10/13 The Vision Of Pope Leo XIII – October 13, 1884; the Miracle of the Sun in Fatima – October 13, 1917; and Final Message of Our Lady to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa of Akita, Japan in 1973 (Trifecta!)

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St. Michael the Archangel
Guido Reni’s painting in Santa Maria della Concezione, Rome, 1636

PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
(The longer, original version follows at the end of this Post)

Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the Power of God, thrust into Hell, Satan and all the other evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

The Vision of Pope Leo XIII

Exactly 33 years to the day prior to the great Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, that is, on October 13, 1884, Pope Leo XIII had a remarkable vision. When the aged Pontiff had finished celebrating Mass in his private Vatican Chapel, attended by a few Cardinals and members of the Vatican staff, he suddenly stopped at the foot of the altar. He stood there for about 10 minutes, as if in a trance, his face ashen white. Then, going immediately from the Chapel to his office, he composed the above prayer to St. Michael with instructions it be said after all Low Masses everywhere.

When asked what had happened, he explained that, as he was about to leave the foot of the altar, he suddenly heard voices – two voices, one kind and gentle, the other guttural and harsh. They seemed to come from near the tabernacle. As he listened, he heard the following conversation:

The guttural voice, the voice of Satan in his pride, boasted to Our Lord: “I can destroy Your Church.”

The gentle voice of Our Lord: “You can? Then go ahead and do so.”

Satan: “To do so, I need more time and more power.”

Our Lord: “How much time? How much power?

Satan: “75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service.”

Our Lord: “You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will.”

*****

In 1886, Pope Leo XIII decreed that this prayer to St. Michael be said at the end of “low” Mass throughout the universal Church, and the practice of the congregation praying this prayer at the end of Mass continued until the introduction of the new (Novus Ordo) Mass in the late 1960’s.

However, at the end of his Angelus message given in St. Peter’s Square,
Sunday, April 24, 1994, Saint Pope John Paul II urged Catholics to recite this prayer to Saint Michael once again.

The original, in Italian, of the following excerpt
can be found at the website by clicking here

May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle spoken of in the Letter to the Ephesians: ‘”Draw strength in the Lord and in the strength of His might” (Eph 6, 10). It is the same battle that the Book of Revelation refers to, recalling before our eyes the image of St. Michael the Archangel (cf. Revelation 12: 7). Pope Leo XIII was certainly well aware of this scene when, at the end of the last century, he introduced throughout the Church a special prayer to St. Michael: “Saint Michael the Archangel defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil …. “

Although today this prayer is no longer recited at the end of the Eucharistic celebration, I invite everyone not to forget, but to recite it to be helped in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world.”

Saint Pope John Paul II and St. Michael
On May 1, 2011, John Paul II was Beatified by Pope Benedict XVI
On April 27, 2014 Blessed John Paul II was Cannonized by Pope Francis

*****

In 1884 the devil said he needed 75 to100 years.

75 years from 1884 is 1959.  On January 25, 1959 John XXIII publicly summoned the Second Vatican Council. Remember that after the vision, Pope Leo XIII immediately wrote the Prayer to St. Michael to help us overcome the devil in his quest. He instructed that it be said after every Low Mass. One of the first changes to come from Vatican II, was the deletion of the Leonine Prayers which included the prayer to St. Michael.  It would seem that this would be the time to especially say that prayer, not to delete it.

The 100th year would be 1984.  By 1984 the devil has twisted and distorted church teachings so much that there truly is a brand new church, a new order (Novus Ordo), and the true church has been reduced  in population to a mere shell of what it once was, but it will survive:  “That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” Matt. 16:18 & 28:20

Following is the original version of the prayer to St. Michael, written by Pope Leo XIII in 1884.  (The shorter version, at the beginning of this Post, is the version that was said after Low Masses)

Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel
(Original version)

Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in “our battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places” (Ephes., VI, 12). Come to the assistance of men whom God has created to His likeness and whom He has redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil. Holy Church venerates thee as Her guardian and protector; to thee, the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led into Heaven. Pray therefore the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our feet, that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church. Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His mercy down upon us; take hold of the dragon, “the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan,” bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit “so that he may no longer seduce the nations” (Apoc. XX.2).

In the Name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints, we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and deceits of the devil.

“Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let those who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God. ” (Ps. 67)

V. Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee bands of enemies.

R. He has conquered, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the offspring of David.

V. May Thy mercy, Lord, descend upon us.

R. As great as our hope in Thee.

(At the “+” make the sign of the Cross)

We drive you from us, whoever you may be, every unclean spirit, all satanic powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects; in the Name and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, + may you be snatched away and driven from the Church of God and from the souls made to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of the Divine Lamb. + Most cunning serpent, you shall no more dare to deceive the human race, persecute the Church, torment God’s elect and sift them as wheat. + The Most High God commands you. + He with whom, in your great insolence, you still claim to be equal, “He who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth” (1 Tim., 11.4). God the Father commands you. + God the Son commands you. + God the Holy Spirit commands you. + Christ, God’s Word made flesh, commands you. + He who to save our race outdone through your envy, humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death” (Phil, 11,8); He who has built His Church on the firm rock and declared that the gates of hell shall not prevail against Her, because He will dwell with Her “all days even to the end of the world” (St. Mat., XXVIII,20). The sacred Sign of the Cross commands you, + as does also the power of the mysteries of the Christian Faith. + The glorious Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, commands you. + She who by Her humility and from the first moment of Her immaculate Conception, crushed your proud head. The faith of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and of the other Apostles commands you. + The blood of the Martyrs and the pious intercession of all the Saints command you. +

Thus, cursed dragon, and you, diabolical legions, we adjure you by the living God, + by the true God, + by the Holy God, + by the God “who so loved the world that He gave up His only Son, that every soul believing in Him might not perish but have life everlasting” (St. John, III); stop deceiving human creatures and pouring out to them the poison of eternal damnation; stop harming the Church and hindering Her liberty. Begone, Satan, inventor and master of all deceit, enemy of man’s salvation. Give place to Christ in whom you have found none of your works; give place to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church acquired by Christ at the price of His Blood. Stoop beneath the all-powerful Hand of God; tremble and flee when we invoke the Holy and terrible Name of Jesus, this Name which causes hell to tremble, this Name to which the Virtues, Powers and Dominations of Heaven are humbly submissive, this Name which the Cherubim and Seraphim praise unceasingly repeating: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, the God of Armies.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

V. May the Lord be with thee.

R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

God of Heaven, God of earth, God of Angels, God of Archangels, God of Patriarchs, God of Prophets, God of Apostles, God of Martyrs, God of Confessors, God of Virgins, God who has power to give life after death and rest after work, because there is no other God than Thee and there can be no other, for Thou art the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, of whose reign there shall be no end, we humbly prostrate ourselves before Thy glorious Majesty and we beseech Thee to deliver us by Thy power from all the tyranny of the infernal spirits, from their snares, their lies and their furious wickedness; deign, O Lord, to grant us Thy powerful protection and to keep us safe and sound. We beseech Thee through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord.

That Thy Church may serve Thee in peace and liberty, we beseech Thee to hear us.

That Thou may crush down all enemies of Thy Church, we beseech Thee to hear us.

(Holy water is sprinkled in the place where we may be.)

*****

Our Lady of Fatima
and the children Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta

For a LOT more information on Fatima, please visit:
http://www.ewtn.com/fatima/index.htm

 *****

Sister Agnes Sasagawa
next to the statue
of the Lady of All Peoples

 The Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary
to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa of Akita, Japan

The extraordinary events began on June 12, 1973, when Sr. Agnes saw brilliant mysterious rays emanate suddenly from the tabernacle. The same thing happened on each of the two days that followed.

On June 28, 1973, a cross-shaped wound appeared on the inside left hand of Sr. Agnes. It bled profusely and caused her much pain. On July 6, Sr. Agnes heard a voice coming from the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the chapel where she was praying. The statue was carved from a single block of wood from a Katsura tree and is three feet tall. On the same day, a few of the sisters noticed drops of blood flowing from the statue’s right hand. On four occasions, this act of blood flow repeated itself. The wound in the statue’s hand remained until September 29, when it disappeared. On September 29, the day the wound on the statue disappeared, the sisters noticed the statue had now begun to “sweat”, especially on the forehead and neck. On August 3, Sr. Agnes received a second message. On October 13, she received a final third message.

Two years later on January 4, 1975, the statue of the Blessed Virgin began to weep. It continued to weep at intervals for the next 6 years and eight months. It wept on 101 occasions. (information courtesy of Eternal Word Television Network)

More information about the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary
to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa of Akita, Japan
can be obtained at the following Web Site:
http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/akita.htm

10/12 Feast Day of Our Lady of the Pillar

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(36/Hist) – In the year AD 36, while She was yet on earth, Our Lady Bilocated and Appeared to Saint James, the Apostle, on the banks of the river Ebro, near the city of Caesar-Augusta (now Zaragoza or Saragossa). She Appeared, Accompanied by Celestial Music, on a six-foot Pillar of Jasper. Her Purpose was to comfort and encourage St. James and his disciples. Our Lady Commanded that a chapel be built on the spot in Her Honor and She Promised Her Assistance to those who invoke Her. The Apostle was quick to carry out the Wishes of the Queen of Apostles.

10/12 Eve of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima

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Apparition of 13 October A.D. 1917

During the night of 12-13 October it had rained throughout, soaking the ground and the pilgrims who make their

way to Fátima from all directions by the thousands. By foot, by cart and even by car they came, entering the bowl of the Cova from the Fátima-Leiria road, which today still passes in front of the large square of the Basilica. From there they made their way down the gently slope to the place where a trestle had been erected over the little holm oak of the apparitions. Today on the site is the modern glass and steel Capelhina (little chapel), enclosing the first chapel built there and the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima where the holm oak had stood.

Jacinta, Lucia and Francisco

As for the children, they made their way to the Cova amid the adulation and skepticism which had followed them since May. When they arrived they found critics who questioned their veracity and the punctuality of the Lady, who had promised to arrive at noon. It was well passed noon by the official time of the country. However, when the sun arrived at its zenith the Lady appeared as she had said she would.

“What do you want of me?” I want a chapel built here in my honor. I want you to continue saying the Rosary every day. The war will end soon, and the soldiers will return to their homes.

“Yes. Yes.” “Will you tell me your name?” I am the Lady of the Rosary.

“I have many petitions from many people. Will you grant them? ” Some I shall grant, and others I must deny. People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend our Lord any more, for He is already too much offended!

“And is that all you have to ask?” There is nothing more.

As the Lady of the Rosary rises toward the east she turns the palms of her hands toward the dark sky. While the rain had stopped, dark clouds continued to obscure the sun, which suddenly bursts through them and is seen to be a soft spinning disk of silver.

“Look at the sun!”

From this point two distinct apparitions were seen, that of the phenomenon of the sun seen by the 70,000 or so spectators and that beheld by the children alone. Lucia describes the latter in her memoirs.

After our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our lady; it seemed to me to that it was Our Lady of Sorrows (Dolors). Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and I saw Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Carmel. [Only Lucia would see the later, presaging her entrance into Carmel some years later.]

This would be the last of the apparitions of Fátima for Jacinta and Francisco. However, for Lucia Our Lady would return a seventh time, in 1920, as she had promised the previous May. At that time Lucia would be praying in the Cova before leaving Fátima for a girls boarding school. The Lady would come to urge her to dedicate herself wholly to God.

As the children viewed the various apparitions of Jesus, Mary and Joseph the crowd witnessed a different prodigy, the now famous miracle of the sun.

The Miracle of the Sun
(Pope Pius XII was granted extraordinary and privileged Grace of seeing the Miracle of the Sun in the Vatican Gardens)

O Seculo (a pro-government, anti-clerical, Lisbon paper):

From the road, where the vehicles were parked and where hundreds of people who had not dared to brave the mud were

congregated, one could see the immense multitude turn toward the sun, which appeared free from clouds and in its zenith. It looked like a plaque of dull silver, and it was possible to look at it without the least discomfort. It might have been an eclipse which was taking place. But at that moment a great shout went up, and one could hear the spectators nearest at hand shouting: “A miracle! A miracle!

Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was biblical as they stood bareheaded, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws—the sun “danced” according to the typical expression of the people.

Standing at the step of an omnibus was an old man. With his face turned to the sun, he recited the Credo in a loud voice. I asked who he was and was told Senhor Joao da Cunha Vasconcelos. I saw him afterwards going up to those around him who still had their hats on, and vehemently imploring them to uncover before such an extraordinary demonstration of the existence of God.

Identical scenes were repeated elsewhere, and in one place a woman cried out: “How terrible! There are even men who do not uncover before such a stupendous miracle!”

People then began to ask each other what they had seen. The great majority admitted to having seen the trembling and the dancing of the sun; others affirmed that they saw the face of the Blessed Virgin; others, again, swore that the sun whirled on itself like a giant Catherine wheel and that it lowered itself to the earth as if to burn it in its rays. Some said they saw it change colors successively….

Pius XII Saw “Miracle of the Sun”
Handwritten Note Reveals Pope’s Experience By Antonio Gaspari

ROME, NOV. 4, 2008- According to his own testimony, the Pope who declared the dogma of the Assumption saw the “miracle of the sun” four times.

This information is confirmed by a handwritten, unpublished note from Pope Pius XII, which is part of the “Pius XII: The Man and the Pontificate” display. The display opened in the Vatican to the public today and will run through Jan. 6.

A commissioner of the display and a Vatican reporter for the Italian daily Il Giornale, Andrea Tornielli, explained to ZENIT that the note was found in the Pacelli family archives. It describes the “miracle of the sun,” an episode that until today had only been affirmed by the indirect testimony of Cardinal Federico Tedeschini (1873-1959), who recounted in a homily that the Holy Father had seen the miracle.

Pius XII wrote, “I have seen the ‘miracle of the sun,’ this is the pure truth.”

The miracle of the sun is most known as the episode that occurred in Fatima, Portugal, on Oct. 13, 1917. According to the Fatima visionaries, Mary had said there would be a miracle that day so that people would come to believe. Thousands had gathered at the site of the visions, and the sun “danced,” reportedly drying instantaneously the rain-soaked land and spectators.

Confirming the dogma

Pius XII’s note says that he saw the miracle in the year he was to proclaim the dogma of the Assumption, 1950, while he walked in the Vatican Gardens.

He said he saw the phenomenon various times, considering it a confirmation of his plan to declare the dogma.

The papal note says that at 4 p.m. on Oct. 30, 1950, during his “habitual walk in the Vatican Gardens, reading and studying,” having arrived to the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, “toward the top of the hill […] I was awestruck by a phenomenon that before now I had never seen.”

“The sun, which was still quite high, looked like a pale, opaque sphere, entirely surrounded by a luminous circle,” he recounted. And one could look at the sun, “without the slightest bother. There was a very light little cloud in front of it.”

The Holy Father’s note goes on to describe “the opaque sphere” that “moved outward slightly, either spinning, or moving from left to right and vice versa. But within the sphere, you could see marked movements with total clarity and without interruption.”

Pius XII said he saw the same phenomenon “the 31st of October and Nov. 1, the day of the definition of the dogma of the Assumption, and then again Nov. 8, and after that, no more.”

The Pope acknowledged that on other days at about the same hour, he tried to see if the phenomenon would be repeated, “but in vain — I couldn’t fix my gaze [on the sun] for even an instant; my eyes would be dazzled.”

Pius XII spoke about the incident with a few cardinals and close collaborators, such that Sister Pascalina Lehnert, the nun in charge of the papal apartments, declared that “Pius XII was very convinced of the reality of the extraordinary phenomenon, which he had seen on four occasions.”

Son of Our Lady

Tornielli told ZENIT that there was always a close link between the life of Eugenio Pacelli and the mystery of the Virgin Mary.

“Since childhood,” he said, “Eugenio Pacelli was devoted [to Our Lady] and was registered in the Congregation of the Assumption, which had a chapel close to the Church of Jesus. A devotion that seemed prophetic, since he would be precisely the one to declare the dogma of the Assumption in 1950.”

The future Pope celebrated his first Mass on April 3, 1899, at the altar of the icon of Mary “Salus Populi Romani” in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. “And then,” Tornielli continued, “Eugenio Pacelli received episcopal ordination from Pope Benedict XV in the Sistine Chapel on May 13, 1917, the day of the first apparition of the Virgin of Fatima.”

As Pope, in 1940, he approved the Fatima apparitions, and in 1942, consecrated the entire world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. As well, Pius XII often spoke with Sister Lucia, the visionary of Fatima, and he asked her to transcribe the messages she received from the Virgin. He thus became the first Pope to know the “third secret of Fatima,” which Pope John Paul II would later make public.

 

THE SUN

Letter no. 110 from Luisa Piccarreta to Frederico Abresch

The Sanctity of living in the Divine Will is symbolized by the SUN, which does good to all, gives Itself to all, denies Itself to no one, and while almost holding the earth on Its lap (giving to each plant, to some color, to some sweetness, to some fragrance – things which are all different and distinct among each other), yet, while doing so much good, the SUN never says a word; It allows Its light to be trodden by our steps; It follows us everywhere, and all the glory and honor is of God, who made It SUN. Such is the soul who lives in the Divine Will, whom the Lord uses to do good to all, and from whom He receives glory and honor, as if all had loved Him.

Book of Heaven – April 28 A.D. 1934
In every Act that the Divine Will does, It calls all creatures in order to give the Good that Its Act contains. Example: the sun.

I am always in my dear Inheritance of the Fiat. I feel Its sweet Empire that holds me absorbed and so invested that It does not leave me the time to lament for the privations of my beloved Jesus, alas, so sorrowful for me. The multiplicity and Infinity of Its continuous Acts impose themselves over me, in order to have me present and participating in the Good that they contain, and to tell me how much It Loves me, and ‘How much do you love Us?’

So while my mind was lost and remained enraptured in seeing that It always wanted to give me of Its Own, and therefore It wanted me present in Its Acts. What Goodness! What Love!

So my Sovereign Jesus, surprising me, told me: “My little daughter of My Volition, your Jesus has the commitment of Manifesting the Secrets of My Divine Will, Its Love that It reaches, that It does not know how to be, nor can It be, if It does not give of Its Own in a continuous way to the creature. You must know that when My Will does an Act, It calls all creatures into Its Act. It wants them all to Itself in order to give to each one the Good that that Act possesses, such that everyone is enclosed in her Act and they receive the Good of the Divine Inheritance, with this difference: that one who is in Our Will voluntarily and for love, remains possessor of It; and one who does not stay, the Good does not remain lost, but It awaits Its Heiress, one who knows how to decide to Live in Our Will in order to give her possession of It. And with Liberality all Divine We give her the interest of the Good assigned to them, that is, the effects, in order to have that she would not die of hunger for the Goods of her Creator, because Our Will possesses by Nature the Universal Virtue, and therefore in every Act of It, It calls everyone, It embraces everyone, It involves everyone, and It brings Its Divine Goods to everyone.

“Symbol and image of this is the sun, which having been Created by My Fiat with Its Universal Virtue, it brings its light to everyone, it does not deny it to anyone, and if some one would not want take the good of its light, the sun does not destroy the light that pertains to that one, nor can it destroy it, but it waits for when that one decides to take the good of the light. The sun does not deny itself; it immediately gives itself, and even to such that when one decides to not directly take the good of the light, it gives him the interest by means of other created things in which the sun has its prime act. In all created things, to some the sun gives the fecundity and maturation, to some the development and the sweetness—there is no created thing in which the sun does not give of its own. Therefore the creature taking food makes use of the plants; he takes the effects and the interests that the light gives them, that pertain to it, and that voluntarily he does not take.

“My Will is more than sun. In all the Acts that It does It calls and holds all creatures present, and It brings Its Divine Goods to everyone. Now one who Lives in Our Will, since she possesses as her property the Good that My Volition has given her in every act, she feels in herself the nature of the Good, because the Good is in her power. Goodness, Patience, Love, Light, Heroism of the Sacrifice, are at her disposition, and if she has the occasion of using them, without effort she uses them, and if she does not have the occasion to use them, she always possesses them, as so many noble princesses who form the Honor, the Glory, of the property that My Will has given her. It happens as to the eye that possesses sight. If it is necessary that she must look, that she must help herself with sight, she does it. If it is not necessary, she does not lose the sight, but she keeps her eye, as glory and honor that she possesses her eye that sees.

“To possess My Will and to not possess the virtues as in one’s nature, is almost impossible, it would be like a sun without heat, like a food without substance, like a life without heartbeat. Therefore one who possesses My Will possesses everything as Gifts and Property that My Divine Volition brings with Itself.” Fiat!!!

Kisses to the sun

Book of Heaven – April 7 A.D. 1929

… Now, while I was under the empire of the sun, of the wind, of the vastness of the azure heavens, my sweet Jesus moved in my interior in a sensible way, as if He did not want to be outdone by the sun, by the wind, by the heavens; and He told me: “Beloved daughter of my Volition, today everyone makes feast because of your exit. The whole celestial court felt the gaiety of the sun, the joy of the wind, the smile of the heavens, and all ran to see what was new; and in seeing you invested by the light of the sun that was kissing you, the wind caressing you, the heavens smiling at you, they all comprehended that the power of my Divine Fiat was moving the elements to celebrate Its little newborn. Therefore, the whole celestial court, uniting with all Creation, not only makes feast, but feels the new joys and happinesses that my Divine Will gives it because of your exit. And I, being spectator of all this, not only make feast within you, but I do not regret having created the heavens, the sun and all Creation; on the contrary, I feel happier, because It is enjoyed by my little daughter. The joys, the contentments, the glory of when everything was created are repeated for Me – when Adam innocent had not yet made the note of sorrow of his rebellious will resound in the whole Creation, which broke the gaiety, the happiness, the sweet smile that my Divine Will had in the sun, in the wind, in the starry heavens, to be given to creatures. In fact, my daughter, by not doing my Divine Will, man put his clashing note in Our work of Creation, therefore he lost the accord with all created things, and We feel the sorrow and the dishonor that there is a string out of tune in Our work, which does not produce a beautiful sound; and this sound out of tune moves away from the earth the kisses, the joys, the smiles which my Divine Will contains in the Creation. Therefore, one who does my Will and lives in It is the note of accord with all; her sound contains a note, not of sorrow, but of joy and of happiness, and is so harmonious that all perceive, even the very elements, that there is the note of my Will in the creature; and as though putting everything aside, they want to enjoy she who possesses that Will by which they all are animated and preserved.”

Jesus kept silent, and I said to Him: ‘My Love, You have told me many times that one who lives in your Divine Will is a sister to all created things. I want to see whether my sister light recognizes me. And do You know how? If, in looking at it, it does not dazzle my sight.’

And Jesus: “Certainly it will recognize you. Try and you will see.”

I looked straight into the center of the sphere of the sun, and the light seemed to caress my pupil, but without dazzling me, in such a way that I was able to look into its center, at its great sea of light. How clear and beautiful it was. How true it is that it symbolizes the infinite, endless sea of light of the Divine Fiat. I said: ‘Thank you, oh Jesus, for letting me be recognized by my sister light.’ And Jesus resumed His speaking: “My daughter, even from the breath is one who lives in my Will recognized by all Creation, because each created thing feels in that creature the power of the Fiat, and the supremacy which God gave her over the whole Creation. Look and listen, my daughter: in the beginning, when Adam and Eve were created, Eden was given to them as their dwelling, in which they were happy and holy. This garden is a simile of that Eden, though it is not as beautiful and flowery. Now, know that I have permitted your coming to this house, which is surrounded by a garden, for you to be the new Eve; not Eve the tempter, who deserved to be put out of happy Eden, but Eve the reformer and the restorer, who will call again the Kingdom of my Divine Will upon earth. Ah! yes, you will be the seed, the cement on the wood worm that the human will has; you will be the beginning of a new happy era, and this is why I centralize in you the joy, the goods, the happiness of the beginning of Creation, and I love to repeat the conversations, the lessons, the instructions which I would have given if man had not withdrawn from Our Divine Will. Therefore, be attentive, and let your flight in It be continuous.” 

10/11 Pope Leo XIII on the Holy Rosary

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October 7, 2021

In the course of his Papacy, the fourth longest in history, Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) issued eleven encyclicals on the Rosary, in the years 1883, ’84 and ’87, and then each year from 1891-98. All of them were published in September (except one, at the very end of August), looking forward to the feast of the Holy Rosary, which in his time was kept on the first Sunday of October. The feast was later fixed by Pope St Pius X to October 7, the date of the famous Battle of Lepanto which it commemorates, inter alia. Much of what Pope Leo writes is every bit as germane to the condition of the Church and society as it was when it was written over a century ago. In keeping with our custom of several years’ standing, we mark this great feast with an excerpt from one of them, the 1891 Encyclical Octobri mense adventante, in my own corrected translation. (On the Vatican’s website you can read the full text in Latin, and a rather sadly bowdlerized English version of it.)

At the coming of the month of October, which is consecrated and dedicated to the most Blessed Virgin of the Rosary, we are greatly pleased to recall how greatly in preceding years We have commended to you, venerable brethren, our wish that the faithful throughout the world, urged by your authority and by your zeal, should redouble their piety towards the great Mother of God, the mighty helper of the Christian people, and should pray to her throughout the month, and invoke Her by that most holy rite of the Rosary, which the Church, especially in uncertain and most difficult times, has ever used and celebrated for the accomplishment of all desires.

This year once again do We take care to publish Our wishes, once again to encourage you by the same exhortations. We are urged and persuaded to this in love for the Church, whose sufferings, far from being mitigated, increase daily in number and in gravity. Well-known to all are the evils we deplore: war made upon the sacred dogmas which the Church holds and transmits; derision cast upon the integrity of that Christian virtue which she has in keeping; … attack made, with most impudent audacity and criminal malice against Christ Himself, as if to utterly abolish or destroy from its foundation the Divine work of His Redemption – that work which, indeed, no adverse power shall ever destroy.

The Battle of Lepanto, by Paolo Veronese, ca. 1572, now in the Academy Gallery in Venice

No new events are these for the Church militant. Jesus foretold to His disciples that She must enter upon a daily battle and struggle in order to teach men the truth and guide them to eternal salvation. And indeed, throughout the course of ages She fights undaunted, even to martyrdom, rejoicing and glorying in nothing more than the fact that She can dedicate Her own blood along with her Founder’s, wherein She holds the most certain hope of the victory promised to Her. …

Through this storm of evils, in the midst of which the Church struggles so fiercely, all her devout children see by how holy a duty they are bound to pray to God with greater instance, and especially the reason for which they must strive to give to their prayers the greatest possible efficacy. Faithful to the example of our most religious fathers and elders, let us have recourse to Mary, our holy Sovereign. Let us call upon Mary, the Mother of Christ and our own, and with one heart beseech Her, “Show thyself to be a mother; through Thee, may He accept our prayers Who, born for us, consented to be Thine.” (from the Vesper hymn of the Office of the Virgin Mary Ave, Maris Stella) …

Now, among the several rites and manners of paying honor to the Divine Mother, since some are to be preferred, inasmuch as we know them to be more powerful and more pleasing to Her, for this reason We specially mention by name and recommend the Rosary … which recalls to our minds the great mysteries of Jesus and His Mother, their joys, sorrows, and triumphs… As the faithful devoutly call to mind and contemplate these august mysteries, it is wondrous to see how great is the aid they receive in the nourishment of their faith, in defense against ignorance and the disease of error, and in the lifting up and supporting of the mind towards virtue.

Indeed, the thought and memory of him who thus prays, enlightened by the light of the Faith, are drawn towards these mysteries with the greatest joy and zeal, are fixed and absorbed therein, and cannot sufficiently wonder at the ineffable work of the Redemption of mankind, achieved at such a price and by events so great. Then the mind is filled with gratitude and love before these proofs of Divine love; its hope is strengthened and increased; its desire is increased for the heavenly rewards which Christ has prepared for those who have united themselves to Him by the imitation of His example and the sharing of His sufferings. Prayer is poured forth in the midst of these things by words coming from God Himself, from the Archangel Gabriel, and from the Church; full of praise and of saving petitions, it is renewed and continued in an order at once fixed and various, and the fruits of its devotion are ever new and sweet.

10/10 Eve of the Feast Day of the Divine Maternity of Our Lady

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The Divine Maternity

By Bishop Mark A. Pivarunas, CMRI

 

Feast of the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin
October 11, 1995

Dearly Beloved in Christ,

The feast of the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was instituted by Pope Pius XI to commemorate the 1500th anniversary of the Council of Ephesus, the third Ecumenical Council of the Church. How appropriate it was for this feast to be instituted on such an anniversary, for it was at the Council of Ephesus that the doctrine of the Divine Motherhood of Mary was defended against the heresy of Nestorius and his followers, who denied that there was one Divine Person in Christ with two natures, and in consequence of this denial, refused to recognize Mary by the title — Theotokos — Mother of God. For Nestorius and his followers falsely believed that in Christ there were two Persons — one divine and the other human, so that Mary was only the mother of the human person.

In our times, we may not find very many Nestorians, but there are many who call themselves Christians, but who deny to the Blessed Virgin Mary this title, Mother of God. Let us consider in this pastoral letter the Divine Maternity of Mary, in order to be able to better defend the Mother of Jesus Christ and to increase our esteem, love and devotion to her.

When we consider the Divine Maternity of the Blessed Virgin, we must begin by a study of the Person of Jesus Christ. In the Nicene Creed which we recite every Sunday at Holy Mass, we profess our firm belief in the Divinity of Jesus Christ:

“…And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God; Light of Light; true God of true God. Begotten not made; consubstantial with the Father….”

And this belief in Christ’s Divinity is firmly rooted in divine revelation. In Sacred Scripture, we find a multitude of passages which manifest the Divinity of Jesus. St. John the Evangelist tells us in the first Chapter of his Gospel:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh….” (John 1:1-14).

On this passage from St. John’s Gospel, St. Cyril of Alexandria, who staunchly defended the Faith at the Council of Ephesus, maintained in wonderful agreement with the Catholic Church:

“In no wise, therefore, is it lawful to divine the one Lord Jesus Christ into two Sons… For the Scripture does not say that the Word associated the person of a man with Himself, but that He was made flesh; that means nothing else but that He partook of flesh and blood, even as we do; wherefore, He made our body His own, and came forth man, born of a woman, at the same time without laying aside His Godhead, or His birth from the Father; for in assuming flesh He still remained what He was” (Mansi, 1.c.4. 891).

Furthermore, our Divine Lord Himself clearly claimed to be the Son of God, equal to the Father:

“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

“Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I am” (John 8:58).

To the questions put to Him by the High Priest, Caiphas:

“I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God” (Matt. 26:63-64).

Jesus answered simply and emphatically,

“Thou hast said it.”

And St. Paul reiterates the same belief in his Epistle to the Philippians:

“Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who though He was by nature God, did not consider being equal to God a thing to be clung to, but emptied Himself, taking the nature of a slave and being made like unto men and appearing in the form of man” (Phil. 2:5-8).

Thus, Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Lux Veritatis of December 25, 1931, which commemorated the 1500th anniversary of the Council of Ephesus, reiterated the Catholic Faith in this doctrine:

“For we are taught, by Holy Scripture and by Divine Tradition, that the Word of God the Father did not join Himself to a certain man already subsisting in himself, but that Christ the Word of God is one and the same, enjoying eternity in the bosom of the Father, and made man in time. For, indeed, that the Godhead and Manhood in Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of mankind, are bound together by that wondrous union which is justly and deservedly called hypostatic, is luminously evident from the fact that in the Sacred Scriptures the same one Christ is not only called God and man, but it is also clearly declared that He works as God and also as man, and again that He dies as man and as God He arises from the dead. That is to say, He Who is conceived in the Virgin’s womb by the operation of the Holy Ghost, Who is born, Who lies in a manger, Who calls Himself the son of man, Who suffers and dies, fastened to the cross, is the very same Who, in a solemn and marvelous manner, is called by the Eternal Father ‘My beloved Son’ (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; 2 Peter 1:17), Who pardons sin by His divine authority (Matt. 9:2-6; Luke 5:20-24; 7:48; and elsewhere), and likewise by His own power recalls the sick to health (Matt. 8:3; Mark 1:41; Luke 5:13; John 9; and elsewhere). As all these things show clearly that in Christ there are two natures by which both divine and human works are performed, so do they bear witness no less clearly that the one Christ is at once both God and man because of that unity of person from which He is called ‘Theanthropos’ (God-Man).”

Having considered that Jesus Christ is one Divine Person with two natures, let us continue in the Nicene Creed. We profess that Jesus Christ “was incarnate by the Holy Ghost from the Virgin Mary.” This also is clearly found in Sacred Scriptures.

In the Old Testament, the Prophet Isaias predicted:

“Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and His Name shall be called Emmanuel (God with us)” (Isaias 7:14).

In the Gospel of St. Luke, we find that the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary:

“Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bear a Son, and thou shalt call His Name Jesus” (Luke 1:31).

“The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

And further on in the same Gospel, St. Elizabeth, “filled with the Holy Ghost,” cried out to the Blessed Virgin:

“And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:44).

Not only do we find the reference for the Divine Maternity in Sacred Scripture, but also in Sacred Tradition. In the early Christian Church, there was no misunderstanding in the matter, for the early Fathers of the Church were very clear and firm on the Divine Motherhood of Mary.

In his Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Ignatius of Antioch (circa 110 A.D.) wrote:

“Our God Jesus Christ was born by Mary in her maternal womb.”

At another time, St. Ignatius wrote:

“There is only one Healer, composed at the same time of flesh and spirit, begotten and not-begotten… of God and of Mary, Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

St. Irenaeus (202 A.D.) taught:

“This Christ, Who as the Word of the Father was with the Father… was born of a virgin.”

Tertuillian (220 A.D.) said:

“God is born in the womb of a mother.”

St. Athanasius (373 A.D.) taught:

“We confess that the Son of God became Man by the assumption of flesh from the virgin Mother of God.”

St. Gregory Nazianzen (circa 382 A.D.) declares:

“Let him who will not accept Mary as the Mother of God be excluded from God.”

These references from the early Fathers reflect the doctrine which was always held in the Catholic Church. And it was for this reason that when Nestorius had presented his false innovations, they were immediately rejected by the Catholic faithful of Constantinople. This rejection of the Nestorian heresy by the faithful manifests to us that even before Pope St. Celestine I and the Council of Ephesus formally deposed Nestorius from his See of Constantinople and condemned his errors, the faithful had already professed the true doctrine of the Divine Maternity of Mary.

All that has been quoted above from Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition on the Person of Jesus Christ and the Divine Maternity of Mary, was neatly summarized by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical, Lux Veritatis:

“And, indeed, if the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary is God, assuredly she who bore Him is rightly and deservedly to be called the Mother of God. If there is only one Person in Christ, and this is Divine, without any doubt Mary ought to be called, by all, not the mother of Christ the man only, but Theotokos, or God-bearer. Let us all, therefore, venerate the tender Mother of God, whom her cousin Elizabeth saluted as ‘Mother of my Lord’ (Luke 1:43), who, in the words of Ignatius Martyr, brought forth God (Ad Ephes. 7:18-20); and from whom, as Tertullian professes, God was born; whom the Eternal Godhead has gifted with the fullness of grace and endowed with such great dignity.”

Let us never cease to honor the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, especially when we repeat that most ancient, simple and profound prayer of the Catholic Church to her — “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee… Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

In Christo Jesu et Maria Immaculata,
Most Rev. Mark A. Pivarunas, CMRI

10/9 “with the rosary between her fingers, in attitude of prayer…

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The Little Daughter of the Divine Will, Luisa Piccarreta

 “While still a child, I kept hearing the name of a woman who had been bedridden for more than forty years. My mother was fond of her, and often spoke about her. Especially in the moments of sorrow and oppression, she would run to her to implore her prayers. After twenty years, I went back to visit this soul again, and I found her always the same: placid and smiling, working with the fusetti of the tombolo in her hands, or with the rosary between her fingers, in attitude of prayer…Seventy years in bed! One entire long existence. Well, from 1878 to 1947, this soul spent her life in solitude, in suffering, in silence, and in prayer. This soul had a name known to many: Luisa Piccarreta, called “Luisa, the Saint.” 

From Luisa Piccarreta, The Little Daughter of the Divine Will
Written by Father Bernardino Giuseppe Bucci, OFM, Parish Priest Cappuccino
Immaculate Church – Trinitapoli (Foggia) 1980; With Ecclesiastical Approval