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Catholicism Pure & Simple | Catholicism without compromise
‘She’s much more who she is,’ her husband told EWTN News, following Tammy’s ‘investigation of Catholicism.’
Psychologist and author Jordan Peterson speaks to Colm Flynn of ‘EWTN News In Depth’ about Peterson’s wife, Tammy, joining the Catholic Church. (photo: EWTN News)
Psychologist and author Jordan Peterson spoke about Easter as the “core story of humanity” in an interview with EWTN News In Depth hours before his wife, Tammy, joined the Catholic Church this Easter at Holy Rosary Church in Toronto.
Tammy Peterson’s faith was formed through praying the Rosary while she struggled against a rare form of cancer. Peterson is known for his biblical lectures on Genesis and Exodus in particular, which often appeal to both Christian and secular listeners.
When asked by EWTN News correspondent Colm Flynn about what he thought about the Christian Easter message, Peterson said that it’s “the core story of humanity.”
“I’ll speak psychologically about it and speak in terms of its literary echoes,” he said. “It’s a variant of the dragon-and-treasure story, which is the oldest story we have. It’s the core story of humanity in some fundamental sense — that in the darkest places, what’s of most value can be found.”
Peterson noted that he was “not going to delve into theological matters” but that, “speaking strictly psychologically,” the Easter story describes “the worst that life and death can throw at us,” but then offers a “promise.”
“The promise in the story is that, if that’s undertaken wholeheartedly, the consequence is redemptive, transformative and redemptive,” he said. “A resurrection of the spirit, a resurrection of the spirit eternally — that’s the promise.”
When asked what the cross meant to him, Peterson said that “it’s the point where everything comes together.”
“It’s the agony of life,” he continued. “With God’s grace, you might say that the triumph of life, in the face of agony, in the face of malevolence, that’s what it is.”
“We’re very confused about what faith is in the modern world. We think that faith is your verbal assent to a collection of descriptive statements,” he noted. “That’s perhaps an element of faith. … But the faith itself is, what would you say? It’s the willingness to presume that being and becoming is good despite tragedy and malevolence.”
In the interview, Peterson reflected on the idea of a “calling.”
“You’re called upon to climb Jacob’s Ladder, and it spirals infinitely upward — well, to where?” Peterson asked. “Infinitely upward isn’t a place — It’s a direction. Heaven is a place that’s perfect, that’s getting better at the same time.”
“Anything that attracts your attention is a portal to the divine,” he added. “You’ll pursue that thing that attracts your attention, that’s your calling, and then it’ll transmute, and you’ll find yourself oriented in another direction. The spirit that remains constant through all the transformations of your calling — that’s the divine.”
“That’s what the divine is; it’s ineffable because it can’t be fully revealed. It’s unlikely to be fully revealed in the course of your existence, but it calls you forward continually,” he continued. “That’s what the burning bush is in the story of Moses. It shows itself in different places for different people.”
When asked what it was like to see his wife join the Catholic Church, Peterson said it’s a “miraculous thing to see.”
“I loved my wife from the moment I laid eyes on her when I was a kid,” he said. “If you love someone, it hurts you when you see them deviate from the thing that draws you to them. And since she’s pursued her efforts at enlightening herself more thoroughly — and this investigation of Catholicism has been key to that — she’s much more who she is.”
Though his wife became Catholic, Peterson said he remains “unlikely” to join the Church. When Flynn asked what was holding Peterson back from becoming Catholic himself, he responded: “I don’t think anything’s holding me back. Everybody’s got their own destiny.”
Peterson said that whether this was part of his own “destiny” was “unlikely” because he, as he put it, “exist[s] on the borders of things.”
Have our days of penance in Lent, our commemoration of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection, produced any external fruit that enriches the lives of those around us?
Just as Christ rose from the dead, in a sense we too must continuously rise from sin, from spiritual death. It is extremely important that if the reformation of our lives is real, it should manifest itself in a strong desire to avoid sin and follow Christ in a firm commitment towards virtuous external acts.
“How I wish your bearing and conversation were such that, on seeing or hearing you, people would say: This man reads the life of Jesus Christ.” (St. José María Escriva)
“If my resurrection is to be a real one and is to produce fruit, it must be external, so that all may see I am not the same man, that my life is changed in Christ.” (Ven. Fr Willie Doyle)
The Resurrection, means that Jesus has been swept up out of the world of space and time in which he’d lived before, not to leave us alone, but to be closer to us than ever before, and as he promised ‘even to the end of time.’ Before the Resurrection Jesus was limited by the physical body into which he had freely chosen to enter. His choice meant that he could only be in one place at a time, so meeting him would have been as difficult as meeting any major celebrity in our time. But that’s all changed now, because the same otherworldly power that raised him out of this world on the first Easter day enabled him to re-enter it on every day. So now he can enter into us, as he promised, so that he can make his home in us and we can make our home in him. In the words of St Augustine this means that – ‘He can be closer to us than we are to ourselves’. All this can be possible, not in some distant pipe dream, but here and now. That’s why de Caussade said that ‘The present moment contains far more than we have the capacity to receive, for it is full of infinite treasures’.
Resurrection
What happened at his Resurrection was that the Jesus who was once limited by the space and time world in which he had chosen to enter, was limited no more. Now his glorified human being continually radiates like the sun, that the early Christians used to symbolize his ever loving presence. He radiates, not so much with light, but with love, but unlike the sun that only shone in the day, his love radiates both day and night, for there is no time when his love cannot be received by those who believe in him. That’s why the first Christians would rise at midnight when, it was believed, that Jesus rose from the dead, to meditate on his Resurrection, on what it meant for them then, and what it would mean for them in the forthcoming day. What the risen Christ and his love had meant for them, the love of his Father had meant to Jesus throughout his life on earth.
That’s why every moment of every day was the moment when he opened himself to receive God’s love in his relentless daily prayer, and in the way in which he served those for whom his Father had sent him. There was no moment in which he was not open to receive the love of his Father. It was therefore in imitation of him, that the first Christians, tried to do likewise. This enabled them to ensure that every moment of their day would be a moment to receive his love. Then this love would enable them to be drawn up into his continual and abiding presence, so that in with and through him they would give glory to their Father in heaven, as he did. What they would then receive from God in return would enable them to experience something of that glory for themselves, and then show something of that glory to the world, as it infiltrated and shone through everything that they said and did, as pure unadulterated goodness.
Martin Buber
The existential philosopher Martin Buber tells the story of the carpenter from Lublin in Poland who had a dream in which he saw a vast treasure reserved for him alone. After years travelling the world to find it, he returned home at the end of his life to find that the treasure had been there all the time beneath the hearth, where he had warmed himself before the fire each evening. Like him we can spend a lifetime searching elsewhere for what is here where we are now, wherever that might be – in this present moment. The love, for which we were created and which Christ came to impart, can only be received here and now in the present moment, and at no other place than where we are now. Now is the moment to harness all the time and all the effort that could be wasted searching elsewhere to abandon ourselves without reserve to the One, who first promised, and then sent, the love that can make all things new, beginning with ourselves.
The outpouring of God’s love through Jesus did not just happen in the past, two thousand years ago, it is happening continually, but we can only receive and experience it here and now in the present moment. We can receive it now, because the baptism that once symbolised our personal reception of the Holy Spirit, is not just an event that once took place in the past, any more than the events that happened on the first Pentecost day. They both symbolised that the very personal and infinite love of God is at this moment and at every moment being transmitted to us.
Glorification
In St John’s account of Christ’s death, the passage that told of the water pouring from the side of Jesus was the key moment in his narrative. Once glorified he could immediately send the Holy Spirit, whom he had promised to send at the Last Supper. The outpouring of this mystical life and love had long since been likened to an unprecedented effusion of living water, by both the Prophets in the Old Testament and by Jesus himself. St John had actually been there when Jesus had first foretold what he saw for himself, the moment his side had been pierced by the centurion’s lance.
Not long before his life came to an abrupt and agonising end, Jesus had taken his disciples with him to celebrate the feast of the Tabernacles in Jerusalem. On the final day, Jesus and his disciples were gathered at the pool of Siloam outside the city gate for a key moment in the ritual. A priest walked from the temple with a golden bowl full of water. Then, while it was being poured out into the pool in memory of the rock struck by Moses, a prophecy was read out. It promised a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit when the Messiah would come. This was the moment when Jesus chose to cry out in a loud voice: ‘If any man is thirsty let him come to me. Let the man who believes in me come and drink’. St John who witnessed the whole event said, -‘He was speaking of the Spirit, who those who believed in him, were to receive; for the Spirit had not yet been sent, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.’ (John 7:37-39).
Little did St John know at the time that he would be there to see this outpouring with his own eyes, nor the terrible circumstances that would precede it. So that there could be no doubt, he emphasises this moment in the Passion narrative more than any other. However, in the so-called ‘real-time’ in which St John and the other apostles lived, they had to wait until after the Ascension for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to be poured out on them in the ‘Upper Room’, on the first Pentecost day.
A Kingdom of Love
Now, through Jesus, the whole of humanity could have access to the infinite love of God to the end of time. It was this love that was destined to bring about a whole new world order that Jesus had first called the Kingdom. It was a Kingdom of love. However, nowhere in the Gospels did Jesus say that the Kingdom had come, but only that it was coming. It finally came when, in the immediate aftermath of the Ascension, the infinite loving of the Father was sent out. It was sent out through Jesus, so that after the Apostles, everyone else could receive it too, if they had the inner receptivity of heart and mind that many thousands did on that first Pentecost day.
This could never have happened before, even the greatest of the patriarchs, prophets and priests in the Old Testament, never received what was open to the humblest human beings, thanks to the transformed and transfigured human nature of Jesus. That’s why Jesus said, “No man born of a woman was greater than John the Baptist, but even the humblest in the kingdom was greater than he.” (Luke 7:28)
If that’s not good news what is? Nor do we have to go anywhere else than where we are now, to turn to receive it. The only real journey that matters begins, thanks to the continual outpouring of God’s love that was unleashed on the first Pentecost day. It begins from where we are now, by continually turning to receive this love in all that we say and do each day, here and now in the ‘sacrament of the present moment’ where, for those with eyes to see, time touches eternity.
Peter proceeded to speak and said, “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and (in) Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised (on) the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in him will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Psalms118(117),1-2.16ab-17.22-23.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Israel say, “His mercy endures forever.”
“The right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD has struck with power.” I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.
Letter to the Colossians3,1-4.
Brothers and sisters: If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ your life appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John20,1-9.
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.
Book of hours of Sinai (9th century)
Hymn to the Resurrection, early Greek liturgical texts, SC 486
Rejoice, Christ is Risen!
Listen, Adam, and rejoice with Eve, because the one who had deceived you and stripped you, had making you captive, on the cross of Christ was rendered helpless.
Today, O Christ, by your power you have abolished the empire of Death, and you have delivered, giver of life, the souls of men, thanks to your resurrection, you our Savior. Like the multitude of angels in heaven, so the human race on earth celebrates the all holy resurrection, Lord.
Today Christ is risen from the tomb, from which he draws forth incorruptibility for all mortals. In his mercy he inaugurates for those who carried the holy oils of annointing, the joy of the resurrection.
Wake us up from the grave of sin, we that many passions had put to death, Savior, who by your resurrection destroyed the tyranny of death, true friend of man.
Rejoice, sages carrying perfume, women who first saw the resurrection of Christ and announced to his apostles the resurrection of the whole world.
I adore you, Father without beginning who is life, I love your eternal Son with you who is life, giver of life that is the Holy Spirit: I glorify the only true fount of life.
Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory.
At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”
“I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell.
“Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated.
“For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
‘See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
“I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.
‘Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God.
“The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity”.
The darkness that covered Israel for three hours was recorded by three of the four Gospel writers.
“Now from the sixth hour there occurred darkness over all the land until the ninth hour”, Matthew 27:45.
“Now when the sixth hour had come, it became dark over all the land until the ninth hour,” Mark 15:33.
“It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour, the sun failing” (Luke 23:44-45).
The three evangelists testify that the darkness lasted three hours, and it ‘covered all the land’.
The Sun failed
Luke says that ‘the Sun failed.‘ The words used here are the Greek words, “tou heliou ekleipontos”. The word “Helios” is translated “the Sun”. The word “Ekleipo” is translated as ‘to fail, to come to an end.’
Thus the cause of the darkness was a failure in the Sun’s light. This distinguishes the event from the mere darkness of dense thunderclouds that can cause near night-time conditions. Storms like this are unusual for Palestine, especially at Passover time. Furthermore, there would have been mention of prodigious rainfall.
There was no eclipse of the Sun on Crucifixion day
We should not think that the strange darkness was caused by an extended eclipse of the Sun, for that could not have occurred on the day of the Crucifixion. An eclipse of the Sun only occurs when the Moon is directly between the Sun and the Earth, thus blocking out its light. The day of the Crucifixion was the day before the traditional Passover, which was on the 14th Nisan. On the 14th Nisan there was a full Moon, as was always the case at Passover time. The Moon was therefore on the far side of the Earth away from the Sun.
Furthermore, no eclipse of the Sun can last more than seven and a half minutes in any one place, and this strange darkness lasted for three hours. A supernatural event caused darkness to fall during Christ’s death. Thus for three hours a strange darkness covered the land. The sky was clear, and the stars appeared. People would be asking themselves whether ‘the end of the world’ had come.
The period of darkness was prophesied in Amos
The Jews knew from their Bible that ‘the day of the Lord’ would be ‘a day of darkness’. In Amos 8:9 we read, “On that day, says the Lord God, I will make the Sun to go down at noon, and darken the Earth in broad daylight. I will turn your feasting into mourning, and all your songs into lamentations.”
This darkness speaks of a time of God’s judgement upon sin.
Extra-Biblical historical evidence to support the three hour period of darkness
The following great number of ancient writers recorded the three hour period of darkness at the time of the Crucifixion.
Tertullian
Tertullian lived at the beginning of the 3rd century, and recorded the three hour period of darkness at the Crucifixion.
Lucian
Lucian, the martyr of Nicomedia who died in A.D. 312, recorded the three hour period of darkness at the Crucifixion.
Thallus
Thallus, a historian writing in AD. 52, wrote to deny any supernatural elements accompanying the Crucifixion . Though his writings are lost to us, we have the quotations of other later writers. The writing of Thallus shows that the facts of Jesus’ death were known and discussed in Rome as early as the middle of the first century, to the extent that unbelievers like Thallus thought it necessary to explain the matter of the darkness as something natural. He took the existence of Christ for granted. Neither Jesus, nor the darkness at his death, were ever denied. At the time of his writing, unbelievers had already been explaining the darkness at the time of the Crucifixion as a purely natural phenomenon.
Julius Africanus
Julius Africanus, a Christian historian, writing about A.D. 221, refers to Christ’s Crucifixion and the darkness that covered the earth prior to His death saying, “Thallus, in his Third Book of Histories, explains away this darkness as an eclipse of the sun, unreasonably as it seems to me. For the Hebrews celebrate the Passover on the 14th day according to the moon, and the Passion of our Saviour falls on the day before the Passover. But an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the Moon comes under the Sun. And it cannot happen at any other time but in the interval between the first day of the new moon and the last of the old, that is, at their junction: how then should an eclipse occur when the Moon is almost diametrically opposite the Sun?”
Julius Africanus also stated that, “During the time of Tiberius Cæsar an eclipse of the sun occurred during the full Moon.”
Origen
Origen had written that this idea of it being an eclipse was an invention of the pagans to discredit the Gospels.
Phlegon of Tralles
Phlegon of Tralles was a first century secular Greek historian born not long after the Crucifixion. He wrote an historical work called The Olympiades, which can be used to date the darkness at noon on the day of Crucifixion (see below).
Phlegon’s work is referred to by Philipon, Julius Africanus, Joannes Philoponus, Malelas, Origen, Eusebius and Maximus.
Cornelius Tacitus
The Crucifixion of Jesus was noted by Cornelius Tacitus who was a Roman historian, born around 52-54 A.D. Tacitus stated that Jesus had been crucified by Pontius Pilate, and that Rome was in darkness during the reign of Tiberius the Caesar in AD.33.
Conclusion
There is more historical evidence to support the three hour period of darkness in 33 AD than almost any other ancient event in history!
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty yourself out upon us.
It is available in abundance to everyone if only we would embrace it. It is an endless and unfathomable gift that flows most profusely on the Sunday after Easter. It is the devotion of the Divine Mercy and it offers each of us a wonderful chance to begin anew through the Divine Mercy Chaplet Novena. Begun on Good Friday and completed on Divine Mercy Sunday, this powerful novena offers us a chance to change our lives forever! It is also a powerful way to intercede for our loved ones and the entire world by bringing all before the merciful gaze of Christ.
In 1931, a young Polish nun named Sister Faustina Kowalska, saw a vision of Jesus who, with rays of mercy in the form of blood and water streaming forth from His Heart, told her to paint an image of him and sign it, “Jesus, I Trust in You!” Calling her the Secretary of His mercy, He ordered her to also begin writing a diary so others would come to know of his unfathomable mercy. In a series of revelations that followed from 1931 through 1938, Jesus taught her about His unlimited ocean of mercy available to even the most hardened of sinners, saying “Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet” (Diary 699).
In her Diary, Jesus told Sr. Faustina, “I desire that during these nine days you bring souls to the fountain of My mercy, that from there they may draw strength and refreshment and whatever grace they need in the hardships of life, and especially at the hour of death” (Diary, 1209). While the Chaplet can be said anytime, the Lord specifically asked that it be recited as a novena, promising that “By this Novena (of Chaplets), I will grant every possible grace to souls” (Diary 796).
During each day of the Novena, which is prayed on Rosary beads, Jesus asked that souls be brought to his merciful heart to be immersed in his “ocean of mercy” for each of the nine days, “On each day of the novena you will bring to My heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy … On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for graces for these souls” (Diary 1209). Specific intentions include all mankind, especially sinners; the souls of priests and religious; all devout and faithful souls; those who do not believe in God and those who do not yet know Jesus; the souls who have separated themselves from the Church; meek and humble souls and the souls of little children; the souls who especially venerate and glorify His mercy; souls detained in purgatory; and souls who have become lukewarm. It is interesting to note that Jesus saves the ninth day of the novena for “lukewarm” souls saying, “These souls wound my heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out – ‘Father, take this cup away from me if it be your will.’ For them the last hope of salvation is to flee to My mercy (Diary 1228).
In 1966, through the diligent efforts of then Karol Cardinal Wojtyla (Saint Pope John Paul II), the informative process for beatification of Sr. Faustina was begun. The message of mercy is now being spread throughout the world. On the Second Sunday of Easter of the Jubilee Year 2000, at the Mass for the Canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul II proclaimed to the world that “from now on throughout the Church” this Sunday will be called “Divine Mercy Sunday.” In speaking of Divine Mercy Sunday in Faustina’s Diary, Jesus said, “On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy” (Diary 699). Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is, the Feast of My Mercy” (Diary 965).
It is important to note that there are three places in St. Faustina’s Diary that record promises from our Lord of the extraordinary graces He will make available through the devout reception of Holy Communion on this Feast Day:
– I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy(1109).
– Whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (300).
– The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (699).
The powerful Divine Mercy Novena as ordered above by Jesus gives us the tremendous opportunity to begin again – a fresh start of “complete forgiveness of sins and punishment” that may have otherwise have been due to us in life up to that point. So powerful is the Chaplet that Christ said, “Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy” (Diary, 687). Through the Chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will” (Diary 1731)
Jesus in his unfathomable mercy gives us this grace to begin anew through his passion and death on the cross where blood and water gushed forth from His heart. This Good Friday then, let us take advantage of this powerful novena while there is still time – for the sake of our souls, the souls of our loved ones and a world deeply and desperately in need of Divine Mercy.
Whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world.”
Our Lord, in the cenacle on Maundy Thursday, accomplished two things. First, He brought the ceremonies of the Old Law to an end, by celebrating the last Passover meal with His disciples. That done, He instituted a new covenant, as the prophets had foretold. This is the change that St Thomas Aquinas refers to in the Eucharistic hymn that we shall soon sing, when we have carried the sacred body of Christ to the place where we shall keep watch with Him: Et antiquum documentum novo cedat ritui — “types and shadows have their ending, for the newer rite is here”. At the foot of mount Sinai, the Israelites had made a covenant with God: He promised to bring them into the holy land, and they promised to live there as His people. In the upper room, the Son of God, Jesus Christ, makes a covenant with the twelve apostles, and with all who would believe through their preaching. He promises to bring us to a better holy land, of which the land of Canaan was only a figure, namely into the kingdom of His Father. “Amen, I say to you,” He tells the apostles, “I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
It is because the Holy Eucharist began a new covenant that it had to be a sacrifice. When the Israelites were at the foot of mount Sinai, after Moses had read to them the Law, they took the blood of the calves that they had sacrificed, and Moses sprinkled it upon the altar and upon the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you.” So, when our Saviour instituted the new covenant, which would not be limited to a single people, but which is open to all the nations, provided they have faith, He also began with a sacrifice. When He spoke the words over the bread and wine, He did not only convert these things into His own body and blood, He also made them a sacrificial offering to His Father, saying as He held the chalice, “This chalice is the new covenant in my blood.” That is why, at the same time as instituting this new sacrifice, He also instituted a new priesthood, since you cannot have sacrifice without priests. He made the apostles into the priests, in fact the high priests, of the new covenant.
Now, the purpose of the former covenant, the one made through Moses, was to prepare the Jewish people for the coming of their Messiah. That was the vocation for which the Jews were chosen. That’s why that covenant came to its natural end once the Messiah had made Himself known. As our Lord said just before He died, “It is consummated.” What then is the purpose of the new covenant? It is to prepare us for the return of the Messiah. St Paul explicitly draws the connexion between our new sacrifice and the return of Christ in glory, “As often as you shall eat this bread and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he come.” This is what we are doing when we go to Mass: we are getting ready for the second coming. Perhaps this is why St John says about our Lord, just before He instituted the Holy Eucharist, that “he loved them to the end”; to the end of the world.
Now, if by coming to Mass we were simply witnessing the sacrifice of the new covenant, offered on the altar for the forgiveness of our sins, that would already be something very great. It would already be something too great, for our comprehension, if not for our needs. But in fact, there is more. We are allowed also to receive from the altar; if we have been washed in baptism, we are permitted to eat of the sacrificial food. Why is this? In the ancient world, it would have been understood that by eating from an altar, a person was uniting himself to the god to whom the sacrifice was offered: this is why St Paul is horrified at the idea of Christians eating at a pagan shrine. As he puts it, “The things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.” We, on the other hand, by receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord, are being united to the true God. And the purpose of Holy Communion, like the purpose of the Mass itself, is also to prepare us for the return of Christ in glory. “Abide in him,” says St John, “so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.”
On this Maundy Thursday, then, we can ask ourselves the question: do my Holy Communions help to detach me from this world, from its desires and standards and ambitions? Those words of St Paul may startle us, when he says to the Corinthians, “Many of you are weak and ill, and some have died”, because they had been receiving Communion thoughtlessly. But after all, how would it be possible to receive the true God and be unchanged? Not to speak of those who receive like Judas, defiantly set on sinning, it is possible to receive without mortal sin, but without much desire for holiness. If we do this, we may expect that God may use some means to “chasten” us, as St Paul says, and so to reawaken our first love. But all of us, I hope, will receive in a different spirit. As one early fragment of Catholic liturgy says, “May grace come and may this world pass away.” That is the spirit in which our Lord desires us to receive Him.
Spiritual Conference on the Second Sunday of Passiontide or Palm Sunday
Exsulta satis, filia Sion, jubila filia Jerusalem. Ecce Rex tuus venit tibi.
Za 9, 12
The solemn celebrations of Holy Week begin with the triumphal entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem, hailed as King of Israel. The Holy Church, the people of the New and Eternal Covenant, makes her own the tribute of public honors to her Lord: Hi placuere tibi, placeat devotio nostra: Rex bone, Rex clemens, cui bona cuncta placent. [May they please Thee, may our devotion please Thee, O good King, O gracious King, who likes all that is good]
However, as if to highlight how fickle and manipulable the multitude is, today we see the festive crowd with palm and olive branches, and a few days later we hear them cry out, “Crucify Him.” and send that same King to death on the scaffold reserved for slaves.
It is not known to us whether those who welcomed with jubilation the Lord at the gates of the Holy City were the same ones who gathered before the Praetorium and were incited by the High Priests and the scribes of the people. But it is not difficult to suppose – also on the basis of other similar episodes in the course of History – that many were present on both occasions, for the simple pleasure of attending an event, of following the crowd, of “taking a selfie,” as we would say today. On the other hand, was it not the same Hebrews in the wilderness who made for themselves a golden calf while Moses received the tablets of the Law on Sinai? And how many other times did those same Jews who had acclaimed the God of Israel end up “ecumenically” welcoming the priests of Baal and defiling themselves with idolaters, deserving the punishments announced by the Prophets and then repenting of their infidelity, only to begin again shortly after? This is the crowd, dear brethren; the crowd that witnesses the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the healing of lepers, the crippled, the centurion’s servant, and the resurrection of Lazarus, but then lines the path that leads to Golgotha to insult and spit on Our Lord, or even just to watch, ut videret finem (Mt 26:57): to see how it would turn out.
Who was absent from the Lord’s royal entry into Jerusalem? The civil and religious authorities, just as the powerful were absent from the Birth of the Savior in that remote hovel in Bethlehem on the night of December 25, two thousand and twenty-four years ago. There were no High Priests, no scribes, no Herod; who in reality were not even considered as true authorities, since both the High Priests Annas and Caiaphas as well as King Herod had come to power through fraud and manipulated appointments – nihil sub sole novi – and therefore did not represent legitimate power. In particular, Caiaphas was not of the house of Aaron – the priestly tribe of the Jews – but had been appointed as High Priest by Valerius Gratus in 25 A.D. and had managed to remain in office until 36 A.D., when he was deposed by the Governor of Syria, Lucius Vitellius. It was an imperial appointment, therefore, and not a hereditary right as established by God and as it was done uninterruptedly until the time of the Maccabees (1 Maccabees 10:20), when Jonathan assumed the High Priesthood. Not even the king of Galilee was legitimate, for his appointment was decided by his father Herod the Great, who divided the kingdom between his sons Archelaus (who had Judea, Idumea, and southern Samaria), Herod Philip (who had the northeastern region of the Sea of Galilee) and Herod Antipas (who was appointed Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea). Herod Antipas ruled from 4 B.C. to 39 A.D. on behalf of the imperial authority and therefore could be considered more of a puppet in the service of Rome than a true ruler. He wasn’t supposed to be much different from a modern-day Trudeau or Macron, raised by the World Economic Forum and placed by the deep state to serve the interests of the elite in Canada or France. On the other hand, Herod had also been at the imperial court in Rome, where he had begun an affair with Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, and whom he had then married – in contravention of the Mosaic law – deserving the condemnation of the Baptist, who was arrested and executed for this. The fact that Our Lord did not want to answer Herod – when Pontius Pilate had Him brought to Herod to judge Him since He was under Herod’s jurisdiction – confirms that Christ himself considered his authority illegitimate.
In Israel, therefore, at the time of Christ, there was no real religious or civil authority. Why this absence, this vacatio? And yet the Jews recognized the High Priests and Herod, just as today Bergoglio and the heads of government of the nations are recognized, despite the fact that they are clearly estranged from the true power willed by God. The answer we can give is that Providence willed that the coming secundum carnem of Our Lord should show that He wasthe true King and High Priest, not only as the author and guarantor of earthly authority, but also as the legitimate holder of that authority by divine right, by right of birth and – shortly thereafter – by right of conquest. This is the reason for the absence of Jewish kings, high priests, and scribes, both at the Birth of Christ and at His Epiphany and also at the Entry into Jerusalem.
Let us now try, dear brothers, to observe the scene before us. It is the 10th of the month of Nisan, six days before Passover, when the Law prescribes that the Jews procure the Passover lamb. Here, then, we see the Agnus Dei – according to the words of John the Baptist (Jn 1:29) – who five days later, at the ninth hour of Good Friday – that is, of the Eve of Passover – would expire on the Cross, at the same time that the Jews were skewering the lamb on two skewers to roast it, in memory of the flight from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea to the Promised Land. In the eyes of the faithful people, that symbolism could not escape them.
Seated on the harnessed donkey, like King Solomon at the moment of his coronation (1 Kings 1:38-40); honored as He passes by with palm branches and cloaks spread on the ground (2 Kings 9-13), Christ sums up in Himself all earthly, temporal and spiritual authority, showing Himself in the plenitudo potestatis and being praised by the people: Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, exclaim the pueri Hebræorum. Hosanna filio David, that is, to the descendant of the once reigning house, to the promised Messiah, to the one prefigured by Zechariah (Zech 9:9):
Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion, rejoice, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy king is coming unto thee. He is righteous and victorious, humble, he rides on a donkey, a foal of an ass.
As can be seen from the Gospel narrative, the Lord’s coronation takes place on the Mount of Olives, less than three kilometers from the Holy City, and the royal procession moves towards the Temple, recalling Psalm 23:
O gates, lift up your gables; and you, eternal gates, arise; let the King of glory enter. Who is this King of glory? It is the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. O gates, lift up your gables; Arise, O eternal gates, let the King of glory enter. Who is this King of glory? He is the Lord of hosts; He is the King of glory.
The offering of a victim on the altar, presented when it is already evening (Mk 11:11) alludes to the imminent Passion of Our Lord. We can imagine the concern that this massive demonstration aroused among the authorities. And it is no coincidence: this civil and religious rite – characterized by the repetition of a precise ceremonial well known to priests and scribes – was in some way to represent the restoration of the Jewish kingdom in view of the Passion, so that it would be the King and High Priest of Israel who ascended the altar of Golgotha to offer Himself to the Majesty of the Father as a ransom for the sins of His people. We shall see the Lord again clothed in royal robes – the scarlet cloak and the crown, though of thorns – presenting Himself on the balcony of the Praetorium. Ecce rex vester (Jn 19:13), Pilate says to the Jews, who answer, confessing David’s vacancy on the throne: Non habemus regem, nisi Cæsarem (Jn 19:14). And again, in the Titulus Crucis, the same truth is reaffirmed: Jesus Nazarenus, Rex Judæorum (Jn 19:19). For if Christ had not been recognized as King and High Priest in the supreme act of the Sacrifice, He would not have represented before the Father either the individuals or the nations that were the object of the Redemption.
If we were to draw a parallel between those events and those of today, we might find a disturbing analogy between the action of the Sanhedrin and the Catholic Hierarchy usurping power in Rome. Imagine what might be, today, the concern of certain prelates – and of Bergoglio himself – for the threat of being discovered in their fraud by Christ himself, who comes to take back that authority that has been usurped and exercised not to open the Scriptures to the faithful, but to keep them in ignorance and allow himself to maintain power. Do you think that the reaction would be so different from that of the Sanhedrin, aroused by the concurrence of the people in Jerusalem to proclaim an unknown prophet of Galilee king? What do you think the new Caiaphas would say when he saw his prestige as High Priest threatened and the deception that brought him to power revealed? To be reminded that he is the vicar of an authority that is not his own, and of which he is not the master? Do you think he would agree to renounce the usurping Papacy, in order to allow the Lord to ascend to the Throne, in whose name he should govern the Church? Or would he not rather address the civil authorities, making it clear to the corrupt officials and politicians who recognize him as Pope, that this Galileo also threatens their power, which has also been usurped? Would he not invoke the intervention of the army to quell the revolt and condemn the Lord to death for sedition and high treason? On the contrary: does it not seem to you that the reason for the condemnation is precisely that he dared to proclaim himself King and Son of God – quia Filium Dei se fecit (Jn 19:7) – in a world that calls itself democratic and that recognizes no king other than Caesar – that is, the pagan power of an invader – nor any other god than man? And in this not-too-hypothetical framework, how would the mainstream media report the news, assuming that censorship or some law against hate speech does not prevent people from talking about it and pretend that nothing has happened?
According to some Fathers, the triumphal procession of Christ to Jerusalem is composed of two hosts: in the allegorical meaning of the Scriptures, those who precede the Lord are the Israelites, and those who follow Him are the converted pagans. And perhaps among the Jews there were also zealots, who hoped for a popular revolt against the Roman invader and who then abandoned the Lord when it was clear to them that He would not allow Himself to be used politically: it would be they, disappointed in their revolutionary expectations, who then cried out, “Crucify Him.”
So, we have three categories of people: those who hailed Christ, those who cried out, “Crucify Him,” and those who did both. The former are faithful; the latter are unfaithful and perfidious; the third are desolately mediocre. Let us ask ourselves, then: Who would I have been? Perhaps not among the mob stirred up by the Sanhedrin to extort Christ’s death sentence from Pilate: they are declared enemies of God and do not hesitate to invoke His Blood, in the vertigo of their blindness. Rather, we should have been among those who praised the Lord and during the Passion were there with John, Mary, and the Pious Women at the foot of the Cross. But often, painfully, we must recognize that our infidelity – like that of the people who were the chosen ones – leads us to side with Christ when He triumphs, and to cry out against Him or to deny that we know Him – like Peter – when He is arrested, tried, bloodied, crowned with thorns, dressed like a madman and covered with reproaches. Committed Catholics under Pius XII, but then lukewarm modernists with the Council; heroic defenders of the Faith in times of peace in a Catholic nation, but mute executors of the worldly mentality in times of persecution in anti-Catholic nations; devout faithful of the Old Mass when Benedict XVI allowed it, but now scrupulous executors of Traditionis Custodes when the Jesuit of Santa Marta limits its celebration or prohibits it.
But why, I ask myself, this intolerance for the transcendent? Why this revulsion for the sacred, and therefore also for the sacredness of the authority of Christ, King and High Priest, that breaks into our humanity? What disturbed so much the power of the High Priests in Our Lord’s time? What has disturbed the power of civil institutions so much for over two hundred years, and that of the modernist Sanhedrin for sixty years? I believe that the answer lies in the pride of us poor, miserable mortals, who do not want to accept and submit to the power of Christ because we know that if we did there would be no more room for our particulars, for our petty interests, for our lust for power. Ultimately, it is Lucifer’s Non serviam that is perpetuated in History, in the tragic attempt to subvert the divine order and in the even more tragic illusion of being able to be self-sufficient, of considering the world as a goal and not as a place of passage, of being able to create for ourselves a Paradise on earth in which freedom, fraternity, and equality may be the human counterpart of Faith, Hope and Charity.
We are afraid that Christ will reign, because we know that where authority belongs to Christ and is in accordance with His Law, we are no longer in charge, and the power we administer as Christ’s lieutenants cannot be used as a pretext behind which to hide our foolish presumption of being sicut dii. And this is true in the civil as well as in the ecclesiastical sphere. Yet being vicars of Christ in temporal or spiritual matters should be an honor, not a humiliation. For this reason, dear brethren, it is terrible that he who sits on the Throne of Peter considers it “inconvenient” to bear the title of Servant of the Servants of God and has erased that of Vicar of Christ. In shaking off the necessary subjection to Christ, he also assumes full and total responsibility for his own errors, his own heresies, the scandals of which he is the cause; and at the same time, proudly, he rejects those Graces of state which the Lord would otherwise have granted to His Vicar on earth. This presumption cuts at the root the legitimacy of authority itself, which either comes from God or is hateful and illegitimate tyranny.
Dear brothers and sisters, these times of apostasy are no different from the times of the Passion, because the passio Christi of that time must necessarily be fulfilled in the passio Ecclesiæ of today and of the end times: what the Head has faced, the Mystical Body must also face. But be careful: another will try to present himself as king and pope, and he will be the Antichrist, the infernal counterfeit and diabolical subversion of the Prince of Peace. Even in those days of darkness – which prophet Daniel tells us will last three and a half years – there will be a crowd that will sing the praises of that man, worshipping him as God, and others who will recognize him as an impostor and servant of Satan. The deceptions and wonders of the son of perdition will lead us to believe that he has conquered power, that the Church is definitively obliterated, in the vacancy of civil and religious authority. It will be then that St. Michael will kill the Antichrist, then that the Virgin will crush the head of the Serpent, then that the Lord will come in glory to judge the living and the dead, returning again as the Son of God, King and High Priest.
Let us make sure that we are found among the number of that pusillus grex, that little flock, which has not been deceived and which has remained faithful. Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; rejoice, O daughter of Jerusalem!Behold, thy king is coming unto thee (Zech 9:9). And so may it be.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
March 24, 2024 Dominica II Passionis seu in Palmis
[Jan Provoost, c 1500, “The Crucifixion”. Northern Renaissance]
The crucifixion was the supreme Sacrifice by Christ – suffering on which we focus with particular intensity from the start of Passiontide until the culmination of the death of Our Lord at Calvary on Good Friday.
When we contemplate the suffering of Christ, His agony in the garden at Gesthemane, the ridicule and humiliation of his crowning with thorns, his scourging and carrying the cross to His own death, we envelope ourselves in His suffering.
What is compelling in this scene however, is the fact that, Christ, after an agony endured over many hours, while nailed through His wrists on the cross, so that He would have had to lift Himself up by his nailed feet to breathe, nevertheless, gave His attention and His charity to two thieves who were crucified with Him.
He was flanked by two robbers, one of whom blasphemed him, saying: if thou be Christ save thyself and us.
40. But the other answering rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art under the same condemnation?
41. And indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done no evil.
42. And he said to Jesus: Lord remember me when thou shalt come into Thy kingdom.
43. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
(Luke 23. 39-43.)
That is, while Jesus was undergoing suffering to a degree that the word “excruciating” devolves from the Latin word for “cross” – “crucis” – the agonising form of death to which He was sentenced, He nevertheless engaged in the charity of extending His grace to the Good Thief – whom tradition has called Dismas.
His date of death is designated as 25 March because it was that date on the calendar year, (as opposed to the lunar year), that Christ and the two thieves died, AD 33.
St Dismas is the patron saint of prisoners, penitents, dying people, reformed people and particularly, prisoners on death row.
The Lord GOD has given me a well-trained tongue, That I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them. Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; And I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord GOD is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
Psalms22(21),8-9.17-18a.19-20.23-24.
All who see me scoff at me; they mock me with parted lips, they wag their heads: “He relied on the LORD; let him deliver him, let him rescue him, if he loves him.”
Indeed, many dogs surround me, a pack of evildoers closes in upon me; They have pierced my hands and my feet; I can count all my bones.
They divide my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots. But you, O LORD, be not far from me; O my help, hasten to aid me.
I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you: “You who fear the LORD, praise him; all you descendants of Jacob, give glory to him; revere him, all you descendants of Israel!”
Letter to the Philippians2,6-11.
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark14,1-72.15,1-47.
The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were to take place in two days’ time. So the chief priests and the scribes were seeking a way to arrest him by treachery and put him to death. They said, “Not during the festival, for fear that there may be a riot among the people.” When he was in Bethany reclining at table in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil, costly genuine spikenard. She broke the alabaster jar and poured it on his head. There were some who were indignant. “Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil? It could have been sold for more than three hundred days’ wages and the money given to the poor.” They were infuriated with her. Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them, but you will not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anticipated anointing my body for burial. Amen, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went off to the chief priests to hand him over to them. When they heard him they were pleased and promised to pay him money. Then he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”‘ Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.” The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he came with the Twelve. And as they reclined at table and were eating, Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.” They began to be distressed and to say to him, one by one, “Surely it is not I?” He said to them, “One of the Twelve, the one who dips with me into the dish. For the Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will have your faith shaken, for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be dispersed.’ But after I have been raised up, I shall go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though all should have their faith shaken, mine will not be.” Then Jesus said to him, “Amen, I say to you, this very night before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.” But he vehemently replied, “Even though I should have to die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all spoke similarly. Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be troubled and distressed. Then he said to them, “My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch.” He advanced a little and fell to the ground and prayed that if it were possible the hour might pass by him; he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup away from me, but not what I will but what you will.” When he returned he found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Withdrawing again, he prayed, saying the same thing. Then he returned once more and found them asleep, for they could not keep their eyes open and did not know what to answer him. He returned a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners. Get up, let us go. See, my betrayer is at hand.” Then, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a crowd with swords and clubs who had come from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. His betrayer had arranged a signal with them, saying, “The man I shall kiss is the one; arrest him and lead him away securely.” He came and immediately went over to him and said, “Rabbi.” And he kissed him. At this they laid hands on him and arrested him. One of the bystanders drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear. Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs, to seize me? Day after day I was with you teaching in the temple area, yet you did not arrest me; but that the scriptures may be fulfilled.” And they all left him and fled. Now a young man followed him wearing nothing but a linen cloth about his body. They seized him, but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked. They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. Peter followed him at a distance into the high priest’s courtyard and was seated with the guards, warming himself at the fire. The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none. Many gave false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. Some took the stand and testified falsely against him, alleging, We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days I will build another not made with hands.’ Even so their testimony did not agree. The high priest rose before the assembly and questioned Jesus, saying, “Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?” But he was silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him and said to him, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?” Then Jesus answered, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.'” At that the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further need have we of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as deserving to die. Some began to spit on him. They blindfolded him and struck him and said to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards greeted him with blows. While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s maids came along. Seeing Peter warming himself, she looked intently at him and said, “You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” So he went out into the outer court. (Then the cock crowed.) The maid saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” Once again he denied it. A little later the bystanders said to Peter once more, “Surely you are one of them; for you too are a Galilean.” He began to curse and to swear, “I do not know this man about whom you are talking.” And immediately a cock crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.” He broke down and wept. As soon as morning came, the chief priests with the elders and the scribes, that is, the whole Sanhedrin, held a council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate questioned him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” He said to him in reply, “You say so.” The chief priests accused him of many things. Again Pilate questioned him, “Have you no answer? See how many things they accuse you of.” Jesus gave him no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed. Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested. A man called Barabbas was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed. Pilate answered, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate again said to them in reply, “Then what (do you want) me to do with (the man you call) the king of the Jews?” They shouted again, “Crucify him.” Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.” So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers led him away inside the palace, that is, the praetorium, and assembled the whole cohort. They clothed him in purple and, weaving a crown of thorns, placed it on him. They began to salute him with, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and kept striking his head with a reed and spitting upon him. They knelt before him in homage. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him out to crucify him. They pressed into service a passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. They brought him to the place of Golgotha (which is translated Place of the Skull). They gave him wine drugged with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his garments by casting lots for them to see what each should take. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” With him they crucified two revolutionaries, one on his right and one on his left.
Those passing by reviled him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross.” Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes, mocked him among themselves and said, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also kept abusing him. At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “Look, he is calling Elijah.” One of them ran, soaked a sponge with wine, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to take him down.” Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. The veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion who stood facing him saw how he breathed his last he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” There were also women looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome. These women had followed him when he was in Galilee and ministered to him. There were also many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem. When it was already evening, since it was the day of preparation, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a distinguished member of the council, who was himself awaiting the kingdom of God, came and courageously went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was amazed that he was already dead. He summoned the centurion and asked him if Jesus had already died. And when he learned of it from the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. Having bought a linen cloth, he took him down, wrapped him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watched where he was laid.
Saint Theodore the Studite (759-826) monk at Constantinople Catechisis 53 of St Theodore the Studite
Praise to His humility!
So here we are coming to the holy and great week of the accomplishment of the sufferings of Christ, and again we learn how, how many times, when and how much the Lord of Glory has humbled himself for us (1 Co 2 , 8), our God and our Creator. In truth, we are fully illuminated each time we penetrate this mystery.
Indeed, what soul of stone is not seized with compunction and would not bend in learning that the Lord is delivered by a disciple to the hands of the impious (cf. AC 2,23)? He is bound by the soldiers, led to court. He is condemned; Him, the truth, he hears himself called an Imposter and a charlatan (cf. Mt 27,63), he, the Savior of all, he is hit in the face and he tolerates it; We cover him with spitting and he does not defend himself; as a derision, he is surrounded by the crown of thorns, and He does not reduce to ashes those who dare these outrages; He is clothed in a purple coat like a king and, like a criminal, struck. Finally he is crucified, pierced with a spear. He tastes death, he who is everyone’s life. And immediately, he resuscitates, thus raising us from our forfeiture, and he puts us up for immutable immortality…
What are we going to offer you, because in your inexhaustible goodness, you have considered us such a great price that, far from despising your lost creature, you came to save us by means of an extreme , unspeakable descent? However, you made us strong and you saved us. And of our sinking and unworthy lips, we offer you all the praise and the thanksgiving which we are capable of. We are urged to seek to imitate your example, to conform to it in big and important things and, just as much, to take it as a model in small and servile things. Because this worthily honors you.
When we put in long hours at work, we can take comfort in knowing that our effort will be rewarded, whether through a larger paycheck, the satisfaction of a job well done, or the gratitude of those we serve. The Uber driver looks forward to fares stacking up and racks up five-star ratings, the baker fills order after order of birthday cakes, and the physician earns the trust of more patients. Just as labor leads to wages in a secular career, so too do the difficulties and disappointments we face each day present an opportunity to store up spiritual treasures in heaven. The mother who patiently endures the tantrums of her headstrong toddler, the accountant who maintains integrity despite pressure from unethical clients, the teacher who keeps working with a struggling student—when they offer these inconveniences up to Christ out of love, rewards are added in heaven. Our daily crosses, borne in humility and union with Christ’s sacrifice, become the means for atoning our sins and those of others.
Christ himself urges us not to store up fleeting earthly treasures, but rather to lay up eternal spiritual treasures in heaven. When confronted with difficulties or the monotonous daily grind, we can call to mind his teaching: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-21). Our heart follows our treasure – that is, what we value, invest in, and prioritize. So where is our heart anchored? In acquiring more wealth, status, comfort in this life alone? Or in storing up spiritual rewards through a life of love and sacrifice united to Christ? The Father who sees in secret will reward each act, however small, offered up to Him. The crosses woven into our days become the very means of glorifying God when borne with Christ. And storing up treasure in heaven shifts our focus to eternal perspective.
Just as we eagerly anticipate the direct deposit hitting after a long week’s work, we can remind ourselves with each difficulty encountered or task tackled: this will add to my eternal bottom line. With an eye toward heaven instead of earthly pleasures that fade, we store up our true compensation. Christ spells out as much: “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). Every patient endurance of suffering, every sacrifice made for another’s good, every sting of conscience resisting temptation’s tug – when anchored in loving God above all, such acts become eternal spiritual capital never lost. No market crash or corporate bankruptcy can diminish this reward reserved for the humble of heart who carry crosses alongside the Lord. Our incentive matches the taxi driver eyeing the ticking meter – except our aim is the imperishable crown awaiting in heaven, where the Father who sees in secret will repay with interest each small struggle born for Him.
The profound spiritual writings of Don Dolindo illuminate the Christian belief that earthly sufferings, offered up in union with Christ, store up eternal treasures in heaven. As he comments in his extensive biblical commentary, “The pains become priceless riches, and this is the price of an eternal and ineffable happiness” (Commentary on Revelation). This underscores how sufferings take on spiritual value, becoming incalculable riches that purchase everlasting joy. Don Dolindo goes on to assure that “Those who fear God have a light that shines through the darkness of their troubles, a light that comforts and never goes out” (Commentary on Psalms). Thus, faithfully enduring distress brings an eternal comforting light. Furthermore, “For the good, pains and trials are a title of merit and glory…” (Commentary on Minor Prophets). That is, difficulties faced earn merits recorded in heaven’s ledger, ultimately leading to glory. Finally, by “think[ing] of the eternal reward, the treasure of happiness that the smallest pain produces” (Commentary on Matthew), we recognize every pain’s potential to yield proportionate eternal happiness when united to Christ.
In his reflection on Mark 7 about the deaf and mute man that was brought to Jesus, Don Dolindo uncovers spiritual lessons in physical deprivation: “In the eyes of the world, that poor sick man seemed unhappy; but if he had turned his gaze to Heaven, he would have heard mysterious words of life and would have conversed solely with the Lord” (Commentary on Mark 7). Rather than focusing on earthly limitations, our eyes ought to lift to the realm where spiritual senses apprehend God’s light and voice. Any “unhappiness ultimately becomes happiness because we are not [destined] for this earth but for God.“
Don Dolindo likewise unpacks the aridity of “spiritual fasting” when consolation and sensible awareness of God seem to withdraw. Yet even this darkness holds potential for truer sacrifice: “the one of trials, darkness, and aridity, when the soul seems lost and disoriented in its interior desolation…It is then that we can respond to the love of Jesus Christ and offer Him the true homage of our fidelity” (Commentary on Mark 2). As a new wineskin stretches to hold fresh wine, so too our tested souls expand through patient endurance to receive God anew. This fidelity amid dark nights of spirit or soul echoes Christ’s own cry of abandonment at the cross, redeeming through shared suffering.
For Don Dolindo, physical or emotional pains, when anchored in loving God above all, orient us toward our eternal destiny even in their acute hardship. Deprivation strips away false supports, moving us to rely solely on invisible realities which alone can satisfy the longing soul.
As we carry daily crosses or face life’s final passage in death, Don Dolindo beckons us to surrender in unity with Christ’s sacrifice. He writes, “God has given me life so that I may make Him an offering of it in bodily death itself, in which life is consumed to be transformed into eternal life and into glorious resurrection” (Commentary on Matthew 4). Death becomes the ultimate consecration, consummating earthly life through loving oblation. Furthermore, “Every suffering leaves in the body a promise of life, just as every false joy and every degradation of sense leaves a seed of shame and condemnation” (Commentary on Matthew 28). Physical or emotional sufferings plant promises of eventual glory within our mortal bodies, carving holiness through partaking of Christ’s wounds. For “pain places in us the seed of final transfiguration, as it marks us almost like the wounds of Jesus Christ” (Commentary on Matthew 28).
Pope John Paul II declaredSt Rafqa: Venerable on February 11, 1982; Beatified on November 17, 1985;a role model in the adoration of the Eucharist during the Jubilee Year 2000.St Rafqa was canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 10, 2001. Feast day is on March 23.
Like Don Dolindo, Lebanese Maronite Catholic nun St. Rafqa (1832-1914) powerfully embodied the mysticism of redemptive suffering. At age 27, she had a prayerful desire to participate in Christ’s passion. Ravaging pain soon afflicted her head and eyes, gradually leaving her blind and immobilized for the rest of her life. Yet amid intense agony, Rafqa radiated joy at uniting to Jesus’ wounds. With echoes of Don Dolindo, she remarked, “For the wound in the shoulder of Jesus,” finding eternity in affliction. As bodily anguish transfigured Rafqa’s soul, so too she models long-suffering patience being refined into an imperishable crown. Like gold emerging purified from flames, Rafqa witnessed that even the “unhappiness” of pain becomes blessedness when, in Don Dolindo’s words, life’s gaze lifts “to Heaven.”
While the wicked outwardly revel in false joys, Don Dolindo discerns their prosperous state masks deeper decay: “their prosperity is like pathogenic virulence that consumes life as it prospers. Look at the lung of a consumptive, and perhaps you will not find a similar breeding ground of germs; they multiply, they cluster together; they devour everything, and they seem victorious. If you look at the lung in this way, you would call that germination prosperity; but if you look at the face of the sick person, and if you consider them in their sufferings, you would call it ruin” (Commentary on Matthew 28). Though sinners appear triumphing, their unrestrained pleasures leads to soul sickness, undoing true life.
Conversely, for the righteous who embrace agony, “in pain the soul is fixed and the flesh is vivified by the spirit, which is thus prepared for eternal triumph” (Commentary on Matthew 28). Outward frailty masks inner fortification. Like pruning or refiner’s fire, sufferings solidify integrity and burn away impurities to ready souls for heaven’s glory. As Don Dolindo urges, “Let us embrace the cross with joy, for it is a promise of prosperity and eternal life; let us embrace the cross, surrendering ourselves to the goodness of God, forgiving, benefiting, loving, as Jesus did on Calvary” (Commentary on Matthew 28). Uniting our sacrifices to Christ’s Passion sows seeds of undying life. For only by walking the cruciform path can we share His victory over death.
As we bring this reflection full circle, let’s reconnect to the initial insight that earthly labor bears external fruit just as inner sacrifices reap imperishable rewards. Yet subconsciously an entitlement mentality often infects us. Inheritors of Adam and Eve’s exile from Paradise, we merit no rights but cling solely to Christ’s mercy. For only grace spares us just punishment. Practicing such poverty of spirit allows us to carry unavoidable crosses as gifts, not burdens. We should not actively seek or enjoy suffering. However, when trials come our way through no fault of our own, we can recognize them as opportunities to store up spiritual rewards when offered to God. Of course seeking relief through ethical means remains sensible, for we employ but never idolize such remedies. In fact, reducing suffering through moral treatment should be pursued. Still, when trials persist despite best efforts, we gain the chance to offer them back to God. By uniting unavoidable pains with Christ’s passion, we let go of entitled resentment and enter into the life of the Holy Trinity who already loves us beyond measure. This ultimate psychological freedom allows even injustice to foster intimacy with Love Itself. Let us therefore take up the crosses woven into our days, gazing not at mere wood but at the triumphant Victor who transforms them into Easter Light.
O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, you stand faithfully beside the Cross, sharing intimately in your Son’s passion. Raise up in our hearts the mystical hope that illuminated Don Dolindo in his many trials. Though false accusations and exile from ministry plunged him into a long dark night, still he clung to you with childlike trust. Just as the very name Dolindo means “pain,” so too did he bear his cross in union with your pierced Immaculate Heart. Grant us courage to walk the way of the Cross with you and Don Dolindo. May we join our sufferings to Christ’s passion, storing up imperishable treasure in heaven, as Saint Rafqa did through her joyful embrace of blindness, paralysis all her life. Teach us to surrender all to God as Don Dolindo did when he prayed, “Jesus, I surrender myself to You, take care of everything.” Lead us to ever deeper trust in Jesus so we may discover true peace. Amen.
As we prepare to enter into the most sacred days of the liturgical year, we have a prime opportunity to make up for any shortcomings that may have been part of our Lent this year. Blessedly, Holy Week offers us the chance to refocus, reflect and renew as we wind down our Lenten journeys and look ahead to the promise of Easter. Alternatively, we might have had a splendid Lent and are looking for some ways to “level up” during these final few days for a strong finish. Either way, here are five ideas of how we can better emphasize the “holy” in our Holy Weeks this year.
Find one hour this Holy Week to dedicate to prayer
“Could you not keep watch for one hour?” (Mark 14:37). Breaking from his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night he was to be handed over, Jesus asks his ever-napping disciples why they can’t manage to do as he asks for one hour. “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?” he questions them again (Mark 14:41). Can we spend one hour fully “awake” with the Lord? It could be in front of the Blessed Sacrament. It could be going for a walk outside. It could be reading the Bible in a quiet spot in your home. Whatever it is, whenever it is, make it one solid, uninterrupted hour dedicated to prayer.
Keep your phone in a drawer for the Triduum
We all know that far too much of our time can be consumed with mindless scrolling. For me, it’s news, quilting blogs or Instagram stories of moms being way more organized than I could ever hope to be. Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday are the holiest days of the year, and the minutes (hours?) devoted to scrolling could be much better spent curled up with a spiritual book, working in the garden or simply giving your family undivided attention.
Make peace with your neighbor
As we prepare to enter the glorious season of Easter, now is the time to smooth over any troubles in family relationships or friendships by offering an olive branch, either in the form of an “I’m sorry,” or an “I forgive you.” Our time is too short in this life, and the beckoning of heaven is too strong, to waste time in quarrels. Forgiveness is key to the Christian life, and Jesus will help us take the first step, if we but ask. As Rachel Muha, who forgave the killers of her 18-year-old son, said, “You forgive because God asks it of us, and then God takes care of the rest.”
Make one significant act of almsgiving
Lent is not over yet, and there’s still time to engage in this important pillar of the season. It could be as simple as cleaning out your pantry and donating the findings to a parish food drive; making an offering to your diocesan appeal; or tithing part of that week’s earnings to a charity of choice (reminder: the annual Good Friday collection goes to help Christians in the Holy Land). There are plenty of people in need, and sacrificing a bit of your own comfort for their good is what it means to live the Christian life well.
Go to Confession
No Holy Week is complete without the graces that come from the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Don’t worry if it’s been a while; the priest is not there to judge, he is there to welcome you and relieve you of the burdens of your sin. Pope Francis has called the sacrament an “encounter of love,” and so it is. Most parishes offer confessions at various times throughout the Triduum, so check your bulletin and find a time that suits your schedule. Or you can always make an appointment. Taking time to reflect upon our sins and to confess them with a contrite heart is the perfect preparation for Easter.
So there you have it: Five ways to enter into Holy Week with more intentionality and to leave, hopefully, with more reward. If you have other suggestions, I’d love to hear them (you can find me on social media pretty much anywhere). Wishing you your best Holy Week yet.
As all who read these pages know, that last visit, October 13, 1917, of Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima contained a series of beautiful visions which represented the Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, including one where Saint Joseph held the Child Jesus who blessed the world.
“We saw, beside the sun, Saint Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady clothed in white with a blue mantle. Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus seemed to bless the world with gestures which they made with their hands in the form of a cross.” (Sister Lucia of Fatima)
St. Joseph, defender of the faith, defender of families, pray for us!
This little noted event tells us so much! Even as the miracle of the sun is occurring, St. Joseph appears, holding the Child Jesus and both bless the world. This reminds us that God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, entrusted the Child Jesus to St. Joseph. Indeed, God’s wisdom entrusted the Holy Family to the quiet man, and now, at Fatima, he is revealed to us, to bless us in this time prefigured by the miracle of the sun.
At the miracle of the sun, the earth stood firm while the sun moved erratically. How can this be? And yet it happened. How can the Church, established by Christ become so erratic as it is today, under Pope Francis? How do we reconcile that the gates of hell will not prevail and the Holy Ghost will always guide her, with what we now see? St. Joseph solved a similar conundrum and he stands ready to help us now.
Matthew 1, 18-25 tells of Joseph’s dilemma and its resolution. His example of humility and steadfastness is precisely the example for us today. Faithful Catholics are torn today between the temptation to abandon the church, or to go along with the errors of the Bergoglioan agenda.
What did Joseph do when faced with an unsolvable dilemma? He turned to God in prayer and stayed with it until God gave him light. He didn’t become his own God, or in today’s terms, his own pope. Neither did he accept the unthinkable option that somehow Mary had broken her vow, but that false mercy was required on his part to simply accept unfaithfulness. That would be the spiritual sloth of today’s catholics, who simply go along to get along, and welcome unrepentant vice into the church. “Who am I to judge?”
If the Lord God entrusted the Ark of the Covenant to the keeping of St. Joseph, can we not also turn in confidence to him, secure in the knowledge that he will teach us the humility and patience to stand firm in the faith until these erratic and uncertain times are over and the Blessed Virgin clears the smoke of Satan from the Church?
In the Bible, we see that in obedience to God, St. Joseph took the child Jesus and the Blessed Virgin to Egypt in order to save them from murderous Herod. Now, Egypt was a country similar in many ways to our modern post-Christian societies, very much in the control of the Lord of the World. And yet St. Joseph kept them safe. And now he stands ready to help faithful priests guard their flocks. He helps Catholic fathers protect their families.
In 2008, Cardinal Caffara related a correspondence he had with Sister Lucia of Fatima. In her letter she said that, “the final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family.”“Don’t be afraid”, she added, because “anyone who works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue.” And then she concluded: “however, Our Lady has already crushed its head.”
Certainly, the Fatima vision of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus blessing us, in conjunction with Sister Lucia’s remarks to Cardinal Caffara, should give us consolation today. There is another bit of information on this subject. Solange Hertz, in her book, The Sixth Trumpet, tells us that Sister Lucia, when asked about the Third Secret confirmed that it is about Apocalypse Chapter 12. Mrs. Hertz posits that Apocalypse 12:14 may apply to us in these times.
“And there were given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the desert unto her place, where she is nourished for a time and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” In the mystical language of St. John in the Apocalypse, “the woman” refers to the Church, but also to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary is inseparably bound to the Church and St. Joseph is the Guardian of both. In Hertz’ view, the Holy Family’s sojourn in Egypt prefigures this passage, and indicates that St. Joseph is given to us in these dire times to strengthen and defend us, and to bring us safely home again.
Whatever the occupiers of the Vatican serve up at the next Synod, we know that the Immaculate Virgin Mary has already crushed satan’s head, and in the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph. Our job is to stand firm in the faith, and St. Joseph is our sure unfailing defender.
St. Joseph defender of the family, defender of the faith, we entrust our families and our faith to thee!
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
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