The Vatican Has Announced a Diabolical New Code of Canon Law

It's all part of a "permanent revolution" in the Church to destroy it.

Traditional Catholic Evening Prayers in English | October

Traditional Catholic evening devotional prayers to close your day with your mind, heart, tongue, and soul on our Lord! The month of October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Begin and end each day with prayer and make a sincere commitment this month to pray the Rosary every day! 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.

Compline

From St Thomas Aquinas Seminary. You may follow the Office at Divinum Officium.

Byzantine Saints: Apostle James, Son of Alphaeus

Ss Eulampia & Eulampius: Butler's Lives of the Saints

First Vespers of the Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost

From the Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem. You may follow the Office at Divinum Officium.

Summa Contra Gentiles, Book III: X That the Cause of Evil Good

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 III discusses providence and the human condition, that is good and evil acts, human fate and intellect and the relation of created beings to the creator. 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.

What Is Consciousness? | Roman Yampolskiy, PhD

From Closer to Truth, a secular source.

Can artificial intelligence help us understand consciousness itself—not just intelligence or behavior? Computer scientist Roman Yampolskiy argues that AI may provide entirely new ways to study consciousness by creating many different kinds of minds, internal states, and experimental models. 0:08 AI and the Study of Consciousness 0:49 Internal States, Qualia, and Consciousness 2:14 Access vs Phenomenal Consciousness 3:10 AI as a Smarter Scientist 5:48 Testing Consciousness in AI Models Roman V. Yampolskiy is a tenured Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Louisville's Speed School of Engineering, where he founded and directs the Cyber Security Lab. Widely credited with coining the term "AI safety" in 2011, he is the author of AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable.

The Holy Rosary

Saturday, the Glorious Mysteries, in Latin with Cardinal Burke.

Cecily Neville Duchess of York (2) | The Woman Who Survived the Wars of the Roses | The Mother of Kings

From History Calling

In December 1460 CECILY NEVILLE, Duchess of York was facing the greatest crisis of her life. Though now remembered as the woman who survived the Wars of the Roses, her survival came at a cost and after the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December that year, her husband (Richard, Duke of York), second son (Edmund, Earl of Rutland) and brother, Richard, Earl of Salisbury all lay dead. Her eldest son, Edward, Earl of March was about to go into battle against Owen and Jasper Tudors and Lancastrian forces of Queen Margaret of Anjou, the wife of Henry VI. Cecily meanwhile was in London, potentially facing exile or death if Edward lost. In this video from History Calling we look at what happened next and at how Cecily went from the disgraced dowager Duchess of York to the mother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III. We’ll see how she reacted to key events in the ongoing Wars, including the seizing of the crown from Henry VI by Edward; her son George, Duke of Clarence’s betrayal of his older brother; George’s execution on Edward’s orders; the brief reign of her grandson Edward V and the decision of her son Richard, Duke of Gloucester to take the crown from his nephew (which followed the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower). We’ll also look at how she reacted to the final fall of the Plantagenets, when Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and her granddaughter Elizabeth of York became the wife of Henry VII and the first Tudor queen and at the final years of her long life. Throughout, we’ll look at the many royal scandals the Duchess of York lived through, the relationship between Cecily Neville and Elizabeth Woodville, the daughter-in-law she never wanted and the personality of the woman known to history as ‘Proud Cis’. If you’ve ever wondered, what were the Wars of the Roses (or indeed what was the Cousins’ War, which was the name this conflict was originally given), Cecily’s story is an excellent entry point into this complicated saga. This is the second video in a series on the women of the Wars of the Roses.

Mind-Blowing Eucharistic Miracles With Scientific Evidence

From Matt Fradd

With Fr Gregory Pine, OP, STL, Assistant Director for Campus Outreach at the Thomistic Institute.

Cardinal Tagle Chosen as New Dean of College of Cardinals

The fact that this man was elected and approved by Pope Leo is news, but not good news. The progressives (read anti-Catholics) are firmly in control.

From Aleteia

By Kathleen N. Hattrup

The Filipino cardinal replaces Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who at age 92, is stepping down after two terms. 

Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle was elected the Dean of the College of Cardinals, succeeding the 92-year-old Italian, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

The primary duty of a Dean of the College is convening and, presuming he is under age 80, presiding over a Conclave. Cardinal Re's service at the funeral of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo made him a well-known figure in the Church.

The position of Dean was previously a charge for life. However, with a change in 2019, Pope Francis gave it a five-year term limit, with the possibility of one re-election. The Dean is elected by those cardinals who have the title of cardinal-bishop. A Dean does not have hierarchical governing authority over his fellow cardinals, but simply coordinates their activities.

Cardinal Re, still active despite his age, has served under four pontiffs, with a long history in the Church. Notably, he was Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops from 2000 to 2010.

Cardinal Tagle, 69, is well known in Asia and even around the world. He just officiated at the beatification of Fulton Sheen in the United States.

Cardinal Re now becomes "Dean Emeritus," but will retain the Church of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto. Cardinal Tagle will assume the title of the Church of Ostia while retaining the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano, formerly held by Pope Leo.

Apostasy, the Mystery of Iniquity and Antichrist According to Prophecy

Bishop Tells Catholics To Abandon Parishes and Find a TLM

Methinks His Lordship is about to get "cancelled", a la Bishop Strickland.

Bishop Rob Mutsaerts tells faithful Catholics that if they are in a bad Novus Ordo parish with a priest who is an unabashed Modernist, they should not bother trying to fix the parish or the priest; instead, they should find a TLM to attend.

Soap and Washing: Did They Have Soap in Medieval Times?

From Modern History TV

Explore the methods used by manual workers in the medieval period to clean their hands after a day in the fields. Modern History TV with Jason Kingsley, CBE, demonstrates how ash and water provided a functional yet harsh cleaning solution long before refined soaps became widely accessible.

As a Modern Knight, I explore the practicalities of medieval life, specifically focusing on personal hygiene after a day of manual labour. This video discusses how people in the Middle Ages cleaned their hands, often filthy from horse sweat and muck. We delve into the methods and the importance of washing hands with soap in a historical context, providing insights into medieval history.

Where Did Medieval Writers Get Their Ink?

From Modern History TV

Explore the medieval recipe for oak gall ink by foraging for ingredients directly from nature. Witness the transformation as crushed galls combine with water and green vitriol to create a durable, historically accurate writing medium.

Medieval writing needs ink. Where do you get it and how is it made? Jason Kingsley, CBE, the Modern Knight, explains.

Traditional Catholic Morning Prayers in English | October

Traditional Catholic morning prayers to lay a strong foundation for the rest of your day! The month of October is dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I hope these prayers increase your devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary this month, to help us meditate on the events in the life of Christ and draw us 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 morning prayers.

The Hidden Evidence for the Papacy, All the Way Back to Peter's Tomb

From Totus Catholica

Show me the pope before Constantine. If you are Catholic, someone has thrown that line at you like it settles everything. If you are Protestant, maybe you were raised on it: the papacy is a medieval invention, and Peter was never even in Rome. Both of you deserve an honest answer, not a slogan. So I went back to the letters, the council records, the chronicles, and the archaeology, and I traced the office layer by layer until the trail ran out. The trail runs far deeper than the fourth century, and at the very bottom of it there is a grave. Keep one Hebrew phrase in your pocket: asher al-habayit, the one who is over the house. In King David's court, beneath the king, a chief steward carried the key of the house on his shoulder (Isaiah 22), an office that outlived every man who held it. At Caesarea Philippi, the Son of David hands that same key to a fisherman: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. This is not a clever Catholic rereading. It is a Jewish structure fulfilled in Christ and handed on through saints and scoundrels to this day, and it ends where every honest search for authority should, at the altar, in the confessional, and on your knees praying for the pope by name. In this video: • Why the paper trail of the papacy runs 200 years deeper than Constantine • How Chalcedon, Irenaeus, Clement, and Ignatius testify to Rome's authority • What the bones found beneath the altar of St. Peter's actually were • How Isaiah's steward and his key unlock what Jesus said to Peter ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 Show Me the Pope Before Constantine 2:31 Vatican I, 1870, and the Invention Myth 3:29 What Papal Infallibility Actually Means 4:22 Chalcedon 451, Peter Has Spoken Through Leo 5:33 The 4th Century and the Word Pope 7:07 Cyprian and the One Chair of Peter, 251 8:50 Pope Victor and the Easter Controversy, 195 10:14 Irenaeus Writes the Succession List, 180 12:31 The Honest Weak Link, One Bishop or Many 14:20 Ignatius and the Church Presiding in Love, 107 15:03 First Clement Commands Corinth, AD 96 16:36 The Grave Beneath the Vatican Altar 19:16 Caesarea Philippi and the Keys of the Kingdom 21:46 Isaiah 22 and the Steward Over the House 25:09 Archaeology of the Steward's Office 26:56 Answering Protestant and Orthodox Objections 28:15 Answering Muslim and Jewish Friends 29:56 The Whole Trail in One Breath 30:37 Confidence, Communion, Humility 📖 SCRIPTURE REFERENCED • Matthew 16:18,19: you are Peter, and I give you the keys of the kingdom, to bind and to loose. • John 1:42: Jesus renames Simon as Cephas, the Aramaic word for rock. • Isaiah 22:20-22: the key of the house of David laid on the steward's shoulder, to open and shut. • Revelation 3:7: the risen Christ holds the key of David, opening and shutting absolutely. • Luke 22:32 and John 21:17: strengthen your brothers, feed my sheep. • 1 Peter 5:13: Peter writes from Babylon, the early code name for Rome. ⛪ FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS & THE CATECHISM • Irenaeus of Lyons (2nd century): lists the unbroken line of Roman bishops from Peter in Against Heresies. • Pope Leo I at Chalcedon (451): the council acclaims, Peter has spoken through Leo. • Clement of Rome (96) and Ignatius of Antioch (107): Rome instructs Corinth, and Rome presides in love. • CCC 882: the pope holds full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church. 📜 SOURCES & FURTHER READING • Peter Lampe, Eamon Duffy, and Francis Sullivan: the single bishop of Rome crystallised across the 2nd century. • Bart Ehrman (agnostic) and Oscar Cullmann (Lutheran) agree Peter was martyred in Rome. • St. John Henry Newman: doctrine develops as an oak grows from an acorn. • Vatican Scavi excavations (1939 to 1949); Paul VI announced Peter's relics in 1968. • Nahman Avigad (1953) read the "over the house" steward tomb; the Great Isaiah Scroll at Qumran. 🔗 EXPLORE MORE 🌍 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...

Francis Borgia, a Saint From the Most Corrupt of Families

Today is his Feast Day. He was related to Cesare and Lucrezia and was, himself, the grandson of Pope Alexander VI (born Roderic de Borja y Llançol).

From Aleteia

By Anne Bernet

He came from a family notorious for its scandals. Yet St. Francis Borgia went on to have an astonishing vocation as leader of the Jesuits.

On May 1, 1539, Queen Isabel of Spain, wife of Charles V, died in Toledo while giving birth to her fifth child. At that time, it was a kind of everyday drama that spared neither aristocracy nor bourgeois, neither peasants nor poor women. One woman in two, at the time and for a long time afterwards, died during or immediately after childbirth.

This cruel fact didn’t reduce the immense grief of those left behind in such cases. Infatuated with his beautiful Portuguese princess, Charles V shut himself away in a monastery to mourn her in peace. The funeral, in accordance with the custom of the Catholic monarchs, was to be held in the dynasty's funeral chapel in Granada.  In his grief, the king entrusted its organization to one of his most loyal servants, the Marquis de Lombay, and his wife, Leonor de Castro, her lady-in-waiting, who had come with her from Portugal.

Corrupt ancestry

Who was the Marquis de Lombay? The first-born son of the Duke of Gandia and Joan of Aragon, de Lombay's mother was the illegitimate daughter of the Archbishop of Zaragoza, who was himself the illegitimate son of King Ferdinand of Aragon. His paternal grandfather was Juan de Gandia, also born out of wedlock, in this case to one of the mistresses of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, future Pope Alexander VI and nephew of the late Pope Calixtus III... 

If the situation seems quite shocking to us, it was in fact far less so in the eyes of his contemporaries, who considered the government of the Church to be as political as that of any secular state. Cardinals and sovereign pontiffs were administrators and warriors, not saints, and few of them had embraced the religious life out of vocation. People turned a blind eye to the morals and private lives of these men, even if they were not very edifying, or even shocking.

That said, Pope Alexander VI, despite his affairs and adulterous children — whom he shamelessly flaunted and married off royally — was a man of faith who feared God from time to time, and didn’t play around with Catholic teaching.

This bizarre ancestry was in no way detrimental to the Marquis de Lombay. In any case, it was totally beyond his control. Besides, there were exemplary Christians in the family. For example, his grandmother joined the Poor Clares after the tragic death of her husband Juan, the first Duke of Gandia (the Pope's eldest son, presumably slain on the orders of his younger brother, Cardinal Cesar Borgia).

A mission that changed his life

This example, like that of his parents, made Francis Borgia de Gandia, Marquis de Lombay, a remarkably pious boy. Had he not been the eldest, he would have chosen to enter Holy Orders, a choice vehemently opposed by his father.

Francis’s marriage for love and his brilliant success at Court seemed to have put this whim aside. He didn’t know it yet, but the funeral mission his king had entrusted him with would turn his life upside down. It's a 310-mile journey from Toledo to Granada, which took more than a month at the pace of the funeral cart. Spain is very hot in the month of May. Despite the lead coffin in which it had been placed, the queen's body was decomposing.

Etiquette dictated that, on arrival at the royal necropolis, the coffin had to be opened to ensure that the body was indeed the one entrusted to the care of the escort. The lid was removed and the witnesses were invited to attest to the identity of the deceased. However, Isabel’s body was in such a state of decay that no one dared approach to identify her, or to attest that she was indeed the radiant, ravishingly beautiful young woman they had once known.

No one except Francis Borgia, a slave to his sense of duty. The shock was excruciating. Confronted with the reality of death, he testified that this "thing that has no name in any language" was indeed the Queen of Spain — a fact he could swear to, for he hadn’t taken his eyes off the coffin for a moment. Then, quite pale, the Marquis de Lombay murmured: “I will never again serve a lord who can die.”

He would respect that oath as soon as he was given the chance.

A prayer of offering and abandonment

Having become Duke of Gandia on the death of his father in 1542, Borgia lost his wife four years later. As she was dying, the duke, who was still in love with her, begged Heaven to let her stay with him. The crucified Lord, before whom he prayed, replied: "If you deeply desire that I should leave you your duchess any longer, I leave it to you alone to judge, but I warn you that this choice would not be suitable." Broken but resigned, Francis responded with a prayer of offering and abandonment:

Lord, I can do nothing less to respond to Your infinite and gracious generosity than to offer You my life, that of my wife, that of my children, and everything I possess in this world. It is from Your hand that I have received everything, so I return it all to You, asking You to dispose of it according to Your good pleasure.

Two years later, Frances Borgia joined the Society of Jesus, eventually becoming its General and one of its greatest figures.

The Myth of Post-Conciliar Decentralisation

From Unam Sanctam Catholicam

The popular narrative says Vatican II broke up the centralized, monarchical Church of the pre-Conciliar era. Paul VI set aside the tiara, the bishops gained Episcopal Conferences, and the Church was graced with collegiality and active participation. But what actually happened? In this video, I look at the evidence and argue that the Church today is more centralized than at any point in her history. 📖 For more on the reformers' campaign against private confession, see my series at New Liturgical Movement: https://www.newliturgicalmovement.org...

Exclusive: Cardinal Ferrão Defends Controversial Amoris Laetitia Remarks on Changing Family Structures

The Synodalist heretics are showing their hand! “Changing understandings of gender”? For a sane man, there are two "sexes". Gender is a grammatical term.

From AdVaticanum

By Niwa Limbu

Ambiguous remarks by the Cardinal of Goa likely to further confuse the faithful, much like original Amoris Laetitia document

Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão has defended his Amoris Laetitia speech suggesting that the Church must discern how it should change in response to evolving family structures, after questioning over the speech in which he referred to “changing understandings of gender.”

The President of the Conference of Bishops of India made the remarks at Pope Leo XIV’s meeting marking ten years since the publication of Amoris Laetitia on 8 October.

Speaking to this publication’s Vatican correspondent afterwards, Cardinal Ferrão said the Church must accompany people living in different forms of partnership, including relationships outside the Church’s structures, while helping them to live happy family lives.

Before speaking to AdVaticanum, Cardinal Ferrão identified three lessons from the Church’s pastoral experience since Amoris Laetitia was published in 2016: that the Church must “be counter-cultural without losing touch”; move “from mission to families to mission among families”; and recognise that “fragility is not the absence of grace”.

He also spoke of the “beauty of relationship”, “the beauty of resilience and hope” and “the beauty of dialogue”, arguing that the challenges confronting families could reveal “the beauty of grace at work in the ordinary”.

Furthermore, the cardinal identified changes in “the identity, nature and composition of the family” as one of three major transitions affecting families in India and across Asia. He said that “new forms of partnership and cohabitation are emerging, amid changing understandings of gender and relationships in urban settings”.

“Pastoral work is itself a place of discernment,” Cardinal Ferrão said. “We don’t arrive with ready-made answers. We discern together with families and, in doing so, we learn how the Church herself is being asked to change.”

The remarks raised questions about what the cardinal meant by changing understandings of gender and the extent to which his call for the Church to change concerned its pastoral approach or its understanding of family relationships.

Asked directly what changes in the understanding of gender he had intended to identify, Cardinal Ferrão did not specify any change in the meaning of male and female. Instead, he referred to the emergence of different unions and the need for the Church to accompany those involved.

“No, there are different types of unions and so on that are happening,” the cardinal told this publication’s Vatican Correspondent, “This is a new reality, so we have to reflect how we can accompany them in this situation.”

St Francis Borgia, Confessor

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

St Francis Borgia, Confessor ~ Dom Prosper Guéranger

St Francis Borgia, Confessor

From Dom Prosper Guéranger's Liturgical Year:

Vanity of vanities and all is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 1:2) No argument was needed to impress this truth upon the Saint of today, when the coffin was opened which contained all that Spain had admired of youth and loveliness, and death suddenly revealed to him its awful reality. O ye beauties of all times, death alone never dies; it invites itself to your dances and pleasures, it assists at all your triumphs, it hears promises said to be eternal: and how quickly it can scatter your adorers! A few years, a few days, perhaps even less, and all your borrowed sweetness will be decaying in the tomb!

“Enough of vain phantoms; enough of serving mortal kings; awaken, O my soul!” Such was Francis Borgia’s reply to the teachings of death. The friend of Charles V, the great lord unequalled for nobility, fortune, and brilliant qualities, quitted the Court as soon as possible. Ignatius, the soldier at the siege of Palmpeluna, beheld at his feet the viceroy of Catalonia, begging to be protected against the honors which pursued him even under the poor habit of a Jesuit, which was now his glory.

The Church relates his life in the following lines.

Francis, fourth Duke of Gandia, was the son of John Borgia and of Joanna of Aragon, grand-daughter of Ferdinand the Catholic. He passed his childhood, in his father’s house, in wonderful innocence and piety; but appeared still more admirable when he showed himself a pattern of Christian virtue and austerity, first at the court of the Emperor, Charles V, and afterwards as viceroy of Catalonia. He was charged to convey the body of the Empress Isabelle to her sepulcher at Granada. Seeing the horrible change in her features, he understood how fleeting are all earthly things, and vowed to renounce everything as soon as possible, and devote himself to the service of the King of kings. From that day forward he made such progress in virtue that, in the midst of overwhelming occupations, his life was a faithful copy of religious perfection, so that he was called the miracle of princes.

On the death of his wife Eleonora de Castro, he entered the Society of Jesus, that he might therein be more hidden, on account of the vow which closes the door to ecclesiastical preferment. Many princes followed him in embracing a severe manner of life; and Charles V himself did not hesitate to acknowledge that his advice and example had led him to abdicate the throne. Francis devoted himself to the exercises of a penitential life, and macerated his body by fasting, iron chains, a rough hair-shirt, long and bloody disciplines, allowing himself very little sleep; while at the same time he spared no effort to conquer himself and to gain souls. His great virtue caused St. Ignatius to appoint him Commissary general for Spain; and soon afterwards, against his will, he was chosen by the whole Society third General of the Order. In this position his prudence and holiness endeared him both to Popes and to temporal rulers. He founded and enlarged many houses of his Order, and introduced the Society into Poland, the islands of the Atlantic, Mexico, and Peru, and sent apostolic men into other regions who spread the Catholic, Roman faith by their preaching, their labors, and their blood.

He had a most lowly opinion of himself, always calling himself the sinner. This humility led him to persistently refuse the Roman purple, which was more than once offered him by the Pope. Filled with contempt for himself and the world, he delighted in sweeping away dirt, begging alms from door to door, and serving the sick in the hospitals. He devoted many hours every day to heavenly contemplation, spending sometimes eight or even ten hours in prayer, and genuflecting in adoration a hundred times in the day. He never omitted saying Mass. While he was offering the divine Victim, or preaching, the heavenly ardor which consumed him betrayed itself by the radiance of his countenance. He knew by a heavenly instinct where the most holy Body of Christ, hidden in the Eucharist, was kept. Saint Pius V appointed Francis companion to Cardinal Alessandrino, in an embassy for uniting the Christian princes against the Turks. Although his strength was almost exhausted, he undertook this journey in obedience; but on the way he happily closed his life, as he had wished, at Rome, in the sixty-second year of his age, and in the year of salvation 1572. By Saint Teresa, who had often sought his advice, he was called a saint, and by Gregory XIII a faithful servant of God. Finally, after many great miracles, he was canonized by Clement X.

“O Lord Jesus Christ, the pattern and reward of true humility, we beseech thee, that as thou didst make blessed Francis a glorious follower of thee in the contempt of worldly honor, so thou wouldst grant us to be partakers of the same imitation and glory.” Such is the prayer the Church offers through thee to her divine Spouse, in the Collect of the day. She knows that the Saints always have great power with God; but especially when they would obtain for their devout clients the virtues they themselves more particularly cultivated when on earth.

How precious is this prerogative in thy case, O Francis, for it concerns the virtue which attracts God’s grace in this life, and wins such glory hereafter! Since pride has hurled Lucifer into the abyss, and the self-abasement of the Son of God has led to his exaltation above the heavens, humility, whatever men may now say, has lost nothing of its inestimable value; it is still the indispensable foundation of every durable edifice, whether spiritual or social; the basis, without which the other virtues, and even charity the Queen of them all, could not subsist a single day. Therefore, O Francis, obtain for us this humility; thoroughly convince us of the vanity of this world’s honors and false pleasures. May the holy Society, which thou after St. Ignatius didst render still more valuable to the Church, cherish this spirit of thine, so that it may deserve more and more the esteem of heaven and the gratitude of earth.

Pictured: His Imperial Majesty Emperor Charles V, Emperor of the Romans, receives Francis Borgia in Yuste – Joaquín María Herrer