Month: May 2024

Go to Confession. Right now.

Saint Joan of Arc was burned alive 593 years ago today, at the age of 19. Her words upon being fastened to the stake:

“Hold the Cross high, that I may see it through the flames.”

Following posted by Fr. Z:

Pope Benedict spoke of St. Joan in a General Audience in 2011. Here is the VIS account of the audience.  My emphases and comments.

JOAN OF ARC: BRINGING THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL INTO HISTORY

VATICAN CITY, 26 JAN 2011 (VIS) – During this morning’s general audience, celebrated in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 3,000 people, Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to St. Joan of Arc (1412-1431), whom he described as “one of the ‘strong women’ who, at the end of the Middle Ages, fearlessly brought the splendid light of the Gospel into the complex events of history”. [I wonder if many Catholics today haven’t been cowed by the relentless secularism and relativism and even open anti-Catholic bigotry we find in the public square.  And now we have anti-Catholic behavior from highly visible leaders of the public square and in the Church.  We need a revitalization of our Catholic identity.  It won’t be accomplished with what we have been doing.  It’s time for a change.]

The life of Joan of Arc, who was born into a prosperous peasant family, took place in the context of the conflict between France and England known as the Hundred Years War. At the age of thirteen, “through the ‘voice’ of St. Michael the Archangel, Joan felt herself called by the Lord to intensify her Christian life and to act personally to free her people”.

She made a vow of virginity and redoubled her prayers, participating in sacramental life with renewed energy. “This young French peasant girl’s compassion and commitment in the face of her people’s suffering were made even more intense through her mystical relationship with God. One of the most original aspects of her sanctity was this bond between mystical experience and political mission”. said Benedict XVI.

Joan’s activities began in early 1429 when, overcoming all obstacles, she managed to meet with the French Dauphin, the future King Charles VII. He had her examined by theologians of the University of Poitiers who “delivered a positive judgment, they discovered nothing bad in her, and found her to be a good Christian”.

On 22 March of that year Joan dictated a letter to the King of England and his men, who were laying siege to the city of Orleans. “Hers was a proposal of authentic and just peace between two Christian peoples, in the light of the names of Jesus and Mary”, said the Holy Father. But the offer was rejected and Joan had to fight for the liberation of the city. Another culminating moment of her endeavours came on 17 July 1429 when King Charles was crowned in Reims.

Joan’s passion began on 23 May 1430 when she fell into the hands of her enemies at Compiegne and was taken to the city of Rouen. There a long and dramatic trial was held which concluded with her being condemned to death on 30 May 1431.

The trial was presided by two ecclesiastical judges, Bishop Pierre Cauchon [Somehow appropriate.] and the inquisitor Jean le Maistre, but in fact it was conducted by a group of theologians from the University of Paris. These “French ecclesiastics, having made political choices opposed to those of Joan, were predisposed to hold negative views of her person and mission. The trial was a dark page in the history of sanctity, but also a shining page in the mystery of the Church which is, … ‘at the same time holy and always in need of being purified’“.

“Unlike the saintly theologians who illuminated the University of Paris, such as St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas and Blessed Duns Scotus, … the judges were theologians who lacked the charity and humility to see the work of God in this young girl. Jesus’ words come to mind, according to which the mysteries of God are revealed to those who have the hearts of children, but hidden from the wise and intelligent. Thus Joan’s judges were radically incapable of understanding her, of seeing the beauty of her soul“, the Pope said.

Joan died at the stake on 30 May 1431, holding a crucifix in her hands and invoking the name of Jesus. Twenty-five years later a trial of nullification, instituted by Pope Callixtus III, “concluded with a solemn sentence nullifying the condemnation and … highlighting Joan of Arc’s innocence and perfect faithfulness to the Church. Much later, in 1920, she was canonised by Pope Benedict XV“.  [I am happy to have a relic of St. Joan, which: ashes collected at the time and place of her execution by burning.]

“The Name of Jesus invoked by this saint in the last instants of her earthly life was as the continual breath of her soul, … the centre of her entire life”, the Holy Father explained. “This saint understood that Love embraces all things of God and man, of heaven and earth, of the Church and the world. … Liberating her people was an act of human justice, which Joan performed in charity, for love of Jesus, hers is a beautiful example of sanctity for lay people involved in political life, especially in the most difficult situations”.  [In his first Message for the World Day for Peace, Pope Benedict spoke of the need of military intervention at times in order to establish the foundation upon which peace can be fostered.]

“Joan saw in Jesus all the reality of the Church, the ‘Church triumphant’ in heaven and the ‘Church militant’ on earth. In her own words, ‘Our Lord and the Church are one’. This affirmation … takes on a truly heroic aspect in the context of the trial, in the face of her judges, men of the Church who persecuted and condemned her”.

“With her shining witness St. Joan of Arc invites us to the highest degree of Christian life, making prayer the motif of our days, having complete trust in achieving the will of God whatever it may be, living in charity without favouritisms or limitations, and finding in the Love of Jesus, as she did, a profound love for His Church”.

https://wdtprs.com/2024/05/30-may-st-joan-of-arc-virgin-martyrology-marvelous-reading-movies-2/

“And I in him.” Read that again and again, and vow to assist at daily Mass as often as possible. You will bear much fruit.

The Feast of Corpus Christi takes place on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, which happens to be today, which happens to be my birthday, which is normally the feast day of St. Joan of Arc. I have posted many of her quotes on this day in years past, and I will still do her homage today as my birth saint.

But for today, please, please, try to understand the power of the Eucharist. Harness Its power the way He intended for you.

GOSPEL  John 6:56-59
At that time, Jesus said to the crowds of the Jews: “For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live for ever.” 

For good measure, read the entire sixth chapter of Gospel of St. John HERE.

It is the very meaning of being Catholic.

Blessed Feast, everyone!

From RT:

Kiev’s Western backers need to understand that long-range strikes on Russian territory using weaponry they have supplied would represent a conflict escalation and lead to “serious consequences,” Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at the end of a two-day visit to Uzbekistan, Putin addressed recent Ukrainian demands for NATO to permit the use of its weapons to attack deep inside Russia as well as comments by the US-led bloc’s head, Jens Stoltenberg, appearing to endorse the tactic.

“To be honest, I don’t know what the NATO secretary-general is saying,” Putin told reporters, adding that Stoltenberg “did not suffer from any dementia” when he worked constructively with Russia as the prime minister of Norway (2005-2013).

“This constant escalation can lead to serious consequences. If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the US behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons? Hard to say. Do they want global conflict?”

Putin explained that long-range precision strikes require space reconnaissance assets – which Kiev does not have, but the US does – and that this targeting is already done by “highly qualified specialists” from the West, without Ukrainian participation.

“So, these representatives of NATO countries, especially in Europe, especially in small countries, must be aware of what they are playing with,” the Russian president said, noting that a lot of these countries have “a small territory and a very dense population.”

“What caused this? They did, with their own hands. Well, then, they will reap what they have sown. The same thing can happen if long-range precision weapons are used,” the Russian president added.

https://www.rt.com/russia/598350-putin-serious-consequences-west/

“This hymn is based upon the hymn O Lux Beata Trinitas, which is ascribed to St. Ambrose (340-397). This version is the result of Pope Urban VIII’s efforts to cast the hymns of the Roman Breviary into classical models. In the old Roman Breviary it is the Vespers hymn for the ferial office on Saturdays and Trinity Sunday.”

https://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Hymni/IamSol.html

This and much more, via Laura Wood

Blessed be the Holy Trinity! Happy feast, everyone.

Reposted from December 17, 2016

If you believe Bergoglio is Pope, you must believe these blasphemies:

• God the Son commits the sin of deception HERE
• God the Son commits a sin in creating the Fifth Joyful Mystery, for which he needed to “beg forgiveness” HERE and HERE
• God the Father commits mortal sin by willing mortal sin HERE

Repent, and believe in the Gospel. Blessed be the Holy Trinity, the Ultimate Reality.

Alien premiered 45 years ago tonight, May 25, 1979. It was at the time a unique mix of sci-fi, horror, and suspense. The trailer alone is super creepy. Although the sequel Aliens is widely regarded as superior to the original, to me that is like comparing apples and oranges. It spawned a bunch more sequels after that, some good, some bad. Ironically, the original itself could have been called Aliens, as there are two species discovered on the planet, something not explored until the terrible prequel Prometheus decades later. Anyway folks, two things to remember here. 1. Aliens don’t exist, but if they do, they are demons. I have a feeling we are going to learn more about this, very soon. 2. AI cannot ever think for itself, it can only do what it is programmed to do, no matter how complex. There are two examples in this movie. Cheers!

Shot: