Charity or the Love of God

What is Charity? A supernatural habit of the mind whereby we love God above all things for His own sake, and ourselves and our neighbor for Him. It is a theological virtue like [Faith and Hope], but higher than they, and the only eternal one of the three. Faith and Hope will take us as far as the threshold of eternity, but when we actually enter it they will have fallen away. Only of Charity St. Paul has said: Charity never falleth away, never dies; it is eternal, like God Himself, like the Holy Spirit Who pours it into our hearts; and of such surpassing excellence that only the Divine Spirit can infuse it; of a quality that no human force or even the strength of the seraphim, the spirits of love, can impart to us. ~Fr. Escribano

Even supposing -an impossible supposition, of course- that every virtue were enshrined in my soul, my whole existence a most fertile soil and limitless source of heroism, if I lack Charity, nihil mihi prodest, nihil sum; it would avail me nothing, I should count for nothing (Cor. xiii, 3). Charity is necessary -necessitate medii- for my justification and salvation. Who does not love God is in sin.... Whoever appears before the Judgment-seat of God without the cloth-of-gold garment of divine love will have his part and lot with the hypocrites in the unquenchable fire. ~Fr. Escribano

O God, let the solemn, imperative, and burning proclamation which accompanied the issuing of the great precept of love on Mount Sinai serve to impel my entry into the Kingdom of those that love Thee: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength and with thy whole mind (Deut. vi, 5)... for this is the greatest and the first commandment (Matt. xxii, 37). ~Fr. Escribano

The act of least outward significance, for instance, to give someone a drink of water, if done out of supernatural charity is of greater value in the sight of the Supreme Judge than the tortures of a St. Laurence if endured without Charity. ~Fr. Escribano

...Because it is so necessary to love [to have Charity] in man's life, God has imposed it upon him as a precept... and has placed it at the head of His commandments... and He has even summarized in it all the other (precepts). He who loves, keeps already all the other commandments. ~Fr. Villar

The fool, the Innocent, the Wise

He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool. Shun him.

He who knows not and knows that he knows not is a child. Teach him.

He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep. Wake him.

He who knows and knows that he knows is a wise man. Follow him.

Greed; Avarice

Avarice is "that love of money which makes a man an idolater." ~Eph. 5:5.

"Money is a good servant, but a bad master"

"Once [avarice] dominates over me .... My spiritual faculties will live a life of dedication to the worship of my idol [money]. This will be the pursuit of my probing mind day and night. This will be my love above all other loves. My heart, created for the God of Heaven, will be full of the craving for wealth -- auri sacra fames -- and this will be my despicable god, whom I shall love with my whole heart, with my whole soul, with my whole mind, and with all my strength.... To this idol I shall sacrifice not only my own soul with its understanding, will, and affections, but the Word of God as well; yes the very Person of the Word, if avarice becomes my ruling passion." ~Fr. Escribano

"The craving for money is darkness to the soul -- Tenebræ animæ est pecuniarum cupido." ~St. John Chrysostom

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-->Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
-->It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

"It is the first of all the beatitudes to which Christ solemnly promised the possession of the Kingdom of Heaven. Poverty constituted one of the most important themes of His preaching... How he anathematized the rich!... How difficult did He make it for them to enter Heaven... more difficult than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle." ~Fr. Villar

The Roman Mass

"...So our Mass goes back, without essential change, to the age when it first developed out of the oldest Liturgy of all. It is still redolent of that Liturgy of the days when Cæsar ruled the world and thought he could stamp out the Faith of Christ, when our fathers met together before dawn and sang a hymn to Christ as to a God. The final result of our enquiry is that, in spite of unsolved problems, in spite of later changes, there is not in Christendom another Rite so venerable as ours." ~Fr. Adrian Fortescue, The Mass

"Sine Domínica non póssumus"

The four ends of the Mass

"If there is anything divine among man's possessions which might excite the envy of the citizens of heaven (could they ever be swayed by such a passion), this is undoubtedly the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, by means of which men, having before their eyes, and taking into their hands the very Creator of Heaven and earth, experience, while still on earth, a certain anticipation of Heaven. How keenly, then, must mortals strive to preserve and protect this inestimable privilege with all due worship and reverence, and be ever on their guard lest their negligence offend the Angels who vie with them in eager adoration!” ~Pope Urban VII

Mass during the Penal Days in Ireland

Mosaic of the Mass during the early centuries of the Church

Coronation Mass of Paul VI

Cristeros

"[The Mass] came forth out of the grand mind of the Church, and lifted us out of earth and out of self, and wrapped us round in a cloud of mystical sweetness and the sublimities of a more than angelic Liturgy, and purified us almost without ourselves, and charmed us with the celestial charming, so that our very senses seemed to find vision, hearing, fragrance, taste, and touch beyond what earth can give." ~Fr. Faber

"Such is the grandeur of the August Sacrifice of our Altars that God has brought down the downfall of every other religious sacrifice in its trail. ~Fr. Escribano

The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

"We therefore urge all Our children in Christ, both those who are already accustomed to drink the saving waters flowing from the Heart of the Redeemer and, more especially those who look on from a distance like hesitant spectators, to eagerly embrace this devotion. Let them carefully consider, as We have said, that it is a question of a devotion which has long been powerful in the Church and is solidly founded on the Gospel narrative. It received clear support from tradition and the Sacred Liturgy and has been frequently and generously praised by the Roman Pontiffs themselves. These were not satisfied with establishing a Feast in honor of the Most Sacred Heart of the Redeemer and extending it to the Universal Church; they were also responsible for the solemn acts of dedication which consecrated the whole human race to the same Sacred Heart." ~ Pius XII, Haurietis Aquas

The Charity of Christ compels us

Salvátor Mundi

Ecuadorian Present, García Moreno, consecrates Ecuador to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Corpus Christi

"The Faith of the Church is this: That One and Identical is the Word of God and the Son of Mary Who suffered on the Cross, Who is present in the Eucharist, and Who rules in Heaven." ~ Pope Pius XII

Hello! Here are a few videos and pictures of the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Corpus Christi - 1928

Corpus Domini: John XXIII, 1962

Eucharistic Congress of Budapest - 1938

Corpus Domoni - Pio XI, 1933

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