Saint Pope Pius X

Pius XII' 50th anniversary as a priest

Hello!

Another video of Pius XII. This one is one in which 50 thousand children pay him homage on the day of his 50th anniversary as a Priest.

Il cinquantennio sacerdotale di Pio XII

Enjoy!

SAINT PIUS V

THE IMMORTAL DOMINICAN

Resting place of the relics of St. Pius V - Santa Maria Maggiore

St. Pius V attributed victory over the Turks to Our Lady

Victory!

Quo Primum - Need I specify what that is?

The Sign of the Cross IV

PRAYING AND MAKING THE SIGN OF THE CROSS OVER OUR FOOD

Those who abstain from praying before eating dishonor the entire human race. They dishonor the human race because they resemble the beasts. Up to today, in nature it is known of only one species of beings that does not pray before eating. Everyday we know of two: the beasts, and those who resemble them. I say to those (men) who resemble them: Between a dog and a man who eats without praying, what is the difference? I do not see any! And the Academics of Science do not see any more than I do. For them, the first one is a bipede and the second is a quadrupede, but both are beasts nonetheless. Bipede or quadrupede, seated or stretched on the ground, singing, chatting or roaring, with hands or with claws, with eyes, heart and teeth immersed in matter, devouring savagely their nourishment, without raising their heads towards the hand that gives it to them. The man who acts thus puts himself outside his own (human) species. He who eats like a beast remains a beast.

Praying over our food is as old as the world, so extended as the human race. The Jews did it according to the Law of Moses, “Blessed be the Lord Our God Who has created the fruit of the vine.” “Praised and blessed be Our God Who has extracted bread from the earth.” All these rites are more venerable when we consider the fact that our Lord Himself did this. What does the adorable Master of the human race do at the Last Supper? What does He do after Supper is ended? He sings with His disciples hymns of Thanksgiving! In many other instances we see Our Eternal Model, Jesus Christ, praying before receiving or giving food (When He feeds the 5 thousand people). The Incarnate Word has done this to teach us, according to the Church Fathers, to not eat without blessing and giving thanks. In addition, the Apostles and the first Christians did the same in imitation of the God-Man, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Tertullian: “Eating begins and ends with prayer.” Similar quotations could be cited from both the Latin and the Greek Church Fathers. “O Thou Who give nourishment to all that breathes, deign to bless the gifts that we are about to receive…” Even Protestants, despite their attacks on the Church, have preserved similar traditions and prayers. But something that will seem much stranger is that the blessing before eating was practiced even by the pagans. Yes, my friend, the Greeks and the Romans religiously practiced that which many of your friends now are ashamed of. “The ancients,” says Atheneus, “did not ever take any food without having first appeased the gods (through prayer).” He also says of the Egyptians, “After having seated at the table, they stood up, then knelt and the head of the family or a priest began the traditional prayers.”

Those ancient masters of the world did not touch their food without first having it consecrated to the divinity. Even the barbarians imitated the civilized in this practice! So, you see my friend, that to bless our food is a law of the human race. To be ashamed of saying graces before meals, as your peers are, great speakers of freedom and independence that they are, makes them slaves, and slaves of the vilest tyrant: HUMAN RESPECT! Poor creatures! Who, to mask their slavery, end their objections by saying: The Sign of the Cross is a useless practice… and an old-fashioned one. It is my duty, then, to take off the mask with which your friends (or enemies) try to hide themselves.

Three tyrants dispute the freedom of man, mine, yours, and even that of your companions. These tyrants are: the world, the flesh, and the devil. These three tyrants claim a right and power over us that they do not have, and want to make us slaves. They try to keep us from making the Sign of the Cross. We would be so weak and stupid, were we to submit ourselves to them. If we did, we would be committing the sin of greatest ingratitude!!!

Purity

CATECHISM OF PURITY

By St. Jean Marie Vianney

That we may understand how horrible and detestable is this sin, which the demons make us commit, but which they do not commit themselves, we must consider what a Christian is. A Christian, created in the image of God, redeemed by the Blood of a God! A Christian, the child of God, the brother of a God, the heir of a God! A Christian, whose body is the temple of the Holy Ghost; that is what sin dishonours. We are created to reign one day in Heaven, and if we have the misfortune to commit this sin, we become the den of the devils. Our Lord said that nothing impure should enter into His kingdom. Indeed, how could a soul that has rolled itself in this filth go to appear before so pure and so holy a God?

We are all like little mirrors, in which God contemplates Himself. How can you expect that God should recognize His likeness in an impure soul? There are some souls so dead, so rotten, that they lie in their defilement without perceiving it, and can no longer clear themselves from it; everything leads them to evil, everything reminds them of evil, even the most holy things; they always have these abominations before their eyes; like the unclean animal that is accustomed to live in filth, that is happy in it, that rolls itself and goes to sleep in it, that grunts in the mud; these persons are an object of horror in the eyes of God and of the holy angels. See, my children, Our Lord was crowned with thorns to expiate our sins of pride; but for this accursed sin, He was scourged and torn to pieces, since He said Himself that after his flagellation all His bones might be counted.

O my children, if there were not some pure souls here and there, to make amends to the good God, and disarm His justice, you would see how we should be punished! For now, this crime is so common in the world, that it is enough to make one tremble. One may say, my children, that Hell vomits forth its abominations upon the earth, as the chimneys of the steam engine vomit forth smoke. The devil does all he can to defile our soul, and yet our soul is everything, our body is only a heap of corruption: go to the cemetery to see what you love, when you love your body. As I have often told you, there is nothing so vile as the impure soul. There was once a saint, who had asked the good God to show him one; and he saw that poor soul like a dead beast that has been dragged through the streets in the hot sun for a week.

By only looking at a person, we know if he is pure. His eyes have an air of candour and modesty which leads you to the good God. Some people, on the contrary, look quite inflamed with passion. . . . Satan places himself in their eyes to make others fall and to lead them to evil. Those who have lost their purity are like a piece of cloth stained with oil; you may wash it and dry it, and the stain always appears again: so it requires a miracle to cleanse the impure soul.

Mothers

† ♥ † Mothers † ♥ †

By a stroke of luck or by mere chance, any woman can become a mother. Nature has endowed her with the unique “maternal instinct” with the purpose of preserving the human species.

If it were not for that, what she would do when she heard that little, small creature weeping, wrinkled and constantly crying, would be to throw it into the garbage can.

But, thanks to that “maternal instinct,” she looks at it in ecstasy, and finds it precious, and disposes herself to take care of it for free until it turns 21, at least.

To be a mother is to ponder that blowing noses and changing diapers is much nobler than to finish school, to triumph in the business world or to remain thin.

To be a mother is to exercise that vocation without rest, always singing “brush your teeth, go to bed, do your homework, don’t smoke, drink milk.”

To be a mother is to worry about immunization, clean ears, school, offensive language, boyfriends and girlfriends without feeling offended or hurt when your children hush you up or slam the door in your face… just because they do not have anything better to do…

To be a mother is to stay awake waiting until your daughter comes back from a party and, once she gets home, pretend to be asleep so as not to disturb her.

To be a mother is to tremble when your son learns to drive, rides motorcycles, starts to shave, falls in love, takes exams or has a terrible accident.

To be a mother is to sob when you see your children happy and bite your tongue and smile when you see them suffering.

To be a mother is to be a baby-sitter, a chauffer, a cook, a doctor, a policeman, a confessor, a mechanic and do the laundry without getting paid.

To be a mother is to give all your love and your time without expecting to be gratified or thanked.

To be a mother is to say, “It’s normal for their age” when they rebel against you.

Mother is the one who loves us and takes care of us every single day of her life and cries with emotion because we remember her once a year: on Mother’s Day.

The worst defect that mothers have is that they die before we are able to reward them for part of everything of what they have done. They leave us feeling handicapped, guilty and irreversibly orphans.

We are lucky to have only one… because NO ONE would be able to cope with the pain of losing her twice.

- Isabel Allende

Blessed Pope Pius IX

O.K. I had forgotten to include this picture - how could I!?

Declaration of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception!

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Since I have already posted a "tribute" to Pius XII (in pictures), it's now Bl. Pius IX's turn - due to the fact that he is one of my favorite Popes! I wish I had video clips of him...

The Pope of the Immaculate Conception!

Triregno given to Pope Pius IX by Catholic Queen Isabel II of Spain - made of 18, 000 jewels

Body of Pope Pius IX

The Pope-King

Pius IX praying

The Pope and the Church

Great statue!

Burial place of Pius IX

No fringes, just tassels!

The Immaculate Conception

Pius IX blessing

Bl. Pius IX's relics

Santa Maria sopra Minerva

Santa Maria sopra Minerva

O.K. Here is another short video (10 mins and 35 secs) of Pope Pius XII. This was a Mass in honor of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Catherine of Sienna at the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

Almost at the end, you will here our Pope preach!

Enjoy!

Salus Pópuli Románi

Another video for those of you who just love seeing the Angelic Pope in liturgical action!

Salus Pópuli Románi

This is a video (short) of the coronation of the image of Our Lady under the title "Salvation of the Roman People."

Enjoy!

Marian Month

I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue.

Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow
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I am the Immaculate Conception
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In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph

Who is She that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?

I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on mount Sion. I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho: As a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted. I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon. and aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh.