Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

03 July, 2026

Saint Leo II. Pope. Confessor. Feast Day 3 July. Papacy 682 A.D. - 683 A.D. White Vestments.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Saint Leo II.
   Pope and Confessor.
   Feast Day 3 July.

Semi-Double.

White Vestments.




English: Portrait of Pope Saint Leo II.
Español: Imagen del papa leon II.
Date: Unknown.
Source: 
Basilica di San Paolo-fuori-le-Mura, Roma.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Leo II, a Sicilian by birth, participated in the full Priesthood of Christ (Introit, Epistle, Gradual, Alleluia) on becoming Pope. Guided by The Holy Ghost, Pope Leo II gave their full value to the spiritual riches of The Church committed to his care by Jesus (Gospel, Communion).

He approved The Acts of The Sixth Council, which condemned those who taught that Christ has only one Will. Well versed in Sacred Singing, he perfected the melodies of The Psalms and of The Hymns of The Church.

He was truly the father of the poor and, by his example and Preaching, led everyone to virtue. He died in 683 A.D. and was buried in the Basilica of Saint Peter.

Let us imitate the example of this Saint (Collect), who was one of the successors of Saint Peter on the Pontifical Throne.

Mass: Sacerdótes tui.
Commemoration: Octave of The Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.



The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless otherwise stated.

Pope Saint Leo II (611 A.D. – 683 A.D.) was Pope from 682 A.D. to his death in 683 A.D.

He was a Sicilian by birth (the son of a man named Paulus), and succeeded Pope Agatho. Though elected Pope a few days after the death of Saint Agatho (10 January 681 A.D.), he was not Consecrated until after the lapse of a year and seven months (17 August 682). Pope Saint Leo was known as an eloquent Preacher, who was interested in music, and noted for his Charity to the poor.

Elected shortly after the death of Pope Agatho, Pope Leo II was not Consecrated for over a year and a half. The reason may have been due to negotiations regarding Imperial control of Papal Elections.



These negotiations were undertaken by Pope Leo’s predecessor, Agatho, between the Holy See and Emperor Constantine IV. They concerned the relations of the Byzantine Court to Papal Elections. Emperor Constantine IV had already promised Agatho to abolish or reduce the tax, that the Popes had been paying to the Imperial Treasury, at the time of their Consecration, an Imperial policy that had been in force for about a Century.

Pope Leo’s short-lived Pontificate did not allow him to accomplish much, but there was one achievement of major importance: He confirmed the Acts of the Sixth Ecumenical Council (680 A.D. - 681 A.D.). This Council had been held in Constantinople, against the Monothelite controversy, and had been presided over by the Legates of Pope Agatho. 

After Pope Leo had notified the Emperor that the Decrees of the Council had been confirmed, he made them known to the nations of the West. In Letters written to the King, the Bishops, and the nobles of Spain, he explained what the Council had effected, and he called upon the Bishops to subscribe to its Decrees.

During this Council, Pope Honorius I (625 A.D. - 628 A.D.) was anathematised for his views in the Monothelite controversy as tolerant of Heresy. Pope Leo took great pains to make it clear that, in condemning Pope Honorius, he did so not because Honorius taught Heresy, but because he was not active enough in opposing it. In accordance with the Papal Mandate, a Synod was held at Toledo in 684 A.D., in which the Council of Constantinople was accepted.

Regarding the decision of the Council, Pope Leo wrote once again in approbation of the decision of the Council and in condemnation of Pope Honorius, whom he regarded as one who “profana proditione immaculatem fidem subvertare conatus est” (roughly, “one who by betrayal has tried to overthrow the Immaculate Faith”).



In their bearing upon the question of Papal Infallibility, these words have caused considerable attention and controversy, and prominence is given to the circumstance that, in the Greek Text of the Letter to the Emperor, where the phrase occurs, the milder expression “subverti permisit” (“allowed to be overthrown . . .”) is used for “subvertare conatus est”.

At this time, Pope Leo II put an end to the attempts of the Ravenna Archbishops to get away from the control of the Bishop of Rome. The Pope sweetened the deal for the Ravenna Bishops by abolishing the tax it had been customary for them to pay, when they received the Pallium.

Also, in apparent response to Lombard raids, Pope Leo transferred the Relics, of a number of Martyrs, from the Catacombs to Churches inside the walls of the City. He also Dedicated two Churches, Saint Paul’s and Saints Sebastian and George.

Pope Leo II was originally buried in his own Monument; however, some years after his death, his remains were put into a tomb that contained four Pope Leos (Popes Leo I, II, III, IV).

02 July, 2026

Southern Electric Railway’s Historic First Route. Travelling Into London Victoria Station In The 1930s.

 


The rare footage nobody has seen.
Southern Electric Railway’s historic first route.
Travelling into London Victoria Station in the 1930s.
The Story of Southern Railway Electrification.
Available on YouTube

The Catholic Police Guild’s National Police Requiem Mass Is To Be Celebrated This Year On Tuesday, 3 November 2026, At 1430 hrs, Westminster Cathedral, London.

 


The 2026 Catholic Police Guild National Police Requiem Mass, the 103rd, will take place at 1430 hrs, Tuesday, 3 November 2026, at Westminster Cathedral.

Serving Officers/Staff – why not start making enquiries with your Force, asking to be released and your travel and (if possible) accommodation paid for, as you are representing your Force at a National Commemoration Service and representing a Nationally Recognised Staff Network. 

If you need any advice on this matter, please let me know.

Paul Connolly.
National Chair - Catholic Police Guild of England and Wales.

E-Mail.
or

The Web-Site of The Catholic Police Guild can be found

PLEASE NOTE: THE WEB-SITE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND, AT PRESENT, MIGHT NOT LOOK 
AS IT SHOULD IN THE FUTURE.

“Tota Pulchra Es, Maria, Et Macula Originalis Non Est In Te”. “Thou Art All Fair, O, Mary, There Is No Spot Of Original Sin In Thee”. “Fröhliche Unbefleckte Empfängnis”.




Miniature (Illuminated Manuscript) from
Liber choralis parvus continens missas vesperas
et alia officia par S. Leonardi confes.
Date: 6 January 2015.
Source: Liber choralis parvus continens missas
vesperas et alia officia par S. Leonardi confes.
Author: Unknown.
This File: 16 July 2016.
User: Fulvio314
(Wikimedia Commons)



“Tota Pulchra Es, Maria”. 
(Corsican arrangement).
Available on YouTube



“Tota Pulchra Es, Maria”.
Composed by: Bruckner.
Sung by: Lincoln Cathedral Choir.
Available on YouTube


Text is taken from, and can be read in full at, VULTUS CHRISTI
unless stated otherwise.

THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION.

Year after year, I open my Antiphonal, to prepare the Office of The Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary, and I am stunned by the beauty of the Antiphons that The Church places in our mouths to sing of this Mystery. 

These Antiphons diffuse a certain Luminous Whiteness, a fragrance of Divine Purity, a Penetrating Grace.

ALL  LOVELY.

The Divine Office gives me the very words that The Holy Ghost would have us pronounce, and the very melody that best carries them. 

I have only to take a breath, and sing what The Church wants me to sing. 

Her words, not mine.

Words crafted by The Church under the overshadowing of The Holy Ghost; words for all of Eve’s hapless children who know not how to Pray as they ought.



“Tota Pulchra Es, Maria”.
Antiphon for the 
Feast Day of The Immaculate Conception.
Gregorian Chant.
Available on YouTube


“Tota Pulchra Es, Maria, 
et macula originalis non est in te”. 

“Thou art all fair, O, Mary, 
there is no spot of original sin in thee” (Ct 4, 7). 

Tota Pulchra: All fair, all lovely, all beautiful or, to use the words of the Angel Gabriel: “Gratia Plena”, “Full of Grace”.


In Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot,” one of his characters comments on the portrait of a woman, named Nastassya Filippovna, saying: “One could turn the World upside down with beauty like that.”

The beauty of The Immaculate Conception does not turn the World upside down; it is more radical than that. It is the beginning of a new World. It is the beauty of a new genesis, of Paradise re-invented in a little girl, conceived, as Bernanos put it, “younger than sin.”


The Heartbeat Of Hope.

Immaculate Beauty crushes the head of the ancient serpent. Read Genesis 3: 9-15, 20. The Human Race receives in the person of The Immaculate Conception a new “Mother Of All The Living.” The Heartbeat Of Hope begins its rhythm in the womb of Saint Anne. Nothing will ever again be the same.

The second Antiphon describes Mary as she appeared to Bernadette in 1858, in the grotto overlooking The Gave River: “Vestimentum tuum candidum quasi nix, et facies tua sicut sol”. “Thy raiment is White as Snow, and thy countenance as The Sun” (Ct 1:3, 4).


It was 155 years ago that the young woman, robed in White, with her countenance indescribably radiant, said to Bernadette: “I am The Immaculate Conception.” The Virgin revealed to Bernadette the Mystery of her identity, hidden in God from before The Creation of The World, and unspoiled in time, untouched by the ravages of sin.

This Antiphon is a key to understanding what The Apostle wrote to The Ephesians 1:4: He (The Father) chose us in Him (Christ Jesus) that we should be holy and unspotted (that is, immaculate) in His sight in Charity, (that is, in The Holy Ghost, The Living Flame of Love).


“Alleluia: Tota Pulchra Es, Maria”.
Feast Day of The Immaculate Conception.
Available on YouTube


Look at Mary, and discover what The Father wants for you in Christ. Look at Mary, and marvel at what The Father will do for you, by The Blood of Christ, in the Power of The Holy Ghost. 

If you would advance steadily — however slowly, and notwithstanding the occasional fall — toward holiness, keep your eyes fixed on Mary.


Jubilancy In The 8th Mode.

The third Antiphon begins, not as most 8th Mode pieces do, on Fa, or Sol, or La, or Re, but, rather, in the heights of The Church’s jubilancy, on Do. 

The Church not only gives us words in her Liturgy; she interprets them for us. She communicates their mystic secrets by means of the melodies with which she clothes them. 

“Tu gloria, Jerusalem, tu lætitia Israel, tu honorificentia populi nostri”. 

“Thou art the exaltation of Jerusalem, thou art the great glory of Israel, thou art the great rejoicing of our Nation.”


This Antiphon is The Church’s response to the Introit of The Mass of The Immaculate Conception in which Mary sings her joy: “I will greatly rejoice in The Lord, and My Soul shall be joyful in My God” (Is 61:10).

The Church, having listened to Mary, sings her joy, holds that joy in her heart, and, then, turning to Mary, honours her with a triple Title:

Exaltation of Jerusalem: High point of The Church, the pinnacle of the new creation;

Glory of Israel: Everything, and everyone in salvation, history, looks to The Immaculate Conception and, in her, is gloriously lifted up;

Great rejoicing of our Nation: Where Mary is present, there will always be joy. Where Mary is absent, there cannot but be sadness and gloom.


We Will Run After Thee.

The fourth Antiphon catches hold of my heart and does not let it ago. It is a Prayer of Petition, a pleading addressed to Mary. It is the expression of the Soul’s deepest longings, the perfect complement to the Gospel of the Annunciation (Lk 1:26-2 :38).

“Trahe nos, Virgo immaculate, post te curremus, in odorem unguentorum tuorum”. 

“Draw us, Maiden undefiled, we will run after thee in the odour of thy perfumes.”

True devotion to The Blessed Virgin Mary is not static and sedentary. It is dynamic. It obliges us to get up and run.


What is more elusive than the scent of a sweet fragrance borne on the wind ? 

It is the fragrance of Mary, sweet beyond all imagining; pure, and purifying; irresistible, drawing Souls after her, even Souls once sunk in the putrefaction and stench of habitual sin.

Mary is, for all of us sinners, the way upward and forward; the way out of sin, and into holiness; the way into a whole new order of things in which an Angel says: “No word (no thing) shall be impossible with God” (Lk 1:37), and in which each of us is called to say: “Behold the handmaid of The Lord; be it done to me according to thy word (Lk 1:38).



“Tota Pulchra Es, Maria”.
Corsican Sacred Chant.
Available on YouTube


Consecration To The Immaculata.

How can we go about appropriating for ourselves the Graces of the Feast of The Immaculate Conception ? The Saints teach us the inestimable value of making an Act of Consecration to The Immaculata, to Mary, The “Tota Pulchra”, and of renewing it, frequently.

It is a way of saying: “Everything that I see in thy eyes, O, Mary, everything that thy Immaculate Heart desires for me, I too desire, and so that the will of The Father and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit may be realised in me, I hand myself over to thee. 

I give thee my past, my present, and my future, holding nothing back, reserving no times, or places, or things for myself.

All is thine.”


The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia.

“Tota Pulchra Es” is an ancient Catholic Prayer, written in the 4th-Century A.D. 

It is one of the five Antiphons for the Psalms of Second Vespers for The Feast of The Immaculate Conception.

The Title means: “You are completely beautiful” (referring to The Virgin Mary).


It speaks of her Immaculate Conception

It takes some Text from the Book Of Judith, and other Text from Song of Songs, specifically 4:7.

Composers to set the Prayer to music, include: Robert Schumann; Anton Bruckner, Pablo Casals; Maurice Duruflé; Guillaume du Fay; Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki; Heinrich Isaac; James MacMillan; Ola Gjeilo.

The Sodality Of The Blessed Sacrament. Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane, London. Live-Streamed Masses. Sign-Up And Join, Today !!!







Corpus Christi Church,
Maiden Lane, London WC2E 7NB.
Photo: 3 December 2018.
Source: Own work.
Author: AndyScott
(Wikimedia Commons)
Fostering Devotion.


“Of all Devotions, that of adoring Jesus in 
The Blessed Sacrament is the greatest Devotion 
after the Sacraments; the one dearest to God 
and the one most helpful to us”.
– Saint Alphonsus Liguori.

The Holy Eucharist.
The Church’s Beating Heart.

The Blessed Sacrament is the greatest gift Our Lord 
left to us at The Last Supper. Since its institution, the 
Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic life.



It is the mission of The Shrine and The Sodality
to help spread the joy of this great Sacrament
to the Secular World around us.

Sign Up, Today.

Join The Sodality Of The Blessed Sacrament on-line, today, to have The Monthly Divine Masses offered for your intentions.

You will also receive a Sodality Badge
and the Monthly Newsletter.




Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane, London,
was Founded in 1873 by Cardinal Manning
as a Sanctuary of The Blessed Sacrament.

Since then, millions of people
have passed through the Church’s doors
and encountered Jesus Christ, The Son of God, in the “tiny White Host” in the Monstrance (Venerable Fulton Sheen).

This Church, in the heart of London,
has the Adoration and Veneration
of The Blessed Sacrament
as its sole purpose.




Corpus Christi Church has a rich Tradition
of noble Liturgical Celebrations and pious Devotion
to The Eucharist.

It was a former Parish Priest of the Parish, Fr. Francis Stanfield (1835-1914), who wrote “Sweet Sacrament Divine” – a Hymn loved by Catholics Worldwide.

Msgr. Ronald Knox preached here on The Feast of Corpus Christi, every year from 1926 until 1956, and his Sermons were compiled in the book “The Window in the Wall”.



The Sodality Celebrates a Divine Mass every month at 
Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane, which will be offered 
for Members’ intentions.

Each month there is a different Guest Preacher, who will 
offer a reflection on a certain aspect of The Blessed Sacrament. At the end of Mass, there is a period of Adoration, followed by Benediction, after which will follow a social event at 
a nearby pub or restaurant.



Masses are usually on the First Thursday of the Month 
at 6:30 pm, though there may be some exceptions to this.

Masses are also Live-Streamed.
The Link is
The Web-Site of
the Sodality Of The Blessed Sacrament
can be found HERE

The address of Corpus Christi Church is:
1 - 5, Maiden Lane, London WC2E 7NB.
Telephone: 020 7836 4700.

Polonia, Semper Fidelis. Poland, Ever-Faithful !!! Niech Bóg Błogosławi Polskę. May God Bless Poland.



English: State  Flag of Poland  with Coat-of-Arms, symbolic version. Based on  Image:Flag of Poland.svg  and  Image:Herb Polski.svg . Coat-of-Arms, used here, is not the official version.
Polski:  Flaga Polski  z godłem, wersja symboliczna. Oparta na  Image:Flag of Poland.svg  i  Image:Herb Polski.svg . Uwaga: godło użyte w tej grafice nie jest oficjalne. Oficjalna wersja godła nie jest jeszcze dostępna w formacie wektorowym, stąd zamieszczono poniżej dodatkową wersję tej grafiki w formacie PNG, w której użyto poprawnego wizerunku godła.
Date: June 26, 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author:  Aotearoa ,  Wanted
(Wikimedia Commons)

This Article is taken from, and can be read in full at, 


The Polish Hymn.
“Mazurek Dąbrowskiego”.
Available on YouTube

Don’t forget to say a Prayer for the Polish Pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain, and were then forbidden to take part in the Victory Parade . . . 
just so the British Government could please Stalin !!!

Visitation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary. Feast Day 2 July. White Vestments. Saint Processus And Saint Martinian. Martyrs.


Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

Visitation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary.
   Feast Day 2 July.

Double of The Second Class.

White Vestments.



Visitation of The Blessed Virgin Mary.
Artist: René de Cramer.
“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.
Used with Permission.

THE MAGNIFICAT.


The Canticle of Mary.
John Michael Talbot wrote the music
and the words are from the Gospel of Luke  1:46-55 .
Sung by:
Annie Karto, Jackie Francois, John Michael Talbot.
Available on YouTube

The Canticle of Mary.

This is Mary’s Great Exaltation of Praise to God.

For, in her visit to Elizabeth, Mary’s Faith is validated; that she will be The Mother of The World’s Saviour - Jesus Christ ! 

And so, with Rejoicing and Thanksgiving for all His Mighty Deeds, His Mercy on the lowly and His Fulfilment of Covenant - Mary’s Soul bursts forth with Joy to The Lord.


The Angel Gabriel had announced to Mary that God would soon give a son to Elizabeth. The Virgin at once betook herself to Hebron, where her cousin resided: That is The Mystery of The Visitation, which is Solemnised on the day following The Octave of The Nativity of Saint John the Baptist.

On this day, as in The Season of Advent, The Church recalls together the memories of The Precursor and of Jesus and Mary. For we then remarked, that the Friday in The Winter Ember Week recalled to us the same Mystery of The Visitation.

This Feast was instituted for the whole World in 1389, by Pope Urban VI, in order to obtain the end of the Great Western Schism. It was later on raised to the Rite of Double of the Second-Class by Blessed Pope Pius IX, for on this Feast was completed at Rome in 1849 the victory of The Church over the Revolution.


Mary visits Elizabeth and Jesus visits, and Sanctifies, John the Baptist. Wherefore, Saint John leaps with joy and Elizabeth, filled with The Holy Ghost, exclaims: “Blessed art thou among women and Blessed is The Fruit of thy Womb” (Gospel).

The Virgin, Mother of God, who bears and gives birth to Him Who bears and produces all things (Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion) then pronounces a “Sublime Canticle” (Introit), “The Magnificat”.

Mass: Salve, sancta parens.
Commemoration (At Low Mass): Saint Processus and Saint Martinian.
Creed: Is said.
Preface: Of The Blessed Virgin Mary (Et te in Visitatióne).



and, the same day . . .


The same day: Saint Processus and Saint Martinian.
   Martyrs.
   Feast Day 2 July.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

Peter and Paul, cast into the Mamertine Prison, converted their two Warders, Processus and Martinian, and Baptised them. 

Brought before the statue of Jupiter, these new Christians refused to adore it and were put to death.

Mass: Sapéntiam.
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