Dear friends,
In addition to the regular Holydays of Obligation, that is all Lord’s Days of the year, Thursday, May 25th is a Holyday of Obligation. This day should be observed in the same manner we observe the Lord’s Day, that is absolutely no work. Those who are self-employed should abstain completely from work, whereas those who are employed by others are permitted to work since this is necessary to discharging the duty of supporting one’s family.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 22nd, 23rd and 24th, Rogation days. Traditionally on these three days the Litany of the Saints is sung while a procession is made through the country side to beg God’s blessing on the fields.
Wednesday, May 24th, Vigil of Pentecost, Fast and Partial Abstinence.
Thursday, May 25th, The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven, Holyday of Obligation.
Friday, May 26th, the Novena of the Holy Ghost is made in preparation for the Feast of Pentecost.
Saturday, June 3rd, Vigil of Pentecost, Fast and Abstinence
Sunday, June 4th Pentecost, the Birthday of the Church. Let us pray for the exaltation of the Church in a Holy Hour on this day.
Wednesday, June 7th, Ember Wednesday, Fast and Partial Abstinence
On this evening We ask all to join with Us in the special fast announced during Lent. The fast commences with a Holy Hour (in families the Nocturnal Adoration recommended by Fr. Crowley-Boevey is recommended) at nine in the evening. Fasting is observed voluntarily on the Thursday, and abstinence from television and radio is observed until the end of the devotion. It is also recommended to recite the Exorcism Prayer of Pope Leo XIII on these four days. Friday, June 9th, Ember Friday, Fast and Abstinence
Saturday, June 10th Fast and partial abstinence. (Note the special fast ends at three pm, although the fast of the Church continues until midnight.)
Watch for an announcement during this Ember Week here.
Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit; the fatherless and widows in their tribulation and to keep one's self unspotted from this world. (James 1:27, from the Epistle for today)
My dear friends, We have reached the conclusion that We should devote Our instructions exclusively to the duty to love our neighbor. This precept of our Lord Jesus Christ to love our neighbor has been totally ignored. When We read this morning’s Epistle, We were inspired to add this to the necessary announcements above.
And then in Goffine We read a short instruction on the Lord’ Prayer, from which we would like to quote:
What does the word “Our” signify? In the communion of saints we should pray for and with all the children of God: we should be humble and preserve brotherly love towards all men.
What do we ask for in the fifth petition: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us?” We beg that God will forgive us our sins, as we forgive others their offenses against us. Those who make this petition and still bear enmity towards their neighbor, lie in the face of God, and will not receive forgiveness. (Mark 11:25-26)
And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain. (James 1:26) Indeed all around us we see the crimes of detraction and calumny multiplied.
Be cordial and kind, gentle and lowly; considerate towards others, severe upon yourself. (Fr. Grou’s Twentieth Maxim. We recommend acquiring and reading these maxims, which may still be on the internet. We have downloaded them.) It is time to institute the double standard as God would have us do it.
Saint Teresa said: Let us strive, then, always to look at the virtues and good qualities which we find in others, and to keep our own grievous sins before our eyes so that we may be blind to their defects. This is a course of action which, though we may not become perfect all at once, will help us to acquire one great virtue-namely, to consider all others better than ourselves.
But if thy brother shall offend against thee, go and rebuke him between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou shalt gain thy brother. And if he will not hear thee: take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand. And if he will not hear them: tell the church. And if he will not hear the church: let him be to thee as the heathen and publican., Matthew 18:15-17
In the order of correction as outlined by our Lord Jesus Christ above one thing is missing: Tell the world. It is left to the discretion of the Church, when the world should be informed. Gloss: Or, tell it to the whole Church, that his infamy may be the greater. After all these things follows excommunication, which ought to be inflicted by the mouth of the Church, that is, by the Priest, and when he excommunicates, the whole Church works with him; as it follows: “And if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican.”
To excuse telling others when we should not, we invoke the principle of seeking advice from a prudent third party. We shall go into more detail at a later time, but for now We wish to state that we can only go to someone from whom we will seek spiritual advice and from whom we have sought spiritual advice and taken it! And we do not go in order to justify our own self, but in order to seek advice on how best to proceed and to have our own actions analyzed, because no one is a judge in his own cause!
Saint John Chrysostom concludes: He that is pious towards men, is still more pious towards God. (Saint John Chrysostom, Homily VII on II Timothy 3:1-7. We shall comment on this more fully in another instruction.) It is this piety we all need to cultivate!
Pope Michael, Fifth Lord’s Day after Easter, May 21, 2006
Michael Fighting
"Michael…who standeth for…thy people," — Dan. 12:1-12
