Try This Medieval Pumpernickel Method: Your Store-Bought Version Is a Fraud (3 Ingredients)

From Medieval Way

Medieval Way explores the historical roots of pumpernickel and contrasts authentic traditional methods with modern commercial practices. Discover the basic ingredients and long, low-temperature baking process that originally defined this dense, durable rye bread before industrial alternatives became the common standard in grocery stores.

Pull a loaf of pumpernickel off the shelf at almost any American grocery store, turn it over, and read the very first ingredient. It will not say rye. It will say enriched wheat flour. Read a little further and you find something stranger. There is more water in that loaf than there is rye. And that deep, near-black color you have always associated with pumpernickel, the color of wet earth and dark chocolate, was not earned in any oven. It was poured in from a bottle of caramel coloring. Some brands reach for cocoa instead. Others use instant coffee or a slug of molasses. The package says pumpernickel. What is actually inside is a wheat loaf in a costume.

The real thing uses three ingredients: cracked rye, water, and a little salt. There is no wheat flour anywhere in it, and not a single drop of dye. It is baked for up to twenty-four hours, it survives for months without one preservative, and it produces one of the lowest blood-sugar responses of any bread science has ever measured. You have eaten authentic pumpernickel. At least, that is what you were told. Because the loaf medieval Germans actually baked shares almost nothing with the one on your shelf, starting with a name that was never meant as a compliment.

Traditional Catholic Morning Prayers in English | June

Traditional Catholic morning prayers to help start your day in a godly way! The month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. May our devotion to the mystery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus increase more and more each day. We've included the Memorare of the Sacred Heart and the Litany of the Sacred Heart. Begin your June with daily morning prayer. This video is a compilation of many traditional morning prayers Catholics say, and should not be considered a replacement for those who have an obligation to pray the Divine Office morning prayers.

100 Years Ago, Mary Warned Us About Russia — It's Happening in 2026

From Totus Catholica

In the summer of 1917, months before the Bolsheviks seized power, three children in a Portuguese field named the very country about to set the century on fire. The warning was conditional: if her requests were heeded, there would be peace. If not, Russia would spread its errors across the earth. A prophecy of this kind is not a crystal ball. It is a smoke alarm, sounded so that you will get up and change what happens next. The pattern is as old as scripture. Jonah warned Nineveh and the city turned back. Jeremiah 18 says God relents of disaster when a nation turns from its evil. The Hebrew word for that turning is shuv, the same call that runs from the prophets of Israel through Fatima to this morning. The response our Lady asked for was not panic but prayer: the rosary, the first Saturday communions, and consecration to God. Heaven did not name Russia to frighten us. It sounded an alarm and then, like a good mother, it handed us the very prayer that turns the alarm off. CHAPTERS: 0:00 The Detail the Summary Version Leaves Out 1:18 Crystal Ball vs. Smoke Alarm 2:17 Jonah, Jeremiah, and the Pattern of Biblical Prophecy 2:49 Shuv: The Hebrew Word for Turning Back 3:12 The Gebirah and the Queen Mother of Israel 3:51 Revelation 12 and the Woman Clothed with the Sun 4:17 CCC 67: Private Revelation Adds Nothing to the Faith 5:17 The Rosary, First Saturdays, and Consecration 6:19 The Errors of Russia Were an Ideology, Not a People 7:03 Protestant Objection: Public Revelation Is Closed 7:52 Jewish Objection: The Age of the Prophets 9:01 The Miracle of the Sun: Public, Predicted, Witnessed 🌍 Website: https://totuscatholica.org/ Rosary Guide: https://totuscatholica.org/rosary ✉️ Contact: https://totuscatholica.org/contact 🔍 Examination of Conscience: https://catholicexaminationofconscien... 📚 Free eBooks: https://buymeacoffee.com/totuscatholi... 👥 Become a Totus Insider: https://buymeacoffee.com/totuscatholi...

Here’s When You Should Pray, According to St Basil the Great

Today is the Feast of St Basil, Bishop of Caesarea, a Father of the Church as well as a Doctor of the Church.

From Aleteia

By Philip Kosloski

The Church Father has some profound advice.

St. Basil was a holy bishop of Caesarea (modern-day Turkey) during the 4th century. He made many contributions to the early Church, especially in regard to religious life, including the “Rule of St. Basil.” He has since been recognized as one of the principal founders of Eastern Monasticism.

Basil spent much of his time in prayer and related his insights to the monks under his care. In particular, Basil explained in his writings when a monk should pray.

When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for His kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God’s feet and adore Him who in His wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know, love and praise their Creator.

These instructions are not reserved to religious men or women, but apply to all people in whatever state of life you may be in.

The advice echoes a passage from the book of Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

We should, in every circumstance, praise God for his wonderful deeds and thank him for the many blessings he pours out upon us. Our prayer of thanksgiving does not have to be formal or long, but it does need to come from the heart. When we engage in such a practice, we open ourselves up to God’s divine providence and see the world around us in a new light.

God is with us and if we can keep a spirit of prayer throughout the day, we will begin to realize how close he is to us in everything we do.

How Protestantism Has Raised Objections Made by Ancient Heretics

From Erick Ybarra

St Elieus, Co-Founder of Carmel ~ A Bi-Ritual Saint

St Elieus, Co-Founder of Carmel, along with St Elias (20 July), is honoured today in both East and West. 

From the East:

✠✠✠✠✠

The Holy Prophet Eliseus lived in the ninth century before the Birth of Christ and was a native of the village of Abelmaum, near Jordan. By the command of the Lord, he was called to prophetic service by the holy Prophet Elias (July 20).

When it became time for the Prophet Elias to be taken up to Heaven, he said to Eliseus, “Ask what shall I do for you, before I am taken from you.” Eliseus boldly asked for a double portion of the grace of God: “Let there be a double portion of your spirit upon me.” The Prophet Elias said, “You have asked a hard thing; if you see me when I am taken from you, then so shall it be for you; but if you do not see me, it will not be so” (4 [2] Kings 2: 10). As they went along the way talking, there appeared a fiery chariot and horses and separated them both. Eliseus cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” (4 Kings 2: 12). Picking up the mantle of his teacher which fell from the sky, Eliseus received the power and prophetic gift of Elias. He spent more than 65 years in prophetic service, under six Israelite kings (from Ahab to Joash). While Eliseus lived, he did not tremble before any prince, and no word could overcome him (Sirach 48: 13 [“Sirach” is called “Ecclesiasticus” in Catholic Bibles ]).

The holy prophet worked numerous miracles. He divided the waters of the Jordan, having struck it with the mantle of the Prophet Elias; he made the waters of a Jericho spring fit for drinking; he saved the armies of the kings of Israel and Judah that stood in an arid wilderness by bringing forth abundant water by his prayer; he delivered a poor widow from death by starvation through a miraculous increase of oil in a vessel. This Shunamite woman showing hospitality to the prophet was gladdened by the birth of a son through his prayer, and when the child died, he was raised back to life by the prophet. The Syrian military-commander Namaan was healed from leprosy but the prophet’s servant Gehazi was afflicted since he disobeyed the prophet and took money from Namaan.

Eliseus predicted to the Israelite king Joash the victory over his enemies, and by the power of his prayer, he worked many other miracles (4 Kings 3-13). The holy Prophet Eliseus died in old age at Samaria. “In his life, he worked miracles, and at death his works were marvellous” (Sir. 48: 15). A year after his death, a corpse was thrown into the prophet’s grave. As soon as the dead man touched Eliseus’s bones, he came to life and stood up (4 Kings 13: 20-21). The Prophet Eliseus and his teacher, the Prophet Elias, left no books behind them since their prophetic preaching was oral. Jesus, son of Sirach, praised both great prophets (Sir. 48:1-15).

John of Damascus composed a canon in honour of the Prophet Eliseus, and at Constantinople, a church was built in his honour.

Julian the Apostate (361-363) gave orders to burn the relics of the Prophet Eliseus, Abdias (Obadiah) and John the Forerunner, but the holy relics were preserved by believers, and part of them were transferred to Alexandria.

Troparion — Tone 4

An angel in the flesh and the cornerstone of the prophets, / the second forerunner of the coming of Christ, / glorious Elijah sent grace from on high to Eliseus, / to dispel diseases and to cleanse lepers. / Therefore, he pours forth healings on those who honor him.

Kontakion — Tone 2

(Podoben: “Seeking the highest...”)
You were revealed as a Prophet of God, / when you received from Elijah a double portion of the grace which you deserved; / you were his contemporary, blessed Eliseus, / and together with him you unceasingly pray to Christ God for us all!

From the West:

✠✠✠✠✠

From the Roman Martyrology:

At Samaria, in Palestine, [in the sixth century before Christ,] the holy Prophet Eliseus. Holy Jerome writeth that the devils shrink from his grave, where also resteth the Prophet Obadias.

From Saints of the Day & More

St. Eliseus is a key figure in the ninth century BC. We know the name of his father, Safat, Abel Meholah originating in southern bewteen-Shan, and know that your family was wealthy (1 Kings 19, 16-19). Caramel has always been considered a disciple of St. Elijah, from whom he inherited his double spirit, as his second spiritual father. God chooses a direct and particular (1 Kings 19:16) to go in pursuit of Elijah (1 Kings 19, l9ss), which will happen after the mysterious disappearance of their brother, inheriting the spirit to the extent provided by law for the firstborn: double the other heirs [2 Re 2.1 to 15]. Their status as "man of God" is revealed mainly in the wonders of every kind that is woven with his life. The work itself, for individuals and entire communities. Lived about 850-800, successor of St. Elias, which certainly exceeds the number and striking miracles, but not by his personality and his religious influence. So, Elijah is mentioned in the New Testament, significantly, 30 times; St. Eliseus only once (Lk 4.27). Its history, almost legendary and sometimes plagiarized from that of Elijah, was collected at 1 and 2 Re (1 Re 19 Re 19-21.2, 13-8, 15,9,1-15,13, 14, -21 .) With the anointing of Yehú brought down the dynasty of Ahab. Enjoyed great esteem among Yosafat kings (2 Kgs 3:12) and Yoás (2 Kgs 13.14-19). It seems that even their own bones wrought miracles (2 Kings 13.20 s). Eliseus in the Bible when Elijah is taken away and their charisma goes to Eliseus (2 Kings 1), and concludes with the miracle that took place with the corpse of the prophet and buried (2 Kings 13.21). Most of the narratives, which look like ~ ermoso "flowers" show Eliseus surrounded by some groups which are called "disciples (or children) of the prophets." Do Carmelite successors of the "sons of the prophets"? This issue is now irrelevant, but it may be well to remember here who were these "sons of the prophets" which many authors inside and outside the Order noted for centuries as predecessors of the current Carmelites, who have their true origin late twelfth century. San Eliseo was the Master and Father of all these groups, who came and obeyed: 2 Re 4.38, 6, 1-2,12-21 ... Perhaps no mistake if we considered these brotherhoods of prophets as the ultimate bearers of faith in the Lord, pure and unmixed, nor mistake, if we consider highly important in order to the persistence of faith in the Lord, and especially for the trademark to be on. Ultimately, this is the point from where it departed this unprecedented filing Yahwist faith and divine right that we are in the later prophets. The surprising discoveries in the caves located northwest of the Dead Sea, not only provide us with news of an establishment of strict observance of Essenes, a century before and a century after the birth of Christ, but we also provide an accurate picture of the ordinances rigorous community life directed authoritatively (all thanks to the document called "Rules of the sect"), show a new light the stories concerning fraternities prophets from the time of Eliseus.

Medicine for the Heart

"The perversion of love is necessarily connected to a mistaken conception of the good toward which human life ought to be directed."

These are among the best medicines for the heart.

From One Peter Five

By Robert Lazu Kmita, PhD

Apart from the brain, which is usually and mistakenly regarded as the seat of thought, there is no other organ of the human body more frequently represented—and at the same time more frequently distorted—than the heart. Considered the ideal symbol of love, drawings, gestures, colors, and images associated with the heart are everywhere. Even in the fallen world, love is the most important principle that animates the lives of people everywhere. Yet, as Saint Augustine teaches us, just as there exists a holy and beneficial love directed toward Heaven, there also exist perverted forms of love, all subordinated to an unhealthy passion for the “world.” Indeed, Saint Augustine faithfully echoed a verse from the First Epistle of Saint John:

Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).

Thus, love for worldly things drives divine love out of the soul, while love for God and heavenly things extinguishes and replaces the destructive flames of love for “this world.” As Plato had already anticipated in the dialogue Phaedo, there is a pathology of love that reveals who governs each form of it: demons in the case of earthly love, God in the case of heavenly love. Like everything else in this world, love is not unconditionally good—it is good only when it is properly directed toward a fitting object. Unfortunately, this truth is almost always ignored, if not outright mocked, by those who walk the path of adultery and sexual sins.

Metaphorically speaking, we may say that when love is properly directed toward God and neighbor according to Christian requirements, the “heart” is healthy; when love is directed in a deviant and disordered way toward earthly things, the “heart” is sick. Most of us would probably agree that the most devastating disease of the heart is passionate, adulterous love, the kind of love glorified in the culture of the last two centuries through novels such as Madame Bovary, and Anna Karenina. The pathology of diseased love is dominant in our fallen world.

The perversion of love is necessarily connected to a mistaken conception of the good toward which human life ought to be directed. Confusing the good with pleasure, man pursues what is pleasant, convinced that in doing so he will attain happiness. This error is fatal. Happiness, the supreme goal of man, cannot be obtained from any earthly thing, nor from ways of life that violate God’s law. This explains why great passions are accompanied by great catastrophes that affect the lives of those who walk on deceptive paths.

The essence of what has been said is contained in the words of Saint John the Apostle quoted above: when man loves earthly things, divine love becomes foreign to him; when he loves heavenly things, carnal love diminishes until it disappears. With this in mind, we can better understand one of the most intriguing prophecies of Our Lord Jesus Christ:

“And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).

This verse teaches us everything we need to know about the pathology of love. For in it, the Divine Teacher, like a skilled physician, not only prophesies but also tells us the cause of love growing cold—it is the disease of the heart. Before the prophecy, He reveals the cause: the multiplication of sins. Yet sins are, without exception, the direct result of the soul’s orientation toward “earthly” things. The attachments that result from this dis-orientation are disastrous.

Of course, there is no need to say that these are not legitimate earthly things—such as the love between spouses, the love of parents for their children, or the love of nature created by God—but rather illicit things that lead to the violation of the Ten Commandments, such as adulterous love or attachment to vices that bring fleeting pleasures (alcohol, drugs, and so forth). When “earthly” things of this sort are loved, the vessel of the heart is filled with poison while the nectar of grace is expelled.

Should we then be surprised that heart disease is so widespread? And that so many die from heart attacks? Not even cancer claims as many victims, although it ranks second among the causes of mortality. One-third of all deaths are caused by diseases of the heart. Confronted with such a grim reality, we must recognize an extraordinarily significant detail. More than that, we may infer that biological reality symbolically speaks, in fact, about the spiritual reality of the condition of people’s souls today.[1]

Indeed, the love of many for heavenly things has grown cold. The dominance of a materialistic and hedonistic culture, sustained by a civilization in which cold and impersonal technology occupies the principal place, has resulted in the enslavement of human beings within a prison of exclusive concern for pleasures obtained at any cost. And the cost is great. Convinced by the deceptive voices of false prophets that paradise must be earthly, governed by the imperatives of “here” and “now,” most people—including many baptized Christians—live as though God did not exist. Often we do not even conceive that God should be loved above everyone and everything else.

Certainly, we cannot ignore the difficulty of the most important question raised by Saint John the Apostle: how can we love God, whom we do not see? Saint Alphonsus, like many other saints, tells us that without a serious practice of meditation, this is extremely difficult, if not impossible. We must constantly meditate upon the blessings God has bestowed upon us. We must continually strive to identify the discreet traces left by Divine Providence in our lives. We must always pray that God will help us recognize them.

Otherwise, caught in the whirlwind of worldly cares and concerns, we tend to seek the good only in earthly things, losing our love for heavenly realities. This is why we must meditate upon Heaven and the Last Things, reading and rereading throughout our lives the extraordinary description of the Heavenly Jerusalem left to us by Saint John in the Book of Revelation.

Besides the art of Christian meditation—almost completely forgotten in recent centuries—God has provided us with powerful means for healing our hearts. Perhaps nothing in the history of the Church can be compared to the two forms of devotion that Heaven has proposed to us: the Most Sacred Heart of Our Savior Jesus Christ and the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Revealed through the visions of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690) and through those granted to the three shepherd children of Fatima—Saint Francisco Marto (1908–1919), Saint Jacinta Marto (1910–1920), and Lúcia dos Santos (1907–2005)—these two Hearts were made known to us in order to guide us through the darkness of the latter times.

The devotions themselves are well known throughout the Catholic world: celebrating the Eucharist and receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation on nine consecutive First Fridays as reparation for sins committed against divine love; and performing acts of reparation on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, consisting of confession, Holy Communion, recitation of five decades of the Rosary, and a fifteen-minute meditation on its mysteries. If we reflect upon the details of these devotions, we begin to understand their profound significance.

First of all, their reparative character must be emphasized. All human sins are, ultimately, sins against the love of God and of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Therefore, all sins are manifestations of the diseases of the “heart.” In order to heal us, God first reminds us of the very essence of the Christian religion. It is, beyond all doubt, the manifestation of divine love.

This is the “heart” of the creation. The love of God is that fire at the center of the world and of man which sustains all things in existence. In a mysterious and paradoxical way, even the wicked are loved—at least in principle—by God. This is why no creature can return to nothingness or suicidally annihilate itself. Because God, out of love, conceived each creature within His eternity and created it for the purpose of happiness, of eternal beatitude.

The terrible mystery of freedom is the only thing capable of casting a shadow over this unique, magnificent origin of all creation. Yet wrong choices, sins, and, in a word, evil, are possible precisely because love itself is possible only when the choice of the beloved is free. But what is the most natural attribute of love? This is something even sinners understand: fidelity. And fidelity means perseverance, tenacity, and patience.

Personally, I have encountered no higher manifestation of love than that of a mother toward her children and of faithful spouses who have been betrayed. As a father of seven children, I have had countless opportunities to witness the patience, care, and incredible devotion shown by my wife in raising our children. How many sleepless nights has she spent beside sick children? How many troubling worries has she endured? Contemplating these things over the years, I came to understand the greatness of womanhood in its maternal vocation. I confess that I often felt inferior to my wife, even though I stood beside her through all these circumstances.

Likewise, during my adult life I have contemplated the tragedy of husbands abandoned by their wives. Unfortunately, in our time, the realities of divorce and adultery have become commonplace. Banalities. Yet those who impressed me most by their heroism were precisely those husbands who patiently waited, year after year, for the return of a wayward wife. (Of course, I know that there are also cases in which women are deceived and abandoned; I simply have not personally encountered such cases.) Patience bears fruit. Recently I had the joy of witnessing the miracle of such a return. Nothing can describe the happiness of a husband who sees his wife come home again. Likewise, nothing can adequately express the worth of the man who never ceased praying and waiting.

If fidelity is the defining characteristic of love, then we can understand why God asks us to persevere in the practice of reparative confessions and Communions for nine and five consecutive months respectively. For only through perseverance and steadfastness can love be proven. These are among the best medicines for the heart.

At the same time, we notice that devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary includes the Rosary and meditation. Put simply, it includes prayer and contemplation—for meditation is nothing other than a form of contemplative prayer, or prayerful contemplation.

In practice, we are dealing with a genuine spiritual school—a school in which we are taught the things we have forgotten. The Holy Rosary, together with the recitation of the Psalms, is among the most powerful prayers in the entire Christian Tradition. Its persistent repetition is intended to break the crust that has hardened our hearts. Just as a sledgehammer or a jackhammer must strike cement or concrete again and again with all its force in order to break it apart, so too the words of prayer must strike the hardness we have acquired through countless sins. But healing is possible.

The attainment of a “clean heart”—for which we pray in Psalm 50 of King David—is the highest moral goal of a truly Christian life. Yet we must acknowledge that this is not possible without divine intervention. Not only can we do nothing that would bring us to Heaven on our own, but we cannot even desire such a thing without a special divine assistance, traditionally called prevenient grace. This is why nothing is more important than prayer.

First comes the prayer of the faithful for those who have forgotten, or who never learned, how to pray. Then comes prayer for those who have strayed from the path of salvation. Finally, there is the prayer of the faithful for one another. For, after all, both the devotion of the Nine First Fridays and that of the Five First Saturdays are, above all, vital schools of prayer. How could anyone claim to love persons to whom he never speaks? Therefore, pray! Pray with all your heart! And the day of healing will surely come.

---

[1] Of course, I know very well that there can be people with a sick heart who have true Christian love. In their case, the illness can be explained not only by the fact that they do not love, but also by the fact that they do not receive the love they deserve.

Third Sunday After Pentecost

Today's Holy Mass from SSPX Australia. You may follow the Mass at Divinum Officium.

Divine Liturgy for the Third Sunday After Pentecost

Today's Divine Liturgy from the UGCC Church in Australia. You may follow the Liturgy here.

Third Sunday after Pentecost ~ Dom Prosper Guéranger

St Basil the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church ~ Dom Prosper Guéranger

Third Sunday after Pentecost

From Dom Prosper Guéranger's Liturgical Year:

MASS

The faithful soul has witnessed, through the sacred Liturgy, the close of the mysteries of our Redemption, which were wrought, in succession, by our Jesus, and applied to us, one after the other, by his Church, in her divine worship of them. The Holy Ghost has been sent, by the Father and Son, and he has lovingly and graciously come, to continue amongst us the work of the Incarnate Word. He, the Spirit of the Father and Son, is come to support the Christian in this second portion of both time and season; it is, as far as the Year of Grace is concerned, the second portion of that Year; and the Holy Spirit is to rule it; and he does so by bringing before us gradually, we might say, week by week of this Time after Pentecost, the fullness of the Christian life, as we received it from our Redeemer, who has now ascended into heaven, and thence has sent us this beautiful Paraclete, to form within us that life, to its full development. Amongst other gifts he gives us for the purpose, he shows us how to pray. Prayer, as our Jesus told us, must be continual; we must be always praying, and not faint or fail. (Luke 18:1) And yet, we know not what we should pray for, nor how we should pray, so as to obtain. This is quite true; but He, the Holy Spirit, knows it all; and comes to us, helping our infirmity, yea, and himself asking for us, with unspeakable groanings. (Romans 8:26) In the Introit and the whole Mass for this Sunday, we are taught that Prayer must have, amongst its other requisite qualities, that of humble repentance for our past sins, and of confidence in God’s infinite mercy.

This is the Third Sunday after Pentecost; it is the first which has no rubrical connection with the great Feasts we have been solemnizing; it is a Sunday with all the simplicity of the Office of the Time.

INTROIT

Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am alone and poor; see my abjection and my labor: and forgive me all my sins, O my God.

Ps. To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: in thee, O my God, I place my trust, let me not be ashamed. ℣. Glory, etc. Look thou.

COLLECT

O God, the protector of those who hope in thee! without whose aid, nothing is strong, nothing holy: increase thy mercy towards us; that under thy direction and conduct, we may so pass through the blessings of this life, as not to lose those which are eternal. Through, etc.

SECOND COLLECT

Preserve us, O Lord, we beseech thee, from all dangers of soul and body: and, by the intercession of the glorious and blessed Mary, the ever Virgin-Mother of God, of Blessed Joseph, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, of Blessed N. (here is mentioned the Titular Saint of the Church), and of all the Saints, grant us, in thy mercy, health and peace; that, all adversities and errors being removed, thy Church may serve thee with undisturbed liberty.

The third Collect is left to the Priest’s own choice.

EPISTLE

Lesson of the Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle – 1 Peter 5:6-11

Dearly beloved: Be you humbled therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation: Casting all your care upon him, for he hath care of you. Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist ye, strong in faith: knowing that the same affliction befalls your brethren who are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you, and confirm you, and establish you. To him be glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.

The miseries of this present life are the test to which God puts his soldiers; he passes judgment upon them, and classifies them, according to the degree of courage they have shown. Therefore is it, that we all have our share of suffering. The combat has commenced. God is looking on, watching how each of us comports himself. The day is not far off, when the Judge will pass sentence on the merits of each combatant, and award to each one the recompense he has won. Combat, now; peace and rest and a crown, then. Happy they who, during these days of probation, have recognized the mighty hand of God in all the trials they have had, and have humbled themselves under its pressure, lovingly and confidingly! Against such Christians, who have been strong in faith, the roaring lion has not been able to prevail. They were sober, they were watchful, during this their pilgrimage. They were fully convinced of this, that everyone has to suffer in the present life; they therefore never sighed and moaned, as though they were the only sufferers; they did not assume the attitude of victims, and call it Resignation!  but they took each trial as it came, and, without talking to everyone about it, they quietly and joyously united it with the sufferings of Christ. O true Christians! you will be joyous for all eternity, when there will be made the manifestation of that eternal glory in Christ Jesus, which he will pass on to them, that they may share it with him forever!

The Gradual keeps up the same strain; —it encourages the faithful soul to confidence. Let him cast all his care upon his heavenly Father; has he not always graciously heard him in all his troubles and necessities? As to enemies, let him cast away the thought; God will think of that, and, if it so please him, will avenge the soul they persecuted.

GRADUAL

Cast thy care upon the Lord and lie shall sustain thee.

℣. When I cried out to the Lord, he graciously heard my voice against those who were coming upon me.

Alleluia, alleluia.

℣. God is a just judge, strong and patient; is he angry every day? Alleluia.

GOSPEL

Sequel of the holy Gospel according to Luke 15:1-10

At that time: the publicans and sinners drew near unto him to hear him. And the Pharisees and the Scribes murmured, saying: This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spoke to them this parable, saying: What man of you that hath an hundred sheep: and if he shall lose one of them, doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that which was lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, lay it upon his shoulders, rejoicing: And coming home, call together his friends and neighbors, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost? I say to you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance. Or what woman having ten groats; if she lose one groat, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it? And when she hath found it, call together her friends and neighbors, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found the groat which I had lost. So I say to you, there shall be joy before the angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.

This parable of the Sheep that is carried back to the fold on the Shepherd’s shoulders was a favorite one with the early Christians; and they made representations of it at almost every turn. The same is put before us in to-day’s Gospel, that our confidence may be strengthened in God’s infinite mercy. It reminds us, in its own beautiful way, of our Lord Jesus; whom we contemplated, a few weeks back, ascending triumphantly into heaven, carrying thither, in his arms, the lost human family, which he had won back from Satan and death and sin. For, as St. Ambrose says, “who is the Shepherd of our parable? It is Christ, who carries thee, poor man, in his own Body, and has taken all thy sins upon himself. The Sheep is one, not by number, but by its kind. Rich Shepherd this, of whose flock, all we human beings form but the hundredth part! for he has the angels, and Arch angels, and Dominations, and Powers, and Thrones, and all the rest; all those other countless flocks, whom he has left yonder up the mountain, that he might run after the one Sheep he had lost.” (St Ambrose, in Luc, vii)

But it is from St. Gregory the Great that the Church, in her Matins of this Sunday, took the Commentary of this Gospel. And, in the sequel of that homily, the holy doctor gives us the explanation of the parable of the Woman and the ten groats. “He,” says St. Gregory, “that is signified by the Shepherd, is also meant by the Woman. Jesus is God; he is the Wisdom of God. And because good coin must bear the image of the king upon it, therefore was it that the Woman lost her groat, when Man, who had been created after God’s image, strayed from that image by committing sin. But, the Woman lights a lamp; the Wisdom of God hath appeared in human flesh. A lamp is a light which burns in a vessel of clay; and Light in a vessel of clay, is the Divinity in our flesh. It is of the vessel of his Body, that this Wisdom says: My strength is dried up like a potsherd. (Psalm 21:16) For, just as clay is made hard by fire, so His strength was dried up like a potsherd, because it has strengthened unto the glory of his resurrection, in the crucible of sufferings, the Flesh which it (Wisdom) had assumed … Having found the groat she had lost, the Woman calleth together her friends and neighbors, saying: ‘Rejoice with me! because I have found the groat which I had lost.’ Who are these friends and neighbors, if not the heavenly Spirits, who are so near to divine Wisdom, by the favors they enjoy of the ceaseless vision? But we must not, meanwhile, neglect to examine why this Woman, who represents divine Wisdom, is described as having ten groats, one of which she loses, then looks for, and again finds it? We must know, then, that God made both Angels and Men, that they might know him; and that having made both immortal, they were both made to the image of God. The Woman, then, had ten groats, because there are nine orders of Angels, and Man, who is to fill up the number of the elect, is the tenth groat; he was lost by his sin, but was found again, because Eternal Wisdom restored him, by lighting the lamp, that is, by assuming his flesh, and, through that, working wonderful works, which led to his recovery.” (St. Gregory, Homil. xxxiv. in Evangelia.)

The Offertory is an outpouring of gratitude and love for the God who dwelleth in Sion; he does not abandon them that seek lam; he does not forget the poor man’s prayer.

OFFERTORY

Let them trust in thee, O Lord, who know thy name: for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Sing ye to the Lord who dwelleth in Sion: for that he hath not forgotten the prayer of the poor.

SECRET

Look down, Lord, on the offerings of thy suppliant Church; and grant that thy faithful may always worthily partake thereof in order to their salvation. Through, etc.

SECOND SECRET

Graciously hear us, O God our Savior: that by virtue of this sacrament, thou mayest defend us from all enemies, of both soul and body: grant us grace in this life, and glory in the next.

The third Secret is left to the Priest’s own choice.

The Preface is that appointed for all Sundays during the year, for which no proper one is fixed, either of the Time, or for a Feast.

The Communion-anthem recalls to our minds, and with much appropriateness, the merciful teaching of today’s Gospel, now that Eternal Wisdom has regained full possession of the last groat, by means of the sacred Banquet, which He Himself had given to the repentant prodigal.

COMMUNION

I say to you: there is joy among the angels of God over one sinner doing penance.

POSTCOMMUNION

May thy sacred mysteries, O Lord, which we have received, give us life; and cleansing us from our sins, make us worthy of thy eternal mercy. Through, etc.

SECOND POSTCOMMUNION

May the oblation of this divine Sacrament, we beseech thee, O Lord, both cleanse and defend us; and by the intercession of Blessed Mary, the Virgin-Mother of God, of Blessed Joseph, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, of Blessed N. and of all the Saints, free us from all sin, and deliver us from all adversity.

The third Postcommunion is left to the Priest’s own choice.

VESPERS

The Psalms, Capitulum, Hymn and Versicle.

ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT

What woman, having ten groats, if she lose one groat, doth not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it?

LET US PRAY

God, the protector of those who hope in thee! without whose aid, nothing is strong, nothing holy: increase thy mercy towards us; that under thy direction and conduct, we may so pass through the blessings of this life, as not to lose those which are eternal. Through, etc.