Metatron is a Leftist who actually respects facts, unlike most Lefties!
31 May 2025
Santa Marta Is Too Expensive: Pope Leo Returns to the Apostolic Palace
The Popes lived in the Apostolic Palace from 1870 to 2013, but Francis preferred to live in Santa Marta, which cost the Church millions of euros to renovate and maintain as the Pope's residence.
From Rorate Cæli
The first steps taken by Pope Leo XIV at the helm of the Church are largely satisfying the expectations of the cardinals who elected him. The eminent prelates were looking for a good shepherd, but even more so they trusted that the new pontiff would be able to restore balance to a form of government that, under Pope Francis, had taken on authoritarian tendencies and destabilized the clergy and the faithful with numerous acts considered overly bold.
Leone has first of all reestablished—with kindness but firmness—the dignity proper to the Supreme Pontiff with small but significant gestures. The new Pope willingly accepts the kissing of his hand as a sign of respect and reverence, but woe betide anyone who asks him for a selfie, a symbol of the pop decadence to which Bergoglio had become so accustomed. Even his outward appearance has returned to that befitting the successor of Peter, with more appropriate and formal attire: the Pope wears the choral vestments (rocchetto and red mozzetta over the cassock) on formal occasions and wears the Fisherman's Ring he received last Sunday on a daily basis.
Furthermore, since the evening of his election, Leone has not slept in Santa Marta, preferring to stay temporarily in the house where he lived as cardinal in the Palazzo Sant'Uffizio.
The Pope broke the seals of the papal apartment on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace, viewing the rooms where all his predecessors lived from 1870 to 2013 and where he intends to settle as soon as the necessary renovation work has been carried out.
During his twelve years in Santa Marta, Francis caused several problems of public order and security, but also economic problems. The famous “fifty square meters” where Bergoglio stayed in the hotel intended for cardinals in conclave gradually became numerous rooms until they occupied the entire second floor. A kitchen, a reception room, a private chapel, and several rooms for his closest collaborators have been set up in recent years, making the spaces in Santa Marta used by the pontiff much larger than the historic papal apartment.
All this has involved a great deal of work and, above all, maintenance, not to mention the doubling of security, which must be guaranteed at the Apostolic Palace, making it necessary to hire new gendarmerie officers and enlist numerous additional Swiss guards compared to the past. The costs of the operation, which are anything but modest, have risen over the years, reaching the hyperbolic figure of almost two hundred thousand euros per month for the management of Santa Marta during the last period of Francis' reign.
Leone has therefore decided to carry out his function with dignity and wisdom: he will live where the popes have always stayed, and Santa Marta will return to its ordinary use.
(Translated from Il Tempo)
Pictured: The Portone di Bronzo at the Vatican Apostolic Palace entrance.
Compline
Today's Holy Mass from Corpus Christi Church, Tynong AUS. You may follow the Mass at Divinum Officium.
Backing Your Values With Your Money? Only if the Left Approves
"The French Left just took the global trend of 'let’s silence all who dare to challenge the system' to another level". Attacking Catholics is the Left's raison d'être.
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From The European Conservative
By Hélène de Lauzun, PhD
The French Left just took the global trend of “let’s silence all who dare to challenge the system” to another level.
After targeting Catholic billionaire Vincent Bolloré, owner of the Cnews channel, the Left is now taking a close interest in entrepreneur Pierre-Édouard Stérin, known for his numerous investments in conservative initiatives.
Although the man has a reputation for being rather discreet, his name has appeared repeatedly in the left-wing press over the past few months, along with condemnations of the initiatives he supports and finances on the grounds that they serve a “far-right ideology.”
In the writings of militant journalists on the French far Left, Stérin has become a grey eminence who is said to be behind all manners of dirty tricks. Apparently, Stérin wants to bring the French press to heel. If you didn’t know, Stérin wants to make France bow to the dictates of the “reactionary Catholic far Right.” And the list continues.
Behind this caricature, so diabolical to the Left, is simply a man who has chosen to focus his investments on traditional French values. Billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin, who built his fortune with Smartbox products, is now one of the leading investors in a range of projects serving the common good—as reflected in the name of the investment fund he founded in 2021 to support initiatives based on four priority areas of development: solidarity, comprehensive education, culture and heritage, human and spiritual growth.
Beyond the Common Good Fund, Stérin and his colleagues are working on a more ambitious initiative: the Pericles project, which was revealed a few months ago by the left-wing press. La France Insoumise MP Antoine Léaument listed the charges against Stérin on X: “Patriot—Rooted—Resistance fighter—Identitarian—Christian—Liberal—European—Sovereignist.” This list, whose acronym, Pericles, gives its name to the long-term political project that Stérin is pursuing for France.
These adjectives, we would say, describe a perfectly respectable pedigree, but the far Left does not see it that way: it sees a plan to “bring the RN to power.”
The Left also criticises him for supporting the launch of an English-style boarding school for gifted children, part of the vast Académies Saint-Louis project, which promotes the comprehensive education of the French youth as advocated by the Catholic Church. There are fears that it will spread an “ultra-reactionary” ideology among young people, with “traditionalist” and “therefore fundamentalist” values, according to the communist newspaper L’Humanité.
All this easily fuels the Left’s fantasy machine. In addition to the progressive press, a whole pack of militant associations linked to the far Left has been set on Stérin’s trail.
The smear campaign eventually reached the National Assembly. On April 10th, Stérin was summoned by an inquiry commission to examine his possible influence on the elections.
Stérin did indeed play a role in the 2022 presidential campaign, where he exchanged ideas with the team of Reconquête candidate Éric Zemmour. In 2023, he moved closer to the Rassemblement National through the number two at his company Otium Capital, François Durvye, who joined the circle of advisers close to Marine Le Pen. The same year, Stérin and Durvye, through a real estate company, bought the villa in the upmarket suburb of Rueil-Malmaison, where Jean-Marie Le Pen lived, from the Le Pen family. Both are working to lend credibility to the RN’s economic programme with a view to its rise to power.
He is accused of wanting to use his funding to influence the outcome of the elections—as if it were not possible to put one’s money at the service of one’s convictions. Such accusations, needless to say, were never levelled in the past against, for example, the gay billionaire Pierre Bergé, partner of Yves Saint-Laurent and staunch supporter of the Socialist Party … and of Emmanuel Macron.
Stérin declined the summons to the Assembly. Not on principle, but solely on procedural grounds. He requested the option of responding by videoconference—a perfectly legal option, which investigative committees sometimes use when the person being questioned is unable to travel. During the pandemic, this was common practice. Stérin, in addition to not residing in France, has good reasons for preferring video conferencing. As his lawyer explained, he is simply seeking to protect himself after receiving dozens of death threats: in recent days, he has been forced to file no fewer than 24 complaints to the police. In Tours, a poster was put up calling for his beheading, according to Boulevard Voltaire. The interior ministry has made clear that the threats must be taken seriously. But the Left prefers to talk about “evasion” or “flight” to describe his refusal to appear in person before the inquiry commission.
A few weeks ago, another man refused to submit to this legal and mandatory procedure as part of a corruption investigation. The man in question was Alexis Kohler, who for years held the position of secretary general of the Élysée Palace, making him Macron’s closest collaborator. The Left did not express much outrage, and Kohler will not be prosecuted. But Kohler’s God is not Stérin’s God.
The case is taking on a new dimension. On Tuesday, May 20th, the chair of the parliamentary inquiry committee announced his intention to refer the matter to the courts. The president of the National Assembly completed with a thunderous statement, urging Stérin to honor his commitments—something he has never refused to do.
The Left should be wary: the relentless attacks it has launched against Vincent Bolloré in recent months have only served to further enhance the credibility and popularity of one of the few figures who dare to challenge the system.
Pictured: Pierre-Édouard Stérin
Bishop Challoner's Meditations ~ Sunday Within the Octave of the Ascension
ON THE PRECEPTS OF CHARITY TO OUR NEIGHBOURS
Consider first, that after that greatest and first commandment, of loving God with our whole heart and soul, the next of all the divine precepts is, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' This, saith our Lord, is like to the other; and indeed it has so necessary a connexion with it that we cannot fulfil the one without the other. 'God is charity,' says the beloved disciple, 1 John iv. 16, ‘and he that abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him.’ And again, ‘he that loved, not [his neighbour] knoweth not God, for God is charity,’ v. 8. And again, ‘if any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar,’ v. 20. These two precepts of charity by which we are commanded in the first place to love God above all things, and in the next place, to love our neighbours as ourselves, contain an abridgment of the whole duty of a Christian. They are two branches that spring from the same root, and belong to the self-same divine virtue, because the same motives that oblige us to love God for his own goodness’ sake, oblige us also to love all that are made after his image and redeemed by the blood of his Son, for the sake of their maker and redeemer. It is he that requires this love of us, and requires it in such a manner as that we should love him in our neighbours, and love them in him. O the Infinite goodness and bounty of our God! that, notwithstanding the immense distance there is betwixt him and us, he should be pleased to put us as it were upon an equality, by requiring that we should love one another with the like love, and upon the same motive, as we love himself.
Consider 2ndly, that this charity to our neighbours is so essentially necessary to salvation, that without it, though we spoke with the tongues of men and angels, had the gift of prophecy, and all knowledge of the deepest mysteries, and faith strong enough even to remove mountains, we should still be nothing; and though we should give our whole substance to the poor, and our bodies to the flames, it would profit us nothing, saith St. Paul, 1 Cor. xiii. ‘He that loveth not,’ saith St. John, 'abideth in death,’ 1 John iii. 14. 'He is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes,’ chap. ii. 11. And this charity which is so necessary to salvation, must be general; for, as we learn from our Lord in the parable of the good Samaritan, Luke x., all men, without exception of nations or opinions, are here to be considered as our neighbours: and if there should be any mortal whom we should exclude from our charity, our heavenly Father would exclude us from his mercy. Matt. xvii. 25.
Consider 3rdlv, how much our Lord takes to heart that we should have this mutual love and charity for one another. He has made it his favourite commandment; the very badge by which he would have his disciples known and distinguished. ‘I give you a commandment,’ saith he, John xiii. 34,35, 'that you love one another as I have loved you. By this shall men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ And chap. xv. 12, 'This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.’ And this mutual love for one another he desires may be so perfect that it may in some measure resemble the love and union that there is between him and his Father; as he has declared in that heavenly prayer that he made for his disciples, John xvii. 20,21. 'And not for them only,’ said he, ‘do I pray, but for them also, who, through their word shall believe in me; that they all may be one as thou Father in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou best sent me' This mutual love, this union and charity, he inculcates in these strong terms in this last confidence of his mortal life with his beloved disciples, that both they and we might consider it as his last dying injunction, and as a most precious legacy which he has bequeathed to us all. O my soul, embrace this legacy of love which has been thus left thee by thy Lord dying for the love of thee.
Conclude to prove thyself henceforward to be a disciple of Christ indeed, by this spirit of universal charity for all, as he has died out of charity for all. In the beginning of the church, 'the multitude of the believers had but one heart and one soul,’ Acts iv. 32. Such was their mutual love and union. O blessed charity, when shall we see thee once more reign in this manner amongst Christians?
1 June, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
1. All devotions which have been approved by the Church are valuable because they are acts of religion which have as their object the author of all holiness and source of all goodness. By these acts God is adored, thanked and supplicated by His children who have been redeemed by the Precious Blood of Christ. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin and to the Saints is also directed ultimately towards God, Who has endowed His faithful servants, especially the Mother of Jesus, with His gifts and graces and has established them as mediators by His throne. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, however, is not one of the many pious practices merely permitted or recommended by the Church. Fundamentally, it is a devotion which is essential for any Christian in so far as it is the cult of the love of God made man for our sakes.We know that Christianity is the religion of love. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16) Everything flows from God's love for mankind—both the Creation and the Redemption, for God created us out of love and redeemed us with the love of His only-begotten Son Who became man and died for us; and both the Old and the New Law, for the basis of the Old Law was “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength,” (Deut. 6:4) and the commandment of charity was called by Jesus His own commandment, on which His entire teaching was based. The Sacraments, especially the Blessed Eucharist, have their origin in the same infinite love. So have the graces which God gives us, our justification through the merits of our Redeemer, and the final reward for which we hope in Heaven. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is the worship of this infinite love, of which it is a living symbol.
2. When we consider it under its fundamental aspect as the cult of the love of God rather than of the Incarnate Word, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is as old as Christianity, even though it is only in recent centuries that it has assumed its present symbolism. “He who does not love does not know God,” says St. John, “for God is love.” (1 John 4:8) “And we have come to know,” he continues, “and have believed, the love that God has in our behalf. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16) This cult of the love of God, particularly of the love of God made man, vibrates throughout the pages of the Gospel and of the writings of the Apostles, especially of St. John and of St. Paul. In the works of the Fathers there are references to the Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance, from which flowed all the infinite graces of the Church for our redemption. We are reminded of this in the Encyclical published by Pope Pius XII in the year 1956. But the specific cult of the love of God as symbolised by the Heart of Jesus was explicitly approved by the Church after Jesus Himself appeared in the year 1674 to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and showed her His Heart on fire with love for men.
3. We should have a very high regard, therefore, for this devotion to the Sacred Heart. We should excite in our hearts acts of love which will compensate in some way for the infinite love which Jesus has for us. Finally, we should try and make our lives correspond with our love by emulating as far as possible the holy and immaculate life of Jesus Christ.
Ejaculation: May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere known and loved.
Eastern Rite ~ Feasts of 1 June AM 7533
Today is the Feast of the Commemoration of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council and the Feast of the Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher and Those with Him.
Persecution of Christians ceased during the fourth century, but heresies arose within the Church itself. One of the most pernicious of these heresies was Arianism. Arius, a priest of Alexandria, was a man of immense pride and ambition. In denying the divine nature of Jesus Christ and His equality with God the Father, Arius falsely taught that the Savior is not consubstantial with the Father, but is only a created being.
A local Council, convened with Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria presiding, condemned the false teachings of Arius. However, Arius would not submit to the authority of the Church. He wrote to many bishops, denouncing the decrees of the local Council. He spread his false teaching throughout the East, receiving support from certain Eastern bishops.
Investigating these dissentions, the holy emperor Constantine (May 21) consulted Bishop Hosius of Cordova (Aug. 27), who assured him that the heresy of Arius was directed against the most fundamental dogma of Christ’s Church, and so he decided to convene an Ecumenical Council. In the year 325, 318 bishops representing Christian Churches from various lands gathered together at Nicea.
Among the assembled bishops were many confessors who had suffered during the persecutions, and who bore the marks of torture upon their bodies. Also participating in the Council were several great luminaries of the Church: Saint Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (December 6 and May 9), Saint Spyridon, Bishop of Tremithos (December 12), and others venerated by the Church as holy Fathers.
With Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria came his deacon, Athanasius [who later became Patriarch of Alexandria (May 2 and January 18)]. He is called “the Great,” for he was a zealous champion for the purity of the Catholic Faith. In the Sixth Ode of the Canon for today’s Feast, he is referred to as “the thirteenth Apostle.”
The emperor Constantine presided over the sessions of the Council. In his speech, responding to the welcome by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, he said, “God has helped me cast down the impious might of the persecutors, but more distressful for me than any blood spilled in battle is for a soldier, is the internal strife in the Church of God, for it is more ruinous.”
Arius, with seventeen bishops among his supporters, remained arrogant, but his teaching was repudiated and he was excommunicated from the Church. In his speech, the holy deacon Athanasius conclusively refuted the blasphemous opinions of Arius. The heresiarch Arius is depicted in iconography sitting on Satan’s knees, or in the mouth of the Beast of the Deep (Rev. 13).
The Fathers of the Council declined to accept a Symbol of Faith (Creed) proposed by the Arians. Instead, they affirmed the Catholic Symbol of Faith (the Nicene Creed). Saint Constantine asked the Council to insert into the text of the Symbol of Faith the word “consubstantial,” which he had heard in the speeches of the bishops. The Fathers of the Council unanimously accepted this suggestion.
In the Nicene Creed, the holy Fathers set forth and confirmed the Apostolic teachings about Christ’s divine nature. The heresy of Arius was exposed and repudiated as an error of haughty reason. After resolving this chief dogmatic question, the Council also issued Twelve Canons on questions of churchly administration and discipline. Also decided was the date for the celebration of Holy Pascha. By decision of the Council, Holy Pascha should not be celebrated by Christians on the same day with the Jewish Passover, but on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox (which occured on March 22 in 325).
The First Ecumenical Council is also commemorated on May 29.
Troparion — Tone 8
You are most glorious, O Christ our God! / You have established the Holy Fathers as lights on the earth! / Through them you have guided us to the true faith! / O greatly Compassionate One, glory to You!
The Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher was born around 114 at Sychem, an ancient city of Samaria. Justin’s parents were pagan Greeks. From his childhood, the saint displayed intelligence, a love for knowledge and a fervent devotion to the knowledge of Truth. When he came of age he studied the various schools of Greek philosophy: the Stoics, the Peripatetics, the Pythagoreans, and the Platonists, and he concluded that none of these pagan teachings revealed the way to knowledge of the true God.
Once, when he was strolling in a solitary place beyond the city and pondering about where to seek the way to the knowledge of Truth, he met an old man. In the ensuing conversation, he revealed to Justin the essential nature of the Christian teaching and advised him to seek the answers to all the questions of life in the books of Holy Scripture. “But before anything else,” said the holy Elder, “pray diligently to God, so that He might open to you the doors of Light. No one is able to comprehend Truth, unless he is granted understanding from God Himself, Who reveals it to each one who seeks Him in prayer and in love.”
In his thirtieth year, Justin accepted holy Baptism (between the years 133 and 137). From this time Saint Justin devoted his talents and vast philosophical knowledge to preaching the Gospel among the pagans. He began to journey throughout the Roman Empire, sowing the seeds of faith. “Whosoever is able to proclaim Truth and does not proclaim it will be condemned by God,” he wrote.
Justin opened a school of Christian philosophy. Saint Justin subsequently defended the truth of Christian teaching, persuasively confuting pagan sophistry (in a debate with the Cynic philosopher Crescentius) and heretical distortions of Christianity. He also spoke out against the teachings of the Gnostic Marcian.
In the year 155, when the emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) started a persecution against Christians, Saint Justin personally gave him an Apology in defence of two Christians innocently condemned to execution, Ptolemy and Lucias. The name of the third remains unknown.
In the Apology, he demonstrated the falseness of the slander against Christians accused unjustly for merely having the name of Christians. The Apology had such a favourable effect upon the emperor that he ceased the persecution. Saint Justin journeyed, by decision of the emperor, to Asia Minor where they were persecuting Christians with particular severity. He proclaimed the joyous message of the imperial edict throughout the surrounding cities and countryside.
The debate of Saint Justin with Rabbi Trypho took place at Ephesus. The Catholic philosopher demonstrated the truth of the Christian teaching of faith on the basis of the Old Testament prophetic writings. Saint Justin gave an account of this debate in his work Dialogue with Trypho the Jew.
A second Apology of Saint Justin was addressed to the Roman Senate. It was written in the year 161, soon after Marcus Aurelius (161-180) ascended the throne.
When he returned to Italy, Saint Justin, like the Apostles, preached the Gospel everywhere, converting many to the Christian Faith. When the saint arrived in Rome, the envious Crescentius, whom Justin always defeated in debate, brought many false accusations against him before the Roman court. Saint Justin was put under guard, subjected to torture and suffered martyrdom in 165. The relics of Saint Justin the Philosopher rest in Rome.
In addition to the above-mentioned works, the following are also attributed to the holy martyr Justin the Philosopher:
1) An Address to the Greeks
2) A Hortatory Address to the Greeks
3) On the Sole Government of God
Saint John of Damascus preserved a significant part of Saint Justin’s On the Resurrection, which has not survived. The church historian Eusebius asserts that Saint Justin wrote books entitled
The Singer
Denunciation of all Existing Heresies and
Against Marcian
In the Russian Church, the memory of the martyr is particularly glorified in temples of his name. He is invoked by those who seek help in their studies.
The holy martyrs Justin, Chariton, Euelpistus, Hierax, Peonus, Valerian, Justus and the martyr Charito suffered with Saint Justin the Philosopher in the year 166. They were brought to Rome and thrown into prison. The saints bravely confessed their faith in Christ before the court of the prefect Rusticus. Rusticus asked Saint Justin, whether he really thought that after undergoing torture he would go to heaven and receive a reward from God. Saint Justin answered, “Not only do I think this, but I know and am fully assured of it.”
The prefect proposed to all the Christian prisoners that they offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. When they refused he issued a sentence of death, and the saints were beheaded.
Troparion — Tone 4
O Justin, teacher of divine knowledge, / you shone with the radiance of true philosophy. / You were wisely armed against the enemy. / Confessing the truth you contended alongside the martyrs, / with them, ever entreat Christ our God to save our souls!
Kontakion — Tone 2
The whole Church of God is adorned with the wisdom of your divine words, O Justin; / the world is enlightened by the radiance of your life. / By the shedding of your blood, you have received a crown. / As you stand before Christ with the angels, pray unceasingly for us all!
✠✠✠✠✠
On the seventh Sunday of Pascha, we commemorate the holy God-bearing Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council.
The Commemoration of the First Ecumenical Council has been celebrated by the Church of Christ from ancient times. The Lord Jesus Christ left the Church a great promise, “I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:18). Although the Church of Christ on earth will pass through difficult struggles with the Enemy of salvation, it will emerge victorious. The holy martyrs bore witness to the truth of the Savior’s words, enduring suffering and death for confessing Christ, but the persecutor’s sword is shattered by the Cross of Christ.Persecution of Christians ceased during the fourth century, but heresies arose within the Church itself. One of the most pernicious of these heresies was Arianism. Arius, a priest of Alexandria, was a man of immense pride and ambition. In denying the divine nature of Jesus Christ and His equality with God the Father, Arius falsely taught that the Savior is not consubstantial with the Father, but is only a created being.
A local Council, convened with Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria presiding, condemned the false teachings of Arius. However, Arius would not submit to the authority of the Church. He wrote to many bishops, denouncing the decrees of the local Council. He spread his false teaching throughout the East, receiving support from certain Eastern bishops.
Investigating these dissentions, the holy emperor Constantine (May 21) consulted Bishop Hosius of Cordova (Aug. 27), who assured him that the heresy of Arius was directed against the most fundamental dogma of Christ’s Church, and so he decided to convene an Ecumenical Council. In the year 325, 318 bishops representing Christian Churches from various lands gathered together at Nicea.
Among the assembled bishops were many confessors who had suffered during the persecutions, and who bore the marks of torture upon their bodies. Also participating in the Council were several great luminaries of the Church: Saint Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia (December 6 and May 9), Saint Spyridon, Bishop of Tremithos (December 12), and others venerated by the Church as holy Fathers.
With Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria came his deacon, Athanasius [who later became Patriarch of Alexandria (May 2 and January 18)]. He is called “the Great,” for he was a zealous champion for the purity of the Catholic Faith. In the Sixth Ode of the Canon for today’s Feast, he is referred to as “the thirteenth Apostle.”
The emperor Constantine presided over the sessions of the Council. In his speech, responding to the welcome by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, he said, “God has helped me cast down the impious might of the persecutors, but more distressful for me than any blood spilled in battle is for a soldier, is the internal strife in the Church of God, for it is more ruinous.”
Arius, with seventeen bishops among his supporters, remained arrogant, but his teaching was repudiated and he was excommunicated from the Church. In his speech, the holy deacon Athanasius conclusively refuted the blasphemous opinions of Arius. The heresiarch Arius is depicted in iconography sitting on Satan’s knees, or in the mouth of the Beast of the Deep (Rev. 13).
The Fathers of the Council declined to accept a Symbol of Faith (Creed) proposed by the Arians. Instead, they affirmed the Catholic Symbol of Faith (the Nicene Creed). Saint Constantine asked the Council to insert into the text of the Symbol of Faith the word “consubstantial,” which he had heard in the speeches of the bishops. The Fathers of the Council unanimously accepted this suggestion.
In the Nicene Creed, the holy Fathers set forth and confirmed the Apostolic teachings about Christ’s divine nature. The heresy of Arius was exposed and repudiated as an error of haughty reason. After resolving this chief dogmatic question, the Council also issued Twelve Canons on questions of churchly administration and discipline. Also decided was the date for the celebration of Holy Pascha. By decision of the Council, Holy Pascha should not be celebrated by Christians on the same day with the Jewish Passover, but on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox (which occured on March 22 in 325).
The First Ecumenical Council is also commemorated on May 29.
Troparion — Tone 8
You are most glorious, O Christ our God! / You have established the Holy Fathers as lights on the earth! / Through them you have guided us to the true faith! / O greatly Compassionate One, glory to You!
Kontakion — Tone 8
The Apostles’ preaching and the Fathers’ doctrines have established one faith for the Church. / Adorned with the robe of truth, woven from heavenly theology, / it defines and glorifies the great mystery of our Holy Faith!
The Apostles’ preaching and the Fathers’ doctrines have established one faith for the Church. / Adorned with the robe of truth, woven from heavenly theology, / it defines and glorifies the great mystery of our Holy Faith!
✠✠✠✠✠
The Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher was born around 114 at Sychem, an ancient city of Samaria. Justin’s parents were pagan Greeks. From his childhood, the saint displayed intelligence, a love for knowledge and a fervent devotion to the knowledge of Truth. When he came of age he studied the various schools of Greek philosophy: the Stoics, the Peripatetics, the Pythagoreans, and the Platonists, and he concluded that none of these pagan teachings revealed the way to knowledge of the true God.
Once, when he was strolling in a solitary place beyond the city and pondering about where to seek the way to the knowledge of Truth, he met an old man. In the ensuing conversation, he revealed to Justin the essential nature of the Christian teaching and advised him to seek the answers to all the questions of life in the books of Holy Scripture. “But before anything else,” said the holy Elder, “pray diligently to God, so that He might open to you the doors of Light. No one is able to comprehend Truth, unless he is granted understanding from God Himself, Who reveals it to each one who seeks Him in prayer and in love.”
In his thirtieth year, Justin accepted holy Baptism (between the years 133 and 137). From this time Saint Justin devoted his talents and vast philosophical knowledge to preaching the Gospel among the pagans. He began to journey throughout the Roman Empire, sowing the seeds of faith. “Whosoever is able to proclaim Truth and does not proclaim it will be condemned by God,” he wrote.
Justin opened a school of Christian philosophy. Saint Justin subsequently defended the truth of Christian teaching, persuasively confuting pagan sophistry (in a debate with the Cynic philosopher Crescentius) and heretical distortions of Christianity. He also spoke out against the teachings of the Gnostic Marcian.
In the year 155, when the emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) started a persecution against Christians, Saint Justin personally gave him an Apology in defence of two Christians innocently condemned to execution, Ptolemy and Lucias. The name of the third remains unknown.
In the Apology, he demonstrated the falseness of the slander against Christians accused unjustly for merely having the name of Christians. The Apology had such a favourable effect upon the emperor that he ceased the persecution. Saint Justin journeyed, by decision of the emperor, to Asia Minor where they were persecuting Christians with particular severity. He proclaimed the joyous message of the imperial edict throughout the surrounding cities and countryside.
The debate of Saint Justin with Rabbi Trypho took place at Ephesus. The Catholic philosopher demonstrated the truth of the Christian teaching of faith on the basis of the Old Testament prophetic writings. Saint Justin gave an account of this debate in his work Dialogue with Trypho the Jew.
A second Apology of Saint Justin was addressed to the Roman Senate. It was written in the year 161, soon after Marcus Aurelius (161-180) ascended the throne.
When he returned to Italy, Saint Justin, like the Apostles, preached the Gospel everywhere, converting many to the Christian Faith. When the saint arrived in Rome, the envious Crescentius, whom Justin always defeated in debate, brought many false accusations against him before the Roman court. Saint Justin was put under guard, subjected to torture and suffered martyrdom in 165. The relics of Saint Justin the Philosopher rest in Rome.
In addition to the above-mentioned works, the following are also attributed to the holy martyr Justin the Philosopher:
1) An Address to the Greeks
2) A Hortatory Address to the Greeks
3) On the Sole Government of God
Saint John of Damascus preserved a significant part of Saint Justin’s On the Resurrection, which has not survived. The church historian Eusebius asserts that Saint Justin wrote books entitled
The Singer
Denunciation of all Existing Heresies and
Against Marcian
In the Russian Church, the memory of the martyr is particularly glorified in temples of his name. He is invoked by those who seek help in their studies.
The holy martyrs Justin, Chariton, Euelpistus, Hierax, Peonus, Valerian, Justus and the martyr Charito suffered with Saint Justin the Philosopher in the year 166. They were brought to Rome and thrown into prison. The saints bravely confessed their faith in Christ before the court of the prefect Rusticus. Rusticus asked Saint Justin, whether he really thought that after undergoing torture he would go to heaven and receive a reward from God. Saint Justin answered, “Not only do I think this, but I know and am fully assured of it.”
The prefect proposed to all the Christian prisoners that they offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. When they refused he issued a sentence of death, and the saints were beheaded.
Troparion — Tone 4
O Justin, teacher of divine knowledge, / you shone with the radiance of true philosophy. / You were wisely armed against the enemy. / Confessing the truth you contended alongside the martyrs, / with them, ever entreat Christ our God to save our souls!
Kontakion — Tone 2
The whole Church of God is adorned with the wisdom of your divine words, O Justin; / the world is enlightened by the radiance of your life. / By the shedding of your blood, you have received a crown. / As you stand before Christ with the angels, pray unceasingly for us all!
IN LUMINE FIDEI: 1 JUNE – SUNDAY AFTER THE ASCENSION
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IN LUMINE FIDEI: 1 JUNE – SAINT ANGELA MERICI (Virgin)
IN LUMINE FIDEI: JUNE – THE MONTH OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
1 June, The Chesterton Calendar
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JUNE 1st
The great lords will refuse the English peasant his three acres and a cow on advanced grounds, if they cannot refuse it longer on reactionary grounds. They will deny him the three acres on grounds of State Ownership. They will forbid him the cow on grounds of humanitarianism.
'What's Wrong with the World.'
1 June, The Holy Rule of St Benedict, Patriarch of Western Monasticism
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CHAPTER VII. Of Humility
31 Jan. 1 June. 1 Oct.
The third degree of humility is, that a man for the love of God submit himself to his superior in all obedience; imitating the Lord, of Whom the apostle saith: “He was made obedient even unto death.”
2 June, The Roman Martyrology
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Quarto Nonas Iúnii Luna quinta Anno Dómini 2025
June 2nd 2025, the 5th day of the Moon, were born into the better life:
At Rome, the holy martyrs Marcellinus the priest, and Peter the Exorcist.
They were teaching the faith to many in prison in the time of Diocletian, when Serenus the judge, after putting them to terrible bonds and many torments, caused them to be beheaded at the place which was then called the Black Wood, but the name of which was afterwards changed in honor of the Saints, and called the White Wood.
Their bodies were buried in the crypt, hard by the body of holy Tibertius, and holy Pope Damasus in after-days decorated their grave with a set of verses.
In Campania, the holy martyr Elmo, Patriarch [of Antioch.] Under the Emperor Diocletian he was first hided with scourges laden with lead, then heavily beaten with cudgels, after which resin, sulphur, lead, pitch, wax, and oil were poured over him, but he still appeared unharmed.
Thereafter at Formi, under Maximian, he was tortured again with diverse and most cruel sufferings but God preserved him to strengthen others, until at length, famous for his testimony, he fell asleep in a holy death at the call of the Lord. His body was afterwards taken to Gaeta.
At Lyon, the holy martyrs Photinus the Bishop, Sanctus the Deacon, Vetius, Epagathus, Maturus, Ponticus, Biblides, Attalus, Alexander, and Blandina, with many others, whose mighty and constant contendings, in the time of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius Verus, are written in the Epistle of the Church of Lyon to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia; among these the holy Blandina, weaker by sex, frailer in body, lower in social position, underwent contendings more long and more sharp, and remaining still inflexible, was slain by the sword, and so followed the others whom she had exhorted to victory.
At Rome, [in the year 657,] the holy Confessor Pope Eugenius I.
At Trani, in Apulia, [in the year 1094,] the holy Confessor Nicholas Peregrini, whose wonderful works were published in a Council at Rome under Pope Urban II.
℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
℟. Thanks be to God.
At Rome, the holy martyrs Marcellinus the priest, and Peter the Exorcist.
They were teaching the faith to many in prison in the time of Diocletian, when Serenus the judge, after putting them to terrible bonds and many torments, caused them to be beheaded at the place which was then called the Black Wood, but the name of which was afterwards changed in honor of the Saints, and called the White Wood.
Their bodies were buried in the crypt, hard by the body of holy Tibertius, and holy Pope Damasus in after-days decorated their grave with a set of verses.
In Campania, the holy martyr Elmo, Patriarch [of Antioch.] Under the Emperor Diocletian he was first hided with scourges laden with lead, then heavily beaten with cudgels, after which resin, sulphur, lead, pitch, wax, and oil were poured over him, but he still appeared unharmed.
Thereafter at Formi, under Maximian, he was tortured again with diverse and most cruel sufferings but God preserved him to strengthen others, until at length, famous for his testimony, he fell asleep in a holy death at the call of the Lord. His body was afterwards taken to Gaeta.
At Lyon, the holy martyrs Photinus the Bishop, Sanctus the Deacon, Vetius, Epagathus, Maturus, Ponticus, Biblides, Attalus, Alexander, and Blandina, with many others, whose mighty and constant contendings, in the time of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius Verus, are written in the Epistle of the Church of Lyon to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia; among these the holy Blandina, weaker by sex, frailer in body, lower in social position, underwent contendings more long and more sharp, and remaining still inflexible, was slain by the sword, and so followed the others whom she had exhorted to victory.
At Rome, [in the year 657,] the holy Confessor Pope Eugenius I.
At Trani, in Apulia, [in the year 1094,] the holy Confessor Nicholas Peregrini, whose wonderful works were published in a Council at Rome under Pope Urban II.
℣. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
℟. Thanks be to God.
Why Even Republican Governments Support Monarchies
Well, except maybe Australia, where the traitors keep trying.
Today, we explore why governments in monarchies, even those with republican leanings, often find themselves supporting a hereditary monarchy. The primary reason for this support in Monarchies lies in the widespread popularity of monarchies. For example, in countries like Spain and Sweden, where socialist and social democrat parties hold power, there's a hesitancy to propose abolishing the monarchy due to its electoral popularity. In simple terms: at this moment, politicians will not risk the power they have, for the power they will most probbaly not get. The acceptance of a monarchy's role depends on its perceived impartiality. This perception has led to varying degrees of royal disengagement from government formation processes in different countries. In Sweden and the Netherlands, for instance, the monarch no longer plays a role, while in Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Norway, monarchs remain actively involved, albeit with certain political safeguards.
How Jesus’ Presence Is Still With Us After His Ascension
"Even though Jesus ascended into Heaven, his presence is still with us in a real and tangible way in every tabernacle of the world in the ... Eucharist."
From Aleteia
By Philip Kosloski
Even though Jesus ascended into Heaven, his presence is still with us in a real and tangible way in every tabernacle of the world in the most Holy Eucharist.Before Jesus left his apostles, he said to them, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live" (John 14:18-19).
While in a one sense Jesus was referring to the "Advocate," or the Holy Spirit that he gives to his apostles on Pentecost, Jesus is also referring to other ways he has promised to be "with us."
3 Ways Jesus is present among us
The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes these particular ways he is present, which are mentioned by Jesus throughout the Gospels.
Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us," is present in many ways to his Church: in his word, in his Church's prayer, "where two or three are gathered in my name," in the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned, in the sacraments of which he is the author, in the sacrifice of the Mass, and in the person of the minister. But "he is present ... most especially in the Eucharistic species."
CCC 1373
Each time we read the Bible, especially the Gospels, Jesus is present with us, though not in a visible way.
He is present when we pray, again, not in a visible way, but a real and abiding presence.
Jesus also explained to his apostles that, "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). Whenever we see a poor, sick or imprisoned person, we see Jesus in a special way and our actions are done as if Jesus were that person.
Holy Eucharist
Last, but not least, Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist. This is the most tangible way Jesus is present, as we are able to accept Jesus inside of our own bodies.
In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained." "This presence is called 'real' -- by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the fullest sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present."
CCC 1374
The Eucharistic presence of Jesus remains a mystery to us, but the Church affirms that it is real, containing Jesus' body, blood, soul and divinity.
So while Jesus may have "left" his apostles when he ascended into Heaven, he did not leave us alone and remains with us in various ways that are in some ways greater than his bodily presence in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.
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