Saint Gaspar del Bufalo
and The Precious Blood.
A Talk given by Reverend Father Timothy Finigan.
Available on YouTube at
Saturday 1 August 2020
The Holy Machabees. Feast Day 1 August.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.
The Holy Machabees.
Martyrs.
Feast Day 1 August.
Simple.
Red Vestments.
English: The Martyrdom of The Seven Machabees.
Deutsch: Das Martyrium der sieben Makkabäer.
Artist: Antonio Ciseri (1821–1891).
Date: 1863.
Current location: Church of Santa Felicita, Florence, Italy.
This File: 3 September 2009.
User: Mattes
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Seven Machabees, who were brothers, were Martyred, with their mother, under Antiochus Epiphanes. Their Relics are kept at Rome in the Basilica of Saint Peter's Chains.
Mass: Clamavérunt.
English: The Courage of a Mother.
An illustration of this story by Gustave Doré (2 Macc. 7:20-42).
Русский: Мать Маккавеев (2 Макк. 7:20-42).
Date: 1866.
Source: Doré's English Bible.
Author: Gustave Doré (1832–1883).
(Wikimedia Commons)
The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.
From before the time of The Tridentine Calendar, The Holy Machabees had a Commemoration in The Roman Rite Liturgy within The Feast of Saint Peter in Chains. This Commemoration remained within The Weekday Liturgy, when, in 1960, Pope John XXIII Suppressed this particular Feast of Saint Peter.
Nine years later (1969), 1 August became The Feast of Saint Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori and the mention of The Machabee Martyrs was omitted from The General Roman Calendar, since, in its 1969 Revision, it no longer admitted Commemorations. [Editor: What a wonderful idea. Who thought of that one !!!???]
THE SAINT ANDREW DAILY MISSAL
THE SAINT ANDREW DAILY MISSAL
Available (in U.K.) from
Available (in U.S.A.) from
The Feast Of Saint Peter's Chains. Feast Day, Today, 1 August. Plus, Happy “Lammas Day”. (Anglo-Saxon “Hlaf-Mas”, “Loaf-Mass”). The Festival Of The Wheat Harvest. The First Harvest Festival Of The Year.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.
Saint Peter's Chains.
Feast Day 1 August.
Greater-Double.
White Vestments.
[Today is also Lammas Day. See The Breviary notes, below.]
English: The Basilica of Saint Peter-in-Chains
(San Pietro-in-Vincoli), Rome.
Deutsch: San Pietro-in-Vincoli, Gesamtansicht des Innenraums.
Photo: 20 May 2012.
Source: This file was derived from: SPIV small.jpg
Author: SPIV_small.jpg: Philippos
Derivative work: Rabanus Flavus
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Miracle of The Chains.
18th-Century fresco, by Giovanni Battista Parodi,
in the centre of the Coffered Ceiling of the
Basilica of Saint Peter-in-Chains (San Pietro-in-Vincoli), Rome.
Photo: 26 December 2009.
Author: San_Pietro_in_Vincoli_-_ceiling,_Rome.jpg: Maros M r a z (Maros).
Derivative work: Alberto Fernandez Fernandez
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Church Venerates on this day in the Basilica of Saint Peter-ad-Vincula (Saint Peter-in-Chains), on Mount Esquiline, Rome, Italy, The Chains with which The Prince of The Apostles was fettered (Collect, Epistle).
This Church, where The Station is held on the Monday of The First Week in Lent and on the Monday in The Octave of Pentecost, was built over The Baths of Trajan and restored towards the middle of the 5th-Century A.D., by the Princess Eudoxia, whence the name of Eudoxian Basilica, sometimes given to it. It was Dedicated on this day.
The date of 1 August was chosen so as to substitute a Solemnity in honour of the Apostle, Bishop of Rome, and Head of The Church (Alleluia, Gospel, Communion) for the pagan festival which used to be kept at Rome in honour of the Emperor Augustus.
English: The Chains of Saint Peter in the "Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli".
Italiano: Le Catene di San Pietro,
conservate nella Basilica di San Pietro-in-Vincoli.
Date: August 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Original Photo by Raja Patnaik.
Post-processed and uploaded by
Alessio Damato (with permission of the author).
(Wikimedia Commons)
[As a compliment to the Emperor Augustus, the Romans gave his name to the sixth Month of the Year, formerly called Sextilis, for, in Old Rome, the Year began in March. The word "August" comes from Augustus, as July is from Julius Caesar. The following Months kept their denominations of seventh (September), eighth (October), ninth (November), and tenth (December).]
The Chains of Saint Peter are in two portions; one having eleven links of lengthened shape to bind the hands, and, the other, twenty-three links, to the last of which are fixed two half-circles, to hold the neck.
The Popes used to send, as a rich present, a few particles of the filings of these Chains, enclosed in a Golden Key. They symbolise the power of The Keys by which Saint Peter unbinds from sin.
They were also put into Rings or Crosses, to preserve from dangers (Collect). On the same day, The Church honours Saint Paul. There are preserved, with Saint Peter's Chains, four links of The Chains which bound Saint Paul's arms during his captivity at Rome.
Mass: Nunc scio vere, as on 29 June.
Commemoration: Saint Paul, by The Collects of The Mass of 30 June.
Commemoration: The Holy Machabees.
Creed. Is said.
Preface: Of The Apostles.
BREVIARIUM ROMANUM.
THE ROMAN BREVIARY.
LE BRÉVIAIRE.
English: A French Prayer Book of 1905
containing extracts from The Roman Missal,
and The Roman Breviary of the time,
with French translations.
Français: Nouveau Paroissien Romain contenant
en latin et en français les Offices et Messes
de tous les dimanches et de toutes les fêtes
de l'année ecclésiastique.
File: Nouveau Paroissien Romain (1905).jpg
Uploaded: 6 May 2009.
Author: Perky
(Wikimedia Commons)
Illustration: RORATE CÆLI
The following Text is from
The Pre-1911 Roman Breviary
(Volume II. Summer).
Translated out of Latin into English by
Translated out of Latin into English by
John, Marquess of Bute, K.T.
Date: 1879.
1 August.
Lammas Day.
In some English-speaking Countries in The Northern Hemisphere, 1 August is Lammas Day (Anglo-Saxon "hlaf-mas", "Loaf-Mass"), The Festival of The Wheat Harvest, and is the first Harvest Festival of the Year.
Feast of Saint Peter-in-Chains.
Greater-Double.
Included, in The Common Office for an Apostle, is:
Date: 1879.
1 August.
Lammas Day.
In some English-speaking Countries in The Northern Hemisphere, 1 August is Lammas Day (Anglo-Saxon "hlaf-mas", "Loaf-Mass"), The Festival of The Wheat Harvest, and is the first Harvest Festival of the Year.
Feast of Saint Peter-in-Chains.
Greater-Double.
Included, in The Common Office for an Apostle, is:
The Prayer.
O, God,
Who didst make the chains to fall off
from the hands of Thy Blessed Apostle, Peter,
and didst cause him to go away unhurt
out of prison, make to fall off from us,
we beseech Thee, the chains of our sins,
and in Thy great mercy
deliver us from all evil.
Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son,
Who liveth and reigneth with Thee,
in the unity of The Holy Ghost,
one God, World without end.
Amen.
Friday 31 July 2020
Saint Ignatius Of Loyola (1491 - 1556). Founder Of The Jesuits. Feast Day 31 July.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
Confessor.
Feast Day 31 July.
Double.
White Vestments.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640).
Date: 1600s.
Source/Photographer: AllPosters.com
(Wikimedia Commons)
Ignatius was born in Northern Spain in 1491. He was the eleventh child of the Lord of Loyola, and, at the age of fifteen, came as Page to the Court of King Ferdinand V of Spain.
His ardent and martial nature caused him to choose a military career. At the Siege of Pamplona, he was severely wounded in the leg. During his long convalescence, in the absence of books of chivalry, for which he had a passion, they gave him to read The Lives of Jesus Christ and of The Saints.
This reading was for him a revelation. It dawned on him that The Church also has her Army, which, under the Orders of the Representative of Christ, fights to defend here below the Sacred Interests of The God of Hosts [To the Three Religious Vows, Saint Ignatius adds a fourth, by which the Members of The Society of Jesus bind themselves to go wherever the Pope will send them for the Salvation of Souls].
English: The Choir of the l'Escolania de Montserrat in the Basilica of the Abbey of Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain, where Saint Ignatius laid down his sword at the feet of the statue of The Virgin.
Français: Choeur de l'Escolania de Montserrat ans la basilique de l'abbaye de Montserrat, Catalogne, Espagne.
Photo: 21 September 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: Bernard Gagnon
(Wikimedia Commons)
He then laid down his sword at the feet of The Virgin, in the famous Benedictine Abbey at Montserrat, and his generous Soul, once enamoured of worldly glory, now only longed for the Greater Glory of The King, Whom, henceforth, he would serve (Collect).
Throughout the night of 25 March, when the Mystery of The Incarnation of The Word is Solemnised, after confessing his sins, he kept his Knightly Vigil, and The Mother of God armed him for Christ and The Church Militant, His Spouse.
Soon, he became General of The Society of Jesus, raised by Providence to combat Protestantism, Jansenism and returning Paganism.
English: Benedictine Abbey of Montserrat, Spain.
Deutsch: Unterhalb des “Roca de St. Jaume”.
Español: Vista desde la roca de Sant Jaume.
Photo: 2003.
Source: Own work.
Author: Richard Schneider.
(Wikimedia Commons)
On the mountain, The Sons of Benedict, as a prelude to The Liturgy in Heaven, will continue the Solemn Celebration of The Divine Office, which Ignatius will recommend to The Faithful, and whose Sacred Melodies he never heard without tears ["The Third of The Eighteen Rules, made by Saint Ignatius, as the crowning of The Spiritual Exercises, "that we may have the true sentiments of The Orthodox Church," recommends, to The Faithful, The Canticles of The Church, The Psalms and the different Canonical Hours at their appointed times.
And, at the head of this book, in order to enable one to draw most profit from these Exercises, he rules, in his twentieth note, that, he who can do so, is to "choose, for the duration of The Exercises, a dwelling whence he may easily go to The Offices of Matins and Vespers, as well as to Mass" (Dom Guéranger: The Liturgical Year: 31 July. Saint Ignatius of Loyola)]; and he, sacrificing himself to his Mission, goes down into the plain, to oppose with his valiant troops, the attacks of the hostile army, whose violent onslaughts are always directed against his Institute (Epistle).
Wherefore, to preserve in his sons the intense Interior Life, required by the militant activity to which he devotes them, Saint Ignatius subjects them to a strongly organised hierarchy and teaches them, in a masterly treatise, highly approved of by The Church, his Spiritual Exercises, which have Sanctified thousands of Souls.
It has been affirmed that it was the practice of the Exercitatorium of the Benedictine Cisneros, Abbot of Montserrat in 1500, which inspired him with the idea. Guided by Grace, he realised it, however, at Manresa, Spain, in a different and very personal way.
The Life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
Available on YouTube at
Saint Ignatius arms his sons by giving them, for their shield; the name of Jesus (Introit), for their breastplate; the Love of God, which The Saviour came to enflame on Earth (Communion) [when he sent Missionaries abroad, he used to say to them: "Go, my brothers, inflame the World and spread everywhere the fire which Jesus Christ came to kindle on the Earth"] and Whose symbol, The Sacred Heart, they gloriously bear in the folds of their flag; and for their sword; Preaching, Writing, Teaching, and all other forms of Apostolate.
It was in a Benedictine Monastery in Spain, that, at The Feast of The Annunciation, Saint Ignatius first used these arms; in a Chapel of The Benedictine Abbey of Montmartre, that, on The Feast of The Assumption, in 1534, and later on at the Altar of The Virgin of the Basilica of Saint Paul-Without-the-Walls, served by Benedictines, that was born The Society of Jesus, that noble chivalry of Christ, and, lastly, it was the Benedictine Pope, Pius VII, a native of Cesena and a Monk of its Abbey, who, in 1814, re-established it in all its rights.
It is, therefore, God, Himself, Who unites at the feet of The Blessed Virgin these two Orders, which powerfully help The Church, for Martha and Mary, action and contemplation, both contribute, by different means, to the Glory of God.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
Available on YouTube at
The Mottoes of these two Religious families are alike: "In all things God be Glorified ! (I.O.G.D.)" and "To the Greater Glory of God ! (A.M.D.G.)"
Not to do anything, except for the Glory of God, and to do everything for His greater Glory, is the perfection of Holiness. It is the end of The Creation, the end of man's elevation to a Supernatural Life, the end, indeed, of the evangelical precepts, which cause generous Souls to renounce, by Vow, things that are lawful, in order to devote themselves more freely to the interests of God, and to render to Him, in its entirety, the accidental Glory He had been deprived of by man's use of unlawful things.
Benedict has filled Europe with his Missionary Monks, whose principal work is to Praise God, and Ignatius, with his Priest-Apostles (Gospel), who make manifest their Interior Life by their untiring activity.
Tomb of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Church of Il Gesù,
Mother Church of The Society of Jesus, Rome
Photo: 13 November 2005.
Source: Own work.
Author: Torvindus
(Wikimedia Commons)
From Montserrat, twelve Monks, with their Superior, started with Christoper Columbus, for the New Continent. From Lisbon, started Francis Xavier, who first evangelised Japan and China. It is the same Tree of The Love of God, which, on different branches, bears the same fruit.
On 31 July 1556, Saint Ignatius died, pronouncing the name of Jesus, and his Society of Jesus spread throughout the World. It numbers, nowadays, forty-four Provinces and several hundreds of Colleges [The Society of Jesus numbers: Twenty-three Canonised Saints; 142 Beatified; Three Venerables; and over 100, whose twenty-nine Causes are being discussed. It had, in 1934, 24,270 Members: There were 24,000 at the Time of the Suppression of The Society of Jesus in 1773 [Editor: By Pope Clement XIV, in the Brief "Dominus ac Redemptor" (21 July 1773)].
It has given to The Church illustrious Prelates and a large number of Apostles, learned men, educators and influential men, as is proved by the numerous Congregations or Religious Associations under the direction of the Sons of Saint Ignatius. The Apostleship of Prayer, for instance, is believed to number some thirty million Associates.]
May we obtain, by the intercession of Saint Ignatius, so to be Sanctified in Truth (Secret) by the Sacred Mysteries of Mass and Communion, the Source of all Holiness, that, with the help of this Saint, we may, after his example, so combat evil on Earth, as to be crowned with him in Heaven (Collect).
Mass: In nómine Jesu.
May we obtain, by the intercession of Saint Ignatius, so to be Sanctified in Truth (Secret) by the Sacred Mysteries of Mass and Communion, the Source of all Holiness, that, with the help of this Saint, we may, after his example, so combat evil on Earth, as to be crowned with him in Heaven (Collect).
Mass: In nómine Jesu.
Church of the Gesù, Rome.
Mother Church of The Jesuits.
Saint Ignatius Loyola is buried here.
Photo: 7 September 2013.
Source: File:Chiesa gesu facade.jpg
Author: Alessio Damato
(Wikimedia Commons)
Thursday 30 July 2020
“Media Vita In Morte Sumus”. A Mediæval Antiphon (Circa 750 A.D.) This Setting Composed By: John Sheppard (1515 - 1558). Sung By: The Tallis Scholars. Director: Peter Phillips.
“Media Vita In Morte Sumus”.
A Mediæval Antiphon (Circa 750 A.D.).
This Setting Composed By: John Sheppard (1515 - 1558).
Sung By: The Tallis Scholars.
Director: Peter Phillips.
Available on YouTube at
Media vita in morte sumus.
Quem quærimus adiutorem nisi te, Domine,
Qui pro peccatis nostris iuste irasceris ?
Sancte Deus, Sancte fortis,
Sancte et misericors Salvator,
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
Nunc dimittis servum tuum Domine:
Secundum verbum tuum in pace.
Quia viderunt oculi mei: salutare tuum.
Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum.
Lumen ad revelationem gentium:
Et gloriam plebis tuæ Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio: et Spiritui Sancto.
Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper:
Et in sæcula sæculorum.
Ne proicias nos in tempore senectutis;
Cum defecerit virtus nostra
Ne derelinquas nos Domine.
Sancte Deus, Sancte fortis,
Sancte et misericors Salvator,
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
Noli claudere aures tuas ad preces nostras.
Sancte fortis,
Sancte et misericors Salvator,
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
Qui cognoscis occulta cordis,
Parce peccatis nostris.
Sancte et misericors Salvator,
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos.
Amen.
In the midst of life we are in death.
From whom may we seek help except You, Lord,
Who, on account of our sins, are justly angry ?
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Holy and merciful Saviour,
Do not hand us over to the bitter pains of death.
Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace,
According to Thy word.
For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people.
To be a light to lighten the gentiles,
And to be the glory of Thy people, Israel.
Glory be to The Father, and to The Son, and to The Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World without end.
Amen.
Do not cast us away in old age;
When our strength fails, do not abandon us, Lord.
Holy God,
Holy and strong,
Do not hand us over to the bitter pains of death.
Do not close Your ears to our Prayers.
Holy and strong,
Holy and merciful Saviour,
Do not hand us over to the bitter pains of death.
You who know the secrets of our hearts,
Forgive our sins.
Holy and merciful Saviour,
Do not hand us over to the bitter pains of death.
Amen.
And, for comparison . . .
“Media Vita In Morte Sumus”.
A Mediæval Antiphon (Circa 750 A.D.).
This Setting Composed By: John Sheppard (1515 - 1558).
Sung By: The Gabrieli Consort and Players.
Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
Available on YouTube at
Saint Abdon And Saint Sennen. Martyrs. Feast Day, Today, 30 July.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.
Saints Abdon and Sennen.
Martyrs.
Feast Day 30 July.
Simple.
Red Vestments.
Saint Sennen Church,
Sennen, Cornwall, England.
Photo: 5 November 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Andrewrabbott
(Wikimedia Commons)
Illustration: SENNEN COVE
Saint Sennen's Church is a Parish Church, of The Church of England, in Sennen, Cornwall, England. The Church is Mediæval. It is known as the Parish Church of Land's End, Cornwall, and the Patron is The Duke of Cornwall
(Wikipedia)
Stained-Glass Window
in The East Wall of the Church of Saint Sennen,
Sennen, Cornwall, England.
Illustration: SENNEN COVE
The South Aisle leading to The Lady Chapel.
Illustration: SENNEN COVE
The South Aisle, added in the 15th Century, was Dedicated in 1441. The date can be read on the base of The Font. The floor of Cornish Slate in The Lady Chapel was laid in the 1990s.
In The Lady Chapel is a rather battered Statue of The Virgin Mary, one of several figures recovered from a Wall Niche nearly 300 years ago.
There is also a 17th Century Post-Reformation Communion Table, and, on the Wall by the Window, is a fragment of a Painting, presumably still in existence beneath the plaster. It is interesting to try and work out what the complete picture could be.
The Font is striking by virtue of its lid, carved by a local farmer, Mr. Saundry, out of wood from the wreck of "The SS Khyber", sunk on 15 March 1905, near Saint Levan, Cornwall. The Font now stands on a floor of Delabole Slate , matching The Lady Chapel, laid in 1999, following a major repair to rid the rear of the Church of rotten Pews and Flooring.
Finally the discerning eye will pick out the end section of the Letter from
King Charles 1, thanking Cornish folk for their loyalty.
Text from SENNEN COVE
Saints Abdon and Sennen, born in Persia, "were arrested and taken to Rome under the Emperor Decius. They were scourged with cords, weighted with lead, and beheaded" (Roman Martyrology). This was in the middle of the 3rd-Century (254 A.D.)
Mass: Intret.
Saint Sennen Church,
Sennen, Cornwall, England.
Illustration: SENNEN COVE
Saint Sennen Church,
Sennen, Cornwall, England.
Illustration: SENNEN COVE
Wednesday 29 July 2020
Saints Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus, Beatrice. Martyrs. Feast Day 29 July.
Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.
SS. Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrice.
Martyrs.
Feast Day 29 July.
Simple.
Red Vestments.
The statue of Saint Beatrice (on the Right)
is part of a group of twenty-four statues
installed above the Colonnade entrance
above the Basilica of Saint Peter's, Rome.
Illustration: SAINT PETER'S BASILICA.INFO
English: Martyrdom of Saint Simplicius and Saint Faustinus.
Français: Martyre de saint Simplice et de saint Faustin.
Date: 14th-Century.
Author: Richard de Montbaston et collaborateurs.
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Holy Pontiff, Felix II, is a Pope of the 4th-Century A.D. He was Martyred in Tuscany, Italy, in the time of The Arians, 365 A.D. [Editor: See The Breviary Notes (below), reference the dispute about Felix.]
Saints Simplicius and Faustinus, denounced as Christians to the persecutors, were put to death at Rome under Emperor Diocletian in 304 A.D. Saint Beatrice, their sister, was arrested and strangled in prison. Pope Leo II placed the Relics of these three Martyrs in a Church at Rome Dedicated in their names.
Mass: Sapiéntiam.
BREVIARIUM ROMANUM.
THE ROMAN BREVIARY.
LE BRÉVIAIRE.
English: A French Prayer Book of 1905
containing extracts from The Roman Missal,
and The Roman Breviary of the time, with French translations.
Français: Nouveau Paroissien Romain contenant en latin et en français
les Offices et Messes de tous les dimanches
et de toutes les fêtes de l'année ecclésiastique.
File: File:Nouveau Paroissien Romain (1905).jpg
Uploaded: 6 May 2009.
Author: Perky
(Wikimedia Commons)
Illustration: RORATE CÆLI
The following Text is from:
The Pre-1911 Roman Breviary
(Volume II. Summer).
Translated out of Latin into English by John, Marquess of Bute, K.T.
Date: 1879.
The Holy Martyrs, Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrix (Beatrice).
Feast Day 29 July.
Simple.
The Martyrology says that Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrix (Beatrice) were two brothers and a sister, who suffered at Rome under Diocletian.
Translated out of Latin into English by John, Marquess of Bute, K.T.
Date: 1879.
The Holy Martyrs, Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrix (Beatrice).
Feast Day 29 July.
Simple.
The Martyrology says that Simplicius, Faustinus, and Beatrix (Beatrice) were two brothers and a sister, who suffered at Rome under Diocletian.
Concerning Felix, there has been much dispute. The Missal and Breviary, by suppressing the Title of Pope or Bishop (always given in such cases) seem to confirm the view, now generally adopted by historians, viz., that he was an African Martyr, who suffered on 10 November, and whose Relics were brought to Rome on 29 July, but the Martyrology retains another theory, now generally rejected, which identifies this Saint with one Felix, intruded into the See of Rome by Constantius during the Pontificate of Liberius, and now commonly regarded as an Anti-Pope of very dubious orthodoxy.
Catholics Mark The One Hundred Years Of Poland’s Consecration To The Sacred Heart Of Jesus.
Illustration: CATHOLIC HERALD
Illustration: KAFKADESK
This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at,
CATHOLIC HERALD
Catholics marked the 100th Anniversary on Monday, 27 July 2020, of the Consecration of Poland to The Sacred Heart.
The Act originally took place on 27 July 1920, and was followed three weeks later by a resounding Polish victory over The Red Army, known as the “Miracle on The Vistula”.
In the Summer of 1920, Soviet Forces attempted to cross Poland, in order to carry out Vladimir Lenin’s Plan to provoke Communist Revolution in Western Europe. Lenin believed that, if The Red Army seized Poland, then The Soviets could offer direct support to Revolutionaries in Germany.
CATHOLIC HERALD
Catholics marked the 100th Anniversary on Monday, 27 July 2020, of the Consecration of Poland to The Sacred Heart.
The Act originally took place on 27 July 1920, and was followed three weeks later by a resounding Polish victory over The Red Army, known as the “Miracle on The Vistula”.
In the Summer of 1920, Soviet Forces attempted to cross Poland, in order to carry out Vladimir Lenin’s Plan to provoke Communist Revolution in Western Europe. Lenin believed that, if The Red Army seized Poland, then The Soviets could offer direct support to Revolutionaries in Germany.
With The Bolsheviks setting their sights on the Polish Capital, Warsaw, Cardinal Edmund Dalbor, The Primate of Poland, joined the Country’s Bishops at Jasna Góra, the Monastery housing an icon of Our Lady of Częstochowa, also known as The Black Madonna. He led an Act of Consecration of The Polish Nation to The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Weeks later, on 15 August 1920, The Polish Army halted The Red Army advance on the outskirts of Warsaw. In the following days, General Władysław Sikorski’s 5th Army drove Soviet Units away from the City.
Lenin described the Battle, in which The Red Army lost around 15,000 men compared to Polish losses of about 4,500, as “an enormous defeat.”
Fr Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, spokesman of The Polish Bishops’ Conference, said that The Act of Consecration should not be regarded simply as an historical event.
In a 27 July 2020 Press Statement, he suggested that The Consecration offered “a Pastoral programme for the next decades for millions of Catholics in our homeland”.
He noted that The Act of Consecration was renewed by The Polish Bishops in 1951, 1976, and 2011. It was also renewed on 25 March 2020, when The Polish Bishops’ Conference President, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, entrusted The Church in Poland to The Sacred Heart of Jesus and The Immaculate Heart of Mary amid the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Rytel-Andrianik recalled that images of The Sacred Heart of Jesus were common in Polish homes, and that Retreats and Missions promoted The Devotion to The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“They led people to trust God and His Love in difficult times, and this was very much needed in the 20th-Century”, he said.
Saint Martha. Virgin. Feast Day 29 July.
Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.
Saint Martha.
Virgin.
Feast Day 29 July.
Semi-Double.
White Vestments.
Jesus at the house of Mary and Martha.
Artist: Harold Copping (1863–1932).
Date: 1927.
(Wikimedia Commons)
After having celebrated, on the 22nd of this month, the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalen, we honour today, Martha, her sister.
The daughter of noble and rich parents, she lived at Bethany, two miles from Jerusalem. "Jesus", says Saint John, "loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus," wherefore He preferred to dwell at their house when He was in Judea. There He spent the days which preceded His death.
Martha, who was the eldest, therefore often had the honour of being the hostess of Jesus (Gospel, Communion), The Divine Spouse, to Whom she had Consecrated her Virginity (Epistle). While busy with serving Jesus, she requested Him to bid Mary help her. And Jesus, without blaming her for ministering to His wants, made her understand that certain Souls, called by God, choose a still better part, since they commence on Earth what all shall do in Heaven.
Active life, with all its labours and fatigues endured for the sake of Christ, Whom we serve in our neighbour, is very meritorious; "happy, however, is the home where Mary causes the complaint of Martha" [Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: Sermon III of The Assumption] and refuses to take away from Prayer a life which ordinary occupations might appear to claim.
God is indeed the author of all Grace and wishes to be recognised as such; and Contemplative Life, which puts Souls in direct contact with Him, assures their personal Sanctification more fully and obtains more efficaciously the Graces by which a Christian Apostleship becomes fruitful.
Let us esteem at its just value the position that Jesus reserves to Mary, and, if He calls us to share in Martha's solicitude, let us endeavour, like The Saints, to make up by The Spirit of Prayer, for what is wanting in active life.
Mass: Dilexísti.
Commemoration: Saints Felix, Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrice. Martyrs.
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