CATHOLIC BELLATOR

Prominent Archbishop Celebrates High Profile TLM at National Shrine in Washington, DC "This is the mass [Latin Mass] that has produced Saints.” -Bp. Alexander Sample As we gather here today in this magnificent Basilica, one cannot help but notice the very large presence of YOUNG people who have come to participate in this Holy mass.  I have met a good number of you personally. You are a sign - a great sign of encouragement and hope for the church tossed about these days of on the troubled waters of secularism, relativism.  As they say, you GET IT! You understand your place in the world and in the church to help rebuild a culture of life in society and a renewal of catholic culture within the church herself.  -Bp. Alexander Sample

 LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. -Mark 12:31 If he can learn how to love neighbor, then there is HOPE! "We, who live so close by, are not enemies that must fight against each other, but are more families that share the same bloodline, who must unite." North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks after a historic meeting with South Korean Pres.Moon Jae-in. https://t.co/Uhhn76gqtU pic.twitter.com/gty1s3w8Sy — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) April 27, 2018

APPRECIATING GOD'S GRACE (The Imitation of Christ) WHY do you look for rest when you were born to work? Resign yourself to patience rather than to comfort, to carrying your cross rather than to enjoyment. What man in the world, if he could always have them, would not readily accept consolation and spiritual joy, benefits which excel all earthly delights and pleasures of the body? The latter, indeed, are either vain or base, while spiritual joys, born of virtue and infused by God into pure minds, are alone truly pleasant and noble. Now, since the moment of temptation is always nigh, since false freedom of mind and overconfidence in self are serious obstacles to these visitations from heaven, a man can never enjoy them just as he wishes. God does well in giving the grace of consolation, but man does evil in not returning everything gratefully to God. Thus, the gifts of grace cannot flow in us when we are ungrateful to the Giver, when we do not return them to the Fountai

CONTRITION: The Golden Key of Paradise -  Key to Heaven By an Italian Priest. Australian Catholic Truth Society No. 1325 (1959). INTRODUCTION. At first sight of this little book, that bears the high-sounding title of “The Golden Key of Paradise,” perhaps, dear reader, you will be somewhat curious to know whether its contents are as good as its title. Perhaps you are inclined to shrug your shoulders and feel as you do when you see advertised marvellous and infallible cures for all the ills that flesh is heir to. No — be not deceived; this is a genuine key, and one you can easily manipulate. It is Perfect Contrition, which for the forty centuries (or more, according to many Biblical scholars) before the coming of Christ was the only means of salvation for all those who had committed sin, and which even now is destined to save myriads of souls. Look at its marvellous power. It can open Heaven every day, and every moment of each day. Especially is it efficacious if at the mome

How To Recognize a Bad Shepherd A reader passed on this amazing homily by Fr. John Lunkeit of SS Simon & Jude Cathedral Parish in Phoenix, Arizona given on Good Shepherd Sunday. Every once in a while it's nice to hear clear teaching delivered unapologetically. These days when even some of the shepherds are actually wolves in disguise, it's great to have a guide to help discern who is a Good Shepherd.

WANTING NO SHARE IN COMFORT (The Imitation of Christ) IT IS not hard to spurn human consolation when we have the divine. It is, however, a very great thing indeed to be able to live without either divine or human comforting and for the honor of God willingly to endure this exile of heart, not to seek oneself in anything, and to think nothing of one's own merit. Does it matter much, if at the coming of grace, you are cheerful and devout? This is an hour desired by all, for he whom the grace of God sustains travels easily enough. What wonder if he feel no burden when borne up by the Almighty and led on by the Supreme Guide! For we are always glad to have something to comfort us, and only with difficulty does a man divest himself of self. The holy martyr, Lawrence, with his priest, conquered the world because he despised everything in it that seemed pleasing to him, and for love of Christ patiently suffered the great high priest of God, Sixtus, whom he loved dearly, to be

Eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and Drink His Blood If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead. He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever. John 6:52-59 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

Nine Day Novena to Our Lady of Good Counsel April 18-April 26 Holy Virgin, moved by the painful uncertainty we experience in seeking and acquiring the true and the good, we cast ourselves at thy feet and invoke thee under the sweet title of  Mother of Good Counsel.  We beseech thee: come to our aid at this moment in our worldly sojourn when the double darkness of error and of evil plot our ruin by leading minds and hearts astray. Seat of Wisdom and Star of the Sea, enlighten the victims of doubt and of error so that they may not be seduced by evil masquerading as good; strengthen them against the hostile and corrupting forces of passion and of sin. Mother of Good Counsel, obtain for us our most urgent need..... (here mention your request) and secure for us from thy Divine Son the love of virtue and the strength to choose, in doubtful and difficult situations, the course agreeable to our salvation. Supported by thy hand we shall thus journey without harm along the paths ta

HUMILITY A Russian Orthodox monk said: I'll tell you a secret, I'll tell you the way to find humility. This is what it is: patiently bear every pain that penetrates your proud heart.

The Elevator to Heaven St Therese of Lisieux You know that I have always wanted to be a Saint; but compared with real Saints, I know perfectly well that I am no more like them than a grain of sand trodden beneath the feet of passers-by is like a mountain with its summit lost in the clouds.Instead of allowing this to discourage me, I say to myself: ‘God would never inspire me with desires which cannot be realized; so, in spite of my littleness, I can hope to be a Saint. I could never grow up. I must put up with myself as I am, full of imperfections, but I will find a little way to Heaven, very short and direct, an entirely new way. Thérèse speaks of finding an elevator, a shortcut to Jesus, as it were, for she feels she is too little to climb the steep stairway to perfection. In searching the Scriptures for this shortcut, this elevator, she cites as her answer the passage from Isaiah that is now prescribed in the Lectionary as the first reading for her feast: You shall nur

Suggestions for Those New to the Latin Mass APR 16 Posted by Brian Williams liturgyguy.com The following guest post was written by Father Eric Andersen, pastor of St. Stephen Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon. St. Stephen’s is a parish which offers both forms of the Roman Rite. Many Catholics do not know their liturgical heritage. Experiencing a Solemn Traditional Latin Mass for the first time can seem so unfamiliar. At first, one might feel disoriented. What is going on? How do I participate? If you are new to the Latin Mass, my recommendation to you is not to worry about how to participate. Put down the booklet all together. Watch and listen in the silence and let your prayer arise. Have no expectations. Let yourself be surprised. Let the Holy Spirit be your guide. Treat this time like a holy hour before the Blessed Sacrament. Realize that during this Holy Hour, something magnificent is happening: Jesus Christ, the High Priest, is offering the Holy Sacrifice. As you obs

LAITY, RISE UP! I GAVE THIS INTERVIEW TO CHURCH MILITANT SEVERAL YEARS AGO BUT WHAT I SAID IN IT IS MORE VALID AND IMPORTANT NOW THAT IT WAS THEN.  -Bishop Gracida SENSUS FIDEI (Sense of the Faith) IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH 63. Alerted by their sensus fidei, individual believers may deny assent even to the teaching of legitimate pastors if they do not recognise in that teaching the voice of Christ, the Good Shepherd. ‘The sheep follow [the Good Shepherd] because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run away from him because they do not know the voice of strangers’ (Jn 10:4-5). For St Thomas, a believer, even without theological competence, can and even must resist, by virtue of the sensus fidei, his or her bishop if the latter preaches heterodoxy.[78]In such a case, the believer does not treat himself or herself as the ultimate criterion of the truth of faith, but rather, faced with materially ‘authorised’ preaching which he or she finds t

DO YOU KNOW YOUR BISHOP? SOURCE:  Les Femmes - The Truth INTRODUCTION: Jesus said,  By their fruits you shall know them. That doesn't sound like an admonition to live in blind acceptance of everything people say and do because  "who am I to judge?"  We are, in fact, called by Christ to evaluate and judge the fruits of those around us so we can make sound moral decisions. It becomes even more important when we are talking about leaders. Do  believing  Catholics want to follow a politician who advocates abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, unbridled greed, sodomy, suppression of conscience rights or free speech, etc.? Of course not! So why would believing Catholics want to follow bishops who advocate and work to advance immoral behavior that conflicts with Catholic doctrine taught for 2000 years by the magisterium of the Church? Do we really need to change with the times? Do moral truths change with the times? Are we all Pilates today who shrug and as

THE OATH AGAINST MODERNISM Pope Pius X - 1910 The Oath Against Modernism was crafted by Pope Saint Pius X in 1910 to ensure that those in positions of leadership in the Church believed in the divine and supernatural faith and its great traditions.  To be sworn to by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries. I . . . . firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day. And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Rom. 1:19), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated: Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proof