, and the Second Vatican Council has relaxed the rules for fasting, including the Great Fast, nevertheless, the Forty Days Fast still has significance for our spiritual life.  For various reasons, today we may be unable to fast in the same way as our ancestors did; yet even today we are obliged to a spiritual fast – that is, we are obliged to retain fro sin, and from given in to our evil inclinations.  We are also obliged to pray and to practice virtue and good deeds.  In reality the, the most important goal of the Great Fast is our spiritual renewal.

“The beginning of the fast – it is time for repentance, the day of salvation, O Soul; watch, therefore, and close the doors to the passions and lift up your eyes to God.”  (Canon of the Monday Matins of the First Week of Lent)

The time of the Great Fast is for every Christian a time for spiritual combat in which the soul and body are engaged.  The soul engages in this combat by praying and meditating more fervently, keeping watch over the senses, by practicing the virtues, and by doing good works.  This interior disposition of the soul is manifested outwardly in our body through corporal acts of fasting and penance.  There is no spiritual fasting without mortification of the body.  “The more you subtract form the body,” says St. Basil the Great, “the more brightness of spiritual health you will add to the soul.  For it is not by increasing bodily strength, but by perseverance and patient endurance in trial that we gain strength against the invisible enemies.” (On the Fast I)

OUR LADY OF AMERICA
and
OUR LADY OF LOURDES

On February 11, 1958, Sister Mildred wrote in her diary:

“Our Lady made known to me that She is particularly interested in the youth of our nation. It is they who are to be the leaders of this renewal on the face of the earth. Their ranks will be swelled by the youth of other nations whom Our Lady also calls to help in the accomplishment of this great renewal.

“But the youth must be prepared, and this must be done by instilling into them, not only the knowledge of Divine Indwelling, but a serious study of it, a living it in such way that the Divine Presence becomes, as it were, an intimate and necessary part of their life and daily living. From this will flow a great love, a conflagration that will envelop the world in the flames of Divine Charity. This is what Our Lady is working for, because this is the great desire of her Divine Son, and it is to the youth of America that she is holding out this challenge. A medal which Our Lady asked to be made is to be their shield against evil; the picture or statue of Our Lady, the protection of the home; the statue of the Shrine in Washington, D.C., a special safeguard for our country. America, the United States in particular, is being given the tremendous, yet privileged, opportunity to lead all nations in a spiritual renewal never before so necessary, so important, so vital.

Our Lady and February 11

February 11 – Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. A little more than three years later, on February 11, 1858, a young Lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. This began a series of visions. During the apparition on March 25, the Lady identified Herself with the words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

Quoting Pope Saint John Paul II: “After my election as Pope, as I became more involved in the problems of the Universal Church, I came to have a similar conviction: On this universal level, if victory comes it will be brought by the Blessed Virgin Mary. Christ will Conquer through Her, because He wants the Church’s victories now, and in the future, to be Linked to Her.” (Crossing the Threshold of Hope, pp. 220-221)

From the OUR LADY OF AMERICA booklet (click link below) – the 11th of 12 Ways Our Lady Appeared:

11. “Our Lady of Lourdes” (The Immaculate Conception) – “I had another of those “experiences” of which you have already heard, Father, many times. Though I had not at that time been thinking of Her, She suddenly appeared at my side. This person was none other than St. Bernadette. She did not come as a Sister but as the little peasant girl who saw “The Lady”. I was transported, somehow, with her, to the Lourdes Grotto in France. We stood a short distance away from it looking up into the niche which was filled with Light. In the midst of this brilliant Light I saw “The Lady” (the Immaculate Conception), so Beautiful, so Glowing, as it were, in Light that I could scarcely see the outline of Her figure. It was Brighter than any light I have ever seen. It was a Light All-Heavenly and Full of Glory. I was transfixed. Then suddenly the figure of Our Lady seemed to dissolve in the Light but the Brilliant Light itself remained. Then I saw a path, at times it seemed to take the form of steps, leading upwards from the niche where “The Lady” had been standing. Every so often as I gazed at this Luminous Pathway, I caught a glimpse of Angels. I was anxious to follow the Path of Light and as I eagerly endeavored to do so, Bernadette held me back. Then I exclaimed, “But I want to go there.” The Saint answered, “No, my sister, it is not yet time for you, but it will be soon.” (Sister to Rev. Leibold 4/12/58)

click link below for full booklet:

https://bookofheaven.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/OLOA-7.pdf

“Our Lady has asked that a statue be made as she Appeared on the Sept. 26th, 1956 (Pictured on cover – Our Lady of America). After being solemnly carried in procession in the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Wash. D.C., She desires that there it be enshrined in the place of honor and to be venerated there, in a special way as ‘Our Lady of America, the Immaculate Virgin’. It is at this Shrine She has Promised to Work Wonders. She Desires also that a small statue or picture of this same likeness be honored in every home.”

Our Lady of America’s Request of 65 years ago remains, to have Her Bishops process Her statue into Her Basilica in Washington D.C. and give Her a place of honor there. “I come to you, O children of America, as a last resort. I Plead with you to listen to My Voice.” (Sister to Rev. Leibold 11/15/56)

Also on Feb 11 – Our Lady of All Nations to Ida Peerdeman in 1951

The “Lady of All Nations” apparitions took place from 1945 to 1959 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, to the visionary Ida Peerdeman. On May 31, 2002, the apparitions received local Church approval when Bishop Josef Punt of Haarlem-Amsterdam officially declared the essence of the apparitions and messages “to consist of a supernatural origin.”

On February 11, 1951, the Lady of All Nations dictates to the seer a new prayer directed to Jesus, beseeching him to for a New Pentecost through the Advocacy of Mary, in order to prevent “degeneration, disasters and war.”

Lord, Jesus Christ,
Son of the Father,
Send now your spirit over the earth.
Let the Holy Spirit live in the hearts of all nations,
That they may be preserved from degeneration, disasters, and war.
May the Lady of All Nations, the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Be our Advocate. Amen.

Further instructions from Our Lady direct that this “Prayer of the Lady of All Nations” should be spread throughout the world in preparation for the new dogma.

“I stand here and come to tell you that I wish to be Mary, the Lady of All Nations. Look carefully. I am standing before the Cross of the Redeemer. My head, hands and feet as of a human being, as of the Son of Man; the body as of the Spirit. I have firmly placed my feet upon the globe, for in this time the Father and the Son wants to bring me into this world as Co-Redemptrix, Mediatrix and Advocate. This will be the new and final Marian dogma. This image will precede. This dogma will be much disputed, yet it will be carried through…”

The single most significant message of the entire Amsterdam apparitions concerning the dogma occurs on May 31, 1954, at that time, the feast of Mary, Mediatrix of all Graces. Our Lady will invoke theologians and bishops (apostles) to work and ask for the dogma, instructing them that “you must petition the Holy Father for this Dogma.” Our Lady will grant a vision which explains the three titles in one whole; a further vision of the Holy Father in St. Peter’s Basilica pronouncing the dogma; as well as the promise that once the dogma is declared, the Lady of All Nations will bring peace, true peace, to the world.

https://www.motherofallpeoples.com/blog/mary-s-own-request-for-new-dogma-of-co-redemptrix-the-amsterdam-apparitions

LET’S NOT FORGET – FEB. 11, 2013 – RENUNCIATION OF POPE BENEDICT XVI 

Lightning struck the cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica – a dramatic sign!!

https://lesfemmes-thetruth.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-papacy-suspended-secret-of-colossal.html

https://fromrome.info/2019/11/26/an-index-to-pope-benedicts-renunciation/

ALSO on February 11, 2021 there was A SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN in the heavens

“…Then of course we must remember the date of this event – 2-11-2021. The numbers are pointing to something. If we simply add across we get 2+1+1+2+2+1 = 9. Nine in the Bible means completeness. That is ‘IT IS FINISHED” the very words Christ used before He died upon the cross…The planets form a CROSS IN THE HEAVENS.

Perhaps Our Lady of America is awaiting Her procession in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC as She requested of Her children, the Bishops of the United States, as Her “last resort”, to then Grant the Grace of more miracles than Lourdes and Fatima combined. This will surely lead to the proclamation of the 5th Dogma – Mediatrix, Co-Redemptrix and Advocate, and indeed to the Triumph of the Church and the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary – thus ushering in the Kingdom of the Divine Will on earth as it is in Heaven!

Our Lady of America – The Immaculate Virgin Pray for us!!

Fiat!

OUR LADY OF LOURDES – On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. A little more than three years later, on February 11, 1858, a young lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. This began a series of visions. During the apparition on March 25, the lady identified herself with the words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

The pilgrimage of Lourdes is founded on the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin to a poor, fourteen-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubiroux. The first apparition occurred 11 February, 1858. There were eighteen in all; the last took place 16 July, of the same year. Bernadette often fell into an ecstasy. The mysterious vision she saw in the hollow of the rock Massabielle was that of a young and beautiful lady. “Lovelier than I have ever seen” said the child. But the girl was the only one who saw the vision, although sometimes many stood there with her. Now and then the apparition spoke to the seer who also was the only one who heard the voice. Thus, she one day told her to drink of a mysterious fountain, in the grotto itself, the existence of which was unknown, and of which there was no sign, but which immediately gushed forth. On another occasion the apparition bade Bernadette go and tell the priests she wished a chapel to be built on the spot and processions to be made to the grotto. At first the clergy were incredulous. It was only four years later, in 1862, that the bishop of the diocese declared the faithful “justified in believing the reality of the apparition”. A basilica was built upon the rock of Massabielle by M. Peyramale, the parish priest. In 1873 the great “national” French pilgrimages were inaugurated. Three years later the basilica was consecrated and the statue solemnly crowned. In 1883 the foundation stone of another church was laid, as the first was no longer large enough. It was built at the foot of the basilica and was consecrated in 1901 and called the Church of the Rosary. Pope Leo XIII authorized a special office and a Mass, in commemoration of the apparition, and in 1907 Pius X extended the observance of this feast to the entire Church; it is now observed on 11 February.

Never has a sanctuary attracted such throngs. At the end of the year 1908, when the fiftieth anniversary of the apparition was celebrated, although the record really only began from 1867, 5297 pilgrimages had been registered and these had brought 4,919,000 pilgrims. Individual pilgrims are more numerous by far than those who come in groups. To their number must be added the visitors who do not come as pilgrims, but who are attracted by a religious feeling or sometimes merely by the desire to see this far-famed spot. The Company of the Chemins de Fer du Midi estimates that the Lourdes station receives over one million travellers per annum. Every nation in the world furnishes its contingent. Out of the total of pilgrimages given above, four hundred and sixty-four came from countries other than France. They are sent by the United States, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Italy, England, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, Bolivia, etc. The bishops lead the way. At the end of the year of the fiftieth anniversary, 2013 prelates, including 546 archbishops, 10 primates, 19 patriarchs, 69 cardinals, had made the pilgrimage to Lourdes. But more remarkable still than the crowd of pilgrims is the series of wonderful occurrences which take place under the protection of the celebrated sanctuary. Passing over spiritual cures, which more often than not escape human observance, we shall confine ourselves to bodily diseases. The writer of this article has recorded every recovery, whether partial or complete, and in the first half-century of the shrine’s existence he has counted 3962. Notwithstanding very careful statistics which give the names and surnames of the patients who have recovered, the date of the cure, the name of the disease, and generally that of the physician who had charge of the case, there are inevitably doubtful or mistaken cases, attributable, as a rule, to the excited fancy of the afflicted one and which time soon dispels. But it is only right to note: first, that these unavoidable errors regard only secondary cases which have not like the others been the object of special study; it must also be noted that the number of cases is equalled and exceeded by actual cures which are not put on record. The afflicted who have recovered are not obliged to present themselves and half of them do not present themselves, at the Bureau des Constatations Médicales at Lourdes, and it is from this bureau’s official reports that the list of cures is drawn up.

The estimate that about 4000 cures have been obtained at Lourdes within the first fifty years of the pilgrimage is undoubtedly considerably less than the actual number. The Bureau des Constatations stands near the shrine, and there are recorded and checked the certificates of maladies and also the certificates of cure; it is free to all physicians, whatever their nationality or religious belief. Consequently, on an average, from two to three hundred physicians annual visit this marvellous clinic. As to the nature of the diseases which are cured, nervous disorders so frequently mentioned, do not furnish even the fourteenth part of the whole; 278 have been counted, out of a total of 3962. The present writer has published the number of cases of each disease or infirmity, among them tuberculosis, tumours, sores, cancers, deafness, blindness, etc. The “Annales des Sciences Physiques”, a sceptical review whose chief editor is Doctor Ch. Richet, Professor at the Medical Faculty of Paris, said in the course of a long article, apropos of this faithful study: “On reading it, unprejudiced minds cannot but be convinced that the facts stated are authentic.”

(From Catholic Encyclopedia)