Catholic Voice 21st May 2021 Issue 317

CatholicVoice Omnia possum in eo, qui me confortat

21 May - 3 June 2021

Issue 317

St Joseph’s Cord Available now - see page 7

Only 50 Ire land/ NI £2 U K

€/£1.

2 EDITORIAL

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

The Medicine of Excommunication powerful argument for the dignity of human life but he also directly identifies “another source of scandal that pertains specifically to Catholics in public life: if their participation in the evil of abortion is not addressed forthrightly by their pastors, this can lead Catholics (and others) to assume that the moral teaching of the Catholic Church on the inviolate sanctity of human life is not seriously held.”

Anthony Murphy In a new pastoral letter the Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, is powerfully leading the way in setting a serious challenge to those Catholics who support abortion. In particular it is a letter which should be read and reflected on by every Irish bishop and priest.

Church leaders cannot dodge the challenge by saying that no politician is perfect. As Archbishop Cordileone puts it, “We all fall short in various ways, but there is a great difference between struggling to live according to the teachings of the Church and rejecting those teachings.”

The archbishop reminds Catholics that the killing of innocent unborn children in the womb is one of the greatest evils and is the pre-eminent public issue of our day.

Along with his pastoral letter, Archbishop Cordileone released a very useful “Questions Answered” section explaining aspects of the document. He disclosed that he had been drafting this pastoral “for a long time, but did not want to publish it during the election year, precisely to avoid further confusion among those who would misperceive this as ‘politicizing’ the issue.”

The pastoral letter is powerful and much needed because the archbishop not only makes a

But eventually the issue had to be addressed, the archbishop explained:

“I tremble that if I do not forthrightly challenge Catholics under my pastoral care who advocate for abortion, both they and I will have to answer to God for innocent blood,” writes Archbishop Cordileone.

CatholicVoice

Editor: Anthony Murphy editor@catholicvoice.ie Telephone: 059 8627268 ROI 00353 59 8627268 Outside ROI Keep up to date with news and articles via The Lumen Fidei website www.lumenfidei.ie

If a bishop has members of his flock who are erring and causing others to wander from the truth, he has a moral obligation to call them to account. This should be done privately at first, and with great patience. However, if every other medicine fails, it may be necessary for them to refrain from receiving the Holy Eucharist until they repent.

This is perhaps the most significant section of the pastoral letter with the archbishop making a strong public case for taking the next step, so if public figures ignore the call to repent and continue to support abortion then the only medicine which can correct their obstinacy in sin is that of excommunication.

The full pastoral letter will be available for download on the Lumen Fidei website and we will be sending a copy to every Irish bishop urging them to reflect on the content and to consider issuing a similar response to the pre-eminent public issue of our day.

In the meantime here is the Executive Summary of the Pastoral Letter: A Pastoral Letter on the Human Dignity of the Unborn, Holy Communion, and Catholics in Public Life Executive Summary “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (Jer 1:5).

A young Jeremiah heard the Lord speak these words to him over 2500 years ago. In these times in which we are living, the scourge of abortion ignores the reality that humans are made in the image of God, known and beloved by God. This pastoral letter addresses all Catholics, but especially Catholics in public life, calling for deep reflection on the evil of abortion and on the meaning of receiving Holy Communion, the Bread of Life.

Christian Counsellor

Face to Face Qualified, Experienced, Confidential Dublin Southside J. Jordan Bsc(Hons), M.A. 01 - 2312918

EDITORIAL 3

21st May 2021 Catholic Voice There are four pivotal points to this letter: 1. The gravity of the evil of abortion: Science teaches that human life begins at conception. The ending of life through abortion deeply wounds the woman and destroys the foundation of a just society; it is a “preeminent priority” because it violates the right to life, the foundation of all other rights. As Catholics we must be a voice for the voiceless and the powerless; there is no one more defenceless than a child in the womb.

2. Cooperation in moral evil: Who bears culpability when an abortion takes place? It is never solely the mother’s act. Those who kill or assist in killing the child are directly involved in performing a seriously evil act.

Someone who pressures or encourages the mother to have an abortion, who pays for it or provides financial assistance to organisations that provide abortions, or who supports candidates because they advance proabortion legislation also cooperate by varying degrees in a grave moral evil.

CatholicVoice

Is Now Available In The Following Tesco Stores _____________________________________

Abbeyfeale Ashbourne

Ennis Kilbarrack Baggot St Upper Kilcoole Ballina Kildare Ballinamore Kilrush Ballinrobe Kinnegad Ballyfermot Lisduggan Bettystown Mitchelstown Birr Naas Bray Newbridge Cabra Newcastle West Cashel Park Pointe Clane Phibsboro Clondalkin Rathmines Drogheda

Roscommon Rush Sandymount Shannonbanks Stillorgan Swinford Temple Bar Terenure Thurles Tipperary Tralee Square Tullow Westport Wicklow Youghal

3. The meaning of choosing to receive the Holy Eucharist: The Church has taught consistently for 2000 years that those who receive the Eucharist are publicly professing their Catholic faith and are seriously striving to live by the moral teachings of the Church.

Those who reject the teaching of the Church on the sanctity of human life and those who do not seek to live in accordance with that teaching place themselves in contradiction to the communion of the Church, and so should not receive the sacrament of that communion, the Holy Eucharist. We all fall short in various ways, but there is a great difference between struggling to live according to the teachings of the Church and rejecting those teachings.

4. The responsibilities of Catholics in public life: From the three points above it follows that Catholics prominent in public life have a special responsibility to bear witness to the fullness of Church teaching. In addition to their own spiritual good there is also the danger of scandal: that is, by their false witness, other Catholics may come to doubt the Church’s teaching on abortion, the Holy Eucharist, or both. This is becoming increasingly challenging in our time.

We are all called to conversion, not only those Catholics who are prominent in public life. Let us understand what is at stake here and work together in building a culture of life. To those who need to hear this message clearly: Turn away from evil and return home to the fullness of your Catholic faith. We await you with open arms to welcome you back with joy.

Could you consider leaving a bequest for CatholicVoice?

As a not for profit registered organisation we rely on the generosity of our benefactors for financial and prayerful support.

A bequest from you in your Last Will and Testament would help us to continue growing the publication of Catholic Voice and the dissemination of Catholic Truth If you are in a position to leave a bequest, however large or small, you are assured that it will be used to promote and strengthen Catholic teaching.

May God bless you for your generosity.

4 HOLY SCRIPTURE

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

Themes in Holy Scripture Canon Wulfran Lebocq I.C.K.S.P.

This new series of articles focuses on themes in Holy Scripture. We often hear in the readings during Holy Mass words such as vocation, seed, silence, victory, temple, anger…

These words create part of a biblical vocabulary and have profound spiritual meaning.

Their unity is expressed throughout the 73 books of the Bible, which is composed of 46 books of the Old Testament where the coming of Christ is prepared and prefigured, and 27 books of the New Testament where His coming is described and renewed.

A single one contains deep meaning that can be interpreted in a literal, historical or spiritual sense. The diversity of time, place, event and author is worth knowing for contextual and clarity of understanding. In Holy Scripture, God reveals Himself to humanity through the voice of the prophets.

The use of such vocabulary creates images that fills the memory and provides the intellectual environment and capacity to receive its symbolism.

The readings during Holy Mass provide us with God’s Word in and through Holy Scripture. Our predecessors in the Faith could not be accused of knowing very little about the Bible, and especially the Old Testament; the simple opening of the Roman Missal exemplifies this. Also, as we pass on the Faith to the next generation, the first contact that children often have with Sacred Scripture is heard in the liturgy, which is closely linked with biblical history.

The first duty of the Church and particularly her consecrated members is prayer. Seven offices of the day and one office of the night, which constitutes Praise of the

Divine, temper her liturgical life.

The divine office is organised in a way, that the sacred ministers recite the entire psalter each week.

The psalms hold the most important place in the liturgy. They express all the sentiments and attitudes of the people of Israel, her prayers, her sorrows, her hopes; they are also imbibed with the prayer of Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles.

They constitute also essential parts of the Holy Mass that are sung: the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Tract, Offertory and Communion antiphons. This illustrates the distinctive place occupied by the Old Testament in the liturgy.

The Roman lectionary gives us The Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Jonas, Malachi; the Books of Wisdom (Proverbs, Solomon, the Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus), the Historical Books (Kings, Esdras, ,Judith, Esther), and also the Books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. We find also Deuteronomy, the Books of Tobias, Maccabees, Amos, Micah and Zachariah.

Certain Historical Books (Judges) and certain Minor Prophets (Obadiah, Nahum) are not found in the Roman liturgy, nevertheless the Gregorian melodies draw also from the lamentations of Jeremiah, Job and the Books of Baruch and of Habakkuk.

Looking at the Holy Mass we find that the order of the Epistle readings seems to have been established during the time of St. Gregory, who followed the order established by St. Benedict, and was the traditional Roman order around the year 520 AD. The Roman church, at least since the 5th century, ordinarily has only two readings, according to the usage of the synagogue, in which one reading is always a passage of the law and the other reading is from the prophets.

All of the epistles of St. Paul, except that of Philemon, are used. We also find readings from St. Peter, the Acts of the Apostles, St. James, the Apocalypse and also the epistles of St. John. The liturgy privileges the reading of the Old Testament during the week but proposes only the New Testament for feasts.

HOLY SCRIPTURE 5

21st May 2021 Catholic Voice During Penitential times, e.g., Lent, the epistle, taken from the New Testament is reserved for Sundays, whilst during the week the Old Testament is used.

The cycle of readings in the Roman Missal is repeated annually, according to the Extraordinary Form. This is also inherited from the synagogal liturgy, delimited and distributed in a constant manner among all the Sabbaths of the year.

During one year, certain readings are even recited several times: the Church always insists on repetition in the liturgy.

The regular contact with the Word of God also has an educational aspect or should I say boldness, for each text has an aspect eminently instructive.

However, the purpose of the readings is the renewal of the Faith among the faithful; the proclamation of divine action in the history of salvation; and above all the preparation of the sacrifice. This is why the liturgy must not be a sort of biblical initiation study. Its purpose must tend rather to link different inspired texts to the spirit of the feast, in making them reverberate, echo through our souls in order to discover their multiple harmonies.

The choice of passages of Sacred Scripture in the Roman Missal is rooted in a very long tradition. Its structure rises from the womb of the Church during the end of the era of bloody persecutions and was little by little put into place by the great contemplatives. By the mystery constantly renewed in the liturgy, it turns us towards the Author Himself who has inspired these sacred words. It is fitting that we listen with an attentive ear so that, by the grace of God and in the imitation of Our Lady, we ponder them in our hearts thus allowing them to resonate in our souls and throughout our lives.

Photo Courtesy Stephen Tyrell

The

Dominicans

To Know and To Love Truth

"Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the Truth, we cannot know it."

- Blaise Pascal www.irishdominicanvocations.com

6 PERPETUAL SUCCOUR

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour How the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour came from the East.

The picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour is of Eastern origin, and the work probably of a Greek artist of the Thirteenth Century. Hence, “the Virgin of the Orient” is a name often given to this picture of Mary.

At present we are unable to trace its history, or the devotion to it, beyond the close of the Fifteenth Century when it was brought to Rome from Crete by a pious merchant of that island. Crete was then in imminent peril of invasion by the Turks.

Towards the end of the Eleventh Century the Turks captured the Holy City of Jerusalem and became masters of Syria and Asia Minor. It was the Crescent of Mohammed against the Cross of Christ. Catholic Europe sent out its bravest fighting men to give battle to the enemies of our religion, and victory after victory crowned the arms of the Crusaders until Jerusalem was retaken and the infidels driven back. But alas! victory was only for a time. As a punishment for the sins of Christians, and to the everlasting disgrace of Europe, God allowed the Holy Places of Palestine to fall again into the hands of the enemies of the Christian religion and civilisation; and the victorious standard of the

Crescent, the black flag of Islamism, floats over the land where Christ our Lord was born, and lived and died, and floats triumphant even unto our days. The selfishness, the jealousies, and mutual quarrels of Kings and States in the West, the suspicions, treacheries, and schisms of the Greeks in the East, paralysed Christian Europe and gave the Turks a free hand. Extending their conquests, therefore, towards the West they entered Europe itself, and in 1453 they captured Constantinople.

Thirty years later Mohammed II threatened Italy. This was not intended to be merely an idle threat. Death, however, put an end to Mohammed’s schemes of Western conquest, and civil war amongst his sons crippled the Mohammedan power. Needless to say, the southern coasts of Europe and the islands of the Mediterranean sea were greatly exposed to Turkish invasion, and hence hundreds fled from such places as Crete to seek safety in Italy and the West.

At the period of which we write, the end of the Fifteenth Century, Crete was, as indeed it had been for centuries before, a province of Venice, and one of the best defended out-posts of Southern Europe. It had a population then of 250,000; was fully provided with churches and a hierarchy of eleven bishops, with the city of Candia as the Archiepiscopal See. Though incessantly threatened and attacked by the infidels, this brave Christian island held out for long centuries. Not until 1669 was it taken by the Turks, and then only after one of the longest sieges in the world’s history — a siege of twenty-four years.

Now, it was from this island of Crete that many fled towards the end of the Fifteenth Century, and one of the band was a certain pious merchant who possessed a treasure dearer to him than life itself, and to save it from the danger of profanation and destruction he now willingly left all. This treasure was none other than the holy Picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.

With this blessed treasure he took ship for Italy. And behold, the “Virgin of the Orient” is now coming, “coming forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun,” to bless and brighten the West! A hundred thousand welcomes before thee, coming West to us, thou fair Virgin of the Orient, sweet Mother of Perpetual Succour !

The First Miracle The powers of darkness would prevent the coming of the holy Picture if only they could. As if knowing full well what spiritual goods that vessel was bearing to the West, hell seemed suddenly to loose itself against it. A violent tempest swept the sea, the waves dashed over the brave little ship, and all seemed lost. Amidst

21st May 2021

PERPETUAL SUCCOUR 7

Catholic Voice

the cries of terror and despair one man was calm — the pious Cretan merchant. He believed the Star of the Sea would not fail them in that hour, that Our Lady of Perpetual Succour’s picture that he had saved from the infidels would be their salvation now. He reverently took the miraculous Picture, and, holding it up, cried aloud: “Behold her who must save us! On your knees and let us invoke together the blessed Mother of God!” In a moment all were on their knees before the Picture calling upon the Mother of God to succour and save them. And she heard their prayers. At her word, as when Jesus her Son spoke, there came a great calm. The Star of the Sea, so dear to mariners in danger, shone sweetly upon them, stilling the angry waters. This is the first recorded miracle of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.

In a few days a favouring breeze bore the little Cretan ship to the mouth of the Tiber. Having disembarked at Ostia, the merchant, with his picture of Our Lady, set out for Rome.

The Holy Picture In Rome It was God”s will and the will of the Divine Mother that the miraculous Picture should be honom-ed in Rome, so that from her glorious shrine in the capital of the Christian world and the centre of Religion she might send forth, as from the very heart of the Church, light and grace and perpetual succour even to the very ends of the earth.

The devotion to the Cord of St. Joseph took its rise in Belgium, in 1637, in consequence of a miraculous cure effected by the wearing of this precious girdle. During this year of Saint Joseph you may wish to wear the cord to avail of the GRACES ATTACHED TO THE WEARING OF THE CORD. Graces precious to the piety of St. Joseph’s servants are attached to the wearing of this cord. They are: 1. St. Joseph’s special protection 2. Purity of soul; 3. The grace of chastity; The Cord 4. Final perseverance; 5. Particular assistance at the hour of death.

Of Saint Joseph

The pack containing a St. Joseph’s Cord, a prayer card, St. Joseph’s medal and an information leaflet is available now for €/£10 (inc. p&p).

To order your cord/s please complete the form below.

Please send me ___ (insert number required) St Joseph’s cord/s Name: _________________________________________________________________ Address: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Telephone: _________________________________________________________________ Eircode ____________________ Credit/Debit Card No:__________________________________ Expiry Date:_________ C.V.V. ____________ Please send completed form with cheque or postal order made payable to Catholic Voice to; Catholic Voice, Castlemitchell South, Athy, County Kildare ***PLEASE ALLOW UP TO 21 DAYS FOR DELIVERY ***

8 PERPETUAL SUCCOUR

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

Our pious Cretan merchant scarcely knew the full designs of Providence in regard to the holy Picture, but they were soon to be made manifest.

The merchant fell grievously ill in the house of a friend. Feeling that his end was drawing near he summoned his friend to his bedside and made him promise to have the picture set up in one of the churches in the city. The solemn promise was given to the dying man that his will would be carried out. After this the pious merchant died the death of a good and true servant of the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. May we be as faithful as he in devotion to Mary that a like happy death may be the reward of our lives.

The holy designs of God have, as a rule, to suffer contradiction. The public veneration of the Picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour was too great and too holy a thing not to be opposed by Satan. To prevent, then, the spread of devotion to the picture, and indeed all knowledge of it outside, the powers of evil seemed fully determined. The wife of the man in whose house the picture was became so fascinated with the precious treasure that not all the remonstrances of her husband could bring her to part with it. The husband, yielding before the wife’s determination, broke his solemn promise to the dying merchant. Whereupon the Blessed Virgin appeared to him in a dream and warned him to carry out the will of her dying client. He told his wife, but she only laughed

Kera Kardiotissa Monastery in Crete - origin of the miraculous image - (Photo - Lourakis CC3 Licence)

at his silly dreams. A second and a third time the Queen of Heaven warned him, but he had not the courage to obey her rather than his wife. At last, in a fourth vision, Mary, the Mother of God, severely reprimanded the husband, and said: “That I may leave this house it must needs be that you leave it first.” The man fell sick, and died soon after.

This tragic event would surely have an immediate effect. But no; the audacious woman still retained the picture. Our Lady mercifully tried new means and worked new wonders. One day when the little daughter of the house was praying before the picture Our Lady spoke to this innocent child, giving her a message for her mother. The child hastened to her mother. “Mother,” she cried, “I have just seen in our house a lady — a more beautiful and more loving there is not in Rome — who said to me “Go, tell thy mother that the Mother of Perpetual Succour wishes her picture to be set up for public veneration in one of the churches of Rome.” “In these recorded words the Blessed Virgin calls herself by the glorious title of “the Mother of Perpetual Succour.”

It is from her own lips, therefore, we have this sweet and consoling name. The child’s mother was at

last deeply moved, and was ready to let the picture go. Unfortunately, a neighbouring woman came along to tender advice — not to mind the visions of a prattling child. The woman had scarcely given her evil counsel when a terrible, swelling tumour appeared upon her side. She fell upon the ground in an agony of pain and terror. Death seemed imminent. The unfortunate woman cried for pardon, and besought that the picture might be brought to her.

As soon as the Picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour touched her, the mysterious malady disappeared.

The Picture is Placed in St. Matthew’s Church In the presence of such prodigies who could oppose the will of the Mother of God? But the question remained, to which of the many churches in Rome should the picture be offered? The Blessed Virgin spoke again to the little child: “I desire to have my home between my beloved Church of St., Mary Major and that of my dear adopted son, John” (St. John Lateran). Thus Our Lady of Perpetual Succour herself chose her new home and the place of her sanctuary.

This was, indeed, a holy, a consecrated spot. Between the Basilicas of St. Mary Major and St.

21st May 2021

Catholic Voice

John Lateran ran the Via Merulana along the Esquiline Hill, and upon this Via, or way, was the Church of St. Matthew. In the early ages of the Church, St. Cletus, the second Pope after St. Peter, lived there.

Under the persecutions of Nero and Diocletian he erected an oratory in his house and dedicated it to St. Matthew, where the suffering faithful might assemble for Holy Mass. St. Cletus furnished a hospitium also in his house for the accommodation of pilgrims to the Tombs of the Apostles, and placed a body of priests over it. In the Fourth Century this oratory of St. Cletus was replaced by a fine and spacious church, which was restored and solemnly consecrated by Paschal II. in 1110. This new church was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Matthew. One hundred years later another restoration of the church and hospitium took place under Pope Innocent III. and Pope Honorius III. In the Fifteenth Century the church of St. Matthew was given by the Pope, Sixtus IV., to the care of the Augustinian Order.

To the Prior of the Augustinian Community the woman now came to offer the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. This was in the year 1499.

The Augustinian Fathers of St. Matthew’s set about the necessary preparations in the church for the reception of the miraculous picture.

Soon all was ready. On the 27th of March, 1499, large numbers of devout faithful gathered within and around the church of St. Matthew in the Via Merulana. The picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour was solemnly borne from the church to be honoured with a glorious triumph before being definitely placed in the chosen sanctuary. It was a grand procession through the streets of Rome, a triumphal progress for the Queen of the Church in her capital city. Thousands of people took part in the procession, all filled with love of Mary, the great Mother of God; all enthusiastic in the praises of the Madonna who had come to prove herself in their midst a Mother

of Perpetual Succour. Sinful and sorrowful, we may be sure, were many of those who went out that day to meet Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and accompany her to her new home, but she saw the faces of all as she passed along, and she saw their hearts and their miseries and their love, too. She was not to be outdone by the generosity of others. Seeking for miseries rather than merits, she lavished abundant graces and favours upon all, especially the most sinful and abandoned. Great and public miracles even marked that day.

One poor, afflicted woman who had suffered from paralysis, and whose arm had been stiff and dead for years, was immediately cured by the touch of the holy picture. Thus Our Lady of Perpetual Succour gained the confidence of all.

At last the procession reached St. Matthew’s, and there, amidst a grand outburst of praises and thanksgivings, hymns and prayers, the holy picture was installed in its shrine over the high altar. Our Lady of Perpetual Succour was now at last in her new home chosen by herself, between her “own beloved Church of St. Mary Major and that of her dear adopted son,” St. John.

Soon the fame of the holy picture spread far and wide. We are told that multitudes of the faithful thronged St. Matthew’s from all quarters of Rome and from the neighbouring districts and villages, and Our Lady blessed them all, people, priests, bishops and Popes, proving herself indeed to be the Perpetual Succour of all her children.

Thus have been traced the successive steps by which Divine Providence brought the holy Picture to its destined home where the Mother of God was to establish her glorious sanctuary and receive so much honour from her clients and in turn confer so many favours and mercies upon them.

The Fame Of Mary’s New Sanctuary

The miraculous Picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour was

PERPETUAL SUCCOUR 9 venerated in St. Matthew’s Church in Merulana from the year 1499 to about the year 1809, and through these three centuries Mary fully justified her sweet consoling title of Perpetual Succour. This is amply attested by historians and by various records of favours and miracles obtained at the Shrine itself or through the intercession of Our Lady under that title.

The Church of St. Matthew became in fact soon so famous that Pope Leo X. (1513-1521) restored to it its Cardinalitial title which it had lost for centuries. Amongst the most eminent Cardinals of St. Matthew’s was the celebrated Cardinal Nerli, a devout client of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. He desired that his sepulchre should be in St. Matthew’s and speak forth to all generations the praises of his beloved Madonna in the following epitaph he composed for his tomb: “In St. Matthew’s in Merulana, the Church of his title, under the shadow of the most Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, widely renowned by the glory of her miracles, Francis Nerli, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, has placed his sepulchre.”

He died in 1708.

Peace and happiness in life, resignation, joy and sweet repose in death are the reward of those who have true devotion to the Blessed Mother of Perpetual Succour. There was another great servant of Mary, truly a hidden saint who seems to have had quite an extraordinary devotion to the Holy Picture. He passed away but a few years before Cardinal Nerli. This was Donogh, an Irish Friar at St. Matthew’s, who served Our Lady there for forty years and, after the pious Cretan merchant himself, merits the title of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour’s most devoted client, her own dear saint. We will return later to this holy man.

(Extract from ‘Our Lady of Perpertual Succour and Ireland’ Rev John B Coyle C.S.S.R. - 1913)

10 BECOME HOLY

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

A Life Well Lived Richard Greene

Thousands of books are published each day around the world, and yet very few pass the test of time to be read or cherished by future generations.

‘Vanity of vanities’, says the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes, as fame and glory fade very quickly. In pursuit of fame and glory, many great writers brought much suffering on themselves and their loved ones.

Shakespeare, the greatest writer in the English language, knew that the words of his great sequence of sonnets to his mysterious mistress would outlive her beauty.

Modern scholars now believe that his secret mistress was the Catholic Church, then being destroyed by the ruthless tyranny of Henry VIII and ElizabethI. The ancient Chinese ‘seanfhocal’ explains the secret of the attraction to write: ‘Even the palest of inks is stronger than the strongest memory’.

However, it is a curious fact that the three most important people in salvation history, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, left no books behind Them. They had no need to do so, as each of Them fulfilled their God-given mission perfectly and the books written about their lives will never be counted, as there are so many of them.

Paulo Coelho, the renowned Brazilian writer, in an article called ‘Transitory Glory’, tells the story of a Japanese monk who wished to translate the Chinese book the ‘Tao Te Ching’ into the Japanese language so that the Japanese people could read this classic text in their own language.

For ten years he collected money for this project but just when he was ready to commence the task a terrible plague ravished his neighbourhood and so he distributed all the money he had collected to help his sick neighbours. Once again he started collecting money for the project and after ten years he was ready to begin this important task.

However his village was destroyed by a freak tidal wave and he gave away all the money he had collected to build houses for his neighbours.

So yet again he set about fundraising for his great project.

This time he managed to translate the ‘Tao Te Ching’ and the Japanese people could read this beautiful book in their own language. Japanese scholars say that he really produced three editions of this work: two invisible and one in print, and the two invisible ones were the best and most beautiful ones.

St John the Evangelist described God as love and St John of the Cross, the world’s greatest mystic, said that, at the end of our lives, we will be judged on the love we gave in our lives. And St Paul, Christianity’s greatest missionary,

Ecclesiastical Art Restorations

by Dr.Nicholas von Kerckhoff Special Church Statues Repair and Repaint Nationwide www.atelier-nicholas.com

Mobile 087 2203898

The Good Samaritan

said that great faith and hope are nothing without love. The invisible acts of kindness and love and service to those in need will win us eternal life and perpetual happiness, which fame and fortune might lose for us.

The Japanese monk pursued his dream project but, in doing so, he did not neglect his neighbour in need. We can pursue our dreams and develop our God-given talents but the secret of happiness is to try and do so by not trampling on the rights of others and not to forget the suffering of the poor in body or spirit.

The greatest masterpieces have been written by the hidden, unselfish lives lived by the untold number of holy priests, dedicated religious brothers and sisters, single people and parents and families who have put their dreams and ambitions on hold for God and His creatures in need.

St.Catherine of Siena, one of greatest mystics the world has known and declared a Doctor of the church along with St.Teresa of Avila in 1970, in ‘The Dialogues’, conversations spoken directly to her by God revealed, that God doesn’t need our prayers or sacrifices as he is infinite and so it would not be possible for us to return infinite anything. So he informed St. Catherine that he placed us amongst human beings, our families, friends, enemies to love them without expectations of any return or thanks or praise, just as he had created us out of absolute unconditional love and if we tried to do that, we will become like him and merit eternal unity with him.

To do this we must be fortified by the sacramental life of the church - regular confession, the Mass and most crucially eat and drink the body and blood of Christ. For us to do this he sent his son to become one of us and show us the Way, the Truth and the Light. God is beyond us and the only way for him to reach us was to become one of us and, as St.John the Evangelist said repeatedly: God is Love and love is the only way, we can unite with him.

21st May 2021

THEY WILL HATE YOU 11

Catholic Voice

Being Hated By The World Is A Badge Of Honour Fr. Richard Heilman From the Gospel …

Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, Realise that it hated me first.

If you belonged to the world, The world would love its own; But because you do not belong to the world, And I have chosen you out of the world, The world hates you” (John 15:18-19) WHAT?!? But, but, but … I thought we were to do all we can so that everyone loves us!! Why would we say or do anything that caused anyone to hate us?! I don’t get it!!

Unfortunately, “making sure everyone loves us” is the mode out of which the vast majority of spiritual leaders work. This is how they interpret the great commission to love our neighbour. They believe, love means never having to offend anyone … never triggering any snowflakes. So, it only follows that this means never speaking against the dogma of the radical secular religion that has become pervasive in our time.

Jesus is the light, and those who live in godless ways seek to remain in darkness to hide their sins: “…the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed” (John 3:19-20). The light of truth is painful for those who sit in darkness.

And, it seems, the evangelisation efforts of this radical secular religion has never been more aggressive. In the midst of this historic level of indoctrination, any threat to the radical secular dogma is receiving censorship and punishment from not just the adherents of this secular anti-God religion but from the superiors of any cleric who dares to “offend the world.”

There is only one dogma allowed, and anyone, especially clerics, who speaks against the dogma of the world will be punished and marginalised. Efforts will be made to distance themselves from anyone, especially clerics, who dares to speak the truth openly; anyone who dares offend the “worldly.”

Well, I don’t care! I hope my diocese needs a warehouse to hold the hate mail they receive about me from the “worldly.” As Jesus said, in essence: “Being hated by the world is a badge of honour. It means you pose a direct threat to their agenda of normalising evil.”

We’ll all be accountable to our Maker one day! I want to be found pleasing God, not the world!

“The Church is dying because her pastors are afraid to speak in all truth and clarity. We are afraid of the media, afraid of public opinion, afraid of our own brethren!

The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.” – Cardinal Sarah

Many Christians believe God calls us to be “nice” God has called us to be “good” Good people are strong.

Good people confront evil.

Jesus Wasn’t “nice.”

He was kind and caring.

He was compassionate.

But He was unbending and Unflinching in standing for

TRUTH And it cost Him

His Life.

12 SCANDALIZING CHILDREN

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

Whosoever Therefore Shall Humble Himself As This Little Child, He Is The Greater In The Kingdom Of Heaven.

John Lacken Let us pause for a moment to offer up one Hail Mary for our bishops so that they will have the courage to boldly proclaim the Gospel message and be a light in these darkening times.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

I would like to thank all of those who have sent in donations to our recent appeal where we are offering a complimentary copy of ‘Ireland’s Loyalty to the Mass’. The response has been great and people have contacted me to tell me how much they have enjoyed the book and of how it has given them a sense of courage when they read of how our ancestors stood firm in the face of persecution. We will keep this offer running until the end of June so if you would like to receive a copy of ‘Ireland’s Loyalty to the Mass’ whilst supporting our apostolate to promote and defend our Catholic Faith, then please fill out the form at the end of this article and return it with your donation to the address listed.

Catholics are going to need both courage and fortitude in these times when it is clear that the Irish government is seeking to rid our country of the influence of Catholicism once and for all. Our government has sought to interfere in the renewed celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by re-iterating their instructions for religious services on 28th April, 2021. When it comes to distributing the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of Jesus Christ our secular government says:

Irish Government Blasphemes Jesus Christ

• “Communion should be distributed into the hands and NOT onto the tongue. The host should be placed in the hand of the recipient in such a way as to avoid hand contact. Priests and Ministers should be trained in the technique of placing the host in the recipient’s hand in a manner that avoids hand contact. Communicants should be told how the Communion host will be delivered.”

The norm for distributing Holy Communion in the Catholic Church is on the tongue whilst the communicant is kneeling and Catholics always have the right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue. The Irish government is contradicting the norm of the Catholic Church by forbidding Holy Communion on the tongue and the government is going beyond their lawful authority.

The Irish Government also reiterates their blasphemy against Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament of the altar when they state in their guidance for Religious Services that:

• “The elements of Communion can also be placed in individual disposable cups or containers and left separated on a tray or table for collection. Communicants could then approach and pick up an individual container for themselves while making sure not to touch any other hosts. The disposable cups or containers should be placed in a designated receptacle afterwards.”

To speak of the Holy Eucharist in such disrespectful terms is blasphemous.

The Irish Government is Hell bent on eradicating our Catholic culture which is transmitted primarily by way of the traditional Catholic family. The Catholic Primary Schools Management Association recently launched an RSE programme called Flourish. I have not studied the programme and so I cannot say whether the content is good or not, but it hit the headlines because while it mentions that “Children in the senior classes in primary school will be aware of

21st May 2021

Catholic Voice

SCANDALIZING CHILDREN 13

the existence of LGBTQI and some may question their own identity in this regard.”, it also says: “However, the Church’s teaching in relation to marriage between a man and a woman cannot be omitted” This led to some questions in the Irish parliament. I am once again indebted to Séamus de Barra for providing me the text of these exchanges. The first came from Deputy Roisín Shorthall addressed to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar on Thursday 29th April, 2021.

Deputy Róisín Shorthall: “A new relationships and sexuality education, RSE, programme for Catholic primary schools was published this week, as the Tánaiste knows. It was developed by the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

The programme, in its introduction, states that when discussing LGBTQ+ plus issues with children, “the Church’s teaching in relation to marriage between a man and a woman cannot be omitted”.

We know what that teaching is.

Relationships between men and women are natural. LGBTQ+ relationships are “intrinsically disordered”.

As recently as last month, incredibly, the Vatican reaffirmed that the Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions because God “cannot bless sin”. That is the church’s position. Let us not pretend otherwise. However, it is not the State’s position or the public’s position. We had a marriage equality referendum in this country in 2015 which passed by a huge majority. Same-sex marriage is every bit as valid as a heterosexual marriage.

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I beg pardon of Thee for all those that do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee. Amen.

Angel to the Children of Fatima 1916

Teaching children that relationships can be placed in a hierarchy depending on sexual orientation should be an anathema in any modern republic. Do we really want LGBTQ+ children, who may be struggling with their sexual orientation, to be taught in schools that their relationships are in any way less worthy, meaningful, loving or deserving of respect than their heterosexual peers? That is the inference of this programme.

This is an issue that does not just affect children. Speaking at the INTO’s annual conference at the start of the month, its vice president Joe McKeown said that up to 4,000 LGBTQ+ teachers are hiding their sexual orientation because they feared their jobs or promotion prospects would be harmed if their school patrons discovered their true identity.

The Tánaiste may say that Catholic schools have an ethos, but sex education needs to be fact-based.

Facts do not have an ethos. Can he tell me why, in 2021, RSE for Irish children is being developed

by Catholic bishops and not the National Council for Curriculum Assessment? Why has the Minister for Education remained silent on

this? What is the Government going to do to ensure pluralism in our schools and that we teach our children mutual respect?”

There is no surprise here from Róisín, and Catholics should pray for her conversion. She is probably sincere in her beliefs and she means well, but she is in error. Many of those who contradict Catholic teaching on human sexuality do so in the name of science and facts, however they ignore true science and the facts.

It is a fact that two men cannot pro-create children together. It is a fact that two women cannot pro-create children together. It is a fact that only a man and a woman can procreate children together, whether married or not. Therefore, it is also a fact that heterosexual relationships are not equal to homosexual relationships.

It is a fact that born children are regarded by society as a great good. There was a time when unborn children were also regarded as a great good, but modern Irish governments, allow unborn children to be murdered.

Given that children are a great good, it is a fact that the great

14 SCANDALIZING CHILDREN good of children can only come from heterosexual relationships. Therefore, not only are heterosexual relationships not equal to homosexual relationships, they are far superior because of the great good of children that only come from heterosexual relationships.

This is not to say that heterosexuals are superior to same-sex attracted individuals, but that heterosexual relationships are superior to homosexual relationships because it is a fact that the great good of children only comes from heterosexual relationships.

As Part of his reply to Róisín, Tánaiste Leo Varadker said: “As things stand, all schools have to have an RSE policy and that has to be developed in consultation with school management, parents, teachers and students, as appropriate. A school’s programme for RSE is developed and taught in the context of the school’s RSE policy. The ethos of the school should never preclude learners from acquiring knowledge about the issues involved, but may influence how the content is treated.”

The topic came up again in the Dáil on Wednesday 5th May, 2021. This time Deputy Paul Murphy, whose bill seeks to remove the Catholic ethos from RSE in Catholic schools, questioned Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

Deputy Paul Murphy “The programme for Government makes a commitment to developing inclusive and age-appropriate relationships and sexuality education, RSE, and social, personal and health education, SPHE, curricula at primary and post-primary levels, including an inclusive programme on LGBTI+ relationships and making appropriate legislative changes, if necessary. That is not happening, however.

Instead, the Catholic Primary School Management Association, effectively the Catholic bishops, has published a new programme, Flourish, outlining how RSE should be taught in its schools.

Not only is Flourish not LGBTI+ inclusive, it is positively homophobic.

Let me quote a number of lines from Flourish to the Taoiseach in case he is not aware of it. It states, “The Church’s teaching in relation to marriage between a man and a woman cannot

Catholic Voice

be omitted”. It describes puberty as “a gift from God” and states “we are perfectly designed by God to procreate with him”.

It states a Catholic school must consider these topics within “a moral framework that reflects the teachings of the Church”. This is very far from what is promised in the programme for Government. What is the Government going to do about it? Does it recognise that the Education Act 1998 needs to be amended along the lines we proposed in legislation still on Committee Stage, the Provision of Objective Sex Education Bill 2018, to prevent the religious ethos of a school from standing in the way of children receiving what they are entitled to?”

Once again, Mr Murphy, like his colleague Roisín Shorthall, is in need of prayers for his conversion and he too is in error. He uses his Dáil privilege to falsely accuse the authors of creating a homophobic programme, that is, a programme which promotes hatred of people who are same-sex attracted.

The quotes that he takes from the programme are not homophobic.

To say that a Catholic School must promote Catholic teaching on human sexuality is a simple statement of fact.

How would Mr Murphy like it if the shoe was on the other foot. Supposing one of his favoured secular schools was told that they could not promote a secular understanding of human sexuality because to do so would be Christophobic. Is Mr Murphy a Christophobe? Does he hate Catholics?

Is he saying that Catholic parents no longer have the right to a Catholic education for their children?

From his actions and pronouncements in Dáil Éireann, it would seem that Mr Murphy believes that he and the Irish Government have the right to impose their views on Catholic children regardless of the wishes of Catholic parents. A case of the kettle calling the pot black?

In his response, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said, “All children attending all schools will have to have the state RSE programme provided.”

One would hope that our Irish bishops will rise to the challenge, but at present there is no sign of this happening, especially when one looks at how they have bowed down before the

21st May 2021 government’s blasphemous covid-19 strategy for Catholic worship.

A friend recently sent me a screen-shot from the Facebook page of St Patrick’s Church, Donabate, which is quite disturbing because it is introducing a new class of lesser Catholic, the unvaccinated Catholic. You can see the screen-shot on the facing page. They say that vaccinated grandparents can attend a baptism. What they are really saying is that un-vaccinated Catholic grandparents will be discriminated against and will not be allowed to attend their grand-children’s baptisms.

This is where Catholic Church in Ireland seems to be heading.

Someone else sent me some literature in response to my article about Bishop Paul Dempsey’s recent reflection where, sounding uncannily like Roisín Shorthall and Paul Murphy, he condemned the language of the CDF document forbidding the blessing of non-marital sexual relationships.

The literature showed that the Catholic ethos ‘Mary Immaculate College’ in Limerick, which has three Catholic bishops on the board of Trustees, last year publicly raised the LGBT promoting rainbow flag on Campus.

The ‘Irish Institute for Catholic Studies’, which is based at Mary Immaculate College, last year hosted a Maynooth professor whose topic was “Why? And How?: Queering schooling for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Education”.

If you are not sure what this is about, let me share with you some of the abstract for one of this professor’s papers.

“Voices critiquing heteronormativity in faith schools often rely on an understanding of such schools as arbiters for heteronormative religious orthodoxies.

Many proponents of Jewish, Muslim and Christian schools offer compelling responses to such claims by providing inclusive perspectives on faith schooling. By applying a queer reading of temporality to a critique of the latter body of work, this paper will argue that these perspectives, despite their commitments to inclusion, have affinities with logics of heteronormativity through their appeal to a language of hospitality that reproduces adherence to heteronormative binaries and identity frames as originary and normative.”

21st May 2021

Catholic Voice

SCANDALIZING CHILDREN 15

Talk about the emperor’s new clothes.

These people create words such as heteronormative and use intellectual sounding gobbledegook in order to try to mask the fact that heterosexual relationships are normative whereas homosexual relationships are nonnormative.

The Catholic Church does not create “heteronormative binaries”. These binaries come directly from God the creator and are scientifically verifiable.

“Have ye not read, that he who made man from the beginning, Made them male and female? And he said: For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh.”

(Matthew 19:4-5) The three bishops on the board of Trustees at Mary Immaculate College are, Bishop Brendan Leahy, Bishop Raymond Browne and Bishop Kieran O’Reilly.

My purpose in writing about these topics is not about the bishops. My purpose is to alert Catholic parents to the fact that there is a growing movement in Ireland

Contact: John Lacken Tel: 085-1208779 E-mail: secretary@lumenfidei.ie

and globally which seeks to introduce primary school children to ‘queer’ ideology. Some of those involved in this movement are same-sex attracted themselves and they have no wish to live moral lives, they want to continue engaging in immoral sexual acts.

They seek to ‘queer’ the curriculum in order to gain acceptance, not for themselves only, but for their sinful lifestyles and they are happy to corrupt the innocence of children, your children included, so badly do they crave this acceptance. Sadly, some of our bishops are complicit in allowing the promotion of this sinful lifestyle in their dioceses and in the schools of which they are the patrons.



It is the duty of Catholic parents to protect their children from these nefarious influences and to make sure their children have a proper understanding of human sexuality at the proper age. God will hold you to account for any negligence in this matter because He abhors the abuse of the innocence of children.

“But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6) Like our ancestors before us, let us stand firm in defending our Catholic Faith.

CV316 - May - June 2021

The Lumen Fidei Institute “Promoting - Defending - Teaching - Catholicism” “Helping Catholics to live out their great calling as Children of God”

Let Us Remain Loyal To The Holy Sacrifice Of The Mass “The Mass... is the very life of the Church, the secret of her holiness and vitality.

No wonder that the spirits of darkness should have inspired the heretic with hatred for the Mass, for they know that when they strike at the Mass they strike at the heart of the Church.” Most Rev. Archbishop Michael Sheehan.

Please send me a complimentary copy of ‘Ireland’s Loyalty to the Mass’ with my enclosed donation.

May God bless you for your generosity, I wish to donate: €1,000 __ €500 __ €250 __ €100 __ €50 __ €20 __ €10 __ Other amount :€_____ (Standing Order Forms available on request from John Lacken) (BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE)

Name:

Please Note Our New Address

Address: Eircode: Phone: E-mail: Please add me to your e-mail newsletter.

Please return this form with any donation to: John Lacken, Ballinlough, Claremorris, Co Mayo F12 TN23 (Cheques etc payable to The Lumen Fidei Institute)

16 ABORTION HORROR

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

The Horror of ‘Selective Reduction’ Abortion Jonathon Van Maren This account of ‘selective reduction’ abortion is one of the most chilling you’ll ever read.

In 2016, the Washington Post covered the story of Brittneyrose Torres, a woman serving as a surrogate mother. Her womb was being rented to gestate triplets, for which she was being paid up to $30,000. There had been twins originally, but one embryo had split. The biological parents asked her to “eliminate the female, citing medical concerns.” A doctor told Torres there was nothing wrong with the unborn little girl, and an acrimonious battle ensued.

Such fights have become more common. Parents have offered surrogate mothers thousands of dollars to abort “imperfect” children and have actually sued mothers who refused (this did not happen in Torres’ case). Some doctors sell their services creating human life; others sell their services ending human life. Increasingly, human beings brought into this world in a petri dish are at risk of leaving it through the bloody suction hose of an abortionist’s aspirator.

Perhaps the most horrifying example of this is a 2013 essay in Elle magazine by Bettina Paige titled “Would you get a selective reduction?” A “selective reduction” is the banal term used to describe killing a twin; it is also referred to as a “plus one, minus one pregnancy.”

Paige pursued in-vitro fertilization (IVF); she and her husband ended up expecting twins. This is when her husband stepped in. “Bettina, we can’t handle twins,” he said, as if one of their twins did not already

Image: James McNeills - wikimedia CC2

exist. “I told you when you started all this that I didn’t want twins.”

Paige was under no illusions about what this meant. She’d known “selective reduction” had been a “contingency plan,” but hadn’t thought they’d ever use it. “Now,” she wrote, “I was horrified at the idea of terminating one of the foetuses growing inside me by injecting potassium chloride into his or her heart.” She knew that they were not talking about “reducing” twins—they were talking about killing one of them: With my son, I’d witnessed the stepby-step progress from blip to eightpound, two-ounce boy, marvelling at the increasingly recognisable sonogram images, poring over the weekly e-mail announcements from a pregnancy website: Your baby now has fingernails, your baby is now the size of a lemon, a banana, a melon. ... And while I strongly believed in women’s right to have an abortion, the unlucky foetus destined for elimination wasn’t merely an abstract potential

life, or an accident. He or she was the product of my love for my husband, a life we’d made together on purpose. This foetus had an identity, not least as someone’s twin. “Selective reduction” was Orwellian; I knew I was ending what could be a life.

I also worried that the surviving child would be scarred by the loss.

Perhaps the foetus would register the cessation of the heartbeat in the neighbouring sac, the stilling of the fluttery movements. Could the proximity of decaying foetal tissue infuse my womb with the spectre of death? If the chosen one ended up with mental illness or autism, would I always blame myself for having a reduction? All this may seem melodramatic, but I’ve heard about identical twins holding hands in utero; I’ve seen the secret language and private reality shared between even fraternal twins.

Despite all this — as well as “dreams with shadowy predators” — Paige hunted for a predator willing to perform the procedure, as this was

21st May 2021

ABORTION HORROR 17

Catholic Voice

too much even for many doctors willing to commit other foeticides.

Her husband was relentless in demanding that she kill one of the children. “But neither of us even likes our brothers and sisters that much,” he told his wife. His coldblooded regard for his siblings, it turned out, meant depriving one of his children of her twin.

Paige is one of those writers who believes that sharing her emotional turmoil over this horrifying decision can create empathy that excuses what she is doing. When she “watched the two little sacs on the sonogram darken and grow, develop heartbeats and vaguely human outlines,” she asked the doctor to turn the screen away because she didn’t want to “get attached.” Her doctor told her that he wouldn’t do a reduction, and that getting one would mean a 10% chance of losing both twins. She convinced herself that despite all that, it was the best thing to do.

After all, what would twins mean?

No career advancement. Less money. More expenses.

Complicated naptimes.

She probably couldn’t work. But Paige knew all of those excuses were just that — excuses. “Wasn’t sacrifice part of what being a parent was all about? Was it more accurate to say that we didn’t want to handle twins, rather than we couldn’t?” Yes. But at the end of the day, “my husband and I fought over sharing the responsibilities of one child.” Her husband even got religious about it, telling her that the twins “weren’t part of God’s plan… they were the product of artificial insemination.”

She hid the decision from friends and family at first. Despite hoping there would be something wrong with one of them, she found out that “both my babies were healthy.”

She and her husband got her mom to babysit their toddler while they went to abort his sibling. Reading Paige’s account, it is hard to understand why she decided to record it:

“You’ll feel a pinch.” My husband moved to the head of the bed, just as he had during our son’s birth. I stared up at him as he closed his eyes and his lips started to move in silent prayer.

Our doctor told us that she’d take into account any gender preference if the CVS determined that both babies were equally healthy. Now as she examined the ultrasound, she asked whether gender mattered to us. “Well, we have a boy at home, so I guess we’d prefer a girl,” I said, realising with a start that since she gave us a choice, I must be carrying a boy and a girl, and I’d just chosen to terminate a boy. I had a vision of what our son’s brother might have looked like — the same dimples, slender back, and full lips.

I felt a rush of nausea, as if I was eliminating a bit of him, too — or at least his DNA.

“Selective reduction” abortions are one of the most chilling examples of humans playing God. Paige’s twins were brought into existence by a doctor — and a doctor killed one of them when his parents decided that another little boy would be too much. Created and killed by doctors, with the briefest of lifespans in between. It is the commodification of human life on a grand scale, and it is an indictment of our civilisation.

What I couldn’t foresee, lying there on the table, was how guilty I’d feel watching my son struggle with having to share his mother with only one sibling: the girl I’d give birth to seven months later… the doctor spoke quietly to the ultrasound technician, instructing her to shift the wand this way and that. “I’m inserting the needle now,” she said.

Bettina Paige’s little boy — the one who might have had dimples, a slender back, and full lips — died at the end of a doctor’s needle, inches away from his sister. His sister was wanted. He was not. His father wanted him dead; his mother acquiesced. His short life should be remembered not as an example of why “selective reduction” is so difficult for the parents, but as a morality tale showcasing what happens when a truly sick culture gets a terminal diagnosis.

18 THE NON-CATHOLIC CATHOLIC

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

Is Joe Biden Catholic?

Christopher Monckton of Brenchley Say what you like about Donald Trump, he was the most Catholicfriendly President whom the United States has ever loved to hate. The heart of the message of the Lord of Life is love, and it is the antithesis of love to take the life of another, particularly where the victim is an innocent unborn child. Hear Psalm 139, in the sweet rhythms of the Bible – 13. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

14. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

There is the child in the womb praising the Lord and thanking Him for the gift of life. That is why the prevention of baby-butchering is the central push-button issue in Catholic social teaching and in the engagement of the Church with the political sphere. President Trump not only talked the talk about abortion: he walked the walk, literally, by being the only President to attend the annual March for Life. He also withdrew the United States from an initiative by the viscerally anti-Christian, anti-family, anti-life-itself United Nations that gathered funding from its vassal states for the promotion of baby-butchering.

Here, by contrast, is Biden’s rapsheet on abortion. On reading it, you will find it as hard as I do to believe that he is a Catholic – only the second in U.S. history (Kennedy was the first).

On January 22, his second day as president, Biden released a statement celebrating the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the case by which the U.S. Supreme Court, in flagrant contravention of article 1, section 1 of the Constitution, by which all legislative power is vested in Congress, effectively overthrew the prohibition on babybutchering and legalised it.

Mr Biden told reporters that his memorandum would “reverse my predecessor’s attack on women’s health access”. For the hate-filled Left, whom we must love dearly, do not call a spade a spade (for that would be “racist”) or babybutchering baby-butchering. It calls baby-butchering “women’s health”. For the Left hate humanity itself, with an ever-more-fanatical loathing. One would only regard baby-butchering as “women’s health” if one considered that their children were a cancerous growth to be cut out piece by piece and thrown away.

The Left – and hence Mr Biden – also call baby-butchering “women’s reproductive rights”.

Does not the Devil speak with the forked tongue of a snake? So far,

millions of innocents have been massacred as a result of the Court’s dismal decision.

A week later, Biden issued an executive order repealing the Trump administration’s Global Protect Life Policy, also known as the Mexico City policy, first introduced by President Reagan in 1984, by which U.S. Government agencies are forbidden to provide taxpayer dollars to groups promoting abortion overseas.

Since then, every “Democrat” president has repealed the policy and every Republican president has reinstated it. It is the Republicans who are on the side of the angels.

Next, the appalling Anthony Blinken was appointed Secretary of State, and lost no time in declaring that abortion, or “reproductive rights”, was a “human right”.

Then Shalanda Young, appointed as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, called abortion “racial justice”.

Worse, Biden appointed Xavier Becerra as Secretary for Health and Human Services. Becerra, like Biden, is a Catholic. He was

21st May 2021

Catholic Voice

previously Legal Kommissar of the People’s Republic of California, where he tried to persecute prolife pregnancy-care centres and the Little Sisters of the Poor all the way to the Supreme Court (he lost both cases).

During his nomination, Becerra refused to give straight answers to questions about baby-butchering.

Yet in March, the very day he was confirmed in office, his department announced the reversal of the ban on subsidising groups promoting it overseas.

Therefore, the slaughter of the innocents – er, sorry, “wimmin’s health … reproductive rights … a human right” – will continue and accelerate under Biden. Pray, pray for the host of little ones, fearfully and wonderfully made, who will be tortured and killed.

What next from the Butcher of Pennsylvania Avenue? His address to both Houses of Congress complained that he had inherited “the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War”.

THE NON-CATHOLIC CATHOLIC 19

Well, the Republicans must take some of the blame: at the request of a Sheriff whose officers had come across the Democrat voterfraud scam ten years ago they did precisely nothing.

Another “crisis” of which Biden spoke was the climate “crisis”, firmly believed in as an article of superstitious faith by every Leftist in the West. Thermageddonism is the replacement for true religion among those who have adopted the nasty blend of Fascism and Communism that ungrammatically calls itself “woke”.

Just in case the Biden administration does not succeed in bankrupting America by grossly irresponsible over-borrowing – for which there will be a very heavy price to pay, and not just in America – it will bankrupt the nation by continuing its campaign of kicking the poor in the teeth by making electricity and gasoline absurdly expensive.

Biden’s online “climate summit” was a sad joke. Various indigenous people spoke of how their ancestral

wisdom would help them – except that global warming is supposed to be a new and unprecedented threat.

Not a single scientist spoke, and for a very good reason. Between you, me and the gatepost, news is slowly spreading among dismayed climate scientists that the global warming scare was based on a strikingly elementary but grave error of physics. The poor saps forgot the Sun was shining. Right at the heart of their calculations, they forgot to take account of its effect.

No point trying to explain any of that to Biden. When Trump was told of climatology’s gross error, within a week he had pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate nonsense. Biden, of course, has reversed that wise move. This is the most ideologically-driven U.S. administration ever, and it does not in any respect reflect Catholic ideology. It is the ideology of hatred, and little good will come of it.

As for Biden, he is a Catholic but not Catholic.

In fact, Mr Trump had put vaccine production into place so that the worst of the pandemic was already over when Mr Biden took office.

He shamelessly took credit for the vaccine distribution that the Trump administration had already set in motion.

And, until the pandemic, the U.S. economy had been performing magnificently. It is not likely to do so in future, for Biden has already borrowed almost as much in three months as all presidents up to and including Obama. Boom, bust and inflation are back.

As to the “attack on our democracy”, Biden was talking of the storming of the Capitol, partly engineered by Leftist agitators.

What he should have been talking of was the stealing of the election by industrial-scale voter fraud organised by the “Democrat” National Committee.

“Offer up everything within your power as a sacrifice to the Lord in an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended; and of supplication for the conversion of sinners. Thus invoke peace upon your country. I am her Guardian Angel; the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission the sufferings that the Lord may send you.”

(The Angel of Portugal to Fatima children 1915)

20 GOD’S HEIRS

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

We Are Heirs To The Kingdom Of Heaven Mary Kearns

We have all heard the jokes about the soul arriving at the pearly gates who has to get past St. Peter and enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Whether the jokes are humorous, offensive or rude, they have one thing in common. St. Peter is not the one to be convinced of a person’s suitability for the kingdom. That work needs to have been carried out much earlier, because after death it is just too late.

Certainly, St. Peter holds the keys of the kingdom. This office was given him by Jesus and we can read the details in the gospel account.

Through the revelation of the Father, Peter had just confessed his faith: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” and the Lord declared “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16) This authority was given not to Peter alone but to every man who succeeded him as head of the Church. We therefore understand Peter as custodian of the keys of the kingdom. Subsequently, this authority which is from Jesus Christ, is exercised through the Church to whom Jesus gave victory over death.

The Catechism gives clear instruction on the authority of Peter and thereafter, down through the ages to the present day.”Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

The “power of the keys” designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after

his Resurrection: “Feed my sheep.” The power to “bind and loose” connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church. Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom. (CCC 553) The kingdom of heaven seems a long way off when we consider it as somewhere we hope to go after our deaths. But this realm also exists in real time, a kingdom won for us at Easter through the triumph of Jesus over death.

Jesus testified to the existence of the kingdom in many different ways using parables and symbols.

The Catechism describes this in detail and the entire section 541 to 546 is worth pondering.

Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.’ ‘To carry out the will of the Father, Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Now the Father’s will is “to raise up men to share in his own divine life.” He does this by gathering men around his Son Jesus Christ.

This gathering is the Church, “on earth the seed and beginning of that kingdom.” (CCC 541) We can compare ourselves to the people of Israel as they heard Jesus’ proclamation and his use of familiar images to describe the reality of a kingdom present in the midst of everyday life. It is a cause for joy; a woman sweeps out her house to find a valuable coin she has lost, then on finding it she calls her neighbours to rejoice with her.

It is like yeast a housewife mixes with a measure of flour. It is the mustard seed that although the

21st May 2021 Catholic Voice

smallest of seeds, will grow to the greatest height.

But there are other allusions. Jesus declares that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.

Even perhaps more strange, is the command to become like little children. The kingdom is offered but never imposed. Those who fail to accept it are like those damaged fish that the fishermen cast away when the sorting out is being carried out.

However, there is a difference between hearing and listening.

Nicodemus the teacher sought Jesus at night and looked for more instruction. However apart from the probing of some lawyers and scribes, there is not much evidence in scripture to show that other people were taking this teaching to heart. They seem to have mostly been interested in Jesus’ healing ministry, the miraculous food he provided and witnessing the spectacle of demonic deliverance.

Are we any different? Do we think enough about the kingdom of God which Jesus said was the reason for his teaching?

The third mystery of light of the holy rosary is the Proclamation of the Kingdom which entails the universal call to holiness.

Contemplating these mysteries helps us consider two kingdoms.

There is the earthly kingdom that we enter through our baptism and the kingdom of heaven that we hope will be our final destiny.

However, when questioned by Pilate, Jesus declared that his kingdom was not of this world.

If it was, he would be seen in majesty with a cohort of angels defending him. Although he had openly proclaimed the kingdom

that paradoxically exists, yet is still to come, this concept seemed to be too hard for many to understand. At the same time Jesus declared that God reveals his eternal truths to children, to the poor and to sinners.

When the people saw Jesus appear wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe as the gospel recounts, did they make up their minds that this cannot be the king? Is that one of the reasons they wanted him taken away and the reason they shouted for the other one - the revolutionary?

While the kingdom is present, it is not easily discernible. Perhaps it is only possible to really believe if we try to understand the kingdom as existing in shadow or as something that is upside-down or inside-out.

How does that affect us? As inheritors of the kingdom, St. Paul tells us we should act differently from those who do not have that understanding and who have not yet made that commitment. We should behave as though we are part of the kingdom that has not yet been revealed but which will be revealed in the future.

GOD’S HEIRS 21

St. Paul’s advice is unequivocal.

Apart from avoiding the obvious sins of idol worship and fornication, in the Letter to the Ephesians he exhorts us to conduct ourselves in a proper manner and for example, to refrain from any unwholesome talk only using words that help build up others.

We are very different from the people of the time of Jesus because we have been redeemed by his death and Resurrection. Every time we hear the gospel it is a challenge.

It means we have to live according to God’s directions and therefore through his mercy, ultimately claim our place in the kingdom. Unlike earthly kingdoms where the people are either subjects or citizens, we are actually inheritors. As adopted sons and daughters of God, we are royalty.

“He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes, With the princes of his people.”

(Psalm 113) For catechesis and liturgical formation: marykeenankearns@gmail.com

“Amen I say to you, Unless you be converted, And become as little children, You shall not enter Into the kingdom of Heaven.

(Matthew 18:3)

22 TRUE LOVE

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

Is Love the Cause of Hatred? The Answer May Surprise You Monsignor Charles Pope There is an old saying that the opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference. Indeed, it’s pretty hard to hate or even to have a strong aversion to something or someone we don’t really care about. But when we do love, we care. And the stronger our love, the more intense our concern, anger, or even hatred for what is wrong.

But does this mean that love is the cause of hatred? Our instinct is to recoil and say, “Of course not!”

As usual, St. Thomas provides help in sorting out some of the details and making proper distinctions. He takes up the question in the Prima Secundae (question 29 and Article 2): “Is Love the Cause of Hatred?”

Love … precedes hatred; and nothing is hated, except through being contrary to a suitable thing which is loved. And hence it is that every hatred is caused by love (Summa Theologica, I IIae 29.2, respondeo).

In other words, St. Thomas is saying that we would not hate that which is wrong, deformed, unjust, or dissonant unless we first loved what it was supposed to be. And thus love precedes hatred. It causes hatred by first instilling the love for what is right and then engendering a detestation of what is wrong.

An important distinction – If the word “hate” is tripping you up, understand that “hate” as used here is not referring to a vengeful wrath that seeks to destroy others. That sort of hate is, of course, forbidden; it flows not from wanting the good, true, and beautiful for others, but from a desire to destroy them. This

Next issue of

CatholicVoice On sale in churches, newsagents & bookshops from

4 June 2021

is diabolical hatred: a hatred that himself contrary to what is proper, hates, not the sin, but the sinner. we do not hate the person but rather what is deformed or contrary to what The hate referenced here is more akin it should be. Therefore, a human (or to grief, or to the sorrow and anger angelic) person can never be the we feel when someone or something object of our hatred, per se. is not as it should be. It is grief and a passion to set things right. This is the One might object that correlation is sort of hatred that love causes. not causation, and that is true, but in this case the hatred would not exist St. Thomas adds in his reply to at all were the thing not first loved objection 2: in its ideal form. It is this love of the ideal that causes the hatred of what Love and hatred are contraries … is deformed. Thus love is the cause [and so] it amounts to the same that of the hatred, not merely correlated one love a certain thing, or that one to it. hate its contrary. Thus love of one thing is the cause of one’s hating its Why is this important for us to grasp? contrary (I IIae 29.2, ad 2).

There are many reasons, but of special importance is understanding If we don’t love, we don’t care. it in relation to one another.

But when we love, we care, and we experience indignation when what In modern times, we have tended we care about is deformed, cast aside, to reduce love to kindness, warm or contrary to what it should be. And feelings, affirmation, and approval. in this way loves causes hatred.

But this is a drastic reduction of love. Kindness is an aspect of love, Love wills the good of the other, for but so is rebuke. Approval and his or her own sake. Love does not affirmation have their place, but so will the good of the other in order do forbiddance and insistence on to win an argument or to be proved what is right. Love can produce right. It wills the good simply for the warm feelings but it can also bring sake of the other. St. Thomas says about the deepest indignation. that love hates what is contrary to what is suitable and proper. But since When we love others we want no person, human or angelic, is in for them what is good, true, just,

21st May 2021 Catholic Voice proper, and beautiful — not what is deformed. And given the fact that we live in a fallen world, governed by a fallen angel, and are ourselves fallen and prone to sin, true love for others will have tensions. But tension is not always bad. No tension, no change. And change is going to be necessary for us to reach the perfection to which we are called.

So true love, properly understood, is capable of great indignation — yes, even of hatred. We ought to hate anything that is deformed or that is less than that to which we are called. Scripture says that if we love the world (a lesser thing) then we are enemies of God — yes, even adulterers! For God is our true love; anything less than loving God above all else is to be hated.

Jesus gets even more personal when he says, If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — such a person cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26). Jesus

is insisting on the same truth: that He is to be loved above all. Any lesser love that takes His place is a hateful and harmful thing.

Such strong language! And we in these dainty times wince at it. But vigorous love causes a hatred of deformity and a jealousy for the fullness of what love should be.

Much of our problem today is that we do not hate our sins or those of others nearly enough. From this perspective, our modern notion of kind, tolerant “love” is really slothful, weak love that seeks what makes everyone feel good rather than what is best. Feeling good becomes more important that doing good or being good. The ancient motto ‘esse quam videri’ (to be rather than to seem (to be)) is reversed and it becomes more important to seem to be than it is to actually be.

Thus our modern notion of love is weak at best and a lie at worst.

St. Thomas’ teaching that love is the cause of hatred indicates that

TRUE LOVE 23 our lack of hate for sin and other deformities of what is good, true, and beautiful is caused by a lack of love. It is not a display of openmindedness or tolerance; it is a lack of love.

True love admits of jealousy, indignation, and hatred for what is deformed, deficient, untrue, or obtuse. True love is fiery; it has a passion to set things right and to insist on what is truly good rather than what is merely adequate.

How deep is your love? Is it capable of being the cause of hatred? It ought to be (if properly understood). ‘Militiae species amor est’ (Love is a kind of war)!

Does this sort of talk unnerve you?

Let me finish by simply requoting St. Thomas: Love … precedes hatred; and nothing is hated, except through being contrary to a suitable thing which is loved. And hence it is that every hatred is caused by love.

24 ANGELS AND DEMONS

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

Angels and Demons Hunter Leonard Many Catholics and Christians today are confused about the true nature of angels and demons. Too often, our understanding of these spiritual beings comes from modern movies and TV shows as opposed to Scripture and Tradition. There is a great depth and beauty to the Church’s teaching on angels and we would do well to open our minds and hearts (and imaginations) to what the Church says, not the world, about these ancient, powerful, and very real creatures of God. Who are the Angels?

The word ‘Angel’ means messenger.

St. Augustine says, “’Angel’ is the name of their office, not of their nature.

If you seek the name of their nature, it is ‘spirit’; if you seek the name of their office, it is ‘angel’: from what they are, ‘spirit,’ from what they do, ‘angel’” (CCC 329). The angels act as messengers, but they are spiritual beings created by God. This is extremely important to note, for far too many people mistakenly believe that humans become angels when they die and go to Heaven. This is incorrect.

Humans do not become angels. Angels and humans are two different beings.

Human beings have both a body and soul, we are both material and spiritual (CCC 364). Angels do not have a body;

they are pure spirit (CCC 330). We are human beings; they are spiritual beings. We have bodies; they do not.

This is why it is incorrect to believe that people become angels when they die or to say that Heaven has another angel at the death of a loved one. Heaven receives something much greater at the death of the faithful, Heaven receives a saint.

Going back to Augustine, we see that angels are spiritual beings created by God with the office, or job, of being messengers, intermediaries between God and man. In addition to serving as God’s messengers, the angels also serve as protectors (Psalm 91:11), they serve as intercessors (Tobit 12:12; Revelation 8:4), and most importantly the angels exist to worship and exalt God (Hebrews 1:6). The angels exist to glorify God, to implement His holy will. And since it is the Lord’s will that all are “saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4), the angels play a role in our lives.

As the book of Hebrews puts it, angels are “ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation” (Hebrews 1:14).

Guardian Angels St. Jerome wrote that the human soul is so valuable to God, that the Lord gives every member of the human race an angel to guard and watch over them, from the moment they begin to exist. As St. Basil said, “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life” (CCC 336). This teaching comes from Jesus Christ in the gospels. We read in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus said, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10).

In the eyes of God, you are so important, so loved, so cherished and so desired that our heavenly Father has set aside one of His angels from the beginning of time to wait for you, and from the moment of your conception, to watch over you, guard you, and intercede on your behalf.

Our guardian angels behold the face of God in Heaven and can bring Him our prayer requests. The Book of Revelation gives the following image: “The prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel” (Revelation 8:4). There is great power in asking our guardian angels to pray for us and bring our prayers to the Lord.

We should also ask them to guide and protect us using this traditional prayer: Angel of God, my guardian dear, To whom God’s love commits me here, Ever this day, be at my side, To light and guard, Rule and guide.

Amen.

Our guardian angels are not, however, the only angels that God created. The guardian angels make up just a portion of the great multitude that God created at the beginning of creation.

The Nine Choirs The Church holds in her tradition the ordering of the angels in a hierarchy of nine choirs. In ascending order the nine choirs are: The Angels, the Archangels, the Principalities, the Powers, the Virtues, the Dominions, the Thrones, the Cherubim, and the Seraphim (cf.

Ephesians 1:21, Colossians 1:16; Aquinas ST I.108). Each of these choirs of angels are given specific roles and tasks.

In his book, Angels and Demons, Catholic philosopher, Dr. Peter Kreeft, explains the traditional roles of the different choirs of angels. The following descriptions of the choirs and their roles will draw heavily from his book.

Kreeft explains, “The first three levels see and adore God directly.”

The Seraphim (meaning “the burning ones”) contemplate God with the utmost clarity and are the closest to God and so are aflame with His love (cf. Hebrews 12:29). The Cherubim (meaning “fullness of wisdom”) contemplate God and His plan for the world. The Thrones contemplate God’s power and authority.

“The next three choirs fulfill God’s providential plans for the universe,” says Kreeft. The Dominions command

21st May 2021 Catholic Voice

ANGELS AND DEMONS 25

the angels below them. The Virtues, following the directions of the Dominions, guide the universe as a whole. The Powers, following the guidelines of the Virtues, fight against evil influences that oppose God’s plan for the universe.

Finally, “the last three choirs directly order human affairs.” The Principalities care for earthly kingdoms and nations.

The Archangels (three are named in Scripture: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael) carry important messages to humans. The final choir, the Angels, are the guardian angels – one for each human person.

We are surrounded by innumerable angels, by these spiritual beings God created at the beginning of creation, and their goal is to help guide us to join them in worshipping and glorifying the Lord for all eternity. But, Scripture and Tradition are clear, not all angels are good or serve the Lord. Not all the angels want to aid us.

The Fallen Angels All angels were created good by God – for everything created by God is good. Some, however, chose to reject God, chose not to serve Him; we call the angels who rejected God the fallen angels or demons.

When God created the angels, (Augustine says on the first day of creation) they were all created good and were created to spend eternity in infinite joy, glorifying God, but like human beings, they were created free.

The angels were given a choice. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, there was initial disobedience in which some of the angels chose to reject God, to spend eternity without Him. Traditionally, this rejection took place when Satan and all the demons said: “Non serviam,” Latin for, “I will not serve.” Through the sin of pride, Satan and his fallen angels refused to serve God, refused to honour and glorify Him. The poet John Milton imagined Satan proudly and indignantly

The Angel taking leave of Tobit and his family - Jan Victors (16-19 - 1676)

exclaiming: “Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”

The fall of Satan and his demons is depicted in the Book of Revelation: Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him (Rev 12:7-9).

Some might wonder if there is any chance for angels to repent. However, there is no point in praying for Satan and the demons. Unlike the choice of humans, the choice of the angels was irreversible. The Catechism explains, “It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels’ sin unforgivable. ‘There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death’” (CCC 393).

The Spiritual Battle Finally, just as it is important to note the influence of the angels in our lives, it is equally important to recognise the influence of the fallen angels in our lives. This is why the Church supplies us with prayers to our guardian angel and the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel – see Revelation 12, he has experience beating the Devil.

The Lord’s angels seek to draw us closer to God, the demons seek to snatch us away. There is a very real spiritual battle going on around us. If you watch too many horror movies or TV shows you might be tricked into thinking the demons stand a chance. While it is wrong to doubt the existence of the Devil and unwise to underestimate his temptations and tricks, we do not want to give him too much credit. The Lord has already defeated sin and death, the Devil has no power over us. Jesus Christ and His angels are victorious.

All that remains is that we share in His victory, both now and for eternity.

Then, we will join all the angels and all the saints in praising God: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory!

“To forestall this [the second world war], I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.

“If they heed My requests, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, she shall spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated; in the end, My Immaculate Heart shall triumph.

(Our Lady - Fatima July 13th 1917)

26 THE PAPACY

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

A Model Pope Roberto de Mattei

We have already entered into the “post-Francis” era. The postAmazon Synod has failed, the Exhortation Querida Amazonia of 2 February 2020 has fallen on deaf ears, and the Exhortation Amoris Laetitia of 8 April 2016 has entered into history more for the criticisms that it received than for the new path which it opened.

The latest initiatives of Pope Francis have been characterised by growing contradictions and increasing confusion, with the flock of the faithful oscillating between feelings of rage and depression.

The magisterium of Pope Francis lacks above all that coherence and equilibrium which ought to be the primary quality of the one who holds the supreme responsibility of governing the Church.

What the Church needs above all today is order in the fields of theology, pastoral praxis, liturgy, and discipline. Order arises from intellectual clarity, but this intellectual clarity can base itself only on the Truth, whole and uncompromised. For this reason, the cardinals who elect the next Pope need a model to look to, and in order to find one, it will be necessary to look in the other direction—not only from Pope Francis but also from all of the recent popes, who were all involved in the historical catastrophe of the Second Vatican Council.

The greatest example is given by the only two Popes to have been canonised in the modern era prior to the Second Vatican Council: O Jesus, it is for the love of Thee, in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and for the conversion of poor sinners [that I do this]. Amen.

Our Lady of Fatima - June 13th, 1917.

The Body of Pope Saint Pius V in Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome - (Photo: Son of Groucho CC2)

Saint Pius X and above all Saint Pius V, a Pope who made the defence of the Truth and the Church the axis of his pontificate. He called himself a “sentinel of the Church,” conscious that the first duty of the Vicar of Christ is that of guarding and defending the flock entrusted to him from the assault of the wolves.

When the conclave to elect the successor of Pius IV opened in the Palace of the Popes on the Quirinal Hill on 20 December 1565, the Sacred College was essentially divided into two parties which had opposed each other in the preceding years and which corresponded to two different ways of confronting the Protestant Reformation. The first party maintained that there could be no possible compromise with heresy, while the second party was an advocate of offering an “outstretched hand” to Protestantism.

In the conclave there was no one more intransigent than Cardinal Michele Ghislieri, who had been the Supreme Inquisitor General of

Christianity. It was he who, with the decisive support of another holy cardinal, Charles Borromeo, ascended to the papal throne on 7 January 1566, taking the name of Pius V. Michele Ghislieri was born in 1504 in Bosco Marengo, in Piedmont.

At the age of 14 he entered the Order of Preachers. He was sent to the University of Bologna in order to study theology, which he then taught for sixteen years.

Because of the purity of his faith, he was appointed Inquisitor (1542), General Commissioner of the Holy Office (1551), and Summus ac perpetuus inquisitor (1558), Inquisitor General for life of all of Chrisitianity. Pope Paul IV appointed him Bishop of Nepi and of Sutri and later created him Cardinal.

Such honours, however, did not modify in any way the austerity of his life, not even after his election as Roman Pontiff. He first applied to himself the reform of morals which he wanted to extend to the

THE PAPACY 27

21st May 2021 Catholic Voice entire Church. Saint Pius V tried in every way to stem the spread of heresies in Europe, and to this end he made alliances with the Catholic sovereigns of the time, above all with Philip II of Spain, while he even went so far as to excommunicate the heretical Queen of England, Elizabeth I, with a gesture of great supernatural audacity.

His pontificate was marked by several fundamental decisions: the publication in 1566 of the Catechism, which expounded in the clearest terms the entire doctrinal work of the Council of Trent; the promulgation in 1568 of the Roman Breviary, the liturgical book that contains the Divine Office of the Catholic Church; and in 1570 the institution of the Mass that was destined to enter history as the “Tridentine Mass” or the “Mass of Saint Pius V,” but which was nothing other than the restoration of the traditional Mass, which had been devastated by Protestantism.

The choice of these three actions was not accidental: the intention of the Council of Trent was to implement a true reform, beginning with what the clergy taught, prayed, and celebrated. To these actions was added the proclamation of Saint Thomas Aquinas as Doctor of the Church and the definitive publication of the Summa Theologica as a reference work for teaching.

While heresies threatened Christianity from within, Islam threatened it from without. Pius V promoted the formation of the Holy League against the Turks by means of a military alliance between the Papacy, Spain, and the Republic of Venice. The triumph of Lepanto in 1571, one of the greatest naval battles of history, was one of the most celebrated outcomes of his reign. The Pope was preparing a new expedition when he died on 1 May 1572. Today his body is venerated in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome.

LIBERALISM IS A SIN Don Félix Sardà y Salvany: – was

Pius V was not a “political” Pope.

Instead, he lived his lofty mission in a supernatural manner, with his gaze fixed solely on the glory of God and the good of souls.

Dom Guéranger, in his work The Liturgical Year, states that “The entire life of Pius V was a battle.”

Michele Ghislieri was a resolute and combative Pontiff, who even personally concerned himself with military matters, but the secret of his battle and his victories lay in the spiritual weapons he used, beginning with the Holy Rosary.

The institution of the Feast of Our Lady of Victories, also known as Our Lady of the Rosary, and the introduction into the Litany of Loreto of the Marian title Auxilium Christianorum was the last relevant action of his Pontificate.

Today Saint Pius V continues to assist from Heaven the Church Militant whose destiny was entrusted into his hands for six years. His example must be known and disseminated.

CATECHISM

born on May 21, 1844 in Sabadell, Catalonia, Spain. He was a Catholic priest and writer who wrote against Liberalism which he considered a grave sin. He was the editor of the weekly Spanish Catholic magazine ‘La Revista Popular’ for over forty

Holiness Pope Pius X, issued the Encyclical ‘Pascendi Dominici Gregis’ which translates as “Feeding the Lord’s Flock”. Pope Pius X was aware that the Catholic Church had been infiltrated by modernists who were seeking to undermine her doctrines from within.

Father J. B. Lemius, produced this ‘Catechism on Modernism’ in the familiar the age of 71. This book, Liberalism question and answer format is a Sin, is particularly relevant to of the time, in order to make the teachings of the the times we live in today where Liberalism permeates every Encyclical more accessible to ordinary Catholics and aspect of our society and has deeply infiltrated the thinking of by way of explaining in a clear and concise manner the many of the Catholic hierarchy. reasons why the Encyclical was published. years. He died on January 2, 1916 at

Paperback €/£13.50 inc p&p Published by Lumen Fidei Press

Paperback €/£13.50 inc p&p Published by Lumen Fidei Press

To Order please telephone 059 8627268 ROI 00353 598627268 Outside ROI Alternatively, Order Online @ www.lumenfidei.ie/shop

28 THE ASCENSION

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD DOM PROSPER GUERANGER

T

he sun of the fortieth day has risen in all his splendour.

The earth, which shook with gladness at the birth of our Emmanuel, now thrills with a strange emotion.

The divine series of the mysteries of the Man-God is about to close. Heaven has caught up the joy of earth. The angelic choirs are preparing to receive their promised King, and their princes stand at the gates, that they may open them when the signal is given of the mighty conqueror’s approach. The holy souls, that were liberated from limbo on the morning of the Resurrection, are hovering round Jerusalem, waiting for the happy moment when heaven’s gate, closed by Adam’s sin, shall be thrown open, and they shall enter in company with their Redeemer: - a few hours more, and then to heaven!

Meanwhile, our risen Jesus has to visit His discipes and bid them farewell, for they are to be left for some years longer in this vale of tears.

They are in the cenacle, impatiently awaiting His coming.

Suddenly He appears in their midst. Of the Mother’s joy, who would dare to speak? As to the disciples and the holy women, they fall down and affectionately adore the Master, who has come to take His leave of them. He deigns to sit down to table with them; He even condescends to eat with them, not, indeed, to give them proof of His Resurrection, for He knows that they have no further doubts of the mystery; but now that He is about to sit at the right hand of the Father, He would give them this endearing mark of

HANDS OFF OUR KIDS

PROTECTING PARENTAL CHOICE IN THE CLASSROOM

This CD of the compelling talk given by Charlotte McQuaid-Bruen at Catholic Voice annual conference 2019, sums up the proposed sex education to be taught across schools in Ireland in 2020. Parents, grandparents, friends, family members and clergy need to be informed about what their children are going to be subjected to.

Please help spread this talk TODAY. 4 CDs inc p&p €20

1 CD inc p&p €7.50

Complete coupon and return with cheque/postal order to John Lacken, Ballinlough, Claremorris, Co Mayo F12 TN23 Name: ...........................................................................................

Address: ........................................................................................ ....................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................

Phone No: .....................................................................................

Please send me ______copies of the CD - ‘Hands off our Kids’ Total Enclosed: € ________ To pay by post with credit/debit card please complete: Card number: ______________________________________ Expiry Date: _________________ C.V.V._______________

familiarity. Oh admirable repast! in which Mary, for the last time in this world, is seated side by side with her Jesus, and in which the Church, (represented by the disciples and the holy women) is honoured by the visible presidency of her Head and Spouse.

What tongue could describe the respect, the recollected mien, the attention of the guests? With what love must they have riveted their eyes on the dear Master! They long to hear Him speak; His parting words will be so treasured!

He does not keep them long in suspense: He speaks, but His language is not what they perhaps expected it to be, all affection. He begins by reminding them of the incredulity wherewith they heard of His Resurrection. He is going to entrust His apostles with the most sublime mission ever given to man; He would, therefore, prepare them for it by humbling them. A few days hence they are to be the lights of the world; the world must believe what they preach, believe it on their word, believe it without having seen, believe what the apostles alone have seen. It is by faith that man approaches his God: they themselves were once without it, and Jesus would have them now express their sorrow for their former incredulity, and thus base their apostolate on humility.

Then, assuming a tone of authority, such as none but a God could take, He says to them: ‘Go ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptised, shall be saved: but he that believeth not, shall be condemned.’ And how shall they accomplish this mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world? How shall they persuade men to believe their word? By miracles.

‘And these signs,’ continues Jesus, ‘shall follow them that believe: in My name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover.’

He would have miracles to be the foundation of His Church, just as He had made them the argument of His own divine mission. The suspension of the laws of nature proves to us that it is God who speaks; we must receive the word, and humbly believe it.

Here, then, we have men unknown to the world and devoid of every human means, and yet commissioned to conquer the earth and make it acknowledge Jesus as its King! The world ignores their very existence. Tiberius, who sits on the imperial throne, trembling at every shadow of conspiracy, little suspects that there is being prepared an expedition which is to conquer the Roman empire. But these warriors must have their armour, and the armour must be of heaven’s own tempering. Jesus tells them that they are to receive it a few days hence. ‘Stay,’ says He, ‘in the city, till ye be endued with power from on high.’ But what is this armour?

Jesus explains it to them. He reminds them of the Father’s promise; ‘that promise,’ says He, ‘which ye have heard by my mouth; for John, indeed, baptised with water; but ye shall be baptised with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.’

But the hour of separation is come. Jesus rises: His blessed Mother, and the hundred and twenty persons assembled there, prepare to follow Him. The cenacle is situated on Mount Sion, which is one of the two hills within the walls of Jerusalem. The holy group traverses the city, making for

21st May 2021 Catholic Voice

THE ASCENSION 29

the eastern gate, which opens on the valley of Josaphat. It is the last time that Jesus walks through the faithless city. He is invisible to the eyes of the people who denied Him, but visible to His disciples, and goes before them, as heretofore the pillar of fire led on the Israelites. How beautiful and imposing a sight! Mary, the disciples, and the holy women accompanying Jesus in His heavenward journey, which is to lead Him to the right hand of His eternal Father! It was commemorated in the middle ages by a solemn procession before the Mass of Ascension day.

What happy times were those, when Christians took delight in honouring every action of our Redeemer! They could not be satisfied as we are, with a few vague notions, which can produce nothing but an equally vague devotion.

They reflected on the thoughts which Mary must have had during these last moments of her Son’s presence. They used to ask themselves, which of the two sentiments was uppermost in her maternal heart, - sadness, that she was to see her Jesus no more, or joy, that He was now going to enter into the glory He so infinitely deserved. The answer was soon found:, had not Jesus said to His disciples: ‘If ye loved Me, ye would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father.’ Now, who loved Jesus as Mary did? The Mother’s heart, then, was full of joy at parting with Him. How was she to think of herself, when there was question of the triumph of her Son and her God? Could she that had witnessed the scene of Calvary, do less than desire to see Him glorified, whom she knew to be the sovereign Lord of all things, - Him whom, but a short time ago, she had seen rejected

by Hie people, blasphemed, and dying the most ignominious and cruel of deaths?

The holy group has traversed the valley of Josaphat; it has crossed the

brook Cedron, and is moving onwards to Mount Olivet. What recollections would crowd on the mind! This torrent, of which Jesus had drunk on the day of His humiliation, is now the path He takes to triumph and glory. The royal prophet had foretold it. On their left, are the garden and the cave, where He suffered His agony and accepted the bitter chalice of His Passion.

After having come as far us what St. Luke calls the distance of the journey allowed to the Jews on a Sabbathday, they are close to Bethania, that favoured village, where Jesus used to accept hospitality at the hands of Lazarus and his two sisters. This part of Mount Olivet commands a view of Jerusalem. The sight of its temple and palaces makes the disciples proud of their earthly city: they have forgotten the curse uttered against her; they seem to have forgotten, too, that Jesus has just made them citizens and conquerors of the whole world. They begin to dream of the earthly grandeur

Please Help Us To Promote The Five First Saturdays of Reparation Order Some of Our New Five First Saturday Devotions Cards These cards are designed to help people to complete The Five First Saturdays Devotion of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Contact John Lacken 085-1208779 secretary@lumenfidei.ie

of Jerusalem, and, turning to their divine Master, they venture to ask Him this question: ‘Lord, wilt Thou, at this time, restore again the kingdom to Israel?’

Jesus answers them with a tone of severity: ,It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father hath put in His own power.’ These words do Dot destroy the hope that Jerusalem is to be restored by the Christian Israel j but, as this is not to happen till the world is drawing towards its end, there is nothing that requires our. Saviour’s revealing the secret. What ought to be uppermost in the mind of the disciples, ill the conversion of the pagan world, the establishment of the Church.

Jesus reminds them of the mission He has just given to them: ‘Ye shall receive’, says He, ‘the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.’

Fatima Prayer

Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He Himself is offended, and through the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg of thee the conversion of poor sinners. Amen.

30 BOOKS

Catholic Voice

21st May 2021

STRENGTHEN YOUR FAITH DURING THIS CRISIS BUY CATHOLIC BOOKS! DON’T GO TO HELL Catholic Church Teaching on Hell

THE CHURCH IN OUR TIMES

This book contains three essays, one in question & answer format, from a time when pastors were more direct and ‘plain speaking’ in presenting the Truth of Catholic doctrine to their flocks.

They were primarily concerned with the salvation of the souls entrusted to their care rather than being overly concerned about whether or not their flocks would find these Truths offensive or difficult.

They sought the Praise and Glory of God, and not the praise of men.

is a series of reflections on topical issues concerning the Catholic Church and the practice of the faith ranging from ‘Faith and Culture’, to ‘GLBT – New thinking’, to ‘Purgatory and Remembrance’. Fr Hahesy’s style is conversational and he weaves through the various topics all the while pointing to the soul’s need for God. “The daily prayers at the end of this book, will ensure the salvation of our soul and a happier life here. Please believe me. It does not seem much to ask for such a great reward. To know and love God is the ultimate good whether people know this or not, accept it or not.”

€/£7 inc p&p Ireland €/£8.50 inc p&p outside Ireland

€/£10 inc p&p Ireland €/£12 inc p&p outside Ireland

EGO EIMI - IT IS I

“May the present book of Rev. Fr. de Malleray FSSP, a beautiful and impressive “paper shrine to the Most Holy Eucharist”, have a wide diffusion and be a practical spiritual aid in order to renew the Catholic Faith, the Catholic Love and the Catholic Worship of the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist.” + Athanasius Schneider.

“This highly readable, informative, and edifying treatise on the Holy Eucharist will enrich the understanding and devotion of Catholics regardless of their prior knowledge of the subject: I recommend it wholeheartedly.” Dr Joseph Shaw PhD,

SCIENCE SAYS NO

In this book, Dr. van den Aardweg debunks many of the myths created by the global homosexualist movement. The argument for gay “marriage” is exposed as a deception in this ground breaking book. For many years the public has been indoctrinated with unfounded assertions which in fact are no more than modern fairy tales sold as science. In other words, as regards homosexuality, people hear and read mostly lies. The book explains why the deception is possible and shows why no assertion of the gay ideology has been scientifically validated. €/£9 inc p&p Ireland €/£10.50 inc p&p outside Ireland

SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

This really is a fantastic book which presents Catholic teaching on sin in a simple, clear and precise way. You will learn about the nature of sin, about the different kinds of sin, mortal and venial, formal and material sins.

Reflections on the Abortion Issue in Ireland.

Oxf, Chairman of The Latin Mass Society.

The book also teaches us about sins of omission. After discussing sin, the book then speaks of the great graces offered to us in the sacrament of confession, it teaches us about temptations, about Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, and then it finishes with a very hope filled chapter on the joys of the resurrection.

Many countries, including Ireland, have removed the right to life from the Constitution and given the legislature the power to legalise abortion, which by definition is the intentional killing of the unborn child.

The assumption is that unborn babies have no human rights. The essays in this monograph expose the fallacy that unborn babies do not have the right to life and may be ‘terminated’ if that is the ‘choice’ of the mother. In the New Ireland, human killing is now legal. It is estimated that 800 – 900 unwanted unborn babies are ‘terminated’ every month. Abortion has become the murder machine of our time.”

€/£19 inc p&p Ireland €/£22 inc p&p outside Ireland

€/£10 inc p&p Ireland €/£12 inc p&p outside Ireland

€/£13.50 inc p&p Ireland €/£15 inc p&p outside Ireland

Book Title/s: ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Credit/Debit Card Number: __________________________________________________ Expiry Date: _______________________________

C.V.V. ________________

Total Enclosed: €/£__________________________ Name:

_________________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Post Code: __________________________________ Daytime Tel: ________________________________

Send completed form with cheque/postal order made payable to Catholic Voice or with credit/debit card details to: Catholic Voice, St Michael’s House, Castlemitchell South, Athy, Co Kildare, Ireland or telephone 059 8627268 (00353 59862726 8 from outside Ireland) Please allow 14 working days for delivery.

CLASSIFIEDS 31

21st May 2021 Catholic Voice

CLASSIFIEDS Services

TELEPHONE 00353 59 8627268

REGULAR TRADITIONAL LATIN MASSES IN IRELAND (LISTED BY DIOCESE)

Welcome To Our New Lourdes Website saintbernadette.info Included are the following: The life and times of St Bernadette: The Importance of the Holy Rosary for our times: The Lourdes Apparitions: The Song of Bernadette Movie: Prayer cards on request and much much more. Contact via email morgansharpesenior@gmail.com

DAILY & WEEKLY Armagh: New Mellifont Abbey, Collon, Co. Louth; Every Sunday 3pm.

Cork & Ross: Ss Peter’s & Paul’s, Cork: Sundays 12.00 noon Mon -Sat 10.00am.

Dromore: St.Mary’s, Newry: Sundays and Holydays 09.00.

Dublin: St. Kevin’s, Harrington Street: Sundays & non working Holy Days: 10.30; Mon - Fri 08.00; Sat 09.00.

Working Holidays & First Fridays; 08.00 and 19.00.

Dublin: St. Joseph’s, Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow; Sat 11.00 Limerick: Sacred Heart, The Crescent (ICKSP); Sun10.30; Mon-Thurs 08.00 and 19.00; Friday 19.00; Saturday 08.00 & 12.00 noon.

Meath: Silverstream Priory (Benedictine monks) Stamullen: Sunday 10.00 preceded by Terce, other days 11.00.

Meath: Johnstown, Navan: Sundays 13.00; Holydays as announced.

Ossory: St. Patrick’s, College Rd, Kilkenny; Sundays 17.00.

Raphoe: St. Patrick’s, Drumkeen, Co. Donegal Sundays 11.00am.

Down & Connor: St. Therese of Lisieux, Somerton Rd, Belfast :Sundays at 4pm TWICE MONTHLY Ferns: St. Alphonsus, Barntown, Co Wexford: Second Sunday 17.00 and occasional Third Sundays Derry: St. Columba’s , Longtower: First and Third Sunday 14.00.

Waterford: St. John’s Church, Parnell Street, Waterford City - 1pm on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the Month.

MONTHLY Armagh: St. Patrick’s, Dungannon, Co Tyrone: First Saturday 14.00.

Cork & Ross: St. Francis , Liberty St. Cork : First Saturday 13.00.

Derry: St. Marys, Aughabrack, Co Tyrone: Fourth Sunday 12.45 Elphin: St. John’s, carraoe, Co Sligo ; Last Sunday 15.00.

Killaloe: St. Joseph’s, Ennis, Co Clare: First Sunday 17.30.

Tuam: St. John the Baptist, (Old Parish Church), Knock, Co Mayo; Second Sunday 17.30.

Every effort has been made to ensure this list is up to date. Please contact the Latin Mass Society of Ireland of any changes or errors. email president@latinmassireland.com

Visit our all-new website today!

Mass Cards

Enrollment Books

All Occasion Gifts

It’s now easier than ever to have Mass cards, enrolment books & religious gifts delivered directly to your door.

Web: www.mscmissions.ie Email: info@mscmissions.ie Tel: +353 (0)21 4545704

32 ADVERT

Catholic Voice

Please read His Holiness Pope Paul VI’s 1965 Encyclical Letter “Mysterium Fidei” @ www.papalencyclicals.net

21st May 2021

Please, with Eucharistic Love, watch and listen to Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild’s 2020 presentation on “Inclusive Capitalism” @ www.inclusivecapitalism.com

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended all these words, he said to his disciples: You know that after two days shall be the pasch, and the son of man shall be delivered up to be crucified: Then were gathered together the chief priests and ancients of the people into the court of the high priest, who was called Caiphas: And they consulted together, that by subtilty they might apprehend Jesus, and put him to death.

But they said: Not on the festival day, lest perhaps there should be a tumult among the people.

And when Jesus was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, There came to him a woman having an alabaster box of precious ointment, and poured it on his head as he was at table.

And the disciples seeing it, had indignation, saying: To what purpose is this waste?

For this might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

And Jesus knowing it, said to them: Why do you trouble this woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.

For the poor you have always with you: but me you have not always.

For she in pouring this ointment upon my body, hath done it for my burial.

Amen I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memory of her.

Then went one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, to the chief priests, And said to them: What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you? But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver.

And from thenceforth he sought opportunity to betray him. (Matthew 16:1-16) Published by: Catholic Voice Newspapers, St Michael’s House, Castlemitchell South, Athy, County Kildare. Tel 059-8627268 ROI / 00353 - 59 8627268 Publisher: Anthony Murphy.

Layout by: Lumen Fidei