August 22, Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (traditional calendar)

"Jesus wishes to use you in order to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it; and these souls will be beloved of God like flowers arranged by me to adorn His throne." (Fatima, June 13th 1917)

"...Our Lady told me on June 13th, 1917, that she would never forsake me, and that Her Immaculate Heart would be my refuge and the way that would lead me to God.As She spoke these words, She opened Her hands, and from them streamed a light that penetrated to our inmost hearts. I think that on that day, I think the main purpose of this light was to infuse within us a special knowledge and love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, just as on the other two occasions it was intended to do, as it seems to me, with regard to God and the mystery to the most Holy Trinity. From that day onwards, our hearts were filled with a more ardent love for the Immaculate Heart of Mary. From time to time, Jacinta said to me: “The Lady said that Her Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God. Don’t you love that? Her Heart is so good! How I love it!” From the 3rd memoir of Sr Lucia of Fatima (1941)

 

 

On May 4, 1944, Pope Pius XII extended the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (which he had assigned previously in 1942 to be celebrated August 22) to the Universal Church. In 1942, the 25th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions, Pius XII had consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in part due to the urging of Christ to Blessed Alexandrina of Balazar (see here), and as a result of a request from the Bishop of Gurza, one of Sister Lucia of Fatima's spiritual advisors, for the Holy Father to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary with a "special mention" of Russia (an oblique reference to Russia was ultimately made). This consecration took place amidst some of the most turbulent years of World War II, and indeed around the time of some of the major turning points during the war (battle of Stalingrad, the decisive defeat of the Axis forces at the battle of El Alamein etc). Indeed, Our Lord said that, as a result of the consecration, even though world peace would not ensue, at least, "the present distress [WWII] would be shortened". In fact, in his six-volume work on World War II, Winston Churchill reports in early 1943 (almost immediately after the consecrations performed by Pius XII) “the hinges of fate” turned in favor of the Allies. Those who heard the Holy Father's act of consecration attest to the noticeable tone of anguish in his voice, as the "Pastor Angelicus" felt the heavy weight on his soul of so many calamities, both moral and physical, daily being perpetrated during that terrible conflict.

Pius XII delivering the consecration prayer via radio to Fatima. Notice his anguished face and Mgr. Montini (the future pope Paul VI) standing on the far right of the photo

The following is the text of the consecration:

Queen of the Holy Rosary,

Help of the Christians,

Refuge of the human race,

Conqueress in God’s battlefields,

To You and to Your Immaculate Heart

In this tragic hour of human history

We entrust and consecrate ourselves,

And the Holy Church.

She is the Mystical Body of Your Jesus,

Suffering and bleeding in so many parts

And tormented in so many ways,

We consecrate to You the whole world torn by bitter strive

And consumed by the fire of hatred

The victim of its own wickedness.

Look with compassion to all material and moral destruction

To the suffering and fears of fathers and mothers

Of husbands and wives, of brother and sisters and innocent children.

Look at the many lives cut down in the flower of youth

So many bodies torn to pieces in brutal slaughter

So many souls tortured and troubled

And in danger of being lost eternally.

Oh, Mother of Mercy, obtain peace for us from God!

Obtain especially those graces, which can convert human hearts quickly.

Those graces, which can prepare, establish and insure peace.

Queen of Peace, pray for us;

Give the world at war the peace for which all are longing,

Peace in Truth, Justice and the Charity of Christ.

Give them peace of the arms and peace of mind,

That in tranquillity and order

The Kingdom of God may expand.

Grant Your protection to infidels

And to those still walking in the shadow of death;

Give them peace and permit that the sun of truth may raise upon them;

And that together with us

They may repeat before the Only Saviour of the World:

Glory to God in the highest

And peace on earth among men of good will (Lk2.14)

Give peace to the people separated by error and schism,

Particularly those, who have special devotion to You

And among whom there was no home,

Where Your venerable Icon was not honoured,

Though at present it may be hidden

In the hope for better days.

Bring them back to the One Fold of Christ,

Under the One True Shepherd.

Obtain peace and complete liberty for the Holy Church of God,

Check the spreading flood of neo-paganism,

Arouse within the faithful love of purity

The practice of Christian life and apostolic zeal,

So that the people who serve God,

May increase in merit and number.

All of humanity were once consecrated to the Heart of Your Son.

All our hopes rest in Him, Who is in all times

Sign and pledge of victory and salvation.

Forever we consecrate ourselves to You

And to Your Immaculate Heart,

Oh, Mother and Queen of the World!

May Your love and patronage hasten the victory of the Kingdom of God,

May all nations, at peace with each other and with God, proclaim You Blessed

And sing with You from one end of the earth to the other,

The eternal Magnificat of glory, love and gratitude

To the Heart of Jesus, in which alone,

They can find Truth, Life and Peace.

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary (or precursors to this devotion as we know it today) seems to have originated towards the end of the 11th century. From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

"It is only in the twelfth, or towards the end of the eleventh century, that slight indications of a regular devotion are perceived in a sermon by St. Bernard (De duodecim stellis), from which an extract has been taken by the Church and used in the Offices of the Compassion and of the Seven Dolours. Stronger evidences are discernible in the pious meditations on the Ave Maria and the Salve Regina, usually attributed either to St. Anselm of Lucca (d. 1080) or St. Bernard; and also in the large book "De laudibus B. Mariae Virginis" by Richard de Saint-Laurent, Penitentiary of Rouen in the thirteenth century. In St. Mechtilde (d. 1298) and St. Gertrude (d. 1302) the devotion had two earnest adherents. A little earlier it had been included by St. Thomas Becket in the devotion to the joys and sorrows of Mary, by Blessed Hermann (d.1245), one of the first spiritual children of St. Dominic, in his other devotions to Mary, and somewhat later it appeared in St. Bridget's "Book of Revelations". Tauler (d. 1361) beholds in Mary the model of a mystical, just as St. Ambrose perceived in her the model of a virginal soul. St. Bernardine of Siena (d.1444) was more absorbed in the contemplation of the virginal heart, and it is from him that the Church has borrowed the lessons of the Second Nocturn for the feast of the Heart of Mary. St. Francis de Sales speaks of the perfections of this heart, the model of love for God, and dedicated to it his "Theotimus"."

St John Eudes (1601-1680) is the great apostle to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary (he was referred to as the "Doctor of the Heart of Mary" by Pope St Pius X), and it is thanks to this great missionary and mystic who came to illuminate the Church on the wonders of the most Pure Heart of the dear Mother of God that the devotion came to be much greater known and practiced among the pious faithful. His main work exposing the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is, "The Admirable Heart of Mary" (complete work here). What follows is a short excerpt from this work, Part I, Chapter 3:

"We may consider the most pure body of Mary as a sacred temple, indeed as the most august temple that ever was or will be, next to the temple of the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ, her divine Son. We see her virginal heart as the sacred altar of this temple. We behold Divine Love as the high priest offering to God uninterrupted sacrifices in this temple and on this altar. We contemplate the Divine Will bringing many victims to be sacrificed on this altar of Mary’s heart. Among the victims we distinguish the eleven natural passions slaughtered by the flaming sword which the high priest holds in his hand, that is by the efficacy of Divine Love. They are consumed and transformed into the heavenly fire which burns upon the altar of her heart; they are immolated to the most Holy Trinity in a sacrifice of praise, of glory and of love. 

Thus did the great high priest, Divine Love, sacrifice on the holy altar of Mary’s heart, all her passions, inclinations and sentiments of love, hatred, desire, aversion, joy, sadness, hope, distrust, daring, fear and anger.

And this sacrifice commenced the first instant the holy Heart of Mary began to beat in her virginal breast, that is, the very first instant of this Immaculate Virgin’s life. It continued uninterruptedly until her last breath, gaining in sanctity and in love with every passing moment.

O great and truly admirable sacrifice, so wonderfully agreeable to the God of hearts! O blessed Heart of the Mother of Fair Love, consecrated altar whereon so divine a sacrifice was offered! Blessed art thou, O most Holy Heart, for having loved and desired nothing but Him who alone is amiable and desirable! Blessed art thou for having established thy joy and thy contentment in loving and honoring Him, who alone is capable of satisfying the heart of man, and for having known no other grief than that caused by the offenses committed against His Divine Majesty!"

It should be noted, that devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is inextricably linked to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The two hearts are inseparable, indeed the flesh of the Heart of Jesus was formed and created in the Virginal Womb of His most august Mother, the two hearts beating together and the blood of the Two intermingling with each other during those nine holy months during which time the Holy Babe stood in the womb of the Virgin as in the most dear of abodes! In fact, St Margaret Mary Alacoque called on those souls who wished to have a closer union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus to draw closer for this very purpose with the Mother of God.

 St John Eudes clearly brought this point across in the following text ("Never Separate What God Has So Perfectly United"):

"Devotion to the most Blessed Virgin, Mother of God is so pleasing to her Son, and is so dear and commendable to all true Christians, that it is not necessary to recommend it to those who desire to lead a Christian life.

I shall only tell you that you must never separate what God has so perfectly united. So closely are Jesus and Mary bound up with each other that whoever beholds Jesus sees Mary; whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary; whoever has devotion to Jesus, has devotion to Mary. Jesus and Mary are the two first foundations of the Christian religion, the two living springs of all our blessings, the two centers of all our devotion, and the two objectives you should keep in view in all your acts and works. A man is no true Christian if he has no devotion to the Mother of Jesus Christ and of all Christians. St. Anselm and St. Bonaventure assure us that it is impossible for persons who are not loved by the Mother of Christ to have any part with Him. Conversely, it is impossible for anyone to perish upon whom she looks with favor.

As you must continue the virtues of Jesus and keep with you His sentiments, so you must also continue and maintain in your hearts the love, tenderness and devotion that Jesus cherished for His Blessed Mother. He loved her most perfectly and accorded her the very highest honor in choosing her to be His Mother, giving Himself to her as Her Most Beloved Son, taking from her a new being and life, becoming subject to her, following her guidance in outward things during His Childhood and hidden life, afterwards crowning her Queen of heaven and earth, glorifying her and causing her to be glorified by the whole world."

 

 

 

Pope Pius XII and Our Lady

Review for Religious
Vol. 11, September 1952, pp. 249-256
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

"On the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1939, Pope Pius XII left Vatican City to return to the Church of St. Mary Major, where he celebrated his first Mass on Easter Sunday, forty years before. The allocution which he gave on that occasion is among the most personal revelations that we have of his interior life and union with God. It was the jubilee year of his ordination, he said, "and a sweet memory of this very happy event has always lingered in Our soul." Then he added, "With joy and sincerity of heart, We testify that Our priestly life began with Mary and has always been directed under her motherly eye. If in Our rather long priestly life We have achieved anything good, anything felicitous, anything useful for the Catholic Faith, We do not glory in ourselves, but rather give honor to God and to Our Lady. Because We felt We were under Mary's protection, We have in hours of doubt and anxiety, of which We have had our full share, called on Our beloved Mother. And Our call for her aid has never been in vain; We have always obtained from her the light, protection, and consolation that We asked for." (A.A.S., 31, 707.)

Life-long Devotion to the Mother of God

Biographers of Pius XII record that his devotion to the Blessed Virgin can be traced to the earliest days of his boyhood. He and his brother Francesco attended ginnasio classes in a private school on the Via de' Ginnasi, near the Jesuit Church of the Gesu in Rome. Next to the tomb of St. Ignatius, on the gospel side, is the chapel of Madonna della Strada, built around the picture of Our Lady to which St. Ignatius was specially devoted. Before and after school hours, young Pacelli used to go into the Gesu to pour out his heart in prayer before the miraculous image. Sometimes he stayed so long that he was late in coming home. But his mother never worried about him. "I suppose he is with the Madonna della Strada again," she would say. Once she asked him what he was doing in the chapel all the time. "I pray and tell Mary everything", he answered simply.

Eugenio Pacelli was ordained to the priesthood at the age of 23. Frail health prevented him from taking his part in the regular ordination ceremonies at St. John Lateran. Therefore the Patriarch Francesco Paola Cassetta, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome, ordained him in his own private chapel on Easter Sunday, 1899. Next day the young priest offered his first Mass at the Liberian Basilica of Our Lady of the Snows. His reason for the choice, he explained, was that he could offer the Holy Sacrifice at the altar above which hung the picture of Mary, "Salvation of the Roman People," reputedly the oldest picture of Our Lady in existence. From at least the sixth century the Roman people have carried this image in procession whenever the city was in danger, and their prayers have always been answered.

Prophetic also of his future promotion of Mary's honor, the following short prayer appeared on the ordination card which Don Pacelli distributed among his relatives and friends: "Sublime Mother of God, who desires to be called the Salvation of the Roman People, and at whose altar I offered for the first time the Holy Sacrifice to the Eternal Father, remain close to me."

After eighteen years in the priesthood, Pacelli was appointed by Benedict XV to the nunciature at Munich, and entrusted with the delicate mission of mediating a peaceful settlement in the war between Germany and the Allies. At the same time he was chosen Titular Archbishop of Sardes, and consecrated by Pope Benedict himself. The ceremony took place in the Sistine chapel on May 13, 1917.

En route to his new post, Archbishop Pacelli stopped at the shrine of the "Mother of Graces" in Einsiedeln, in the Swiss canton of Schwyz. Originated by St Meinrad in the ninth century, Einsiedeln has attracted pilgrims from all parts of Europe, numbering upwards of 200,000 annually. The miraculous statue of the Blessed Virgin originally set up by St. Meinrad is the object of their devotion Significantly, the 13th of October, the anniversary of the final apparition at Fatima, is one of the chief pilgrimage days at Einsiedeln. Pacelli wished to begin his episcopate, like the priesthood, under the patronage of Mary.

A final detail should be mentioned: his devotion to the Rosary and frequent sermons on Our Lady. Rated as one of Italy's outstanding orators, as priest, bishop and cardinal, Pacelli was much in demand, particularly for panegyrics and memorial addresses. The Mother of God filled a prominent role in his sermon theme, and was often the main subject of his talks. One of his most famous sermons as cardinal is still remembered, a sermon in the Church of S. Luigi dei Francesi on "Our Lady of a Happy Death." The Rosary was his constant companion During his four weeks' visit in the United States in 1936, he covered something like 8,000 miles, mostly by plane. Later a stewardess declared that she had never seen a passenger who used his typewriter so continually as Cardinal Pacelli. He interrupted His work periodically only to say his beads.

Pius XII and the Queen of Peace

With a Marian background such as this, it is not surprising that Eugenio Pacelli, as Pius XII, has extended the cultus of the Mother of God in a way almost unparalleled in the history of the papacy. Shortly after his election the second world war broke out in Europe. Even before hostilities actually began, the Pope addressed his first of a series of May letters to the Christian world, asking for a union of prayers to the Virgin Mother to restore peace and tranquillity among nations.

"As the month of May approaches," he wrote, "when the faithful are accustomed to raise special prayers to the Holy Virgin, it is close to Our heart. . .that during this period public prayers be offered in the dioceses and parishes in the cause (of world peace.)" He called especially for the prayers of innocent children, asking, "How can the Heavenly Mother fail to heed so many suppliant voices imploring peace for citizens, peoples and nations? How could she fail to heed them if with the prayers of the angels of heaven there be united those of the children, whom we may call angels of this earth?" (L'Osservatore Romano, April 21, 1939.)

For the next six years, always shortly before the month of May, the Holy Father repeated his appeal for prayers to the Queen of Peace. And always his letters were detailed in suggesting motives why, after God, the hope of peace among men rests in the hands of Mary. Thus, in 1940, he centered his letter around the famous statement of St. Bernard: "It is the will of God that we should obtain everything through Mary." The following year, he reminded the world that the sufferings of the war were in large measure the punishment of God for men's sins, and mercy was to be obtained through the Mother of God. Next May he emphasized the need for penance, joined to prayers to Mary. In 1943 he exhorted the faithful to offer to the Mother of Mercy the prayers of a more holy life. On April 24, 1944, he repeated the request that children should be specially urged to pray to Our Lady, for "as their souls are more resplendent with innocence, so they are more pleasing to God and His Blessed Mother."

Finally in the last year of the war, this time in an encyclical letter, Pius XII warned the faithful that the justice of God had not yet been satisfied and the war continues because petitions for peace have not been joined to a correction of morals. "It is not enough," he said, "that crowds of people come to Mary's altars to offer their presents and prayers." Unless these prayers are united to a "reformation of Christian morals in private and public life," they will not be heard (A.A.S., 37, 98.)

Fatima and the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Fatima owes its present popularity in the Church very largely to the interest and encouragement of Pope Pius XII. Although the bishops of Portugal had authorized the cultus of Our Lady of Fatima in 1930, and Pius XI made an implicit reference to the "extra-ordinary benefits with which the Blessed Virgin recently favored" Portugal, it was Pius XII among the Popes who first explicitly referred to Fatima in a formal papal document. Pleading for more vocations to the missions, he wrote in 1940, "Let the faithful, when reciting the Rosary so strongly recommended by Our Lady of Fatima, not omit to address an invocation to the Blessed Virgin in favor of missionary vocations" (L’Osservatore, June 29, 1940). This was so significant that the Portuguese Hierarchy in 1942 were able to say, "We are happy to see the Supreme Authority of the Vicar of Jesus Christ evoke thus the testimony of Fatima, and proclaim Urbi et orbi the name of Our Lady of Fatima in an Apostolic Letter addressed to the Portuguese Bishops, but published for the whole world" (Da Cruz, Fatima, 1949, 99).

On October 31, 1942, the Holy Father associated himself with the closing celebrations of the Jubilee of Fatima, by consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary as Our Lady of Fatima had requested. And in the same year he extended the Office and Mass of the Immaculate Heart to the Universal Church, appointing the 22nd of August as the feast day. More recently Pope Pius XII sent, for the second time, an official delegate to Fatima, to represent, as he said, "Our own person at the shrine of the Virgin of Fatima, to act in Our own name, and to preside with Our authority" (A.A.S., 43, 781). Cardinal Tedeschini, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, was the papal legate who assisted at the Fatima celebration on October 13, 1951, when more than a million pilgrims came to the Portuguese shrine.

In his own radio message to the pilgrims, the Holy Father emphasized one practical aspect of the message of Fatima which deserves to be better known: the Family Rosary. "The Virgin Mother's insistence on the recitation of the family Rosary," he said, "was meant to teach us that the secret of peace in family life lies in imitating the virtues of the Holy Family" (A.A.S., 43, 801).

Canonization of Marian Saints

Among the twenty-six saints canonized by the present Pontiff to the end of 1951, at least six were among the greatest Marian apostles in modern times: Catherine Labouré, Louis Mary de Montfort, Anthony Mary Claret, Vincent Mary Strambi, Anthony Mary Gianelli, and Francis Mary Bianchi.

In 1947, after the canonization of St. Louis de Montfort, the Pope exhorted the people to imitate the spirit and virtues of the new saint. "The mainspring of his apostolic ministry," he explained, "his great secret of attracting and giving souls to Jesus was his devotion to Mary. All his activity was founded upon her, all his confidence rested in her. In opposition to the joyless austerity, melancholy fear and depressing pride of Jansenism, he promoted the filial, trustful, ardent and expansive love-in-action of a slave of Mary." St. Louis was the author of the classic True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, which the Holy Father felt needed some clarification. He first defined "true devotion to the Blessed Virgin," as "essentially that which tends to a union with Jesus under the guidance of Mary," and added a caution. "The form and practice of this devotion can vary according to time, place and personal inclinations. Within the limits of sound doctrine, the Church allows her children a just margin of liberty in this regard. For she realizes that a true and perfect devotion to the Blessed Virgin is never so bound to any one form as to claim for itself a kind of monopoly." (A.A.S., 39, 413. )

St. Anthony Claret, who worked as Archbishop of Santiago, Cuba, from 1851 to 1857, is justly credited with having begun the movement which terminated in the solemn definition of Mary's Assumption In December, 1863, Queen Isabella of Spain acted on the advice of her confessor, Anthony Claret, and requested the Pope to define Our Lady's Assumption. Pius IX was encouraging, but replied that, "I do not consider myself worthy to declare as a dogma of faith also this second mystery of the Madonna." Claret followed up the petition with a book defending the Assumption which he addressed to the bishops of the world, urging them to ask the Holy See to define the doctrine as a part of revelation. In two years the book went into three editions, and in the next eighty years, 2700 bishops followed Queen Isabella's lead. These petitions of the hierarchy literally paved the way for the solemn definition of 1950. Moreover, it is at least worth noting that the first promoter of the Assumption of Our Lady was canonized in the same year in which the dream of his life had come true.

Sanctity and the Apostolate through Mary

Even a cursory study of the reign of Pius XII would show that he is quite unique in the variety and frequency with which he recommends devotion to the Mother of God as the touchstone of sanctity and a successful apostolate. As of 1951, for instance, there were ten Marian Congresses, national and international, which the present Holy Father either personally addressed or to which he sent an official representative. The number of these congresses has grown remarkably since his accession. In 1947 alone there were four: in Canada, Holland, Argentina, and Spain, as compared with four during the sixteen years' pontificate of Pius XI. Addressing the Marian Congress at Ottawa, the Pope pleaded with the young people to place their chastity under Mary's care, "Let growing youth of both sexes know that a loving Mother's eyes are upon them." He concluded: "Vindicate the glory of your Immaculate Mother. In the face of a vicious world prove that young hearts can still be chaste." (A.A.S., 9, 271).

His predecessor has been rightly called "the Pope of Catholic Action." By actual count, twenty-eight of his public documents treat, in whole or in part, of "the cooperation of the laity in the apostolate of the hierarchy." But it was left to Pius XII to declare as official Catholic Action an established form of the lay apostolate, operating in the Church since 1584. In 1948 he published the Apostolic Constitution Bis Saeculari, by which he decreed that, "the Sodalities of Our Lady" are “in the fullest sense Catholic Action, under the auspices and inspiration of the Blessed Virgin Mary." The special significance of this decree lies in the fact that of all the forms of Catholic Action in the Church, the Marian Sodalities alone have been not only approved by the Vicar of Christ, but confirmed by an Apostolic Constitution, one of the most authoritative declarations of the Holy See. It was, for example, an Apostolic Constitution by which the Code of Canon Law was promulgated in 1917, and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin was defined in 1950.

Again in his Holy Year exhortation to the clergy of the world, Pope Pius XII explicitly and at length recommends that priests should be devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Treating of chastity, he urges them to "trust in the protection of the Virgin Mother of God." On the subject of prayer, "they will every day recite the Holy Rosary." And in the closing four paragraphs of the exhortation, he urges priests to have recourse to their Mother in times of special trial. "When you meet serious difficulties in the path of holiness and the exercise of your ministry, turn to the Mother of the Eternal Priest and therefore to the loving Mother of all Catholic priests." For "Our Lady loves everyone with a most tender love, but she has a particular predilection for priests, because they are the living image of Jesus Christ." (A.A.S., 42, 701.)

The Definition of Mary’s Assumption

The greatest honor which Pius XII has paid to the Mother of God and, on his own testimony, the crowning achievement of his pontificate was the definition of Our Lady's Assumption. It is not commonly recognized how much this definition was due to the personal interest and initiative of the present Sovereign Pontiff. The so-called "Assumptionist Movement" had been going on for almost a century, since the first petition of Queen Isabella of Spain. Petitions to the number of 8,000,000 from the faithful and 2700 from the bishops of the world had been sent to Rome. But, as Pius X observed when asked to define the doctrine, "It still requires much investigation."

One of Pius XII's first acts after his election, was to commission a group of scholars to assemble and analyze all the petitions for the definition ever received by the Holy See. After five years of research, the results were made public in two volumes, 2171 pages, and the groundwork for the definition was laid. Another group of specialists, the Pope later explained, was appointed "at Our bidding, to study with the greatest diligence all the attestations, indications, and references in the common faith of the Church, regarding the bodily assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven." This meant going through practically the whole "teaching of the Church, the Sacred Scriptures, the ancient liturgy, the writings of the Fathers and theologians," down the centuries, to discover whether Our Lady's Assumption into heaven is part of the deposit of faith and therefore able to be defined as revealed doctrine. (A.A.S., 42, 774-5.)

When this work was completed on May 1, 1946, the Pope sent to all the resident bishops in communion with Rome a private letter of inquiry, beginning with the words, "The Virgin Mother of God," in which he proposed two questions:

"We, ask you to inform Us to what extent, according to their faith and piety, the clergy and faithful committed to your care, are devoted to the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin .”
"However, what We especially wish to learn from you, Venerable Brethren, is whether you believe that the bodily Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin can be proposed and defined as a dogma of faith, and whether you personally, together with your clergy and people, desire that such a definition should be made." (L’Osservatore, Sept. 16-17, 1950.)

The response was immediate and enthusiastic. About thirteen hundred letters were sent, and close to twelve hundred received. Of these all but two percent replied in unqualified affirmative to the possibility and feasibility of the definition. Such unanimity, said an official commentary, prior to a formal definition, is perhaps unique in the history of the Church, not excepting such doctrines as the Immaculate Conception and the Infallibility of the Pope.

On the day following the solemn definition, the Holy Father spoke to the bishops who had come for the ceremony, 554 in all, the largest number assembled in Rome since the Vatican Council in 1870. His address was more of a fervent colloquy than a speech, and began with a personal reflection: "By the decree of Everlasting Wisdom, Whose nature is goodness, We, though unworthy, who from Our earliest youth have been most devoted to the Holy Mother of God, were chosen to declare infallibly that the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, preserved from the stain of original sin, has been assumed into heaven body and soul." (A.A.S., 42, 784.)

He went on to describe the joy which he felt over the proclamation of this new honor to Mary, and the assurance which it gave him that she, on her part, would respond by obtaining for the world the three graces which he believed were most needed at the present time: universal and lasting peace among nations, the return of a spirit of penance to replace the prevalent love of pleasure, and the renewal of family life, stabilized where divorce was common and made fruitful where birth control was practiced. Through generations of war and godlessness, "the world has been shaken to its foundations and torn in its innermost framework"; and, except for the grace of God, which comes through Mary, the foundations of peace will not be established, and the moral structure of society will not be repaired."

Pope Pius XII on purity and virginity: Encyclical Letter "Sacra Virginitas"

"Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God."  ~ Matthew 5:8

"Holy Purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh." ~ St John Bosco 

 

Purity is one of the most important virtues in the life of a Christian, most dear to the Heavenly Mother (perhaps one of the distinctive features of Her most beloved children) and to Our Blessed Lord; it is like a sweet fragrance that rises up to the throne of the Most High, most pleasing to the Lord, and inducing His Majesty to be inclined to shower us with Heavenly graces - and during the calamitous times that we live in, admittedly one of the most difficult virtues to achieve, even occasionally arguably requiring a heroic effort to be kept. The theologians are agreed on this: the sin that causes most people to be led astray and fall away from right morals and reason is the sin of the concupiscence of the flesh. Pope Pius XII discerned a gradual erosion of this virtue even during his own pontificate, especially after World War II among the youth, the "new generation" that would in later years participate in the so called "sexual revolution" of the sixties. Consider these maternal (even prophetic) warnings of Our Lady of Fatima to Blessed Jacinta of Fatima about the dangers of the sins of the flesh and of a desire for introducing novelty and "fashions" into the Church:

"More souls go to hell for sins of the flesh than for any other reason."  What a terrible warning for the many millions of nominal catholics living in perpetual states of objective mortal sin: cohabitation, adultery, sodomy etc... Is it any coincidence that the Devil is doing his utmost to influence important members coordinating this year's synod into compromising the Church's doctrine on the indissolubility of marriage and other grave sins against chastity? Consider the kind of conferences that the head of Francis' "gang of nine" is attending lately (see here)!!!

"Certain fashions will be introduced which will offend Our Divine Lord very much. Those who serve God ought not to follow these fashions. The Church has no fashions. Our Lord is always the same." Who can deny that increasingly bold and immodest clothing has been introduced into the market since the '60s, now reaching such a state of scandal that even young girls are seen showing most of their body with no apparent feeling of shame or embarrassment - leading to even some in the secular world protesting that the trend has gone "too far"? Also notice Our Lady says, "The Church has no fashions, Our Lord is always the same." What a radically different statement from the post-conciliar obsession with introducing novelties, both in the liturgy of the Church and elsewhere, even reaching into the moral sphere, as evidenced by the recent (and upcoming) "Synod on the Family", which designation is at best a grotesque misnomer that hides the true intentions of those guiding said "synod"?

On August 15, 1954 in Rome, Cardinal Ciriaci issued a letter for Bishops throughout the world denouncing widespread offences against modesty in dress and similar evils in films, newspapers, magazines and other publications, and conveying the Pope's blessing upon clergy and laity who
would respond actively to the call of His Holiness for a reform of private and public morals.

The encyclical letter "Sacra Virginitas" (March 25, 1954; full text here) chiefly concerns on the lofty vocation of those who are called to perpetual virginity but also deals on more general matters of purity and chastity which are perfectly applicable to lay men, and begins thus:

"1. Holy virginity and that perfect chastity which is consecrated to the service of God is without doubt among the most precious treasures which the Founder of the Church has left in heritage to the society which He established.

2. This assuredly was the reason why the Fathers of the Church confidently asserted that perpetual virginity is a very noble gift which the Christian religion has bestowed on the world. They rightly noted that the pagans of antiquity imposed this way of life on the Vestals only for a certain time; and that, although in the Old Testament virginity is ordered to be kept and preserved, it is only a previous requisite for marriage; and furthermore, as Ambrose writes, "We read that also in the temple of Jerusalem there were virgins. But what does the Apostle say? 'Now all these things happened to them in figure', that this might be a foreshadowing of what was to come ]"

 

The passages of the encyclical which are applicable to all men striving for chastity and purity are summarized here:

 

"It is against common sense, which the Church always esteems, to consider the sexual instinct as the most important and the deepest of human tendencies, and to conclude from this that man cannot master it throughout his life without danger to his vital nervous system and consequently without damaging the harmony of his personality. As St. Thomas very rightly observes, the deepest natural instinct is the instinct of self-preservation. The sexual instinct comes second. Moreover, human reason the distinguishing privilege of our nature is intended to control these fundamental instincts, and by mastering them to ennoble them.

It is unfortunately true that the sin of Adam has caused a deep disturbance in our bodily faculties and our passions, so that they tend to control the life of the senses and even the soul, darkening our reason and weakening our will. But Christ's grace is given us, especially by the sacraments, to help us to keep our bodies in subjection and to live by the spirit.

The virtue of chastity does not mean that we are insensible to the urge of concupiscence, but that we subordinate it to reason and the law of grace by striving whole-heartedly after what is noblest in human and Christian life. To acquire this perfect mastery of the spirit over the senses it is not enough
to refrain from acts directly contrary to chastity. It is necessary also generously to renounce anything that may closely or remotely offend this virtue. By this will the soul be able to reign fully over the body and lead its spiritual life in peace and freedom.

Who, then, does not see, in the light of Catholic principles, that perfect chastity and virginity, far from harming the normal unfolding of the nature of man or woman, on the contrary endows it with the highest moral nobility?

Here are the helps commended to us by our Divine Redeemer by which we may effectively protect our virtue: constant vigilance, whereby we diligently do all that we can ourselves; constant prayer to God, asking for what we cannot do by ourselves because of human weakness. "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Vigilance which guards every moment and circumstance of our lives is absolutely essential for us: "For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh."

If anyone gives way even a little to the allurements of the flesh he will quickly be pulled towards "those works of the flesh" which the Apostle speaks of, the basest and ugliest vices of men.

Hence we must watch particularly over the impulses of our passions and our senses, so controlling them by voluntary discipline in our lives and by bodily mortifications that we make them obedient to right reason and the law of God.

All holy men and women have most carefully guarded the impulses of their senses and their passions, and at times have taken severe measures to crush them, in keeping with the teaching of the Divine Master: "But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her hath already
committed adultery with her in his heart."

It is abundantly clear that with this warning our Saviour demands above all that we never consent to any sin, even in thought, and that we steadfastly remove from us anything that can even slightly tarnish the beautiful virtue of purity. In this matter, no diligence, no severity, can be considered excessive. If ill-health or other reasons do not allow one heavier bodily austerities, still they never free one from vigilance and interior self-control.

On this point it should be noted, as indeed the Fathers and Doctors of the Church teach, that we can more easily struggle against and repress the wiles of evil and the allurements of the passions if we do not directly struggle against them, but instead flee from them as best we may. Flight must be understood in the sense that not only do we diligently avoid occasions of sin but especially that in struggles of this kind we lift up our minds and hearts to God."

Venerable Maria de Jesus de Agreda (1602-1665) on the Assumption of Our Lady

On November 1st, 1950 the Holy Father Pius XII issued the Apostolic Constitution, "Munificentissimus Deus" (see my previous post), wherein he infallibly declared that the Most Blessed Virgin Mary was assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven, without declaring whether Our Lady's body underwent death (like Our Lord's), before her soul and body were reunited again to be carried by a host of the heavenly court into the glory of the beatific vision. At least one great Catholic mystic, Venerable Maria de Jesus de Agreda (1602-1665), describes Our Lady's body as first undergoing bodily death, and after a period of three days, as being reunited with her soul to be carried into paradise accompanied by Christ and a cohort of angels and saints. This is the account from, "Mystical City of God" (Volume 4, "The Coronation"):

On the third day after the most pure soul of Mary had taken possession of this glory never to leave it, the Lord manifested to the saints his divine will, that She should return to the world, resuscitate her sacred body and unite Herself with it, so that She might in body and soul be again raised to the right hand of her divine Son without waiting for the general resurrection of the dead. The appropriateness of this favor, its accordance with the others received by the most blessed Queen and with her supereminent dignity, the saints could not but see; since even to mortals it is so credible, that even if the Church had not certified it, we would judge those impious and foolish, who would dare deny it. But the blessed saw it with greater clearness, together with the determined time and hour as manifested to them in God himself. When the time for this wonder had arrived, Christ our Savior him
self descended from heaven bringing with Him at his right hand the soul of his most blessed Mother and accompanied by many legions of the Angels, the Patriarchs and ancient Prophets. They came to the sepulchre in the valley of Josaphat, and all being gathered in sight of the virginal temple, the Lord spoke the following words to the saints.

766. "My Mother was conceived without stain of sin, in order that from Her virginal substance I might stainlessly clothe Myself in the humanity in which I came to the world and redeemed it from sin. My flesh is her flesh; She co-operated with Me in the works of the Redemption ; hence I must raise Her, just as I rose from the dead, and this shall be at the same time and hour. For I wish to make Her like Me in all things." All the ancient saints of the human race then gave thanks for this new
favor in songs of praise and glory to the Lord. Those that especially distinguished themselves in their thanks giving were our first parents Adam and Eve, saint Anne, saint Joachim and saint Joseph, as being the more close partakers in this miracle of his Omnipotence. Then the purest soul of the Queen, at the command of the Lord, entered the virginal body, reanimated it and raised it up, giving it a new life of immortality and glory and communicating to it the four gifts of clearness, impassibility, agility and subtlety, corresponding to those of the soul and overflowing from it into the body.

767. Endowed with these gifts the most blessed Mary issued from the tomb in body and soul, without raising the stone cover and without disturbing the position of the tunic and the mantle that had enveloped her sacred body. Since it is impossible to describe her beauty and refulgent glory, I will not make the attempt. It is sufficient to say, that just as the heavenly Mother had given to her divine Son in her womb the form of man, pure, unstained and sinless, for the Redemption of the world, so in return the Lord, in this resurrection and new regeneration, gave to Her a glory and beauty similar to his own. In this mysterious and divine interchange each One did what was possible: most holy Mary engendered Christ, assimilating Him as much as possible to Herself, and Christ resuscitated Her, communicating to Her of his glory as far as She was capable as a creature.

768. Then from the sepulchre was started a most solemn procession, moving with celestial music through the regions of the air and toward the empyrean heaven. This happened in the hour immediately after midnight, in which also the Lord had risen from the grave ; and therefore not all of the Apostles were witness of this prodigy, but only some of them, who were present and watching at the sepulchre. The saints and angels entered heaven in the order in which they had started; and in the last place came Christ our Savior and at his right hand the Queen, clothed in the gold of variety (as David says Ps. 44, 10), and so beautiful that She was the admiration of the heavenly court. All of them turned toward Her to look upon Her and bless Her with new jubilee and songs of praise. Thus were heard those mysterious eulogies recorded by Solomon: Come, daughters of Sion, to see your Queen, who is praised by the morning stars and celebrated by the sons of the Most High. Who is She
that comes from the desert, like a column of all the aromatic perfumes? Who is She, that rises like the
aurora, more beautiful than the moon, elect as the sun, terrible as many serried armies ? Who is She that comes up from the desert resting upon her Beloved and spreading forth abundant delights? (Cant. 3, 6-9; 8, 5). Who is She in whom the Deity itself finds so much pleasure and delight above all other creatures and whom He exalts above them all in the heavens! O novelty worthy of the infinite Wisdom ! O prodigy of his Omnipotence, which so magnifies and exalts Her!

769. Amid this glory the most blessed Mary arrived body and soul at the throne of the most blessed Trinity. And the three divine Persons received Her on it with an embrace eternally undissoluble. The eternal Father said to Her : "Ascend higher, my Daughter and my Dove." The incarnate Word spoke: "My Mother, of whom I have received human being and full return of my work in thy perfect imitation, receive now from my hand the reward thou hast merited." The Holy Ghost said : "My most
beloved Spouse, enter into the eternal joy, which corresponds to the most faithful love; do Thou now enjoy thy love without solicitude ; for past is the winter of suffering for Thou hast arrived at our eternal embraces." There the most blessed Mary was absorbed in the contemplation of the three divine Persons and as it were overwhelmed in the boundless ocean and abyss of the Divinity, while
the saints were filled with wonder and new accidental delight. Since, at the occasion of this work of the Omnipotent happened other wonders, I shall speak of them as far as possible in the following chapter.

The Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Pope Pius XII issued the Apostolic constitution, "Munificentissimus Deus" on November 1, 1950, defining the dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary body and soul into heavenly glory but leaves open the question whether, in connection with her departure, Mary underwent bodily death; that is, it does not dogmatically define the point one way or the other, as shown by the words "having completed the course of her earthly life". The complete text of the bull is here.

There are a couple of youtube videos that have excerpts of the ceremony of proclamation of the dogma. This one is a short video of excellent quality that has some interesting things to view but is unfortunately missing the section with the actual words of the proclamation of the dogma! The image of the "Madonna" (known by the invocation of "Salus Populi Romani") shown right at the beginning of the video is located in the Borghese chapel of the Roman Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore where Fr Eugenio Pacelli held his first mass on April 1st 1899, and had been carried in procession in past times to implore heavenly aid during times of tribulation. According to the narrator, 700,000 people flocked St Peter's basilica on the day of the proclamation of the dogma! There is another video of much poorer quality but it actually contains the words of the proclamation of the dogma (see around the 6:00 minute mark).

Excerpts from the bull, "Munificentissimus Deus":

That privilege [the Assumption] has shone forth in new radiance since our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, solemnly proclaimed the dogma of the loving Mother of God's Immaculate Conception. These two privileges are most closely bound to one another. Christ overcame sin and death by his own death, and one who through Baptism has been born again in a supernatural way has conquered sin and death through the same Christ. Yet, according to the general rule, God does not will to grant to the just the full effect of the victory over death until the end of time has come. And so it is that the bodies of even the just are corrupted after death, and only on the last day will they be joined, each to its own glorious soul.

Now God has willed that the Blessed Virgin Mary should be exempted from this general rule. She, by an entirely unique privilege, completely overcame sin by her Immaculate Conception, and as a result she was not subject to the law of remaining in the corruption of the grave, and she did not have to wait until the end of time for the redemption of her body.

Thus, when it was solemnly proclaimed that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, was from the very beginning free from the taint of original sin, the minds of the faithful were filled with a stronger hope that the day might soon come when the dogma of the Virgin Mary's bodily Assumption into heaven would also be defined by the Church's supreme teaching authority.

[Pope Pius goes on to give many proofs of the doctrine of the Assumption from the tradition of the Church, as well as some based on Scripture.]

All these proofs and considerations of the holy Fathers and the theologians are based upon the Sacred Writings as their ultimate foundation. These set the loving Mother of God as it were before our very eyes as most intimately joined to her divine Son and as always sharing his lot. Consequently it seems impossible to think of her, the one who conceived Christ, brought him forth, nursed him with her milk, held him in her arms, and clasped him to her breast, as being apart from him in body, even though not in soul, after this earthly life. Since our Redeemer is the Son of Mary, he could not do otherwise, as the perfect observer of God's law, than to honor, not only his eternal Father, but also his most beloved Mother. And, since it was within his power to grant her this great honor, to preserve her from the corruption of the tomb, we must believe that he really acted in this way.

We must remember especially that, since the second century, the Virgin Mary has been designated by the holy Fathers as the new Eve, who, although subject to the new Adam, is most intimately associated with him in that struggle against the infernal foe which, as foretold in the protoevangelium,[Gn 3:15] would finally result in that most complete victory over the sin and death which are always mentioned together in the writings of the Apostle of the Gentiles.[Rm 5-6; 1 Cor 15:21-26, 54-57] Consequently, just as the glorious resurrection of Christ was an essential part and the final sign of this victory, so that struggle which was common to the Blessed Virgin and her divine Son should be brought to a close by the glorification of her virginal body, for the same Apostle says: "When this mortal thing hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory."[1 Cor 15:54]

Hence the revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination, [Bull Ineffabilis Deus] immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages.[1 Tm 1:17]

After we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare willfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith.

It is forbidden to any man to change this, our declaration, pronouncement, and definition or, by rash attempt, to oppose and counter it. If any man should presume to make such an attempt, let him know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.

I, PIUS, Bishop of the Catholic Church, have signed, so defining.

Why does God allow suffering and evil? From the words of Pope Pius XII

In view of the terrible calamities which afflict some parts of the world - the Middle East above all, also certain parts of Africa, especially those afflicted with Islamic extremism, Russian speaking Ukraine, and other lesser known parts of the world - one could be overwhelmed with the question, "Why does God allow so much suffering, so much evil, so many calamities?" We must trust in Divine Providence, in God's infinite justice and mercy, and that as St Paul teaches, "...we know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are called to be saints." (Romans 8:28).

 

 

 

In answering this question, the "Pastor Angelicus" starts his radio address in the middle of World War II (June 29, 1941) with words of deep sorrow and anguish for all his suffering children, "We, like you, feel our heart grow faint at the thought of the tempest of evil, of suffering and of anguish that now rages over the world."

 

Pius XII encouraged men to view the sad events engulfing the world through a lens encompassing God's providence for the salvation of mankind, and to look further beyond to the remote causes of the tribulation humanity was then undergoing, "[men] have before their eyes the limited view of a few years. God has before Him the all-embracing panorama of the ages. They [men] think of human events in relation to their proximate causes and immediate effects. God sees them in their remote causes and judges them in their remote effects. They stop to single out this or that particular responsible hand. God sees a whole hidden complicated convergence of responsibilities, because His exalted Providence does not exclude the free choice of evil and good in human selection."

 

The Holy Father reminds us that God always intervenes with the greater good of souls always as the ultimate end: "However severe may seem the Hand of the Divine Surgeon when he cuts with the lancet into the live flesh, it is always an active love that guides and drives it in, and only the good of men and peoples makes Him intervene in such a painful way." The cross is a way to expiate for one's own sins and the sins of others, and the pope reminds people that in midst of all the physical calamities they should remember that the ultimate evil is always sin, "they have forgotten that the cross is frequently a gift of God, a gift which is needed in order to offer to the Divine Justice our share of expiation. They have forgotten that the only real evil is the sin that offends God."

Complete Radio Address on, "Divine Providence in Human Events", June 29, 1941

"We, like you, feel our heart grow faint at the thought of the tempest of evil, of suffering and of anguish that now rages over the world. It is true that in the darkness of the storm there are not lacking comforting sights which fill our hearts with great and holy expectations courage in defence of the fundamentals of Christian civilisation and confident hope in their triumph; the most intrepid patriotism; heroic acts of virtue; chosen souls ready for every sacrifice; whole-hearted self-surrender; widespread re-awakening of faith and piety.

But, on the other hand, sin and evil penetrate the lives of individuals, the sacred shrine of the family, the social organism. No longer merely tolerated through weakness or ignorance, sin is excused, exalted and enters as master into the most diverse phases of human life. There is a decadence
of the spirit of justice and charity. Peoples are overthrown or have fallen into an abyss of disasters. Human bodies are torn by bombs or by machine-gun fire. Wounded and sick fill hospitals and come out often with their health ruined, their limbs mutilated, invalids for the rest of their lives. Prisoners are far from those dear to them and often without news of them. Individuals and families are deported, transported, separated, torn from their homes, wandering in misery without support, without means of earning their daily bread.

Before such an accumulation of evils, of obstacles to virtue, of disasters, of trials of every kind, it seems that man's mind and judgment go astray and become confused; and perhaps in the heart of more than one of you has arisen the terrible suggestion of doubt which perchance at the death of the two Apostles was a disturbing temptation for some of the less staunch Christians: "How can God permit all this?" Can an omnipotent God, infinitely wise and infinitely good, possibly allow so many evils which He might so easily prevent? And there arise to the lips the words of Peter, still imperfect when the Passion was foretold: "Far be it from Thee, O Lord".

No, my God they think neither Your wisdom nor Your goodness nor Your honour itself can allow that evil and violence dominate to such an extent over the world, to deride You and triumph by Your silence. Where is Your power and providence? Must we, then, doubt either Your divine govern-
ment or Your love for us?All men are as children before God; all, even the most profound thinkers and the most experienced leaders of peoples.

They judge events with the foreshortened vision of time, which passes and flies past irretrievably. God, on the other hand, sees events from on high, from the unmoved centre of eternity. They have before their eyes the limited view of a few years. God has before Him the all-embracing panorama
of the ages. They think of human events in relation to their proximate causes and immediate effects. God sees them in their remote causes and judges them in their remote effects. They stop to single out this or that particular responsible hand. God sees a whole hidden complicated convergence of
responsibilities, because His exalted Providence does not exclude the free choice of evil and good in human selection.
They would have immediate justice, and are scandalised at the ephemeral power of the enemies of God, the sufferings and humiliations of the innocent permitted by God. But our Heavenly Father, Who in the light of His eternity embraces, penetrates and dominates the vicissitudes of time as much as the serene peace of the endless ages; God, Who is the Blessed Trinity, full of compassion for the weaknesses, ignorance and impatience of men, but Who loves men too much for their faults to turn Him from the ways of His wisdom and love, continues, and will continue, to make His sun to rise on the good and the evil, and to send rain on the just and the unjust; to guide their childlike steps with firmness and kindness if only they will let themselves be led by Him and have trust in the power and the wisdom of His love for them.

Trust in God means the abandonment of oneself, with all the forces of the will sustained by grace and love, in spite of all the doubts suggested by appearances to the contrary, to the wisdom, the infinite love of God. It means believing that nothing in this world escapes His Providence, whether in the universal or in the particular order; that nothing great or small happens which is not foreseen, willed or permitted, directed always by Providence to its exalted ends, which in this world are always inspired by love for men.

It means believing that God can permit, at times here below, for some time, pre-eminence of atheism and of impiety, the lamentable obscuring of a sense of justice, the violation of law, the tormenting of innocent, peaceful, undefended, helpless men. It means believing that God at times thus lets trials befall individuals and peoples, trials of which the malice of men is the instrument in a design of justice directed towards the punishment of sin, towards purifying persons and peoples through the expiations of this present life and bringing them back by this way to Himself; but it means believing at the same time that this justice always remains here below the justice of a Father inspired and dominated by love.

However severe may seem the Hand of the Divine Surgeon when he cuts with the lancet into the live flesh, it is always an active love that guides and drives it in, and only the good of men and peoples makes Him intervene in such a painful way.

It means, finally, believing that the fierce intensity of the trial, like the triumph of evil, will endure here below for only a fixed time and not longer; that the hour of God will come, the hour of mercy, the hour of holy rejoicing, the hour of the new canticle of liberation, the hour of exultation and of joy, the hour in which, after having let the hurricane loose for a moment upon humanity, the all-powerful Hand of the Heavenly Father, with an imperceptible motion, will detain it and disperse it, and, by ways little known to the mind or to the hopes of men, justice, calm and peace will be restored
to the nations.

We know well that the most serious difficulty for those who have not a correct sense of the Divine comes from seeing so many innocent victims involved in suffering by the same tempest which overwhelms sinners. Men never remain indifferent when the hurricane which tears up the great trees
also cuts down the lowly little flowers which opened at their feet only to lavish the grace of their beauty and fragrance on the air around them. And yet these flowers and their perfumes are the work of God and of His wonderful designing. If he has allowed any of these flowers to be swept away in the storm, can He not, do you think, have assigned a goal unseen by the human eye for the sacrifice of that most unoffending creature in the general arrangement of the law by which He prevails over and governs nature? How much more, then, will His omnipotence and love direct the lot of pure and
innocent human beings to good.

Through the languishing of faith in men's hearts, through the pleasure-seeking that moulds and captivates their lives, men are driven to judge as evil, and as unmixed evil, all the physical mishaps of this earth. They have forgotten that suffering stands at the threshold of life as the way that leads
to the smiles of the cradle. They have forgotten that it is more often than not the shadow of the Cross of Calvary thrown on the path of the Resurrection; they have forgotten that the cross is frequently a gift of God, a gift which is needed in order to offer to the Divine Justice our share of expiation. They have forgotten that the only real evil is the sin that offends God. They have forgotten what the Apostle says: "The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be revealed in us", that we ought to look on "the Author and Finisher of Faith, Jesus, Who for the joy set before Him, endured a cross.".

Do you, too, dear children, look upon your sufferings thus, and you will find the strength not merely to accept them with resignation, but to love them, to glory in them as the Apostles and saints. 

Look upon your sufferings and difficulties in the light of the sufferings of the Crucified, in the light of the sufferings of the Blessed Virgin, the most innocent of creatures and the most intimate sharer in the Passion of Our Lord, and you will be able to understand that to be like the Exemplar, the Son of God, King of Sufferings, is the noblest and safest way to Heaven and victory.

A pope for all seasons

Recently in "The Remnant" website I came across an excellent article taken from one of the addresses given in the "The Angelus Press'" 2012 conference for Catholic tradition titled, "A pope for all seasons". Since this site is devoted to the memory of Pius XII, it should be fairly apparent who this "pope" is... The title is apt indeed: the pontificate of Pius XII transpired during some of the most turbulent times in Church history: World War II, with the ensuing genocides and wholesale massacres and destruction, heralding the age of nuclear weapons, the Soviet expansion into eastern Europe, the takeover of China by the communists, the Korean War, the persecution and martyrdom of Catholics by atheistic godless regimes, and so many other calamities and misfortunes. But through all this chaos, moral anarchy and nihilism, the holy pontiff remained steadfast in defending the honor and rights of the Church, it could be said, almost with supernatural strength, especially as his health declined during the 50's. For Pius XII, during the most difficult and trying times of his life it truly could be said that the spirit was stronger than the flesh.  It is encouraging that there is a strong current of devoted and pious Catholics keen to defend the honor of the "Pastor Angelicus" and who are eager to let the world know the truth of this holy pontiff. As Our Lord said, "The truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

Without further ado, here is the beginning of the article, with the remainder in the link:

"One of the best ways of understanding what the Papacy is and means is to examine the lives of the successors of St. Peter. One such extraordinary figure from our own time is Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII, who reigned from 1939 to 1958. Even before he was called to be Christ’s Vicar, Pacelli was a figure who impressed one as being everything a future pope should be: ascetic, highly intelligent and cultured, yet approachable by all—and working, always working, never sparing himself, but giving his life for the Church.  From staring down seven armed communists in his residence in Munich as Nuncio in 1919 to causing a Nazi ambassador to suffer a complete mental collapse after an audience in 1940, Pius was a man who inspired awe... (see here)

"Pastor Angelicus"

From whence does the title ascribed to Pope Pius XII, "Pastor Angelicus" ("Angelic Shepherd") originate? The name comes from the prophecies of St Malachy (1095 – 2 November 1148), the first native born Irish saint to be canonized, who had a vision of the next 112 popes (the list including a few antipopes, see here). Pope Pius XII is listed #106 in the prophecies, meaning that we are very close to the time of Peter the Roman (the 112th pope in the list, who will reign during the time of the Anti-Christ, when the city of Rome will be reduced to a heap of ashes, as per St Malachy's prophecy and the opinion of the Fathers of the Church and other eminent theologians (see Cardinal Manning's "The Present Crisis of the Holy See" pp 87-88). Here is the text for the final pope of the end times (the "end times" not to be confused with the "end of the world", at which point Christ the King will come to judge all of humanity):

"In extreme persecution, the seat of the Holy Roman Church will be occupied by Peter the Roman, who will feed the sheep through many tribulations, at the term of which the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the formidable Judge will judge his people. The End."

It appears from the above that the judgment from the "formidable Judge" follows directly after the "city of seven hills" has been destroyed, but this is not necessarily so, since, as in the prophecies of Holy Scripture, large amounts of time can and indeed do transpire between prophecies that would seem to take place in immediate succession, due to the prophecies in the text being placed one next to the other...

Anyway, I digress... - why was Pius XII ascribed by St Malachy as the "Angelic Shepherd"? Pius XII carried out heroic acts of charity throughout his pontificate, the most evident of these taking place during the calamitous years of WWII, such as his heroic efforts at saving the Jews of Rome (as a result of which the chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, converted to Catholicism, taking the name of EUGENIO Maria Zolli, see here). His heroic charity was not only directed at the suffering Jews of course, but to the concern of the suffering Catholic faithful, and to all the victims of the atrocious war. He was also (not less importantly) an angelic pastor of souls, illuminating the Church with sublime encyclicals such as "Mystici Corporis Christi", wherein the Mystical Body of Christ i.e. the Church of Christ, is equated to BE the Catholic Church. His heroic charity and virtues will be duly noted in this blog, so that the title of "Pastor Angelicus" will become more and more evident as I write on the life of Pius XII.

There is an interesting 1942 film titled "Pastor Angelicus" that details some of the private life of the Holy Father, even though English subtitles are unfortunately still unavailable, it is worth watching some of the scenes, such as at 40:00, when the pope humbly genuflects in front of a gathering of pilgrims to pray together the Angelus; the succeeding minutes are indeed stunning and moving to watch as the Holy Father blesses and spends some time with his beloved Catholic faithful. Who can fail to see an air of angelic purity, kindness and charity in the face of the Holy Father in these scenes and failed to be edified and have his mind lifted up to higher, eternal things?