The following Text and Illustrations from RORATE CÆLI, unless stated otherwise.
The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) Ordained Twenty Deacons this Spring: Eight in Nebraska and twelve in Bavaria (see, below).
Twelve FSSP Deacons were Ordained (above and below).
Abbey Basilica of Ottobeuren, Bavaria, 2 May 2026.
From the FSSP Wigratzbad Blog:
Once again, our faithful friend, Bishop Wolfgang Haas, Archbishop Emeritus of Vaduz, did us the honour of conferring Holy Orders on our Seminarians.
On Saturday, 2 May 2026, we Celebrated Our Lady, Patroness of Bavaria, in the magnificent Baroque Nave of the Abbey Basilica of Ottobeuren.
Our community thus has twelve new Deacons, who were definitively incorporated into the FSSP the day before, in the presence of our Vicar General, Fr. Hubert Bizard. (source, in French).
The Web-Site of Ottobeuren Abbey can be found HERE
Zephyrinus will be Posting an Article on
Our Lady, Patroness of Bavaria, on her Feast Day on 14 May (sample, below).
Liturgical Text and Illustrations, unless stated otherwise, are taken from MISSALE ROMANO-SERAPHICUM PRO TRIBUS ORDINIBUS SANCTI FRANCISCI PATRIS NOSTRI. 1879.
For part of its history, Ottobeuren Abbey was one of the approximately forty, self-ruling, Imperial Abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire, and, as such, was a virtually Independent State.
At the time of its Dissolution in 1802, the Imperial Abbey covered 266 square kilometers (102 square miles) and had about 10,000 subjects.
We have already met with the names of several Pontiffs on the Paschal Calendar. They form a brilliant constellation around our Risen Jesus, Who, during the period between His Resurrection and Ascension, gave to Saint Peter, their predecessor, the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Anicetus, Soter, Caius, Cletus, Marcellinus. All these Pontiffs held in their hands the Palm of Martyrdom: Pope Leo I (“The Great”) was the only one who did not shed his blood in the cause of his Divine Master.
The following two paragraphs are from Wikipedia.
Pope Leo I (Italian: Leone I) (391 A.D. – 461 A.D.), also known as Leo the Great (Latin: Leo Magnus; Italian: Leone Magno; Greek: Léon o Megás), [1] was Bishop of Rome[2] from 29 September 440 A.D. until his death on 10 November 461 A.D.
Today, there comes before us a Holy Pope who governed
The Church in these latter times; he is worthy to stand
amidst the Easter group of Pontiffs. Like Leo I, Pius V was zealous in combating heresy; like Leo I, he saved his people from the Barbarian yoke.
The whole life of Pius V was combat. His Pontificate existed during those troubled times when Protestantism was leading whole Countries into Apostasy.
Italy was not a prey that could be taken by violence:
Artifice was therefore used, in order to undermine the Apostolic See and, thus, develop the whole Christian World
in the darkness of heresy.
Pius V defended the Peninsula [Editor: Italy] with
untiring devotedness from the danger that threatend her.
Even before he was raised to the Papal Throne, he frequently exposed his life by his zeal in opposing the preaching of False Doctrines. Like Peter the Martyr, he braved every danger and was the dread of the emissaries of heresy.
When seated on the Chair of Peter, he kept the innovators in check by fear, roused the Sovereigns of Italy to energy and, by measures of moderate severity, drove back beyond the Alps the torrent that would have swept Christianity from Europe had not the Southern States thus opposed it.
We repeat it: This heresy would have laid all Europe waste, had it not been for the vigilance of the Pastor who animated the Defenders of Truth to resist it where it already existed, and who set himself as a wall of brass against its invasion in the Country where he, himself, was the master.
Another enemy, taking advantage of the confusion
caused in the West by Protestantism, organised
an expedition against Europe.
Italy was to be its first prey. The Ottoman fleet started
from the Bosphorus. This, again, would have meant
the ruin of Christendom but for the energy of the
Roman Pontiff, our Saint.
He gave the alarm, and called the Christian Princes to arms. Germany and France, torn by domestic factions that had been caused by heresy, turned a deaf ear to the call.
Spain, alone, together with Venice and the little Papal fleet, answered the summons of the Pontiff.
The Cross and the Crescent were soon face to face at Lepanto.
The Prayers of Pius V decided the victory in favour of
the Christians, whose forces were inferior to the Turks.
We shall return to this important event when we
come to the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary of
The Blessed Virgin Mary, on 7 October.
But we cannot omit to mention the prediction uttered by the Holy Pope, on the evening of the great day of 7 October, 1571.
The battle between the Christian and Turkish fleets
lasted from early morning until late afternoon.
Towards evening, the Pontiff suddenly looked up towards Heaven, and gazed upon it in silence for a few seconds.
Then, turning to his attendants, he exclaimed: “Let us give thanks to God ! The Christians have gained the victory !”.
The news soon arrived at Rome; and, thus,
Europe once more owed her salvation to a Pope !
The defeat at Lepanto was a blow from which the Ottoman Empire never recovered: Its fall dates from that glorious day.
The zeal of this Holy Pope for the reformation of
Christian morals, his establishment of the observance
of the laws of discipline prescribed by the Council of Trent,
and his publication of the new Breviary and Missal,
have made his six years’ Pontificate to be one of the
richest periods of The Church’s history.
Protestants have frequently expressed their admiration
of this vigorous opponent of the so-called “Reformation”.
“I am surprised”, said Bacon, “that the Church
of Rome has not yet Canonised this great man”.
Pius V did not receive this honour till about a hundred
and thirty years after his death; so impartial is The Church, when she has to adjudicate this highest of Earthly honours even to her most revered Pastors !
Of the many Miracles which attested the merits of this Holy Pontiff, ever during his life, we select the two following: As he was one day crossing the Vatican piazza, which is on the site of the ancient Circus of Nero, he was overcome with a sentiment of enthusiasm for the glory and courage of the Martyrs who had suffered on that very spot in the first persecutions.
Stooping down, he took up a handful of dust from the hallowed ground, which had been trodden by so many generations of the Christian people since the Peace of Constantine.
He put the dust into a cloth, which the Ambassador of Poland, who was with him, held out to receive it. When the Ambassador opened the cloth, after returning to his house, he found it saturated with blood, as fresh as though it had been that moment shed: The dust had disappeared.
The Faith of the Pontiff had evoked the Blood of the
Martyrs, which thus gave testimony against the heretics that the Roman Church, in the 16th-Century, was identically the same as that for which those brave heroes and heroines laid down their lives in the days of Nero.
The heretics attempted more than once to destroy a life
which baffled all their hopes of perverting the Faith of Italy.
By a base and sacrilegious stratagem, aided by treachery,
they put a deadly poison on to the Feet of Christ on the Crucifix which the Saint kept in his Oratory, and which he was frequently seen to kiss with great devotion.
In the fervour of Prayer, Pius was about to give this mark of love to the image of his Crucified Master, when, suddenly, the Feet of the Crucifix detached themselves from The Cross and eluded the proffered kiss of the venerable old man.
The Pontiff at once saw through the plot, whereby
his enemies would fain have turned the life-giving Tree
into an instrument of death.
In order to encourage the Faithful to follow
the Sacred Liturgy, we will select another interesting
example from the life of this great Saint.
When, lying on his bed of death, and just before
breathing his last, he took a parting look at The Church
on Earth, which he was leaving for that of Heaven, he wished to make a final Prayer for the Flock which he knew was surrounded by danger.
He, therefore, recited, but with a voice that was scarcely audible, the following stanza of the Paschal Hymn:
This Act of Reparation could be recited for the hundreds
of thousands of irreligious Holy Communions carried
out over the recent decades.
In addition, it could be recited for the millions of
Aborted Children, who have been denied existence
over the last sixty years.
Indulgence of 300 days each time recited.
On The Feast of The Sacred Heart
[Editor: The Friday after The Octave of Corpus Christi],
it is to be Solemnly recited with The Litany of
The Sacred Heart before The Blessed Sacrament Exposed:
Then, Seven Years and Seven Quarantines.
And a Plenary Indulgence,
supposing Confession and Communion.
O, Sweet Jesus, Whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence, and contempt, behold
us prostrate before Thy Altar, eager to repair, by a special
Act of Homage, the cruel indifference and injuries,
to which Thy Loving Heart is everywhere subject.
Mindful, alas !, that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation, not only for our own personal offences, but, also, for the sins of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the vows of their Baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy Law.
We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against Thee; we are determined to make amends for the manifold offences against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behaviour, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent
violation of Sundays and Holy Days, and the shocking Blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints.
We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on Earth and Thy Priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of Sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Thy Divine Love; and, lastly, for the public crimes of Nations who resist The Rights and The Teaching Authority of The Church which Thou hast Founded.
Would, O, Divine Jesus, we were able to wash
away such abominations with our blood. We now offer,
in Reparation for these violations of Thy Divine Honour,
the satisfaction Thou didst once make to Thy Eternal Father
on The Cross and which Thou dost continue to renew
daily on our Altars.
We offer it in union with The Acts of Atonement of
Thy Virgin Mother and all The Saints and of the
pious Faithful on Earth; and we sincerely promise to
make Reparation, as far as we can, with the help of Thy Grace, for all neglect of Thy great love and for the sins we,
and others, have committed in the past.
Henceforth, we will live a life of unwavering Faith,
of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of The Gospel, and especially that of Charity. We promise, to the best of our power, to prevent others from offending Thee
and to bring as many as possible to follow Thee.
Oh, Loving Jesus, through the intercession of
The Blessed Virgin Mary, our model in Reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering that we make of this Act of Expiation; and, by the crowning gift of perseverance, keep us Faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee, so that we may all, one day, come to that happy home, where Thou, with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest God, World without end.
Amen.
Due to the untold evils being perpetrated these days
all over the World, and also the devilish attacks on, and within, The Church, Zephyrinus respectfully offers this
Act of Reparation for consideration by the Faithful.
4 February 2017 was the First Saturday of February 2017. It seemed a good time to remind ourselves of this Article about the Devotion of the First Five Saturdays and Communions of Reparation Against Offences And Blasphemies to the Immaculate Heart of Mary:
“I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the Graces necessary for Salvation, all those who, on the First Saturday of five consecutive months, shall Confess, receive Holy Communion, recite Five Decades of the Rosary, and keep me company for fifteen minutes while Meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me.”
It may come as some surprise that this Devotion of the First Five Saturdays, requested by Heaven, through Sister Lucia of Fatima, in 1925 at her Convent in Pontevedra, Spain, was not new; in fact, it is an ancient custom in The Church.
It fits precisely into the long Tradition of Catholic piety that, having devoted Fridays to the remembrance of the Passion of Jesus Christ and to honouring His Sacred Heart, found it very natural to devote Saturdays to His Most Holy Mother.
It is sometimes asked why Our Lady asked for Communions of Reparation on Five First Saturdays, instead of some other number.
On 29 May 1930, Our Blessed Lord explained to Sister Lucia, in another apparition to her, that it was because of five kinds of offences and blasphemies against The Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely:
Blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception;
Against her Perpetual Virginity;
Against The Divine and Spiritual Maternity of Mary;
Blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonouring of her images;
And the neglect of implanting, in the hearts of children, a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother.
“My Soul waits for The Lord more than watchmen for the morning” (Psalm 130:6).
It is also an age-old Tradition that Jesus appeared to Mary on the Saturday, the day after His death, whilst the World lay in hushed waiting for the Resurrection.
The great Theologians of the 12th- and 13th-Centuries, Saints Bernard, Thomas, and Bonaventure, explained the Dedication of Saturdays to Mary by pointing to the time of Christ’s Rest in the Grave.
Everyone else had abandoned Christ; only Mary continued to believe, demonstrating her deep Faith by never doubting for a moment her Son’s Promise of Resurrection. This was her day !
THE FIVE MASSES IN HONOUR OF OUR LADY,
ACCORDING TO THE SEASON.
The following Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.
The use of Consecrating the Saturday to Our Lady developed, not only in private, but also in Liturgical Devotion, during the 8th-Century A.D. to the 12th-Century. The reason for this choice, however, remains unknown.
There are Five Masses in Honour of Our Lady, according to the Season.
They are said as the Mass of the Day on Saturdays when there are no Feasts or Greater Ferias, and can also be said as Votive Masses on other occasions.
Mass: Roráte, Caeli.
Second Collect of The Feria of Advent.
Third Collect of The Holy Ghost.
Preface of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Et te in Veneratione.
God has sent us a Saviour (Epistle) and the Votive Mass of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Proper to the Season of Christmastide, reminds us that it is by Mary that we have had the happiness of receiving the Author of Life (Collect).
The Gospel pictures her beside the Child in the Manger, and The Church declares her “Blessed, because she has borne in her womb the Son of The Eternal Father” (Communion), and truly worthy of all praise, because of her was born Christ Our Lord (Offertory).
The Collect and the Alleluia, in setting forth the Virginity of Mary, make manifest to us, as in all the Liturgy of Christmas, that Jesus has God for Father and that the Virgin, therefore, is, herself, the Mother of God.
Mass: Vultum Tuum.
Second Collect of The Holy Ghost.
Third Collect against The Persecutors of The Church or For The Pope.
Preface of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Et te in Veneratione.
At this Season, Consecrated to the great work of our Redemption, the Mass of The Blessed Virgin shows us Mary as Mother of Our Saviour.
She was pre-destined from All Eternity for the role of Co-Redemptress (Epistle), for, as Eve was the intermediary chosen by the Angel of Darkness to bring about the Fall of Adam, so, also, is Mary the intermediary to whom the Angel Gabriel (Tract) delivered the Message of Salvation from Heaven. She is also Blessed since she heard the Word of God and obeyed it (Gospel).
Mass: Salve, Sancta Parens.
Second Collect of The Holy Ghost.
Third Collect against The Persecutors of The Church or For The Pope.
Preface of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Et te in Festivitáte.
Mary is Mother of the Risen Lord, Who reigns for ever in Heaven and on Earth (Introit), she has helped to restore Peace between our Souls and God (Alleluia).
Therefore, the Liturgy proclaims her “happy and Blessed above all women, because she carried in her womb the Son of The Eternal Father” (Alleluia, Offertory, Communion).
Mary is also the Queen of The Church, Founded by the Risen Christ. “Her power is established in Jerusalem and her abode is in the fullness of the Saints” (Epistle).
At the Foot of the Cross, Jesus said to Saint John, who personified all Christians: “Behold thy Mother” (Gospel), and Mary “always and everywhere” protects our Souls through her patronage (Postcommunion).
Mass: Salve, Sancta Parens.
Second Collect of The Holy Ghost.
Third Collect against The Persecutors of The Church or For The Pope.
Preface of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Et te in Veneratione.
Mass: Salve, Sancta Parens.
Second Collect of The Holy Ghost.
Third Collect against The Persecutors of The Church or For The Pope.
Preface of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Et te in Festivitáte.
Pius, born at Bosco, in Lombardy, Italy, entered at the age of fourteen into The Order of Preachers (The Dominicans).
As Bishop, Cardinal and Pope (Introit, Epistle, Communion), he put to profit the talents entrusted to him by God (Gospel).
His Pontificate, although short, was one of the most glorious of the 16th-Century. Protestantism had proclaimed the Reformation and Islam threatened the West.
To remedy the ills, under which Christendom groaned, Pope Saint Pius V enforced obedience to the Decrees of the Council of Trent, published a new edition of the Missal and Breviary, and obtained, by the Prayers he asked for, the glorious victory won by the Christian forces at Lepanto in 1571.
He instituted, on that occasion, the Feast of Our Lady of Victories, which became, later on, the Feast of the Most Holy Rosary.
He died on 5 May 1572, reciting the Hymn of Paschaltide.
Mass: Státuit.
The following Text is from Wikipedia.
Pope Saint Pius V (17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was Pope from 8 January 1566 to his death in 1572.
As a Cardinal, Ghislieri gained a reputation for putting Orthodoxy before personalities, prosecuting eight French Bishops for heresy. He also stood firm against nepotism, rebuking his predecessor, Pope Pius IV, to his face, when he wanted to make a thirteen-year-old member of his family a Cardinal and subsidise a nephew from the Papal Treasury.
In affairs of State, Pius V excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England for schism and persecution of English Catholics during her reign.
He also arranged the formation of the Holy League, an alliance of Catholic States. Although outnumbered, the Holy League famously defeated the Ottoman Empire, which had threatened to over-run Europe, at the Battle of Lepanto.
The Processional Banner of The Catholic Police Guild.
This Banner was Blessed on 1 May 2023 at The Church of Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, London.
With the support of The Latin Mass Society, Mass is Celebrated for the intentions of The Catholic Police Guild on the first Monday of each month at this Church.
The Guild are Dedicated to The Sacred Heart of Jesus.
If you would like to join The Catholic Police Guild (non-Police personnel are welcome to apply, also), there is an Application Form on the Web-Site (see, below). If you are a non-Police person, just select “No Police Affiliation” in the “Service Status” section of the Application Form.
