Traditional Catholic evening devotional prayers to close your day with your mind, heart, tongue, and soul on our Lord! The month of September is dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. Begin and end each day with prayer. This video is a compilation of many traditional evening prayers Catholics say, and should not be considered a replacement for those who have an obligation to pray the Divine Office evening prayers.
06 September 2026
Summa Contra Gentiles, Book II: LXXVI Active Intellect Is Part of the Soul, Not a Separate Substance
From Contemplating History
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 7 March 1274), was a Doctor of the Church, Philosopher, Theologian, Jurist, Dominican Friar, and Priest. Known as Doctor Angelicus "Angelic Doctor," and the Doctor Communis "Universal Doctor" his writings serve as a defense and proof of the validity of Christ's authority over all. The Summa contra Gentiles (also known as Liber de veritate catholicae fidei contra errores infidelium, "Book on the truth of the Catholic faith against the errors of the unbelievers"). The Summa contra Gentiles consists of four books. The structure of Saint Thomas's work is designed to proceed from general philosophical arguments for monotheism, to which Muslims and Jews are likely to consent even within their own respective religious traditions, before progressing to the discussion of specifically Christian doctrine.
Book II is dedicated to the Creation (in other words, the physical universe, everything which exists).
Whether you are a history enthusiast, a student of religion, or simply curious about the impact of the Roman Catholic Church on the world, this playlist is designed to provide an informative and engaging journey through its captivating past. Subscribe to the Contemplating History channel for more educational content and immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of history.
John Dupré, PhD - Philosophy of Transhumanism & Artificial Intelligence (AI)
From Closer to Truth, a secular source.
Humanity’s future is now framed by artificial intelligence (AI) and increasing interventions in the human body to cure and to enhance, i.e., transhumanism. Considering the stakes, and the dangers, a philosophical perspective is imperative.
John A. Dupré is a British philosopher of science. He is the director of Egenis, the Centre for the Study of Life Sciences, and professor of philosophy at the University of Exeter. Dupré's chief work area lies in philosophy of biology, philosophy of the social sciences, and general philosophy of science.
Story of the Black Prince’s Ruby. Famous Royal Gemstones. Famous Fake Ruby. The English Crown Jewels
From History Calling
The BLACK PRINCE’S RUBY is one of the most famous royal gemstones in the English Crown Jewels collection. It also has one of the most fascinating stories. Supposedly given to Edward of Woodstock (aka the Black Prince) who was the eldest son of Edward III and the father of Richard II, it is apparently from a mine in Badakhshan in Afghanistan and was reputedly a gift from King Pedro I of Castile. These stories cannot be proven though and its later provenance is also a little murky in places. Legend claims though that it was worn by Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, perhaps by Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth and it is likely one of the few gems to both survive the destruction of the Crown Jewels in 1649 by Oliver Cromwell’s forces and come back into royal hands after the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. Its documented history only really begins in the 1680s though. Interestingly, the stone is actually a fake ruby as it is in reality a spinel. It is now set into the 1937 Imperial State Crown and has perhaps adorned the heads of more monarchs than any other stone in English history. It has sat on their coffins too, including most recently the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II.
In this royal jewels documentary from History Calling, we look at the history of this stone and at the purpose of crown jewels more broadly. I’ll explain too why the Black Prince’s Ruby has a noticeable hole at the top (plugged with an actual ruby) and tell you about its current home in the Tower of London jewel house.
Monks’ Guide To Protect Your Peace As Autumn Looms
The author is the creator of Monks' Mindset to coach one in these techniques (unfortunately, only available as an app on the Apple iPhone).
From Aleteia
By John Cannon
Even a monk can realize that life has become a frenzy, from one activity to the next. What's to be done?
As many of us transition back to school or as work gets busier this fall season, it can be easy to let the inertia of the busy-ness turn to chaos. But there are ways to keep peace within ourselves despite the chaos going on around us.
In my early days in the monastery, we had classes on spirituality, during which we’d learn from the older brothers who'd been in the monastery for a while. I remember the youthful and energetic Fr. Robert, sharing with us once:
We all have this candle burning within us. It’s the light of hope, life, God’s presence within us. If you run around while carrying a candle, it will go out.
Similarly, if we rush around, become frenetic, or allow too much stress to creep in, the candle of God will go out within us and it can be hard to re-light.
You’d be surprised how much there is to do in the monastery – praying, cleaning, gardening, cooking, caring for older brothers, studies, preparing spiritual talks, and much, much more.
When I was in the monastery, I’d literally be going from one thing to the next, all day.
And we all face this – more to do and accomplish than we have time for... And this will always be the case so long as we are finite human beings, which is literally our whole life.
Not producing, but protecting
So often in our culture, productivity is measured by speed and output.
But the monastic way flips this on its head. What matters most is not how much we produce, but how we carry the inner flame while we work.
There are different terms for this in the monastic tradition: St. Teresa of Avila would call it “union with God.” Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, a 17th-century Carmelite, referred to it as the “practice of the presence of God.” (It's his book by this title that Pope Leo loves so much.) Carrying this inner flame could mean that a monk might spend days carefully and patiently writing an icon, because the act itself is a prayer.
In the same way, our daily work — whether it’s emails, meetings, child care, or manual labor — becomes transfigured when we guard the candle within us, bringing peace into our tasks.
It’s OK to move quickly, but protect yourself from moving in haste, and shield the candle within you so that it doesn't go out.
You can still give “your all” to your work and tasks, but hold back from allowing the anxiety, franticness, and haste to take over your mind, heart, and work.
Don’t give in to allowing this to spoil your work and duties during the day so that you can preserve the peace, light, and radiance within yourself.
It will shine to others, but the flame must be lit inside.
But how?
If you’re interested in putting this into practice in your own life, here’s a quick exercise you can do:
Pause for a moment, invite the Holy Spirit into this space. Then look back on your recent weeks and try to call to mind the times and places that you tend to rush or hurry.
Now that you are aware of those, make an intention now that the next time you START to feel this hurry or haste, that you will literally STOP in that moment, close your eyes, and ask for the grace to preserve the candle within you.
Continue to ask the Holy Spirit for the grace to not only be more aware, but also to protect the candle within so that its light may radiate to all those you encounter.
~
If you want to learn and apply more practical wisdom like this from Catholic monks and nuns, check out the Monk Mindset app (available on iOS) to access guided content from monks and nuns, set up your routines, and block distracting apps.
Pope Leo’s Weird Warning About the Prophets of Doom
Pope Leo invokes John XXIII's warning about the Prophets of Doom, which was a slight against the Fatima seers and those who demanded the release of the Fatima message when he first said it back in 1960.
Where Did Poor Peasants Stay When on a Journey?
From Modern History TV
When poor medieval peasants went on a journey, where did they stay and how were they treated? Jason Kingsley, the Modern Knight discusses medieval road travel. Where Did Medieval Peasants Sleep on the Road? Life on the Move in the Middle Ages https://burgschneider.com/en-de/colle...
What did a medieval journey look like for a poor peasant? 🛤️ In this eye-opening video, we uncover the challenges of travel in the Middle Ages and reveal where ordinary people found shelter during their journeys. Was it rough roadside camps or monasteries offering hospitality, discover the surprising realities of medieval travel.
Explore:
The dangers and discomforts of peasant travel
Common sleeping arrangements for those without wealth
The role of inns, churches, and barns in providing shelter
Historical examples and real medieval records of travelers' experiences
Perfect for history buffs, RPG enthusiasts, and anyone curious about the daily lives of medieval people, this video sheds light on a rarely explored topic.
👉 Watch now and discover:
How did medieval peasants manage long journeys?
What were the safest and most common places to sleep?
What does this tell us about medieval society and hospitality?
Traditional Catholic Morning Prayers in English | September
Traditional Catholic morning prayers to help start your day in a holy way! The month of September is dedicated to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. I hope these prayers increase your devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary this month, to share in her sorrows and to and draw you closer to her Divine Son, Jesus Christ. Begin each day with morning prayer! This video is a compilation of many traditional evening prayers Catholics say, and should not be considered a replacement for those who have an obligation to pray the Divine Office evening prayers.
Robert Breaker Wrong About the Catholic Church (False Teaching and History)
From Catholic Truth
Robert Breaker is WRONG about the Catholic Church and history! Everything Robert Breaker says about the Catholic Church on his YouTube channel is false or a caricature. His history is also false and off base. We debunk and expose Robert Breaker's false claims about the Catholic Church and history.
Never Be Afraid of Making Mistakes
We all make mistakes. Even the Saints made mistakes. The important thing is how we react to them. Is it with anger or a firm resolution to not make the same mistake again?
From Aleteia
By Fr Michael Rennier
Of course we all make mistakes. It’s to be expected. The important thing is how we react.
On balance, my life is probably more a series of mistakes than it is actual good decisions. I feel like I’m constantly blundering about, pretending I know what I’m doing but, deep inside, the truth remains, adamant and firm, that even into middle-age I am still in the process of figuring out exactly who I am, where I’m going, and why I do the things I do. Mistakes are constant. There are the “big” mistakes - the sins, the hasty and thoughtless decisions, the way I pridefully double-down on those hasty decisions and refuse to listen to advice, the arguments I repeatedly start about the same topics, parenting decisions I wish I could take back – and there are the “small” mistakes - the jokes I make that really aren’t funny at all but that I stubbornly keep making, convincing myself I don’t need sunscreen, eating too much ice cream ... and so very many more examples.
In the midst of it all, I’ve somehow managed to make the really vital, big decisions correctly -- the woman I married, starting a family with her, always going to Sunday Mass even when I haven’t felt like it, reading lots of books, asking forgiveness, being willing to change my mind, and, yes, not being afraid of making mistakes.
Because, of course, we all make mistakes. It’s to be expected. The important thing is how we react.
As a highschool chaplain, probably the most frequent question the students ask me is about how to avoid making mistakes when it comes to big life decisions. Our highschool, a Chesterton Academy, is full of bright and inquisitive young people. They worry about which college to attend and what career to pursue. They fret about dating and finding the right spouse. Some of them are pondering going to seminary or into religious life. These are huge decisions and they don’t want to make a mistake.
They ask me how to avoid choosing wrongly because they don’t want to look back years from now with regret. In response, I tell them a little bit of my life story, how I was born a protestant Christian and mistakenly believed all sorts of theological propositions that, in retrospect, harmed my spirituality. Some of those beliefs almost made me stop practicing my faith. I tell them how I finally make a big decision and converted ... but not to Catholicism. I became Episcopalian, went to seminary, and watched helplessly as the religious tradition I’d so confidently decided to join struggled. I became part of arguments within that tradition and despaired over its future. I realized that, perhaps, it was a mistake to think that becoming an Episcopalian pastor was the end of my spiritual journey. Finally, after much wandering, I became Catholic and, by some mysterious grace for which I am ever-thankful, I was ordained a Catholic priest.
God will fix it
I explain my history of mistakes to my students in order to prove something important to them. In spite of all our mistakes, if we don’t give up and, if we’re willing to course-correct, God will make our lives good. He will make them very good. Perhaps we don’t end up in the place we thought we’d end up, or when looking back it seems as though we could’ve taken an easier path. Maybe there were some false starts and wrong steps. Hard lessons had to be learned and forgiveness requested, but in order to keep moving forward, we have to accept the fact that we have made mistakes and almost certainly will make more. We cannot live with regret and we cannot allow the hazy possibility of regret sometime in the future to prevent us from making decisions right here and now.
The only mistake is to give up. If we become paralyzed at the thought of deciding wrongly, that paralysis itself becomes the worst possible mistake if we allow it to take hold. We’ll never have a crystal ball to see the future. We’ll never have every single piece of information required to perfectly navigate every decision. There is always risk. The way I look at it, if God managed to get me (even me) into the right place after all the mistakes and false starts I made, then he can accomplish the same in absolutely anybody. He has a plan for each one of us. Sometimes we’re slow to accept it, or fight against it, or mistakenly identify it. Even if we knowingly decline our intended destiny out of fear or anxiety or pride, that God can change up his initial plan and provide a new one. No mistake is beyond his ability to repair. I’ve experienced this reality time and again. God can take even our mistakes and fold them into his goodness (Isn’t this exactly what he does at the Cross, transform our sins from punishment into the very sacrifice that earns our salvation?).
So what’s our decision-making responsibility – be attentive and patient, pray, get advice, think things through, evaluate the options, and then, act. Don’t be afraid of making a mistake. As long as we all keep moving forward and learn from our mistakes, even if the lessons we must sometimes learn are agonizingly hard, God is moving us, patiently but surely, closer to him, closer to Heaven, and into his promised happiness.
The Shrine Henry VIII Destroyed – 500 Years Later, Young Catholics Are Walking Back!
From The Catholic Corner
Nearly 500 years after King Henry VIII had England's Walsingham shrine robbed and its sub-prior executed, 500 young Catholics gathered in its ruins for Mass this August.
Known as "England's Nazareth," Walsingham became one of medieval Europe's four major pilgrim destinations, alongside Rome, Jerusalem, and Santiago de Compostela. In 1538, Henry VIII had the shrine destroyed, and its sub-prior executed for alleged treason. It wasn't restored until 1897.
This August 27–30, organizers led a pilgrimage from London – nearly 250 people walking the full 54-mile route through heavy rain, reciting devotions and hymns the entire way.
Joseph Shaw, chairman of the Latin Mass Society, said: "No one has been canvassing or knocking on doors. Instead, young people have discovered something they can aspire to and move towards."
One young pilgrim said the Latin Mass gave him "inner peace and something to live for." He doesn't think Traditionis Custodes should have restricted the Mass: "if something brings people closer to Christ, I think it should be allowed."
Shaw says Walsingham's pilgrimage numbers are projected to grow 20% annually. The real story is already being written outside the Vatican's offices.
Stories From the Silver Screen: The Diary of a Country Priest
Can you even imagine Hollywood making a film called "The Diary of a Country Priest" in the current anti-Catholic climate in the industry?
From Crisis
By Regis Martin STD
The Diary of a Country Priest dives deep into the hidden suffering of the alter Christus, whom Christ sends into the wilderness to retrieve the one lost sheep.
In a letter written to a friend in 1935, Georges Bernanos—France’s foremost Catholic writer, whose essays and stories are filled with the most searing and prophetic insight into God and the things of God—announced his intention to write a novel about an obscure country priest who, he declared, “will have served God in exact proportion to his belief that he has served Him badly” but, in his childlike innocence, will triumph, allowing him “to die peacefully of a cancer.”
Three years later, the novel appears precisely along those lines, bearing the title The Diary of a Country Priest, soon becoming the most-widely acclaimed of all his writings. Three years following Bernanos’ death in 1948, a film adaptation is made under the direction of Robert Bresson, which has garnered no end of praise for its many excellences, not the least being the hidden yet heroic sanctity of its main character, who, dying alone and seemingly without hope, cries out at the very end, “Does it matter? Grace is everywhere.”
Perhaps that should instead read, “All is grace,” the former being a mistranslation from the original, which Bernanos himself had intended. Thus will the dying priest replicate exactly the words spoken by a certain Carmelite nun as she lay dying at the end of the 19th century—who has since been canonized as among the most beloved of all the saints in the Church. And yet, her last request that she be given the holy Viaticum before returning to God was refused on the grounds that she was far too ill for nourishment of any kind, including the Eucharist. Obedient to the end, the young Thérèse of Lisieux quietly accepted this final privation; for that, too, was a kind of grace. “Tout est grace” (“All is grace”).
Despite what people will often and quite glibly say about the life of faith, it does not so much do away with tragedy as it succeeds in fulfilling and redeeming it. Christ does not cosmetically remove our suffering, sanitizing everything in a cheap and superficial way. It is not magic that Christ applies to our brokenness but mercy, which He dispenses by entering ever more deeply into our shattered lives, leaving nothing untouched by His love.
One hasn’t a clue about Christianity, as image upon image from the movie shows, until one sees, as Professor Schindler insists, “that the radicality of Christ’s love was such that he was no longer concerned to separate himself from the sinners, the guilty.” But what Christ aims for, most particularly in this great cinematic drama, is an identification with our pain and loss so intimate and complete as to take ownership of it and thus bear it all away in the fire of His consuming love.
In other words, the moralism that causes the strangled cry in the sinner who cannot live up to the standard laid down in the Law and the Prophets, has all been blessedly smashed to bits by a God whose judgments are always preceded and accompanied by love, a love which became concretely incarnate in a person who bears a unique name, Jesus the Christ. There are no thunderbolts hurled from above, blowing up the poor sinner unable to follow the learning curve of virtue; but rather, judgment is always preceded by the love which enters and understands the sinner, even as it will not compromise with his sin. “A harsh and dreadful love,” to recall a line from Dostoevsky, “and not any sort of counterfeit love full of soft soap and sentimentality.”
How powerfully evocative all this becomes in the film, so ably and sensitively handled thanks to the directorial genius of Monsieur Bresson! This is seen most especially in the scene with Madame la Comtesse, whose bitterness over the death of her young son has kept her for so long unable either to love or to be loved. The priest tells her that he, too, knows what it is to suffer. Indeed, as alter Christus, his entire priestly ministry requires that he not be a spectator to others’ suffering but that he enter into it as deeply as Jesus Himself did—remaining as vulnerable and exposed to the dark side of sin and suffering as Christ Himself, the action of whose grace the poet Eliot has so movingly described in Four Quartets:
The wounded surgeon plies the steel
That questions the distempered part;
Beneath the bleeding hands we feel
The sharp compassion of the healer’s art
Resolving the enigma of the fever chart.
And in his priestly role as one “Whose constant care is not to please / But to remind of our, and Adam’s curse, / And that, to be restored, our sickness must grow worse,” his job is to speak only what is true, to reveal what is really there. “I try to understand it,” he tells her.
A priest can’t shrink from sores any more than a doctor. He must be able to look at pus and wounds and gangrene. All the wounds of the soul give out pus, madame.
And we ourselves must often and at no little cost be made to see them, lest we, too, go to our deaths not knowing the full extent of their hidden malice. Like Madame, we will all be forced to face our own stinking selves. “God will break you,” he tells her. “Break me!” she cries out in bitter protest. “God’s broken me already. What more can He do? He’s taken my son. I no longer fear him.”
Yes, the young priest agrees, God has taken him. “But your hard heart may keep you from him for all eternity.”
“Is my son to hate me, then?” she asks. “The son I bore, and nursed at my breast!”
“You won’t hate,” he answers, “you’ll cease to know one another.” Which is, he tells her, the awful condition of the damned. “Hell is not to love anymore, madame. Not to love anymore!”
It is to force a man out into a state of aloneness no human being was ever created to have to endure. “If you want to love,” he tells her, summoning all the urgency Christ Himself must have felt when even the least sinner threatened to hurl himself down into the abyss, “don’t place yourself beyond love’s reach…
You must resign yourself to—to God. Open your heart to Him…God is not to be bargained with. We must give ourselves up to Him unconditionally. Give Him everything. He will give you back even more.
“Do you take God for an executioner?” he asks. “God wants us to be merciful with ourselves. And besides, our sorrows are not our own. He takes them on Himself, into His heart.” And here the tension builds to an almost unbearable climax, Heaven and Hell hanging in the balance.
Which of the two will she choose? If you see the show, then you will know…
Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
From Dom Prosper Guéranger's Liturgical Year:
This Sunday’s Introit—which now goes under the name of the Sunday of the widow of Naim, because of the Gospel read on it—gives us a sample of the prayers we should address to our Lord in our necessities. Last Sunday, we heard our Jesus promising to provide for all our wants, on the condition that we would serve him faithfully, by seeking his kingdom. When we present our petitions to him, let us show him the confidence he so well deserves from us; and we shall be graciously heard.
Incline thine ear, O Lord, unto me, and hear me: save thy servant, O my God, who hopeth in thee: have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day.
Ps. Give joy to the soul of thy servant: for, to thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul. Glory, etc. Incline.
The humility wherewith our holy Mother the Church presents her supplications to God should serve as a model to us. If the Bride herself thus treats with God, what ought not be our sentiments of lowliness, when we appear in the presence of sovereign Majesty? We may well say to this tender Mother of ours what the Disciples said to Jesus: Teach us how to pray! (Luke 11:1) Let us unite with her in this Collect.
COLLECT
May thy continued mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend thy Church; and because, without thee, she cannot keep safe, may she always be governed by thy Gift. Through, etc.
The other Collects, as in the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost.
EPISTLE
Lesson of the Epistle of Saint Paul, the Apostle, to the Galatians 5:25-6:10
Brethren: If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying on another. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens; and so, you shall fulfill the law of Christ. For if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let everyone prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. For everyone shall bear his own burden. And let him that is instructed in the word, communicate to him that instructeth him, in all good things. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting. and in doing good, let us not fail. For in due time we shall reap, not failing. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith.
Holy Church resumes the lesson of St. Paul, where she left it last Sunday. The Spiritual life, the life produced in our souls by the Holy Spirit, in place of the former life of the flesh—this is still the subject of the Apostle’s teaching. When the flesh has been subdued, we must take care and not suppose that the structure of our perfection is completed. Not only must the combat be kept up after the victory, under penalty of losing all we have won, but we must also be on the watch lest one or other of the heads of the triple concupiscence take advantage of the soul’s efforts being elsewhere directed, to raise itself against us, and sting us all the more terribly, because it is left to do just as it pleases. The Apostle warns us here of vainglory, and well he may; for vainglory is, more than other enemies, always in a menacing attitude, ready to infuse its subtle poison even into acts of humility and penance; hence the Christian, who is desirous to serve God and not his own gratification, by the virtues he practices, must keep up an especially active vigilance over this passion.
Just let us think, for a moment, on the madness that culprit would be guilty of who, having his sentence to death commuted for a severe flogging, should take pride in the stripes left on his body by the whip! May this madness never be ours! It would seem, however, as though it were far from being impossible, seeing how the Apostle, immediately after his telling us to mortify our flesh, bids us take heed of vainglory. In fact, we are not safe on this subject, excepting inasmuch as the outward humiliation, inflicted by us on our body has this for its principle, that our soul should voluntarily humble herself at the sight of her miseries. The ancient Philosophers, too, had their maxims about the restraint of the senses; but those among them who practiced those admirably worded maxims found them a stepping-stone for the pride to mount of mountains high in self-conceit. It could not be otherwise; for they were totally devoid of anything like the sentiments which actuated our Fathers in the faith who, when they clad themselves in sackcloth and prostrated on the ground, (1 Chronicles 21:16) cried out from the heartfelt conviction of the miseries of human nature: Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy! for I was conceived in iniquities, and my sin is ever before me! (Psalm 50:3, 7)
To practice bodily mortification with a view to get the reputation of being saints, is it not doing what St. Paul here calls sowing in the flesh, that in due time, that is, on the day, when the intentions of our hearts will be made manifest, (1 Corinthians 4:5) we may reap not life and glory everlasting, but endless disgrace and shame? Among the works of the flesh mentioned in last Sunday’s Epistle, we found contentions, dissensions, jealousies, (Galatians 5:19-21) all of which are the ordinary outcome of this vainglory, against which the Apostle is now warning us. The production of such rotten fruits would be an unmistakable sign that the heavenly sap of grace had gone from our souls and that, in its stead, there had been brought the fermentation of sin; and that now, having made ourselves slaves, as of old, we must tremble because of the penalties threatened by God’s law. God is not mocked; and as to the confidence which generous fidelity of love imparts to those who live by the Spirit—it would, in the case we are now supposing, be but a hypocritical counterfeit of the holy liberty of the children of God. They alone are his children whom the Holy Spirit leads, (Romans 8:14) and leads them in charity; those others are led on by the flesh, and such cannot please God. (Romans 8:8)
If, on the contrary, we would have an equally unmistakable sign, which is quite compatible with the obscurities of faith that we are really in possession of divine Union, let us not take occasion from the sight of others’ defects and faults to be puffed up with pride, but rather, from the consideration of our own miseries, be indulgent to everyone else. If others fall, let us give them a helping and prudent hand. Let us bear one another’s burdens along the road of life, and then, having thus fulfilled the law of Christ, we shall know (and oh! the joy there is in such knowing!) that we abide in Him, and He in us. (1 John 4:13) These most thrilling words, which were made use of by our Lord to express the future intimacy he would have with whomsoever should eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood in holy Communion, (John 6:57) St. John, who had told them to us, takes them and uses them in his Epistles, and (let us mark the deep mystery of the application) applies them to whomsoever, in the Holy Ghost, observes the great commandment of loving his neighbor. (1 John 3:23-24;4:12-13)
Would to God we could ever have ringing in our ears the saying of the Apostle: Whilst we have time, let us work good to all men! For the day will come, and it is not so very far off, when the Angel, carrying the mysterious Book, and having one foot on the earth and the other on the sea, shall make his mighty voice as that of a lion be heard through the universe and, with his hand lifted up towards heaven, shall swear by Him that liveth forever and ever, that time shall be no more! (Apocalypse 10:1-6) Then will man reap with joy what he shall have sown in tears; (Psalm 125:5) he failed not, he grew not weary of doing good while in the dreary land of his exile—still less will he ever tire of the everlasting harvest which is to be in the living light of the Eternal Day.
As we sing the Gradual, let us remember that the only praise which gives God pleasure is that which goes up to him from a soul where reigns the harmony of the several virtues. The Christian life, which is regulated by the ten commandments, is the ten-stringed psaltery (Psalm 143:9) on which the Finger of God, who is the Holy Ghost, (Luke 11:20; Matthew 12:28) plays to the Spouse the music that he loves to hear.
It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to thy name, O Most High!
℣. To show forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in the night.
Alleluia, alleluia.
℣. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King over all the earth. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
Sequel of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke 7:11-16
At that time: Jesus went into a city that is called Naim; and there went with him his disciples, and a great multitude. And when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow: and a great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy towards her, he said to her: Weep not. And he came near and touched the bier. And they that carried it, stood still. And he said: Young man, I say to thee, arise. And he that was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all: and they glorified God, saying: A great prophet is risen up among us: and God hath visited his people!
This is the second time, during the Year, holy Church offers this Gospel to our consideration; we cannot be surprised at this, for the fathers selected by her, as its interpreters (Ambrose on Luke 5; Augustine Sermon 44, de Verb. Dom.) tell us, on both of these occasions, that the afflicted mother who follows her son to the grave is the Church herself.
The first time we saw her under this symbol of a mother mourning for her child was in the penitential season of Lent. (Thursday, 4th Week of Lent) She was then, by her fasting and prayer (united as those were with her Jesus’ sufferings), preparing the resurrection of such of our brethren as were dead in sin. Their resurrection was realized, and we had them, in all the fullness of their new life, seated side by side with us at the Paschal Table. What exquisite joy on that Feast of Feasts inundated the Mother’s heart as she thus shared in the triumphant gladness of her divine Spouse! He, her Jesus was, by his one Resurrection, twice over the conqueror of death—he rose from the grave, and he gave back the child to the Mother. The Disciples if this Risen Lord, who follow him closely by their observance of the evangelical counsels, yes, they, and the whole multitude that associated themselves with the Church, glorified Jesus for his wonderful works and sang the praises of that God who thus vouchsafed to visit his people.
The Mother ceased to weep. But since then, the Spouse has again left her to return to his Father; she has resumed her widow’s weeds, and her sufferings are continually adding to the already well-nigh insupportable torture of her exile. And whence these sufferings? From the relapses of so many of those ungrateful children of hers to whom she had given a second birth (Galatians 4:19) and at the cost of such pains and tears! The countless cares she then spent over her sinners, and that new life she gave them in the presence of her dying Jesus—all this made each of the penitents, during the Great Week, as though he were the only son of that Mother. What an intense grief, says St. John Chrysostom, that so loving a Mother should see them relapsing, after the communion of such mysteries, into sin which kills them! “Spare me,”—as she may well say, in the words which the holy Doctor puts into the Apostle’s mouth— ”Spare me! No other child, once born into this world, ever made his Mother suffer the pangs of childbirth over again!” To repair the relapse of a sinner costs her no less travail than the giving birth to such as had never believed. (Chrysostom, Against those who say demons govern human affairs, Hom. I)
And if we compare these times of ours with the period when sainted Pastors made her words be respected all over the world—is there a single Christian who is still faithful to the Church who does not feel impelled, by such contrast, to be more and more devoted to a Mother so abandoned as she now is? Let us listen to the eloquent words of St. Laurence Justinian on this subject. “Then,” says he in his De compuncti et planctu christianem perfectus, “all resplendent with the mystic jewels wherewith the Bridegroom had beautified her on the wedding day, she thrilled with joy at the increase of her children, both in merit and number; she urged them to ascend to ever greater heights; she offered them to God, she raised them, in her arms, up towards heaven. Obeyed by them, she was, in all truth, the mother of fair love and fear; (Ecclesiasticus 24:24) she was beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array. (Song of Solomon 6:9) She stretched out her branches as the turpentine-tree, and beneath their shadow, she sheltered them she had begotten, against the heat, and the tempest, and the rain. So long, then, as she could, she labored, feeding at her breasts all those she was able to assemble. But her zeal, great as it was, has redoubled from the time she perceived that many, yea very many, had lost their first fervor. Now for many years, she is mourning at the sight of how, each day, her Creator is offended, how great are the losses she sustains, and how so many of her children suffer death. She that was once robed in scarlet has put on mourning garments; her fragrance is no longer felt by the world; instead of a golden girdle, she has but a cord, and instead of the rich ornament of her breast, she is vested in haircloth. (Isaiah 3:24) Her lamentations and tears are ceaseless. Ceaseless is her prayer, striving if, by some way, she may make the present as beautiful as in times past; and yet, as thou it were impossible for her to call back that lovely past, she seems wearied at such supplication. The word of the prophet (Psalm 13:3) has come true: They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together; there is none that doth good, no, not one! … The manifold sins committed by the Church’s children against the divine precepts show that they who so sin are rotten members, members alien to the body of Christ. Nevertheless, the Church forgets not that she gave them birth in the laver of salvation; she forgets not the promises they then made to renounce the devil, and the pomps of the world, and all sin. Therefore does she weep over their fall, being their true mother, and never losing the hope of winning their resurrection by her tears. O what a flood of tears is thus every day shed before God! What fervent prayers does not this spotless virgin send, by the ministry of the holy Angels, up to Christ, who is the salvation of sinners! In the secret of hearts in lonely retreats, as well as in her public temples, she cries out to the divine mercy that they who are now buried in the filth of vice may be restored to life. Who shall tell the joy of her heart, when she receives back living the children she mourned over as dead? If the conversion of sinners is such a joy to heaven, (Luke 15:7) what must it be to such a Mother? According to the multitude of the sorrows of her heart, (Psalm 93:19) so will be the consolations, giving joy to her soul.”
It is the duty of us Christians, who, by God’s mercy, have been preserved from the general decay to share in the anguish of our Mother, the Church; we should humbly but fervently cooperate with her in all her zealous endeavors to reclaim our fallen brethren. We surely can never be satisfied with not being the number of those senseless sons who are a sorrow to their Mother, (Proverbs 17:25) and despise the labor of her that bore them. (Proverbs 30:17) Had we not the Holy Spirit to tell us how he that honoreth his Mother is as one that layeth up to himself a treasure (Ecclesasticus 3:5) —the thought of what our birth cost her (Tobit 4:4) would force us to do everything that lies in our power to comfort her. She is the dear Bride of the Incarnate Word; and our souls, too, aspire to union with Him; let us prove that such Union is really ours by doing as the Church does—that is, by showing in our acts the one thought, the one love, which the divine Spouse always imparts to souls that enjoy holy intimacy with him, because there is nothing he Himself has so much at heart—the thought of bringing the whole world to give glory to his Eternal Father, and the love of procuring salvation for sinners.
Let us unite with the Church, our Mother, in singing now in the Offertory, the realization, in part at least, of her expectations; let not our lips ever be shut up in senseless silence, when we have our God bestowing favors on us.
With expectation, I have waited for the Lord, and he was attentive to me: and he heard my prayer; and he put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God.
In the Secret let us put ourselves, and everything that belongs to us, under the custody, the keeping all-powerful, of the divine Mysteries.
SECRET
May thy mysteries, O Lord, be custody unto us: and always defend us against the attacks of the devil. Through, etc.
The other Secrets, as in the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost.
Jesus’ word called back from death the son of the widow of Naim; his Flesh is the Life of the world, for it is the Bread, whose praise we are now to celebrate in our Communion-Anthem.
The bread, which I will give, is my flesh for the life of the world.
Divine Union is not perfect in us, unless the Mystery of love so predominates over both our minds and bodies, as that they be fully possessed by it as our Mother here words its efficacy; we must be influenced and directed by it, and not by nature, that is, by the dictates of flesh and blood and human sense.
POSTCOMMUNION
May the operation of the heavenly Gift possess our minds and bodies, we beseech thee, O Lord: that our own sense may not rule us, but may the efficiency (of that Gift) ever take the lead in us. Through, etc.
The other Postcommunion, as in the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost.
VESPERS
The psalms, capitulum, hymn, and versicle, as above.
ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT
A great Prophet hath risen up among us, and God hath visited his people.
LET US PRAY
May thy continued mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because without thee she cannot keep safe, may she always be governed by thy gift. Through, etc.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)