Gregorian Chant: Good for the soul

Gregorian Chant speaks to more than just the ears, it speaks to the soul. When I hear Gregorian Chant, my mind is elevated to contemplation, my soul is flooded with peace. Prayer comes easier, and there is a connection with eternity (as well as our Catholic history). It even helps me sleep! Gregorian Chant was once synonymous with the Mass, and it is extremely important for us to embrace it once again.

Documents from the Second Vatican Council call us to use Gregorian Chant within the Liturgy. From Sacrosanctum Concilium:

112. The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art.

116. The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.

The musical tradition of the universal Church  has been Gregorian Chant, and the definition of pride of place is as follows: 'the first or highest or most important place.'   If Gregorian Chant is suppose to hold the most important place, why don't we hear it in every Mass?

One might make the argument: "Well, it does say that other forms of music are equal..." But even using that argument, there should still be at least some Gregorian Chant within the Liturgy, but alas, there is none that I know of. We are discarding music that is truly Catholic for music that is infused with secular society, and it is detrimental to the Faith. For some reason we think that children will be drawn more by drums and electric guitars in Mass and so we don't even try to show them the beauty of Gregorian Chant. This results in kids growing up without a clear understanding of what Catholic music is. In my opinion, this lack of understanding (regarding the music in this case) contributes to the fall away from the Faith.

I don't even particularly need to know what the Latin means when I hear it, because my soul understands the prayer that is happening, and the prayer is efficacious even if my mind does not fully comprehend. That being said, I hope to one day be able to understand and sing Gregorian Chant better. For now, I will resign myself to the Chants in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary in private.

An increase in the use of Gregorian Chant within our lives (especially in the Liturgy) will bring us closer with Our Lord. That will then supply us with abundant peace, and therefore we will have greater fortitude in this turbulent world.

The Catholic Faith and all of its culture is interesting, it's beautiful, and above all- it's True. Gregorian Chant should be sung in every Diocese, at every Parish, within every Mass. That's what the Second Vatican Council teaches us, and I pray that we would soon live that reality. I hope that one day Gregorian Chant is taught at every Parish, so that each Parishioner is able to join in the prayers of our Catholic brothers and sisters of ages past.

Maximilian Monday: The Essence and Purpose of the MI

Today we look into what the essence and purpose is of the Militia of the Immaculata; this is what St. Maximilian Kolbe says on this matter:

"The essence of the MI consists in its belonging to the Immaculata unconditionally, irrevocably, without restriction, and this under every aspect.

The MI began and developed through holy obedience. And it could not be otherwise, for its essence is to be of the Immaculata, the Immaculata's servant and child and slave and thing and property and so on; in brief, to be hers under every aspect. Make yourself disappear and become as if her. The most essential element in such a transformation is the adjustment, the fusion, the union of ours will with hers.

The ultimate purpose of man is the purpose towards which he tends, and for which he uses the means of attaining it.

The love of God through and in the Immaculata is our purpose, and our life is our means. Consequently we should use up our life for that purpose.

To win as many souls as possible for the Immaculata is our life, our breath, our every heart beat. Thus we dedicate ourselves to the Immaculata more and more, unconditionally and irrevocably, and to engraft this dedication in the heart of everyone in the whole world, so that she might be able to rule at will in our hearts and in the hearts of everyone in the whole world. In other words we must bring about the accomplishment of the purpose of the MI in the whole world, as swift as possible, and then remain watchful so that no one remove the banner of the Immaculata from any heart.

What an enormous work!

And then death, after a life so laborious, long suffering and utterly used up for the Immaculata!

To bend the proud neck of the world to the feet of the Immaculata is the purpose of the MI: to win the whole world and every soul in particular for her as soon as possible, as soon as possible, as soon as possible. Then the kingship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will reign through her upon the earth.

It is absolutely necessary to gain the whole world for her, so that the reign of sin will cease.

What do we wish to say by the words, "strive for the conversion and sanctification of souls through the Immaculata?" What do we stress by these words?

We wish to emphasize that the shortest, surest way to conversion and sanctification is the Immaculata. We ourselves wish to advance on this road and teach it to others.

Through the Immaculata we will attain the ultimate purpose of the MI, that is, the greatest possible glory of God.

There are two sentences placed at the beginning of the charter of the MI: "She will crush thy head" and "Thou alone hast destroyed all heresies in the whole world." In these two concepts is embodied the purpose of the Militia Immaculatae. And that is why the members of the MI dedicate themselves to the Immaculata unreservedly as tools in her hand, so that through the members she will deign to accomplish what was spoken of her in these sentences.

The Purpose of the Militia Immaculatae is to gain the whole world, all hearts and each one in particular for the Queen of both Heaven and earth. It is our goal to give real happiness to those poor souls who seek happiness in the passing pleasures of this world."

That is the essence and purpose of the MI as explained by the founder. What an enormous work indeed, but by the Grace of God we will succeed, we must succeed!

Pray: 'O Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to Thee! And those who do not have recourse to Thee, especially the enemies of the Church and those recommended to you.'

How we Salute in the Militia

We do it before we eat. We do it as we walk into the sanctuary. We do it when we genuflect. We start Mass with it. We end Mass with it. We do it three consecutive times before we read the Gospel. We do it when we drive past a Catholic church. We do it before the game, before we go to sleep, and before we travel. In the west we do it with our right hand; in the East they do it with their left. Some do it with three fingers; some kiss it upon its completion. Martyrs did it as they were taken to their death. We are marked with it when we are baptized. You don’t have to be literate to do it because it requires no special education  or skill. It is our salute:

In nómine Patris et Fílii et Spíritus Sancti. Amen. The sign of the cross. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It is our most simplistic prayer but it conveys and sums up the entire mystery of our faith. It’s a simple prayer but it is SO crucial to beat our battle with the flesh, the world and the diabolical. 

Paul speaks of the cross in almost all his New Testament letters: “But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 6:14). 

The earliest accounts suggest that Christians traced the cross with their thumb upon their forehead. My patron saint, Saint Francis de Sales explains it this way:

“We raise the hand to the forehead, saying ‘In the name of the Father’ to signify that the Father is the first person of the Most Holy Trinity, of whom the Son is begotten and from whom the Holy Spirit proceeds. Then saying, ‘And the Son,’ the hand is lowered to the breast, to express that the Son proceeds from the Father, who sent him down to the womb of the Virgin. The hand is moved from the left shoulder to the right, while saying, ‘and of the Holy Spirit’, as the third person of the Holy Trinity, proceeds from the Father and the Son, that he is the love that unites both, and that, through his grace, partake of the fruits of the passion. Accordingly the Sign of the Cross is brief declaration of our faith in the Blessed Trinity, in the passion of Christ, and in the forgiveness of sin, by which we pass from the left side of curse to the right side of blessing.”

There is no way of talking about the sign of the cross without talking about the Most Holy Trinity. Most catechists dread talking about this subject, and most priests only preach about it on Trinity Sunday. Why? Because as Saint Augustine says, “If you understand it, it’s not God.” 

No matter which way I go about this topic I’m sure to be... well-- a heretic. Just kidding.... maybe.  

Once I went to a conference where it's theme was, “God is Love.” I believe that statement is what makes us Christians. A Jew or a Muslim would say God loves. But the radical Christian difference is we say God IS Love. And I think that is the best way to explain the Trinity. 

If you say God is Love, then you have to mean that within the very being of God there is a play between a Lover, the Beloved, and the Love that they share. If God is not a Trinity, God is not love. For love requires three things: a lover, a beloved, and a relationship between them.

One Being- three Persons. 

In the creed we say “We believe in one God.” That is our Catholic way of saying what the Jews have said for years “Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God alone.” 

God is one but we know through the revelation of Jesus Christ that God has to shown himself to be One being three persons. The sender the sent and the love in which the sent was sent. Still think the sign of the cross is simple?

So how does this apply to us today? 

We are called to be men and women who invoke the Trinity. You say “sure I make the sign of the cross all the time”. But I tell you today that we have to be MEN and WOMEN of the Triune God. Jesus gave us the perfect example. He held nothing back from the Father. That’s how we should love each other. 

^^^ That’s the principle for the Sacrament of Marriage. In marriage the two become one. So much so, that nine months later you have to name that love that was shared between the two. That is one reason why that Catholic Church condemns contraception (I didn’t say doesn’t like. I said condemn).

It’s an anti-trinity mentality. The contraceptive mentality says “I’m going to give most but not all” but the mentality of the Trinity says “Have this mind among yourselves which was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but EMPTIED himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:4-7).

 Imagine for a moment if Jesus on the cross had a contraceptive mentality. What if he held back- just a little back up there on the cross? What if he just appeared to have died? (You know that’s an ancient heresy BTW) 

If Jesus had a contraceptive mentality there would be no salvation for you and me.

At the beginning of this post I named a lot of places that we invoked the Trinity. Some places I didn’t name were the bed room, computer room, office, and over a smart phone--and it’s a sad fact. Can you imagine what power would be released if we invoked God in the places where we fell often to lust, anger and pride ? 

Can you imagine what power would be released into our marriages if we invoked God in the bedroom? You’re talking about a country that spends billions on pornographic material and millions on Viagra and other related medications. It’s food for thought-what if we prayed and called down the Trinity while we partook in the martial embrace – the very action that replicates the life of the Trinity?

It’s no small thing we do when we make the Sign of the cross. It should take our breath away- but only so that we can be filled up with another breath: the spirit of God.

PRAY:

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Maximilian Monday: Our Ideal

What is the ideal of the Militia of the Immaculata? This week, we will look to St. Maximilian Kolbe himself to answer that question:

"Behold our ideal - The Immaculata. To come close to her, to become like her, to permit her to reign over our hearts and our whole being, that she live and act in us and through us, that she love God with our hearts and we belong to her unreservedly- this is our ideal.

To influence those who surround us in order that also the hearts of our neighbors might open, so that she might be Queen in the hearts of all men wherever they are in the world, without regard for the difference of race, nationality, language, even in the hearts of all who will live until the end of the world- this is our ideal.

That her life might grow deeper in us from day to day, from hour to hour, from moment to moment and without any limits- This is our ideal.

To give one's life for the Immaculata is the summit of love!

The ideal of Marytown is to resemble the Immaculata as much as possible. We think too little about the Immaculata. We read too little about her, too seldom do we approach her. Whenever it is a question of the Immaculata, of her work, then it is never too much, never enough! But rather it is a question of doing more, becoming better, holier, more perfect!

Put on your armor, the work is just beginning

Were Marytown to cross out the Immaculata as the ladder to perfection it would lose all. There must be a battle for the highest ideal."

My Lady, is that you?

There are points in history where eternity touches thetemporal. I am speaking of Marian apparitions. These are events where OurBlessed Mother has appeared to offer guidance, hope, and even warnings.Numerous of these have not been approved by the Holy Catholic Church, but thosewhich are ‘worthy of belief’ serve as reminders that God is very active inreaching out to us; it is Mary’s role to guide us in the right direction on ourearthly journey.

The Church rigorously scrutinizes any apparition, andrightly so, before one is deemed ‘worthy of belief’. To get an idea on how theydecide this, visit this link. One of my favorite apparitions is Our Lady of Guadalupe.

In the mid-16^th century, Our Lady appeared to anAztec Indian named Juan Diego on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City. Themissionaries at the time were not having much success in conversions, and thepagan nation was performing human sacrifice at the top of their temples.

Our Lady told Juan Diego that she wanted a church built onthat spot so that the people would turn away from their sin and experience theMercy of God, through her compassion. He went at once to the Bishop, who toldhim that he needed a sign to believe this story. Returning to Tepeyac Hill,Juan Diego asked the Blessed Mother for a sign. First, she informed him thathis uncle who was terminally ill would be cured, and he was. Next, she askedhim to cut the flowers at the top of the hill, to bring them to the Bishop. Goingto the top of the hill, he found beautiful Castilian roses in full bloom. Theroses were not native to that area, and they were blooming out of season on whatwas usually a barren hilltop.

Having arranged the cut flowers in Juan’s Tilma (which is acloak made of cactus fibers), Mary instructed him to return to the Bishop withthis sign. As Juan Diego opened the Tilma and let the flowers spill out, theBishop and all others who were present fell to their knees. Upon the garmentwas the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. As requested, a church was built onTepeyac Hill and over the next decade almost the entire nation of Mexico convertedto Catholicism.  Millions of peopleconverted, thousands each day, for ten years.

Today, the Tilma is still on display for pilgrims tovenerate in Mexico City. It has been studied to see how the image was created,but studies have been inconclusive. No known pigments of the time were used andthere are no traces of lines to indicate a painting or drawing. It has survivedrain and smoke, even an explosion at one point, but miraculously it has notbeen destroyed. Furthermore, this is a garment that should have decayed in tenor twenty years, but it still remains nearly five centuries later as a testamentto the events that transpired there.

There are certain Marian apparitions that touch the lives ofmillions, and the fruits of them can be seen far and wide. For me, Our Lady ofGuadalupe serves as a beacon towards the Truth, and I pray Our Lady willcontinue showing us how to turn away from our sins and live holy lives so thatwe can, among other things, end abortion which is the human sacrifice of ourtime.

Be a Nuisance Within Your Diocese

Pope Francis’ homily for Thursday May 16th:

"Paul is a nuisance: he is a man who, with his preaching, his work, his attitude irritates others, because testifying to Jesus Christ and the proclamation of Jesus Christ makes us uncomfortable, it threatens our comfort zones – even Christian comfort zones, right? It irritates us. The Lord always wants us to move forward, forward, forward ... not to take refuge in a quiet life or in cozy structures, no?... And Paul, in preaching of the Lord, was a nuisance. But he had deep within him that most Christian of attitudes: Apostolic zeal. He had its apostolic zeal. He was not a man of compromise. No! The truth: forward! The proclamation of Jesus Christ, forward!

By the way, I like the fact that the Lord has cared for this diocese, even since then ... We are privileged! And Apostolic zeal is not an enthusiasm for power, for possession. It is something that comes from within, that the Lord wants from us: Christian with Apostolic Zeal. And where does this Apostolic Zeal come from? It comes from knowing Jesus Christ. Paul found Jesus Christ, he encountered Jesus Christ, but not with an intellectual, scientific knowledge – which is important, because it helps us - but with that first knowledge, that of the heart, of a personal encounter.

There are backseat Christians, right? Those who are well mannered, who do everything well, but are unable to bring people to the Church through proclamation and Apostolic zeal. Today we can ask the Holy Spirit to give us all this Apostolic fervor and to give us the grace to be annoying when thin are too quiet in the Church the grace to go out to the outskirts of life. The Church has so much need of this! Not only in distant lands, in the young churches, among people who do not know Jesus Christ, but here in the cities, in our cities, they need this proclamation of Jesus Christ. So let us ask the Holy Spirit for this grace of Apostolic zeal, let’s be Christians with apostolic zeal. And if we annoy people, blessed be the Lord. Onwards, as the Lord says to Paul, ‘take courage!'"

Maximilian Monday: Complementum Sanctissimae Trinitatis

On this day commemorating Our Lady of Fatima, we once again present to you the writings of St. Maximilian Kolbe. He continues to speak of the Immaculata, and how we should imitate her, enjoy:

"We imitate good, virtuous, holy people, but none of these is without imperfection. Only she, immaculate from the first moment of her existence, knows no fault, not the least. It is she whom one should imitate and come close to. We should become hers, become her. Behold the peak of perfection in man.

We call her Mother,  but an earthly mother is not free from weakness. For that reason the constitutions of men make mention of the laws of children towards parents. Whereas this is a mother without stain, immaculate, and therefore any reservation on the part of the child would cause her unspeakable displeasure and wrong, for it would contain the supposition that even a shadow of stain is not impossible in her. Quite the contrary, the child dedicated to her desires that she use him and wear him out; he desires to be consumed for her.

We name her Lady, but this title places us at a distance from her maternal heart. We call her Queen, but here we must add that she is the Queen of hearts, the Queen of love. Her law is love, and her power is motherly love. These and similar explanations, although they are brought forward without end, will not even tell a part of what the soul feels when it is consumed by love of her. It experiences in itself that the Immaculata belongs to it more and more under every aspect, and yet realizes that these are but the beginnings of knowing and loving her. You will draw more knowledge about her and will be more inflamed with her love directly from her heart than from all human words put together.

Human words do not have the power to relate who she is- the real Mother of God. In reality, she is only a creature, but she is such a sublime being made by God that one would have to grasp what God is, in order to understand who the Mother of God is. She is the real Mother of God. That is a dogma of faith. She is not a mother in name only. A mother is not the parent of only a part of her child, neither is the father the parent of a part, but both the father and the mother are the parents of the whole child. And so the Blessed Mother is rightly the Mother of the whole Jesus, the God-man, and therefore the Mother of God. Although the dignity of her maternity constitutes the principle reason for all her privileges, the first grace she received from God was her Immaculate Conception: freedom from every stain, even of original sin from the first moment of her existence.

Where then is her place, and at the same time ours- we who are her property, her possession, hers? She penetrates our soul and sovereignly directs its faculties. We are truly hers. Therefore always, everywhere we are with her. But what are we to think of ourselves! Let us disappear in her. Let her alone remain and we in her, a part of her. Is it permitted to miserable creatures like us to talk such nonsense? And yet it is the truth, an actuality. When will every soul on the face of the whole earth, even until the end of the world, belong in such a manner to her? MI. MI. MI.

This truth that the Mother of God did not contract any stain of original sin from the first moment of her existence, was generally believed by all the faithful from the beginning of the Church and expressed in the sentiment that the Blessed Virgin was most pure, purer than the angels, without the least sin, and so on.

From the Father through the Son and Spirit descends each act of the love of God, creating, sustaining in existence, giving life and its development both in the order of nature as well as in the order of grace. In such a manner does God bestow his love on countless finite images. And by no other way does the return of the reaction of the creature's love ascend to the Father except through the Spirit and the Son. This does not always happen consciously, but always really. No one else but the same God is the author of the act of love in creatures. But the act does not take place without the creature's free will and consent. The height of a creature's love returning to God is the Immaculata- a being without stain of sin, wholly beautiful, wholly belonging to God. Not even for a moment did her will bend away from the will of God.

The Immaculata is someone so sublime, so close to the most Holy Trinity that one of the Holy Fathers did not hesitate to call her complementum Sanctissimae Trinitatis, i.e., complement of the most Holy Trinity. No wonder, then, the human, finite mind loses itself when it attempts to fathom her mystery, and the presumptuous head grows more stupid. Let everyone at Marytown know about these things.

The most important work entrusted to humanity, that is, the bearing and upbringing of Jesus, God entrusted to the most Blessed Mother. Therefore, can there be any comparison of the most Blessed Mother with other saints? There is none. From the divine motherhood flow all the graces bestowed upon the Holy Virgin Mary. The first of these is the Immaculate Conception. This privilege must be very dear to her since she said at Lourdes, 'I am the Immaculate Conception.' By this name so dear to her heart we wish to call her.

In order to understand more accurately who the Immaculata is, it is absolutely necessary to admit one's total nothingness, to bring oneself to humble prayer in order to gain the grace of knowing her, and to endeavor personally to experience her goodness and power."

We have just begun to break the surface of St. Maximilian Kolbe's writings, and look forward to next Monday. Until then, take some extra time each day to pray that we might all understand the workings of the Immaculata in our lives; that she would teach us to be pure, and help us unite our will to that of Our Blessed Lord. Our Lady of Fatima, Ora Pro Nobis!