un roi, une loi, une foi

Evolution?

2008-11-01T00:00:00.003+08:00

God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

Genesis 1:20

Give praise to God the Father of all creatures!

I am sorry, Mr Darwin, you lost!

Pilgrimage to France

2008-10-19T21:38:00.003+08:00

The District of Asia will be sending a group of over 100 pilgrims to France today, with Singapore having the largest delegation of more than 30 pilgrims. They will embark on a highly spiritual journey, visiting great Marian Shrines in France, which used to be the Eldest Daughter of the Church. They will join the rest of the 10 000 pilgrims from the Society of St Pius X and other affliated traditional Catholic religious orders all over the world next weekend in the magnificent and solemn Marian Pilgrimage to Lourdes, in honour of the Apparition of the Immaculate Mother to little Bernadette 150 years ago.

In your charity, please keep them in your prayers, and unite your prayers and petitions to the Blessed Virgin and the great Saints of the Church with those of the pilgrims.

St James the Greater, Patron of Pilgrims, pray for them!

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2008-08-15T23:18:00.008+08:00

When the Blessed Virgin ended her earthly course in her Dormition, the Apostles thought that she was dead and laid her in the tomb. All the Holy Apostles were present, except for St Thomas.

St Thomas came along, deeply grieved by the death of the Holy Mother. He requested to be brought to the tomb to take a look at the fair countenance of Our Lady for a final time and pay his last respect and homage to his Mistress and Mother.

The Apostles led St Thomas to the tomb of the Blessed Virgin, but to their astonishment, the tomb was opened, and the body of Our Lady disappeared. The tomb was strewn with countless roses of bright colours and stunning beauty, and a heavenly fragrance shrouded the area.

A bewildered St Thomas turned to his brethren, who were also astounded by the mysterious disappearance of Our Lord, "Where is the Holy Virgin Mother?"

There was a silence, no one spoke for a long time. Everyone just stared at the empty tomb. Suddenly, one of the Apostles broke out, "Our Lady... Perhaps she is taken up into Heaven?"

"Well," said St Thomas, "that is the Assumption."

LUMENA PAXTE CUMFI

2008-08-11T21:30:00.006+08:00

... rearranged to be PAX TECUM FILUMENA, or 'Peace be with you, Filumena'.

Such are the words on the set of tiles that appear on the tomb of St Philomena, which was discovered in May 1802. Either the person who arranged and placed the tiles on the tomb of the fourth century Virgin Martyr was in such a mad rush - probably to sneak off before the Christian persecutors could find him, roast him, and destroy the Catacombs of St Priscilla - or his Latin was just plain horrid.

St Philomena is known to be a wonder-worker, and even St Jean-Marie Vianney had attributed the miracles he performed during his life to her most powerful intercession in Heaven.

Her short and courageous life, punctuated with tortures, visions and miracles, before concluded by her crowning martyrdom, can be summarised with the Litany St Jean-Marie Vianney composed in honour of this his favourite Saint:

Litany of St Philomena

Lord have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord have mercy on us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Queen of Virgins, pray for us.
St. Philomena, pray for us.
St. Philomena, filled with the most abundantgraces from your very birth, pray for us.
St. Philomena, faithful imitator of Mary, pray for us.
St. Philomena. model of Virgins, pray for us.
St. Philomena, temple of the most perfect humility, pray for us.
St. Philomena, inflamed with zeal for the Glory of God, pray for us.
St. Philomena, victim of the love of Jesus, pray for us.
St. Philomena, example of strength and perseverance, pray for us.
St. Philomena, invincible champion of chastity, pray for us.
St. Philomena, mirror of the most heroic virtues, pray for us.
St. Philomena, firm and intrepid in the face of torments, pray for us.
St. Philomena, scourged like your Divine Spouse, pray for us.
St. Philomena, pierced by a shower of arrows, pray for us.
St. Philomena, consoled by the Mother of God, when in chains, pray for us.
St. Philomena, cured miraculously in prison, pray for us.
St. Philomena, comforted by angels in your torments, pray for us.
St. Philomena, who preferred torments and death to the splendors of a throne, pray for us.
St. Philomena, who converted the witnesses of your martyrdom, pray for us.
St. Philomena, who wore out the fury of your executioners, pray for us.St. Philomena, protectress of the innocent, pray for us.
St. Philomena, patron of youth, pray for us.
St. Philomena, refuge of the unfortunate, pray for us.
St. Philomena, health of the sick and the weak. pray for us.
St. Philomena, new light of the church militant, pray for us.
St. Philomena, who confounds the impiety of the world, pray for us.
St. Philomena, who stimulates the faith and courage of the faithful, pray for us.
St. Philomena, whose name is glorified in Heaven and feared in Hell, pray for us.
St. Philomena, made illustrious by the most striking miracles, pray for us.
St. Philomena, all powerful with God, pray for us.
St. Philomena, who reigns in glory, pray for us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V: Pray for us, Great St. Philomena.
R: That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray,
We implore Thee, O Lord, by the intercession of Saint Philomena, Virgin and Martyr, who was ever most pleasing to Thy eyes by reason of her eminent purity and the practice of all the virtues, pardon us our sins and grant us all the graces we need (and name any special grace you may require). Amen.

Upon request, a fellow Catholic friend took a picture of his home altar on the Feast of St Philomena, specially decorated for the occasion.

Flying Padre

2008-08-07T01:01:00.001+08:00

What an awesome short movie!

A Bowl of Noodles and 20 Cents

2008-07-06T00:08:00.008+08:00

I received this story through the e-mail:

There was once a priest who was newly transferred to a parish in Perak. Some days after his arrival, finding the food brought to him a little too spicy for his palate, he went to the local coffee shop to have a nice meal of Chinese rice noodle soup. Of course, he wore street clothes, as do all the Catholic priests in Malaysia.

He sat down at one of the run down tables and began to read the morning paper. Soon enough, the hawker brought a steaming hot bowl of noodles to him. Not paying much attention, he paid for the noodles and the hawker put the change down on the table.

As he ate the first spoonful, he found the soup too watery and the noodles overcooked and soggy. He was disappointed with the dish, as after hearing the locals rave about it for the past few days, he had expected better. Well, to be honest, being from Penang where the food is glorious, he was bound to be disappointed no matter where he went. Anyway....

After finishing his meal, as he picked up his change, he realized that the man had returned him 20 cents extra. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, "You'd better give the 20 cents back. It's not right to keep it." Then he thought, "Forget it, it's only 20 cents and anyway, the food was horrible and not at all what it was made out to be. Who's going to bother about 20 cents? And look, the man is so busy cooking. It might disturb him if I were to interrupt. Let me just take it as a gift from God and keep quiet."

So he made his way out of the shop. But as he passed the stall, he paused momentarily and then handed the 20 cents to the man and said, "Hey boss, you gave me 20 cents extra change".

The hawker smiled and replied, "You're the new parish priest right? I haven't been going to church for a number of years now because of a bad experience I had. I just gave you the extra change to see what you would do and whether you are also a hypocrite like the rest of them. I think I will be coming to see you soon."

The priest rushed back to the Church and fell to his knees before the Blessed Sacrament. "Sweet Jesus!", he said, in tears, "Judas betrayed you for 30 pieces of silver buy I almost sold you for 20 cents! My example might have caused a soul to be lost!"

Most non-Christians will probably never read the bible. But they will read us and all the other Christians they come across. Our lives and our actions will be only Scripture they will ever read and we are closest encounters they will have of the Lord Jesus.

What we say and more importantly, what we do will determine what others think of the Church, the Faith and Our Lord. Are we just hypocrites? Have we, through our words and actions, through our commissions and omissions, led others to have a bad impression of the Lord? Have we driven someone away from Jesus?I think we have all, at some point and some more than others, have been guilty of this. And for this sin, we need to beg the Lord's forgiveness and resolve to better represent the Lord who has made us, through our baptism, ambassadors of Christ. May we be Christ to others and let the Light of Christ shine through us.

Post Script: The priest, shaken by this experience, has taken to wearing his cassock and collar in public, both as a sign of his calling to others and, primarily, as a sign of his own calling and consecration to himself. His vesture reminds him daily, at all times, of his identity and his own vocation as a priest and as a Christian and reminds him that his actions as a minister of Christ and the Church are a sign to others as well. It reminds him that people, and God, are watching.

"Chilli! Chilli!"

2008-07-02T23:22:00.012+08:00

I was leaving a local Catholic bookstore on my last visit there when I saw a Filipina approaching, with a happy group of three four-year-olds running before her. I would suspect that the little children were Filipinos too, and they were in their uniform, which led me to assume that they were dismissed not too long ago from their kindergarten at a church nearby.

While waiting at the bus-stop, which happens to be just outsie the Catholic bookstore, the group of children, who were also at the bus-stop waiting for their bus with the lady, they started peeking through the glass windows of the display shelves of the bookstore. They must have seen a statue of the Sacred Heart, and called out frantically, trying to get the lady's attention, "Papa Jesus! Papa Jesus!"

I smiled to myself, but I never expect what is to come. What happened next almost caused me to trip over and burst out laughing.

One of the children, getting excited by the many statues on the display shelves, saw the statue of the Immaculate Heart. Without hesitation, he lifted his finger and pointed at the statue of Our Lady with her Immaculate Heart, he screamed, "Chilli! Chilli!"

I managed to hide my surprise and chuckle by quickly turning away. Deep down, I was laughing, laughing out loud. Not for the boy's ignorance that the chilli-shaped thing he is referring to is actually the Heart of the Mother of God, but more of a certain joy, a certain unspeakable joy, that the child is still so innocent, so pure, so child-like.

The lady quickly corrected the child, saying that the statue is a depiction of 'Mama Mary'. She, too, is evidently controlling her laughter.

'Papa Jesus', 'Mama Mary'. How lovely, how sweet, how endearing do these little children address their Saviour and their Virgin Mother! Our Blessed Lord and Our Blessed Mother Mary in Heaven would have, I believe, showered the little boy with many graces and clapped their hands in joy at that very moment, as they gazed down lovingly at this little child from their thrones in Heaven, this little soul shining like a diamond amidst the dark, corrupted world around it, still innocent, undefiled by actual sins.

Prayers need not be long and elaborate. Sometimes, the mere addressing Our Lord and Our Lady as 'Papa' and 'Mama' is more than sufficient, if you truly love them as your Father and Mother.

And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

St Matthew 18:3

The Legend of the Sand Dollar

2008-06-06T21:59:00.005+08:00

There's a pretty little legend
That I would like to tell -
Of the birth and death of Jesus
Found in this lowly shell.

If you examine closely,
You'll see that you find here
Four nail holes and a fifth one
Made by a Roman's Spear.

On one side the Easter Lily,
Its center is the star
That appeared unto the shepherds
And led them from afar.

The Christmas poinsettia
Etched on the other side
Reminds us of His birthday
Our Happy Christmastide.

Now break the centre open
And here you will release
The five white doves awaiting
To spread Good Will and Peace.

This simple little symbol,
Christ left for you and me
To help us spread His Gospel
Through all eternity.

Anonymous

Memorare of St Francis de Sales

2008-05-28T20:04:00.008+08:00

Ayez mémoire et souvenance, très douce Vierge, que vous êtes ma Mère et que je suis votre enfant, que vous êtes très puissante et que je suis un pauvre petit être bien faible, je vous supplie, ma très douce Mère, de me gouverner et défendre dans toutes mes voies et actions.

Ne me dites pas, gracieuse Vierge, que vous ne pouvez: car votre bien-aimé Fils vous a donne toute puissance! Ne me dites pas que vous ne devez: car vous êtes la commune Mère de tous les humains et singulièrement la mienne…

Si vous ne pouviez, je vous excuserais, disant: Il est vrai qu’elle est ma Mère et me chérit comme son Fils : mais la pauvrette manque d‘avoir et de pouvoir!

Si vous n’étiez ma Mère, avec raison je patienterais, disant: Elle est bien riche pour m’assister, mais hélas, n’étant pas ma Mère, elle ne m’aime pas…

Puis donc, O très douce Vierge, que vous êtes ma Mère et que vous êtes puissante, comment vous excuserais-je si vous ne me soulagez?

Vous voyez, ma Mère, que vous êtes contrainte d’acquiescera à toutes mes demandés. Pour l’honneur et la gloire de votre Fils, acceptez-moi comme votre enfant, sans avoir égard à mes misères et péchés. Délivrez mon âme et mon corps de tout mal, et me donnez toutes vos vertus, surtout l’humilité!

Enfin, faites-moi présent de tous les dons, biens et grâces qui plaisent à Sainte Trinité, Père, Fils, et Saint-Esprit.

Ainsi-soit-il.

For the unofficial English and Chinese, kindly contact me directly or drop me a comment with your contact information. Thank you.

Feast of Corpus Christi

2008-05-22T09:09:00.016+08:00

O Lord, I Am Not Worthy

O Lord, I am not worthy
That Thou should'st come to me,
But speak the words of comfort,
My spirit healed shall be.

O, come, all you who labor
In sorrow and in pain,
Come, eat This Bread from heaven;
Thy peace and strength regain.

O Jesus, we adore Thee,
Our Victim and our Priest,
Whose precious Blood and Body
Become our sacred Feast.

O Sacrament most holy,
O Sacrament divine!
All praise and all thanksgiving
Be ev'ry moment Thine.

The Latin Church celebrates this venerable Feast in honour of Our Blessed Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. We profess that He is truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

It is indeed an exceedingly meritorious Act of Faith, when, at the Elevation of the Sacred Host after Consecration, we look at It, and, bending low and prostrating in spirit, we adore the Eucharistic Lord, saying, 'Dominus meus, Deus meus!', following the words of the Doubting, now St Thomas. It is by these our eyes of faith, and not our bodily eyes, that we see and recognise that Our Divine Saviour is there, right there in the Consecrated Bread, and for that, He will bless us abundantly, as He promised: Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed. It is on this day of the Feast of Corpus Christi that we renew this faith in Our Lord's Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist, professing this truth which the heretics reject.

Protestants deny Our Lord's omnipotence when they refuse to believe that He is truly present in the Consecrated Species. This heresy is not new, and more certainly, it is not unique to these heretics - this same truth had been denied by the faithless Jews during the time of Our Lord Jesus Christ. When Our Lord did proclaim Himself to be the Bread of Life that came down from Heaven, the unbelieving Jews scoffed at Him.

The Jews therefore murmured at him, because he had said: I am the living bread which came down from heaven. And they said: Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then saith he, I came down from heaven?

St John 6:41, 42

Our Divine Lord continued:

Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.

St John 6:54-58

"Our Lord's words are metaphorical!", a Protestant will argue vehemently. Why, then, seeing that a large group of His followers, unable to accept this precious teaching and truth, were leaving Him, He made no effort to clarify Himself, if what He said to the Jews were intended to be in metaphors? He knows full well that those who left Him will not be saved, for we know that Jesus Christ is the only Way to the Father.

It is also important to note that when Our Lord expounded on teachings of particular importance, He would begin by saying, 'Amen, amen, I say unto you.' It calls for special emphasis on the truths He was to expound. In His short public ministry of three years, His Mission is to teach as much as possible and expound the truths most necessary for salvation. When using parables or metaphors, Our Divine Lord would have stated it so clearly and explicitly that it is impossible for anyone to think otherwise. He is God, He is Almighty - He is not the fuzzy-wuzzy street-preacher you would expect standing at the corner of Orchard Road.

If any one shall say that, in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, there remains the substance of bread and wine together with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; and shall deny that wonderful and singular conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood, the species of bread and wine alone remaining, which conversion the Catholic Church most fittingly calls Transubstantiation, let him be anathema.

Council of Trent - Session 13, Canon 2

Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar!

Traditional Rite of Ordination to the Catholic Priesthood

2008-05-16T16:36:00.007+08:00

O Lord, grant us Priests.
O Lord, grant us holy Priests.
O Lord, grant us many holy Priests.
O Lord, grant us many holy religious vocations.
St Pius X, pray for us.
St Francis Xavier, pray for us.

Mary Immaculate, Mother of the Clergy, bless and protect thy sons under thy sacred mantle!

Nihil Innovatur

2008-05-02T23:37:00.012+08:00

The strangest things are happening to the rubrics of the Mass!
Old men like me don’t understand we thought our days would pass
Without disturbance of the way we learnt to celebrate.
Now worship, like the world itself, is in a dreadful state.

Some time ago the priest was sure of what was his to say,
And also that the altar-boys would answer up his way:
Now anything can happen from a hold up to a strike,
Or someone making comments through a nuisance-making mike.

The people used to keep their place, and did not interfere,
Except perhaps to cough or sneeze or snore, But only in the rear:
They wouldn’t dream of singing out or butting in with noise,
Or talking up in Latin like the Clerk and altar-boys.

Young Curates now don’t seem to mind if Mass is started late,
Provided that the people who are there “participate”:
And some would like motets, and psalms and hymns and chants
Distracting to the celebrant and pious maiden aunts.

A plague upon those liturgists and all their fussy ways.
There’s nothing solid in them, ’tis a passing whim or craze:
Old men like we have battled for our faith and fatherland
With nothing but the Scripture and the Sacraments in hand.

Of course we had the Liturgy, a makeshift to be sure,
And more or less a native growth, but still Tradition pure;
We said the Mass and let the people pray as best they could.
That was the way in Penal times, and surely it was good.

"The world is moving on, no doubt, and times have changed a lot.
The Church of Christ must follow - if her net is in a knot.
She’ll never catch the fishes that are milling round the boat:
She needs a change of tackle, sweeter bait and lighter float."

So say professors and divines, who ought to know a lot:
Perhaps old trowlers like myself should try to change our trot:
I’ll read that journal “Worship” and some book on Liturgy,
And maybe when I understand ‘twont seem bizarre to me.

Father Fennelly, circa 1956

1956! Imagine what shock it must have been to this Father - and to whoever who had read this prophetic poem - when all that it contains came to pass 10 years later!

咩！

2008-04-06T19:26:00.013+08:00

meh! meh! meh!

A friend of mine commented: "Why do you like to meh so much? Is it because God is your Shepherd, and you are His sheep?"

I have never thought of that!

As Catholics, we are the sheep and lambs in His fold. We ourselves are called to give all our heart, mind and soul - to offer our entire being - to our Lord God, Who sent His Only-Begotten Son, the Lamb of God, to be sacrificed for our sake on the Tree of the Cross.

Being the Second Sunday after Easter, or more commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday, after the theme of the Epistle and Gospel of the Holy Mass celebrated today, Holy Mother Church reminds her children of the importance of true ecumenism - the calling of all men into the Catholic Church, in the flock of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, is His current Vicar on earth.

The shepherd stave, or crosier, borne by the Good Shepherd in the image above, is similar to the ones carried by prelates of the Church. From the Catholic Encyclopedia, the learned Durandus and Barbosa tell us of the significance of these ecclesiastical ornaments conferred on bishops during their consecration:

(They) signify their authority to correct vices, stimulate piety, administer punishment, and thus rule and govern with a gentleness that is tempered with severity. (...) As the rod of Moses was the seal and emblem of his Divine commission as well as the instrument of the miracles he wrought, so is the episcopal staff the symbol of that doctrinal and disciplinary power of bishops in virtue of which they may sustain the weak and faltering, confirm the wavering in faith, and lead back the erring ones into the true fold. (...) The end is sharp and pointed wherewith to prick and goad the slothful, the middle is straight to signify righteous rule, while the head is bent or crooked in order to draw in and attract souls to the ways of God.

Throughout the history of Christianity, holy images or statues of Our Lord as the Good Shepherd can be found in many hallowed grounds, from dark catacombs to glorious Gothic cathedrals. It is indeed one of the most well-loved titles of our Blessed Lord.

Les Dialogues de Carmelites

2008-04-02T02:48:00.005+08:00

During the French Revolution, France, the Daughter of God, was rapidly secularised. The hatred for God and His Church of the revolutionalists had led to the closing down of churches, monasteries and convents.

It was a living hell for many of the priests and religious. However, for others, it was a step closer to receiving the martyr's palm and beholding the Beatific Vision in heaven, like these Carmelites in this most touching and inspiring play, Les Dialogues des Carmelites.

How lovely, how magnificent is the Salve Regina! Our Lady of Mount Carmel must have gladly received the Carmelite souls who, clothed in the Brown Scapular, suffered martyrdom joyfully for the sake of the Holy Religion.

Queen of Martyrs, pray for us!

Ecce Fidelis Servum et Prudens!

2008-04-01T17:23:00.024+08:00

The Feast of St Joseph, the Holy Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is transferred from 19 March, which is Spy Wednesday this year, to today, 1 April. (This is no April Fools' joke!)

King Solomon, in his great wisdom bestowed upon him by God, foretold about St Joseph, the seed of David, in this most apt description of him in the Book of Proverb:

A faithful man shall be greatly praised, and he that is the keeper of the Lord shall be glorified.

Proverbs 28:20, 27:18

He is indeed the servant most faithful, who, despite not having any human explanation for the pregnancy of his Blessed Spouse, accepted and obeyed readily when the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying:

Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt name His name Jesus.

St Matthew 1:20-21

In very truth, he is the keeper of the Lord, for he is appointed by the Most High to be the Foster-Father of the Incarnate Word, of the Only-Begotten Son of God. Even the King of kings, the Lord of lords, our Lord Jesus Christ, is put under his charge before He began His public ministry, as St Luke the Evangelist wrote in the Gospel:

Jesus went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them.

St Luke 2:51

On this blessed occasion, I would also like to introduce and promote this wonderful devotion to St Joseph - the wearing of the Cincture or Cord of St Joseph. A white cotton rope with 7 knots on one end blessed by any Priest with a special blessing, St Joseph's Cord is usually girded and worn around the waist. Indulgences may be granted through the wearing of this Cord if the wearer is attached to the Archconfraternity of St Joseph in Rome, but more commonly it is worn for the following reasons:

St Joseph's special protection;
The grace of chastity;
Final perseverance; and
St Joseph's particular assistance at the hour of death.

The wearer of St Joseph's Cord is to daily say a Gloria on each of the 7 knots, in honor of and while meditating on each of the 7 Sorrows of St Joseph, and to recite a prayer to St Joseph for the holy virtue of purity. These meditations and prayers, and also more information on St Joseph's Cord, may be obtained from here.

Litany of St Joseph

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
St Joseph, pray for us.
Noble scion of David, pray for us.
Light of the Patriarchs, pray for us.
Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.
Chaste Guardian of the Virgin, pray for us.
Foster-father of the Son of God, pray for us.
Sedulous Defender of Christ, pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.
Joseph most just, pray for us.
Joseph most chaste, pray for us.
Joseph most prudent, pray for us.
Joseph most valiant, pray for us.
Joseph most obedient, pray for us.
Joseph most faithful, pray for us.
Mirror of patience, pray for us.
Lover of poverty, pray for us.
Model of all who labor, pray for us.
Glory of family life, pray for us.
Protector of virgins, pray for us.
Pillar of families, pray for us.
Consolation of the afflicted, pray for us.
Hope of the sick, pray for us.
Patron of the dying, pray for us.
Terror of the demons, pray for us.
Protector of Holy Church, pray for us.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V: He made him the lord of his household.
R: And prince over all his possessions.

Let us pray.
O God, Who, in Thine ineffable Providence didst vouchsafe to choose blessed Joseph to be the Spouse of Thy most holy Mother; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in Heaven whom, on earth, we venearate as our protector. Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

St Joseph, Protector of Holy Church, restore Catholic tradition!

Via Crucis

2008-02-19T22:15:00.021+08:00

Jésus-Christ Monte au Calvaire

Jésus-Christ monte au Calvaire,
Il y va pour y mourir.
Suivons-le, c'est notre frère,
Qui pour nous, voulut souffrir.
En mourant, il nous délivre
Du fardeau de nos péchés,
Et celui qui veut le suivre,
Sous la Croix devra marcher.

Chez Pilate, on le compare
Au dernier des scélérats.
Que dis-tu, peuple barbare?
Tu réclames Barabbas!
Quelle indigne préférence;
Le coupable est pardonné
Et malgré son innocence,
Jésus-Christ est condammé.

Mais voici que l'on présente
Une Croix au doux sauveur,
Sur sa chair encor sanglante,
Elle ajoute à ses douleurs.
Et pourtant il la désire,
Il la veut depuis toujours,
Depuis toujours elle attire
Son regard brûlant d'amour.

Ô Jésus, vos mains calleuses,
Ont manié bien d'autres bois.
Vos épaules laborieuses
Ont plié sous d'autres poids.
Il est donc bien redoutable
Ce fardeau, mon doux Jésus,
Puisque ce poids vous accable
Et que vous n'en pouvez plus.

Au chemin de la souffrance
Pour l'aider, Marie est là;
Elle veut par sa présence
Soutenir ses derniers pas.
Ô Vierge, en notre faiblesse,
Nous avons besoin de vous,
Puisque nous tombons sans cesse
Demeurez tout près de nous.

Quand Simon, l'un de mes frères
Est choisi pour te porter;
Ô Croix, tu parais légère,
Qui voudrait se dérober?
Pour la tâche, Ô divin maître,
S'il vous faut des ouvriers,
Me voilà, de tout mon être,
Je suis prêt à vous aider.

Tous vos traits, par la souffrance
Sont creusés de durs sillons;
Nos péchés et nos offenses
Sont gravés sur votre front.
Souvent, on déforme encore
Votre image autour de nous;
Au monde qui vous ignore
Nous saurons parler de vous.

Votre pied heurte la pierre:
Vous tombez sur le chemin;
Votre sang dans la poussière
La marque d'un sceau divin.
Ô Jésus, je vous adore
Étendu sous votre Croix;
Prosterné, je vous implore,
Moi qui tombe tant de fois.

"Vous pleurez sur mes souffrances,
Pleurez donc sur vos péchés.
Puisque c'est pour vos offenses
Que mon sang sera versé
Suivez-moi vers le calvaire
Avec moi, sachez offrir
Vos souffrances pour vos frères:
Après moi, il faut souffrir."

A quoi bon tant de souffrance,
A quoi bon verser son sang,
Quand Il voit la foule immense
De pécheurs impénitents.
Et pourtant, Il se relève,
Prend la Croix à pleines mains,
Il poursuit et Il achève
Jusqu'au bout le dur chemin.

On dépouille votre taille,
Et plus rien pour vous couvrir.
Né jadis nu sur la paille,
Vous voici, nu, pour mourir.
Enseignez à tous vos frères
L'amour de la pauvreté;
Que les biens de cette terre
Sont toujours à mépriser.

A grands coups, le marteau frappe
Dans la chair, rivant les clous;
Comme une divine grappe
Que l'on presse sous les coups.
De ses mains, le sang s'écoule,
De ses mains qui, si souvent.
Ont béni d'immenses foules
Et guéri tant de souffrants.

Voici donc l'instant suprême,
Qu'il attend depuis toujours
De prouver à ceux qu'il aime,
Jusqu'où va son grand amour.
Embrassant la terre entière,
Ses deux bras sont étendus;
Il appelle tous ses frères
Et Il meurt pour leur salut.

En vos bras, quand on vous livre
Votre Fils inanimé,
Vous lisez comme en un livre
Sur son corps tous nos péchés.
Dites-nous, ô tendre Mère,
Tout ce que vous avez vu;
Gravez en nos cœurs de pierre
Les blessures de Jésus.

L'ennemi de votre gloire
Peut sourire, il est vanqueur
Et pourtant votre victoire
Est certaine, Ô mon sauveur.
Malgrè la nuit de la tombe,
Le linceul sur votre Corps,
Aujourd'hui l'enfer succombre
Vous avez vaincu la mort.

Love is in the Air!

2008-02-14T23:05:00.008+08:00

Yes, among couples and lovebirds. But how about the love for this holy Priest, possibly Bishop, and Martyr of the Church?

Just when the world celebrates this day with much consumerism and forgets who St Valentine is...

Saint Valentine, pray for us!

The Apparition of Our Lady of Lourdes

2008-02-11T17:28:00.002+08:00

... in its 150th anniversary.

Born Marie-Bernarde Soubirous to a humble and devout family in the little town of Lourdes, France, St Bernadette is the eldest of the six children of Monsieur François Soubirous and Madame Louise (née Castérot) Soubirous. The Catholic Faith forms an integral part of their life, and it is the Holy Faith, and their love and support for one another, that sustained them even though they lived in extreme poverty.

St Bernadette, being the eldest of the children in the family, took on the responsibility of herding the sheep. She prays the Rosary each time she brings her sheep to graze.

On 11 February 1858, while the fourteen-year-old Bernadette was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend near the grotto at Massabielle just outside Lourdes, she had a vision of 'a small young Lady' standing at a niche in the rocks. The Lady asked that she returned to the grotto every day for fifteen consecutive days. This was the first of eighteen Apparitions of a Lady that Saint Bernadette had seen in the grotto. No one else could see the beautiful Lady.

On the ninth vision of St Bernadette, the Lady told the young seer to drink the water that flowed under the rock and eat the plants that grew there freely. The ground was hard and dry, and there was no known spring at the reported location. However, St Bernadette did as was instructed, but there was no springwater that came forth. Many people became sceptical of the Apparitions that St Bernadette claimed to have seen - but not for long.

During the sixteenth of the Lady at the grotto, St Bernadette asked the Lady what her name was. The Lady only replied by smiling lovingly back at the young girl. St Bernadette had to ask the same question three times before she got the answer from the Lady: 'Que soi er'immaculada concepcion.' ('I am the Immaculate Conception.' It is in Occitan, the dialect used in Lourdes.) This confirmed the doubts of Saint Bernadette - the Lady she had been seeing in the Apparitions was the Queen of Heaven and Earth, the Blessed Virgin Mary

These apparitions of our Blessed Mother in Lourdes was a sure sign that our Lady is well pleased with the definition and promulgation of the dogma of her Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX just four years ago, on 8 December 1854.

On January 18, 1862, Bishop Laurence, the Bishop of Tarbes, gave the solemn declaration: "We are inspired by the Commission comprising wise, holy, learned and experienced priests who questioned the child, studied the facts, examined everything and weighed all the evidence. We have also called on science, and we remain convinced that the Apparitions are supernatural and divine, and that by consequence, what Bernadette saw was the Most Blessed Virgin. Our convictions are based on the testimony of Bernadette, but above all on the things that have happened, things which can be nothing other than divine intervention".

After the series of Apparitions as seen by St Bernadette was declared to be worthy of belief by the Church, the grotto where the Apparitions took place soon became the largest Marian Shrine in the Roman Catholic Church and a major site for pilgrimage, attracting millions of Catholics each year. A beautiful statue of Our Lady of Lourdes placed in the niche of the rock, marking the sacred site of the Apparitions. When St Bernadette saw the statue, she was, however, utterly disappointed by the representation of the glorious Lady she saw in her visions.

Many people claimed to receive miraculous cure at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, but only 68 have been certified by the Lourdes Medical Bureau and the Catholic Church as medically inexplicable. Some were healed of their illness by drinking from the spring at the grotto, some by merely praying piously at the sanctified spot, and others, during the visits of our Blessed Lord in the Holy Eucharist to the Sanctuary.

Processions were held at the famous Marine Shrine of Lourdes each year, with the thousands, nay, millions of pilgrims uniting their voices to pray and sing praises to the Most Holy Virgin.

Immaculate Mary

Immaculate Mary!
Our hearts are on fire,
That title so wondrous
Fills all our desire.

Refrain Ave, ave, ave, Maria!Ave, ave, ave, Maria!

We pray for God's glory,
May His Kingdom come!
We pray for His Vicar,
Our Father, and Rome.

Refrain

We pray for our Mother
The Church upon earth,
And bless, sweetest Lady,
The land of our birth.

Refrain

For poor, sick, afflicted
Thy mercy we crave;
And comfort the dying
Thou light of the grave.

Refrain

There is no need, Mary,
Nor ever has been,
Which thou canst not succour,
Immaculate Queen.

Refrain

In grief and temptation,
In joy or in pain,
We'll ask thee, our Mother,
Nor seek thee in vain.

Refrain

O bless us, dear Lady,
With blessings from heaven.
And to our petitions
Let answer be given.

Refrain

And crown thy sweet mercy
With this special grace,
To behold soon in heaven
God's ravishing face.

Refrain

Now to God be all glory
And worship for aye,
And to God's virgin Mother
An endless Ave.

Refrain

In death's solemn moment,
Our Mother, be nigh;
As children of Mary
O teach us to die.

Refrain

Jésus, Marie, Joseph...

2008-01-13T18:57:00.002+08:00

Je vous aime!

Sauvez les âmes!

Hail, Three Kings!

2008-01-06T21:46:00.001+08:00

As the Holy Mother Church celebrates the blessed Feast of the Epiphany this day, we also commemorate the arrival of the Three Kings, or Magi, from the Far East, to the humble manger where the Sweet Infant of Bethlehem laid. Here, they bowed down before their Creator, adoring Him, offering Him their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

It would be interesting to note that each of these three gifts are symbolic of our disposition and the spiritual gifts that we ought to offer and present to our Lord God this day, nay, daily for all our lives.

Our material possessions in our earthly course ought not to be a hindrance to prevent us from attaining our spiritual perfection, so that we may come at last to the Happy Home where we have, through the sin of our First Parents, denied ourselves. Hence, all our material goods and belongings, which the gold represents, should all help us and direct us to our Last End, that is, the glory and eternal bliss of Heaven, and the beatific vision of God.

The frankincense is a symbol of our prayers. For if our prayers are sincere and truthful, they shall ascend and penetrate, like a sweet odour, through the clouds to reach the Throne of the Most High.

Our Lord did not promise us riches and joy in this our earthly pilgrimage. Instead, He called, and continues to call us, to penance every single day. Myrrh, a bitter substance, is a symbol of the self-denial and mortification of our passions that we must still practised daily, in order for us to attain to the best of our abiliites the spiritual perfection that God requires of us, so that we may deserve to enter His Kingdom.

During the Holy Mass this day, the Church reminds us of the three-fold Epiphany, which is the Greek word for Manifestation, of Christ: to the Magi, that is, to the Gentiles; in His Baptism at Jordan, when the Voice from Heaven declared: This is My Beloved Son; and the first miracle of our Lord, through the intercession of our Blessed Lady, at Cana, where He changed water into wine.

Here is a picture of my very own Crèche I had at home, a gift fresh from France.

The kangaroo thinks it is an Angel and climbs to the top of the roof, using some form of grapple, and sings the Gloria and to get a better view of the Infant King. And there certainly are some unwelcomed guests visiting the manger... See if you spot them.

We Three Kings of Orient Are

We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.

Refrain
O star of wonder, star of light,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.

(Gaspard)
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.

Refrain

(Melchior)
Frankincense to offer have I;
Incense owns a Deity nigh;
Prayer and praising, voices raising,
Worshipping God on high.

Refrain

(Balthazar)
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

Refrain

Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Sounds through the earth and skies.

Refrain

Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord Jesus Christ

2008-01-01T00:39:00.002+08:00

... and Octave Day of the Christmas.

May the Holy Infant King of Bethlehem continue to bestow upon you abundance of graces and blessings during this season of His Blessed Nativity and Epiphany, and on this Anno Domini 2008!

Religious Liberty?

2007-11-27T17:17:00.003+08:00

Even the Protestants said no.

Initially, Thomas Cushing, one of the delegates and Founding Fathers of the United States of America, suggested that an inter-religious prayer be said together before the inaugural session of the Continental Congress on 6 September 1774 at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia.

The Prayer in the First Congress

However, John Jay of New York and John Rutledge from South Carolina raised their objection. A certain John Adams later wrote to his wife, Abigail, explaining that the opening prayer was practically impossible "because we were so divided in religious sentiments" and thus "we could not join in the same act of worship".

Many of the Founding Fathers gathered at the Congress are clearly from different Protestant sects, including Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, just to name a few.

Even the Protestants from the different brands and branches of Protestantism do not recognise themselves as a collective group of Christians, as a united 'Body of Christ', as the universal Church of God. They see the differences in doctrines and beliefs, and henceforth conclude that they cannot, in good conscience, pray and worship together. Doesn't this tell us something?

(Sadly), the Modernists' idea of religious liberty set in, as noted by the same John Adams, that a certain "Mr S Adams arose and said he was no bigot, and could hear a prayer from a gentleman of piety and virtue who was at the same time a friend to his country". In the end, "the motion was seconded and passed in affirmative".

Modernism is not a modern concept at all. Be reminded that this took place in 1774.

The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima

2007-11-24T09:32:00.004+08:00

Old, traditional Catholic movies are the best.

And this one is not an exception. Here are some excerpts compiled from this beautiful movie:

Our Lady did not, and will never, lie. The Miracle of the Sun did happen on the thirteenth day of October that same year.

How beautiful is the Regina Caeli to Our Blessed Mother! Listen to how fervently, how piously the peasants pray and sing to Our Lady in the movie! With how much more faith and reverence must to those happy souls who are present be praying and singing on that blessed day!
On Cova da Ira, the spot where the Apparitions of Our Blessed Lady took place, stands a magnificent Basilica. But woe to the unhappy Modernists, who desecrated the Sanctuary sanctified and consecrated by the Mother of God herself by allowing the pagans, the Hindus in particular, to worship and perform rituals to their idols there! Woe, woe to them!

The Procession to the Sanctuary.

Prayers of reparation for the desecration of the Sanctuary, led by the four Bishops.

The Bishops of the Society of St Pius X led thousands of pilgrims in 2005 to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima to make reparations for the desecrations. Tradition triumps over the Modernism, as the attempted interruption by the singing of the Novus Ordo nuns only encouraged the pilgrims to pray even louder the prayers of the Holy Rosary.

Let us continue to make reparations to the Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of Mary in our daily prayers!

Caveat: Your blogger does not support all the information from of the linked parent site.

God, Church and Soul

2007-11-23T18:44:00.001+08:00

Teacher from Hell

2007-11-18T00:25:00.002+08:00

Teacher from Hell.

That's what my mates and I used to call our fifth grade English teacher, Hector. When the principal introduced us to the new teachers that year, Hector's reputation preceded him; he was described as a 'walking encyclopedia', a 'drill sergeant', and many other epithets of fear. True enough, when he first came to our classroom, he ordered us to occupy only one fourth of our seats, and have our backs straight as possible; he immediately gave us a ton of homework, and his first words to us were 'I'm not here to be your friend.'

Now, from what I remember, Hector came from a well-off family of lawyers and justices in beautiful Iloilo City, which rivaled Manila in prominence at the end of the Spanish colonial period. Hector studied with the Jesuits in grade school and high school, joined the Opus Dei, went to Harvard, and came back to the Philippines after several years of study. He was the first teacher I'd ever seen who drove a Mercedes Benz to work, and he talked with a perfect Hahvahd accent, with the slightest tinge of a Hispanic flavor to it.

Most of what we knew about Hector came from hearsay. Back then, to us, he was the most awesome teacher we had, while at the same time being the very epitome of Hell. Just a few days into the school year, he already required a notebook to be submitted at the end of the year, containing at least two new words we learned per day, including weekends. The penalty for so much as failure to note one entry was unknown, but we didn't stick around to find out what it was.

He was also the first teacher to deviate from the approved curriculum; he made up his own, and required us to read C.S. Lewis' 'Chronicles of Narnia' instead; for the first quarter, it was 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe', 'Prince Caspian' for the next, and 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader' for the last two. Failure to bring one's book meant being excluded from the lectures for a whole week. Indeed, Hector was so strict in this regard, that some parents even complained against him.

Hector had a lot of quirks. He hated clicky pens, calling them unmanly. One time, a friend of mine who would later on become valedictorian, used a clicky pen for a major test. Hector lost no time in approaching him, and snapped the clicky pen like a twig between his fingers. He also did not mince words; in the Philippines, the Spanish puneta as well as puta are considered exceptionally taboo; he broke this taboo by explaining to us their proper meaning. When he would encourage us, he told us anecdotes from World War II, telling stories of Joseph Goebbels 'the sinister head of the Propagandaministerium'; I don't know why.

He was also our religion teacher as well - and if he was strict in English class, he was doubly strict in religion. He spoke casually of the sufferings our Lord suffered on the Cross, citing ancient Roman sources on the severity of this ignominious execution. One time, during a lecture about the Virgin Mary, an Adventist seat mate of mine cracked, 'Advocate? What do you mean, like the Devil's Advocate?' (The discussion was about Mary being our intercessor before God). Hector fumed, his face turning red; he let out a large scream and swept our jugs, which were resting atop a low shelf to one side of the room, hurling them at Chuck, my Adventist seatmate (who was incidentally our biggest bully). 'Anathem sit! Get the #&*%!@ out of my classroom!' That was the first time I saw Chuck cower in fear. I think he even cried, if I remember correctly.

He was very strict when it came to essays in both subjects; spelling 'ecumenical' wrong, for example, landed one a point's deduction. When someone asked him, 'Sir, can I come inside the room?', he would glower fiercely and say, 'You may not', and slam the door shut. He refused to let the student in until he learned proper grammar. Luckily, I was never one of those students.

There was also a legend, that he picked a fight once with another English teacher in the faculty room, apparently appalled at his grammar or something, who would incidentally go on to teach us in the sixth grade. When we were noisy (and it was rare), he would either make us line outside the room or, more frequently, have us run laps in the quadrangle, or carry our chairs above our heads for forty minutes while he delivered his lectures. The thing that struck fear most of all into us, though, was when he picked up a piece of chalk, and calmly rubbed his forefinger and thumb, and completely pulverized it. Without even breaking a sweat. Without even straining a muscle.

He would have been our Spanish teacher as well, but time did not permit, so we had to settle for another one, who he would probably have called 'a clown' to his face. But that probably would not have been a good idea, since he would have asked us to write essays at least five pages in length (for a Grade 5 student, that's Hell) entirely in Spanish. Besides, I wouldn't want to get a tongue lashing from him like that other student did, whom he called a maricon and a pajero in front of the whole class (the other section).

Looking back, that year under Hector was one of the most memorable things in my mind. Eight years have hardly dulled his memory, and today we still speak of him in a reverent air, afraid that he might pounce at us from a hidden, shadowy corner. Hector was simply awesome; I doubt I'll ever meet another teacher like him again. I would not write the way I do today without his criticisms, and I probably would not know what 'diphenychloroarzine' or 'succinylsulfathiazone' is had he not required those two new words everyday; I must have bled our three volume dictionary set looking for the rarest, most difficult words I could find, but still he knew most of what I put in that notebook.

Please pray for Hector. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year, and it is apparently not progressing. He has a beautiful daughter, a lovely wife, and so much to lose-- and still to give-- at this early stage in his life.

In the words of his favorite greeting to us: 'Morituri te salutant!'

We need Catholic teachers like Hector. Big time.

Instaurare Omnia in Christo!

2007-11-01T01:34:00.008+08:00

How can the saints, particularly those bathed in the blood of martyrdom, who have suffered and died for the propagation of the Holy Faith ever imagine the cancerous concepts of Modernism ravaging through so many members of the Mystical Body of Christ, nay, even the very heart - the Magisterium, in the present years?

United with the spirit and intention of the late Archbishop (felicis memoriae), we are bound by our moral obligations to echo the Declaration that he had made publicly, and courageously, back in 1974.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Defender of the Catholic Faith

Declaration of November 21, 1974:

“We adhere with all our heart and all our soul to Catholic Rome, guardian of the Catholic Faith and of the traditions necessary for the maintaining of that Faith, to eternal Rome, mistress of wisdom and of truth. On the contrary, we refuse, and we have always refused, to follow the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies, which showed itself clearly in the Second Vatican Council and in the reforms that issued from it.”

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

And also, this:

The Oath Against Modernism

I, (...), firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day. And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:90), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated: Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time. Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time. Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely. Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our Creator and Lord.

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion. I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality-that of a believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful. Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm. Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact-one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history-the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labor, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles. I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God...

Given by His Holiness St. Pius X September 1, 1910.

Most unfortunately, this Oath, which is to be sworn to by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries, has lost its use in the Post-Conciliar church.

So help us God...

Attention: Due to some technical errors, I am no longer able to maintain my previous blog. With this new blog up and running, the legacy of un roi, une loi, une foi continues.