Per Christum

Catholics are often asked why they pray to saints.  The generic answer, which is adequate enough, is:  “Well, you ask your earthly friends and people you consider ‘strong Christians’ to pray for you.  We Catholics ask saints in heaven to pray for us because they are close to God.  Also, we’re not praying to “the dead,” because the saints in heaven aren’t dead.   They’re more alive than you and I.”

Okay.  That’s true.  But I believe that something Pope Benedict said, in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, really helps to expand this idea in a way that gives it more weight.  It certainly helped me a lot.  It just makes good plain sense.  He says:

The lives of the saints are not limited to their earthly biographies but also include their being and working in God after death. In the saints one thing becomes clear: those who draw near to God do not withdraw from men, but rather become truly close to them.

This statement comes near the end of a document where the Pope really gives us a practical explanation of what love really means, and how we are to exercise this virtue.  In a nutshell, it goes back to Jesus’ commandment that we are to love God and love our neighbor.  Christianity 101.  Simple, yes…but hardly easy.  So, it would follow, that when we read about holy people, the most striking thing about their lives is precisely the love they showed (or show) other people, right?  That, in short, is how we know they’re holy.  We can literally SEE their love for God.  We admire these people…Saint Francis, Mother Theresa, Corrie Ten Boom, etc….  All Christians who didn’t just talk the talk, but they walked the walk.

So far, so good.  Nothing controversial there.

Well, then a question comes up.  At some point, those Christians die and go to heaven.  Then what happens?   What do those faithful saints exactly “DO” in heaven?

Looking back to my pre-Catholic days, I guess if I was pressed to describe what was going on in heaven, I would present a picture of a sea of people worshipping God.  And by that, I would mean that they were just sort of staring at and bowing before him.  I never really stopped to consider any horizontal relationships.  And that’s not surprising.  This was the way I worshipped God in my non-denominational church.  I would close my eyes and do the “me and Jesus” thing.  You might be sitting next to me, but you were individually doing your own version of “me and Jesus.”  I guess in heaven, I would have said, it was just more intense, while still individualistic, because you could literally see Jesus “face to face.” 

In re-examining this belief, I find that it’s inconsistent.  Does someone who spent their life loving God by serving others just die and forget about everyone else and just stare at Jesus, leaving the rest of us in the dust?

No!  What sense does that make?  Their righteousness is perfect in heaven…the righteousness that they cultivated exactly by serving and loving others on earth.  NOW they serve and love others even MORE.  They’d have to.  They can’t help themselves.  To love God is to love others.  The mission hasn’t changed, because love doesn’t change.  Love reaches out…eternally.  The saints in heaven continue to love God and love others.  They pray.  They intercede.  It is what MADE them saints in the first place. 

Further, if we Christians believe we are the family of God, these people are LITERALLY our loving brothers and sisters.  They are not going to be content to rest until all members of their family make it to heaven.  They are a “cloud of witnesses” cheering us on, as Hebrews 12 tells us.   Jesus’ death and resurrection brought “victory o’er the grave.”  Heaven and earth are joined together ( most poignantly and literally in the sacrifice of the mass).   We are one big family.  Our older, wiser and holier brothers and sisters can help us out a lot.  And they do! 

How to pray The Divine Mercy Chaplet

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I need to be clear about two things right off: (1) At this time this venerable order is in a state of canonical irregularity with the Holy See, in part due to their working relationship with the Society of Saint Pius X and (2)I have always respected and admired them - who can’t? - for the tenacity that they have show in re-establishing (after centuries!) a monastic community on an island off the coast of Scotland. In watching that, it becomes pretty clear, that is not an easy life.

In my admiration of them, I had long hoped that their situation of canonical irregularity would be regularized and their relationship to the Holy See would become unimpeded… But figured it was a long shot.

When the SSPX made it abundantly clear they would NOT be obedient to the Holy See (so what else is new?) and use the revised Good Friday Prayers for the 1962 Missal, The TAR very cooly and humbly asserted:

Notice
In what concerns the Solemn Prayers of the Good Friday Liturgy, the Transalpine Redemptorists will obey with submission the newly promulgated Prayer for the Jews as ordered by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on February 4th 2008.

Fr. Michael Mary, C.SS.R.
Vicar General
8 February, 2007

Kudos and props to them.

Still more heartening words from the most recent blog entry:

+ William: Well, is there anything going on between the Redemptorists and Rome?

+ Our little monastery is separate from the SSPX. As one SSPX priest told us when we were having a penniless moment: “We are united in Faith and separated in finances.”
I liked the quip! It shows that the two organisations are separate. And it follows that if the SSPX is able to speak with Rome there should be no reason why we would not be able to do so either.

+ William: What is the basis of having relations with Rome?

+ It is because we believe that Benedict XVI is the Pope, of course. He is the head of the Church. We are set upon working towards reunion. If we remain in an ‘imperfect communion’ we will eventually become a separate organisation altogether.

+ When I recall the day of the Consecrations in 1988 there were numbers of young children playing on the grass around the canvas cathedral. Do you know, now 20 years later, most of those girls and boys will be married. The 3rd generation of 1988 Tradis is on its way: that is, a generation that does not know normal Catholic life, that has no real contact with their juridical bishops, parishes and clergy. Already there are possibly 2 generations of people who are isolated from the Catholic ‘wheat and chaff’ that makes up a diocese. This is a serious situation unless we want to become a separate Church fitted out with our own bishops, parishes and clergy. We need a reconciliation asap.

Please keep them in your prayers.

Benedict the Re-Gatherer indeed!

[Originally posted March 10 by ASimpleSinner at the old blog address.]

From CE 1907: “The name Agnus Dei has been given to certain discs of wax impressed with the figure of a lamb and blessed at stated seasons by the Pope. They are sometimes round, sometimes oval in diameter. The lamb usually bears a cross or flag, while figures of saints or the name and arms of the Pope are commonly impressed on the reverse. These Agnus Deis may be worn suspended round the neck, or they may be preserved as objects of devotion. In virtue of the consecration they receive, they are regarded, like holy water, blessed palms etc, as Sacramentals.” The making and consecration of Agnus Dei traditionally took place during the Holy Week, in the 1st year of a new pope’s pontificate, then every 7th year he remained in office. The wax used was the collected remnants of paschal candles from the Sistine and other chapels. The picture shows an Agnus Dei from 1922.

That’s kinda cool. (Source)

http://www.catholicar.com/

“CatholiCar!…a growing collection of Vehicle Decals designed from Traditional Catholic Icons and Imagery. We are a small family business seeking to gain protection for travelers through the intercession of the Saints depicted in our decals, and assist Our Lady’s work in the world by spreading devotion to the Holy Rosary.”

Sounds good to me! Support your local family business today!

More on the Miraculous Medal here.

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One must not only say one’s Rosary, but also establish oneself in the atmosphere of the Rosary and in the thought of its mysteries and, there, breathe habitually the divine perfume that emanates from them. One does this by distributing the different mysteries of the Rosary throughout the exercises of the day. The memory of Jesus, of Mary, and of Saint Dominic, impressing itself upon the soul, saves it from the material preoccupations of the day, and allows the soul to live supernatural realities here below. And so, in this way, the Rosary is not merely recited; it is lived.