Charity demands much from us - traditionally-minded and otherwise

Today's attack on Michael Voris - stemming as it did from recent accusations against the SSPX made by Church Militant - has got me thinking about charity.

What have I concluded? It is sorely lacking among Catholics of all stripes, not just one particular Catholic group or another.

It is said, by both Paul and the Beloved Disciple, that charity is the greatest of virtues. We can have faith. We can have hope. But if we don't have charity, then, well, faith and hope mean nothing.

Yes, it is that simple and stark. And it is sorely missed in our world today.

We are all familiar with the epithets the pope hurls at simple, small-town bloggers like myself, Barona, Vox Cantoris, Boniface, and so on. Pharisee. Rigid. Rosary-counter. Self-absorbed, Promethean neo-Pelagian.

We are also familiar, no doubt, with the times in our lives when Catholics who don't think as we do have resorted to ad hominems and have looked upon us unfavorably as a result of what we say. Blogger and otherwise.

These ought to irk us, and rightly so, as they are quite uncharitable.

But - and I say this with a strong awareness of my own culpability in this - that does not justify returning the favor as traditionally-minded Catholics.

Like I said earlier, I get it. We are angry and frustrated after being poked at with a stick in a cage for 50 to 60 years. We feel robbed and we want things to be solved as of yesterday.

But really --- does it justify the viritol and mud-slinging we see between various traditional Catholic factions on a daily basis?

No one is immune from this lack of charity. I, admittedly, capitulated to this with my short series on the "true traditionalists."

Barona has admitted to personal, unrestrained anger at some Catholic figures in the past, and issued a public apology on this blog.

The FSSP, during some important festivities here in Canada last year, used the occasion to once again lamblast the SSPX for being "in schism" and whatever else.

Some Catholics who attend Masses offered by the SSPX like to opine that the Fraternity was created to destroy the SSPX.

I would go on, but I have made my point.

Charity is sorely lacking in many, many Catholics these days. It doesn't matter who I am talking about, we could all use lessons in charity from time to time. Traditionally-minded Catholic or otherwise. Even if it is the same lesson we keep on needing to be told.

The virtue of Charity is so important that entire books have been written on it, and continue to be written as I speak.

It demands a lot from us, this virtue. It always has, and as humans, we have failed in exhibiting it as as a whole time and time again. The only difference between earlier times and this one is that the stunning lack of it is more accessible for all to see.

Perhaps - just perhaps - it is time to break this cycle, starting with our own lives.

Leave Michael Voris alone!

It seems like everyone has a problem with everyone these days.

If it's not this person, it's that person. It never seems to end, this nitpicking and character assassination.

Case in point: Michael Voris.

Whatever Mr. Voris' problems are, they are his problems and he needs to work them out, just like we must work out whatever our own problems are. 

We can't do that for him. However much we might want to.

But does it justify the "fraternal corrections" that are going on right now with regards to his past homosexual lifestyle - which he has fully, publicly repented of, by the way - and his denouncement of the homosexual lobby in the Church via his apostolate, Church Militant?

No. No, it does not.

This bringing up his homosexual past to call his denouncement of the homosexual lobby hypocritical, by the way, is detraction.

And what do they call detraction? A mortal sin.

Look, folks. Yes, the situation in the Church is bad. It's really bad. So bad, to the point where yours truly is really not interested in delving into the muck and pulling out whatever is wriggling to write about, for their own spiritual benefit.

But that doesn't justify any of the backbiting and whatever foolishness we are doing. I get it. We're angry. We're frustrated. We've been poked at in a cage for 50 to 60 years. We want to punch someone - figuratively speaking, of course. We want answers, we want solutions, and we want them yesterday.

But, is any of this acceptable to Our Lord? Of course not. What did He do when He hung on the Tree of our salvation? He asked His Father to forgive His enemies, for they knew not what they were doing.

We are all called to imitate Our Lord in this life.

So, perhaps instead of going out there to "call out" Mr. Voris for his particular mistakes, and whatever "beef" you have with him, perhaps pray for him and his intentions?

This would be a much better action than what others have suggested so far, suggestions that I have echoed and have since realized were uncharitable on my part.

In short, leave Mr. Voris alone! Do not continue the cycle that has plagued the Church since 1970.

The working class didn't ask for the changes wrought by Vatican II

Our Canadian readers may be familiar with the name Anne Roche Muggeridge, the daughter of a Newfoundland coal miner who passed on to her eternal reward in 2010. She is known for two things: establishing the Latin Mass community in St. Catherine's, Ontario (which is still ongoing), and her books The Gates of Hell and The Desolate City. 

One thing that struck me in her books is how she juxtaposes her early life in the Church in Newfoundland and her life adjusting to the Church after the Council. Of note are two visits to a convent in Newfoundland, before and after the Council. In her visit prior to the Council, she describes the nuns as having a proper sense of decorum, piety and bearing appropriate to convent life. After the Council however, the rapid abandonment of these norms caused great pain in Anne. She makes it clear that, as one from the working class, this was something she did not want to see or witness, and that it caused her great sorrow to see such a thriving community whittle away in a number of years.

Which brings us to today.

On Twitter this morning, a user by the name of Michael Grasinski revealed that he attended his first High Mass yesterday. In the Tweet he put up, he admitted that not only did he connect with the saints in "a new and special way," he also felt "like [he] had be robbed up to this point." 

In a few short words, Mr. Grasinski echoed what the late Mrs. Muggeridge felt in the immediate aftermath of the Council.

She, Mr. Grasinski, and countless others, including you and I, have been robbed of our heritage because of what a few conniving Roman intellectuals decided what would be "best" for the Church.

Let me be perfectly clear.

The changes foisted onto the laity during and after the Council - a laity overwhelmingly comprised of the working class - were not asked of on the part of the laity. Not. One. Iota.

These changes were instigated and put into writing by men who had let the intellect supercede their faith, if they had faith in the first place.

It is a pattern that continues today, with the likes of Cardinal Marx and countless others pushing for yet more changes to the perennial rituals and teachings of the Church using intellectual - flawed, yes, but intellectual nonetheless - arguments.

To understand just how intellectually-driven the "reformers" were at the Council, I recommend a reading of The Rhine Flows into the Tiber, written by a Father who was present for much of the Council and speaks to the machinations that went on. 

Machinations that were in no way instigated by the working class.

It was 50 Years ago today....Apollo 11

OUR BEAUTIFUL EARTH
Apollo 11 Mission, Copyright NASA

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth,
the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, 

while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

(Genesis 1, 1-3). 

20 more years under Francis? No thanks!

Three years after becoming a traditionally-minded Catholic: A reflection

Lately, I have been feeling rather worn out and unmotivated to blog anything profound and original, despite my earlier injunction to keep calm and resist on. My mind has been on many things.

In a few short days, it will be the third year anniversary of the moment I admitted there was something deeply wrong with the Novus Ordo, and began looking for the nearest TLM to attend.

It has been a long three years, three years I wish I could easily forget.

When I became traditionally-minded, I imagined everyone would get along, and people would be in accord about what is important and what is not important. 

That turned out to be far from the case.

While it started off fairly well in October 2016, I soon became embroiled in intra-traditionalist disputes. I was involved in the Giles Mongeau Affair at the Toronto Oratory. A post I made at Vox Cantoris about the constant pandering to the youth by this current pontificate made me an easy target for the man behind the Toronto TLM Serving blog, who directly insulted my intelligence and threatened my spiritual welfare, all because I associated myself with Vox Cantoris. (His insults still rankle me, I must admit.)

More recently, I fell out with local traditionalists who I considered my friends, because my conscience could no longer justify the gossip (which I willingly participated in, to my regret) they were spreading about others. While I am healing from this and coming to terms with my own culpability in the matter, it still hurts, because I honestly thought they would be courageous enough to apologize and work with those they have stated ideological differences with.

Many times, I have been tempted to flee this personal madness and return to the Novus Ordo, where I did not have to deal with all of this (seemingly frequent) infighting. Even now.

But then - I remember. There is madness and infighting there too. It is why I left the Novus Ordo and began to attend the TLM near exclusively three years ago.

Right now, I am happy with the decisions I have made. I have made positive steps towards figuring out what my calling will look like. I attend the Old Rite Mass offered by a diocesan priest (a man I consider a friend) at a local chapel as often as I can. It is a quiet place, and the regular attendees do not cause any fuss, while helping Father a great deal. My list of close friends is quite small now. Life is quieter - I focus on maintaining the friendships I have, being there for my family, and hope to God I am drawing ever closer to Him.

In short, the madness and infighting I have witnessed have been a blessing. A blessing that hurt, yes, but a blessing nonetheless. 

Friends, do not give up. We are under a great shadow, a shadow which is eclipsing the Church belonging to Christ. I daresay the primary one casting this shadow is Pope Bergoglio. This is causing great consternation among the faithful. It is why we are seeing the madness and infighting becoming more and more incessant with each passing day - among all sorts of Catholics.

What keeps me going is remembering that the night is darkest before the dawn. The current madness and infighting will not last forever. The sun will light up the horizon at some point. It is only when we are deep in the depths of night that we are tired, worn out, and unmotivated to carry on the battle.

Even so, I daresay the dawn is already breaking.

Freedom of speech regarding Unplanned movie defended by Cineplex CEO

In a few days, the pro-life movie Unplanned, showcasing the story of Abby Johnson, will be shown in select movie theatres across Canada.

As expected, there has been a strong reaction to the mere showing of the film from the pro-death cult. Death threats have been issued against some theatres.

The hysteria over the film from the abortion advocates has been nothing short of madness.

However, last night, the CEO of Cineplex issued a stunning statement defending the showing of the film in their theatres in terms of the freedom of speech.

It is below.

Go see Unplanned at your nearest theatre.

Fr. Thomas J. Rosica, CSB officially shuts down his Twitter

At long last, Fr. Thomas J. Rosica, CSB has shut down his Twitter account.

It was done quietly, with no fanfare.

In other words, Tom did the right thing in doing what he has done, and in how he has done it.

Since his plagiarism scandal broke into the Catholic mainstream this past February - Tom's incessant plagiarism was reported by Vox Cantoris first in 2014 - Tom has shown little active repentance for his actions.

Up until now, his Twitter account remained active, tweeting out the stories approved by the Catholic Establishment Media, even when he was supposedly on sabbatical from Salt and Light Media Foundation.

This is a promising development on Tom's part.

Now that he is no longer concerned with organizing media-related events, hosting his Witness show, or whatever else he did as the Catholic media darling of the Canadian Catholic Bishops, Tom has time to be a simple parish priest.

This is what all priests should strive to be: simple, ministers to their flock and unfettered with worldly affairs such as being CEOs of media entities or Twitter.

One hopes that this drastic reduction of his priestly ministry to its bare bones - brought about as it was by his own arrogant, prideful, sociopathic hand - will lead to his eternal salvation.

There is still a chance for Tom. Pray that he may find the avenue to his own salvation, and be open to God's grace as he does so.

The Vortex - Devils with Mitres

In this video, Michael Voris speaks about Cardinal Joseph Tobin, of Newark, New Jersey.

Cardinal Tobin is a Redemptorist who openly supports sodomy.

The Redemptorists were founded by St. Alphonsus de Ligouri, a Doctor of the Church, in 1732 in Italy, in accord with messages from God given to the Blessed Sr. Mary Celeste Crostarosa.

St. Alphonsus enjoined the Redemptorists to spread the message of the Last Things in accord with the Redemption, while also engaging in contemplation.

Indeed, this unique blend of active contemplation was the norm of the Redemptorists until the Second Vatican Council, after which they embraced the active life at the expense of the contemplative.

Cardinal Tobin is the Superior of the Redemptorists, and is a product of that focus on the active life.

Would St. Alphonsus, the man who wrote extensively on the Duties and Dignities of the Priest,  even to the point where he speaks of the sacrilegious priest - which is what a priest becomes when he supports sodomy - approve of Cardinal Joseph Tobin?

This writer thinks not.

Litany of the Most Precious Blood

For private recitation.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
have mercy on us.

Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father,
save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
save us.
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
save us.
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony,
save us.
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging,
save us.
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns,
save us.
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
save us.
Blood of Christ, price of our salvation,
save us.
Blood of Christ, Without Which there is no forgiveness,
save us.
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls,
save us.
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
save us.
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
save us.
Blood of Christ, courage of Martyrs,
save us.
Blood of Christ, strength of Confessors,
save us.
Blood of Christ, bringing forth Virgins,
save us.
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
save us.
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
save us.
Blood of Christ, solace in sorrow,
save us.
Blood of Christ, hope of thepenitent,
save us.
Blood of Christ, consolationof the dying,
save us.
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
save us.
Blood of Christ, pledge of eternal life,
save us.

Blood of Christ, freeing souls from purgatory,
save us.
Blood of Christ, most worthyof all glory and honor,
save us.

Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord!.
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord!.
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us, O Lord!

V. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood.
R. And made us, for our God, a Kingdom.

Let us pray.
Almighty and eternal God, Thou hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and willed to be appeased by His Blood. Grant we beg ofThee, that we may worthily adore this price of our salvation, and through its power be safeguarded from the evils of the present life, so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in Heaven. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen.

The Ruin of Canada: Just another Nation-State that has rejected Christ and His Church

Today marks Dominion Day in Canada. Canada is a very, very different country; indeed, unrecognizable from the days of her inception in 1867. No country is perfect, but these countries were run by and populated by people who were either Christians, trying to be Christians, or at least retained and respected some of their Christian heritage. 

Today, that is all gone. A grotesque, macabre, evil has implanted itself. Exemplifying this evil, is the vile, narcissistic creature that masquerades as "Prime Minister" of Canada, Justin Trudeau.

In truth, this hateful wretch is appropriately described by Vox Cantoris in the following words, with an added warning to Canadians: 

Justin Trudeau is a wicked man. No man could take the positions he has taken without having a darkened mind and an uninformed conscience. That Last Judgement will come for Justin Trudeau as it will come for all of us. It will be severe for him but it will be even more severe for the bishops and priests who have by design or dereliction failed to teach the faith to him and to the Catholics of Canada and you, my fellow Catholics, who voted for this man and this government and continue to support it will also be held accountable.

Let us now reflect on the warning of the Popes if Nations abandon Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life: 


We remember saying that these manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics: and we said further, that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations. Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ; and that We promised to do as far as lay in Our power. Pius XI). 

His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ." Leo XIII

If, therefore, the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ. What We said at the beginning of Our Pontificate concerning the decline of public authority, and the lack of respect for the same, is equally true at the present day. "With God and Jesus Christ," we said, "excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, the very basis of that authority has been taken away, because the chief reason of the distinction between ruler and subject has been eliminated. The result is that human society is tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation." Pius XI 

Pray to St. Joseph for the conversion of Canada.  

The Feast of the Most Precious Blood

Today, July 1st, marks the feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the calendars from 1850 to 1962.

Originally celebrated in Spain in the 16th century, the Feast of the Most Precious Blood was extended to all of Christendom in 1849 after Pope Pius IX went into exile at Gelata in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. At the time, it was to be celebrated on the first Sunday in July, and it was under St. Pius X's reforms that the Feast was fixed on July 1st.

It was raised to the rank of Double of the First Class in 1933 under Pope Pius XI, then changed to a Feast of the 1st Class in 1960 under St. John XXIII. Only nine years later, under Paul VI, the feast was removed from the General Roman Calendar, ostensibly because the Precious Blood "is already venerated in the solemnities of the Passion, of Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart of Our Lord, and in the feast of the Exhaltation of the Holy Cross."

Our Lord willingly shed His Precious and Sacred Blood for the redemption of mankind, and it is by remembering the fact He did so we are inspired to make due reparation for our sins.

It is no surprise that this feast was cast aside in the 1969-70 reforms, reforms (as Annibale Bugnini himself admitted) designed to diminish the realities of hell, judgment and reparation.

It is long past time to make this feast a part of the mainstream Church again.

JOHN the Baptist has pointed out the Lamb, Peter has firmly established his throne, Paul has prepared the bride; their joint work, admirable in its unity, at once suggests the reason for their feasts occurring almost simultaneously in the cycle. The alliance being now secured, all three fall into shade; whilst the bride herself, raised up by them to such lofty heights, appears alone before us, holding in her hands the sacred cup of the nuptial-feast. 

This gives the key of today's solemnity, revealing how its appearance in the heavens of the holy liturgy at this particular season is replete with mystery. The Church, it is true, has already made known to the sons of the new covenant, in a much more solemn manner, the price of the Blood that redeemed them, its nutritive strength and the adoring homage which is its due. On Good Friday earth and heaven beheld all sin drowned in the saving stream, whose eternal flood-gates at last gave way beneath the combined effort of man's violence and of the love of the Divine Heart. The festival of Corpus Christi witnessed our prostrate worship before the altars whereon is perpetuated the Sacrifice of Calvary, and where the outpouring of the precious Blood affords drink to the humblest little ones, as well as to the mightiest potentates of earth, lowly bowed in adoration before it. How is it, then, that holy Church is now inviting all Christians to hail, in a particular manner, the stream of life ever gushing from the sacred fount? What else can this mean, but that the preceding solemnities have by no means exhausted the mystery? The peace which this Blood has made to reign in the high places as well as in the low; the impetus of its wave bearing back the sons of Adam from the yawning gulf, purified, renewed and dazzling white in the radiance of their heavenly apparel; the sacred Table outspread before them on the watcrs' brink, and the chalice brimful of inebriation-----all this preparation and display would be objectless, all these splendours would be incomprehensible, if man were not brought to see therein the wooings of a love that could never endure its advances to be outdone by the pretensions of any other.

 Therefore, the Blood of Jesus is set before our eyes at this moment as the Blood of the Testament; the pledge of the alliance proposed to us by God; [Exod. xxiv 8;  Heb. ix 20] the dower stipulated by eternal Wisdom for this Divine union to which He is inviting all men, and its consummation in our soul which is being urged forward with such vehemence by the Holy Ghost. 

'Having therefore, brethren, a confidence in entering into the Holies by the Blood of Christ,' says the Apostle, a new and living way which He hath dedicated for us through the veil-----that is to say, His flesh-----let us draw near with a pure heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with clean water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He is faithful that hath promised. Let us consider one another to provoke unto charity and to good works.  [Heb. x 19-24] And may the God of peace Who brought again from the dead the great Pastor of the sheep, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Blood of the everlasting Testament, fit you in all goodness, that you may do His will: doing in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to Whom is glory for ever and ever. Amen! [Ibid. xiii 20, 21]

Nor must we omit to mention here, that this feast is a monument of one of the most brilliant victories of holy Church in our own age. Pius IX had been driven from Rome in 1848 by the triumphant revolution; but the following year, just about this season, his power was re-established. Under the regis of theApostles on June 28 and the two following days, the eldest daughter of the Church, faithful to her past glories, swept the ramparts of the eternal city; and on July 2, Mary's festival, the victory was completed. Not long after this, a twofold decree notified to the city and to the world the Pontiff's gratitude and the way in whicp. he intended to perpetuate, in the sacred liturgy, the memory of these events. On August 10, from Gaeta itself, the place of his exile in the evil day, Pius IX, before returning to reassume the government of his States, addressing himself to the invisible Head of the Church, confided her in a special manner to His Divine care, by the institution of this day's festival; reminding Him that it was for His Church that He had vouchsafed to shed all His Precious Blood. Then, when the Pontiff re-entered his capital, turning to Mary, just as Pius V and Pius VIII had done under other circumstances, the Vicar of Christ solemnly attributed the honour of the recent victory to her who is ever the help of Christians; for on the feast of her Visitation it had been gained; and he now decreed that this said feast of July 2 should be raised from the rite of double major to that of second class throughout the whole world. This was a prelude to the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which the immortal Pontiff had already projected, whereby the crushing of the serpent's head would be completed. 

The Church, formed by the Apostles from all the nations under Heaven, advances towards the altar of the Spouse Who hath redeemed her in His Blood, and in the Introit hails His merciful love. She, henceforth, is the kingdom of God, the depository of truth. 

 The Blood of the Man-God, being the pledge of peace between Heaven and earth, the object of profoundest worship, the centre of the whole liturgy, and our assured protection against all the evils of this present life, deposits, even now, in the souls and bodies of those whom it has ransomed, the germ of eternal happiness; The Church, therefore, in her Collect, begs of the Father, Who has given us His Only-begotten Son, that this Divine germ may not remain sterile within us, but may come to full development in Heaven.  . . .

It was by His Own Blood that the Son of God entered into Heaven; this Divine Blood continues to be the means whereby we also may be introduced into the eternal alliance. Thus, the old Covenant, founded on the observance of the precepts of Sinai, had likewise by blood consecrated the people and the law, the tabernacle and the vessels it was to contain; but the whole was but a figure.

'Now,' says St Ambrose, 'it behoves us to tend to truth. Here below, there is the shadow; here below, there is the image; up yonder, there is the truth. In the law was but the shadow; the image is to be found in the Gospel; the truth is in Heaven. Formerly a lamb was immolated; now Christ 
is sacrificed, but only under the signs of the mysteries, whereas in Heaven it is without veil. There alone, consequently, is full perfection unto which our thoughts should cleave, because all perfection is in truth without image and without shadow.' [Ambr. De Offic. I 48] There alone is rest: thither, even in this world, do the sons of God tend; without indeed attaining fully thereunto, they reach nearer and nearer day by day; for there alone is to be found that peace which forms Saints. 

'O Lord God,' cries out in his turn another illustrious doctor, the great St. Augustine, 'give us this peace, the peace of repose, the peace of the seventh day, of that Sabbath whose sun never sets. Yea! verily the whole order of nature and grace is very beautiful unto Thy servitors, and goodly are the realities they cover; but these images, these successive forms, bide only awhile, and their evolution ended they pass away. The days Thou didst fill with Thy creations are composed of morning and of evening, the seventh alone excepted, for it declineth not, because Thou hast for ever sanctified it in Thine Own rest. Now what is this rest, save that which Thou takest in us, when we ourselves repose in Thee, in the fruitful peace which crowns the series of Thy graces in us? O sacred rest, more productive than labour! the perfect alone know Thee, they who suffer the Divine hand to accomplish within them the work of the six days.' [Aug. Confess. xiii 35-37; de Genesi ad_litt. iv 13-17; et alibi passim.]

And the Apostle goes on to say, interpreting by means of other parts of Scripture his own words, just read to us by holy Church, 'And therefore today if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts.'  [Heb. iii 7, 8, ex Ps. xciv] The Divine Blood has made us participators of Christ: it is our part not to squander, as though it were worthless, this immense treasure, this initial incorporation which unites us to Christ, the Divine Head; but let us abandon ourselves, without reserve, to the energy of this precious leaven, whose property it is to transform our whole being into Him. Let us be afraid lest we fall short of the promise referred to in toay's Epistle, that promise of our entering into God's rest, as St. Paul tells us. It regards all believers, he says, and this Divine Sabbath is for the whole people of the Lord. Therefore, let us make haste to enter in; let us not be like those Jews whose incredulity excluded them for ever from the promised land. [Heb. iii, iv] 

The Gradual brings us back to the great testimony of the love of the Son of God, confided to the Holy Ghost, together with the Blood and Water of the Mysteries: a testimony which is closely linked here below with that which is rendered by the Holy Trinity in Heaven. If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, sings the Verse. What is this but to say, once again, that we must absolutely yield to these reiterated invitations of love? None may excuse himself by pleading either ignorance or want of vocation to a higher state than that to which tepidity inclines him. Let us hearken to the Apostle addressing himself to all, in this same Epistle to the Hebrews: 'Yea, verily; great and ineffable are these things. But if you have become little able to understand them, it is your own fault; for whereas for the time you ought to be masters, you have need to be taught again what are the first elements of the words of God: and you are become such as have need of milk, though your age would require the solid meat of the perfect. Wherefore, as far as concerns us in our instructions to you, leaving the word of the elementary teaching of Christ, let us go on to things more perfect, not laying again the foundation of penance from dead works, and of faith towards God. Have you not been illuminated? have you not tasted also the heavenly gift? Have you not been made partakers of the Holy Ghost? What showers of graces at every moment water the earth of your soul! It is time that it bring in a return to God Who tills it. Ye have delayed long enough: be now, at last, of the number of those who by patience and faith shall inherit the promises, casting your hope like an anchor sure and firm, which entereth in even within the veil, where the forerunner Jesus has entered for us-----that is, to draw us in thither after Him. [Heb. v, vi passim.] 

On Good Friday we heard for the first time this passage from the beloved disciple. The Church, as she stood mourning at the foot of the Cross whereon her Lord had just died, was all tears and lamentation. Toay, however, she is thrilling with other sentiments, and the very same narration that then provoked her bitter tears now makes her burst out into anthems of gladness and songs of triumph. If we would know the reason of this, let us turn to those who are authorized by her to interpret to us the burthen of her thoughts this day. They will tell us that the new Eve is celebrating her birth from the side of her sleeping Spouse; [ Aug. Horn. diei, ex tract. cxx: in Joan] that from the solemn moment when the new Adam permitted the soldier's lance to open His Heart, we became, in very deed, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. [Serm. II Nocturni] Do not be surprised if holy Church sees naught but love and life in the Blood which is gushing forth. 

And thou, O soul, long rebellious to the secret touches of choicest graces, be not disconsolate; do not say: 'Love is no more for me!' How far away soever the old enemy may, by wretched wiles, have dragged thee, is it not still true, that to every winding way, perhaps even to every pitfall, the streamlets of this sacred fount have followed thee? Thinkest thou, perhaps, that thy long and tortuous wanderings from the merciful course of these ever pursuant waters may have weakened their power? Do but try; do but, first of all, bathe in their cleansing wave; do but quaff long draughts from this stream of life; then, O weary soul, arming thyself with faith, be strong, and mount once more the course of the Divine torrent; for, as in order to reach thee it never once was separated from its fountain-head, so likewise be certain that by so doing thou needs must reach the very source itself. Believe me, this is the whole secret of the bride-----namely, that whencesoever she may come, she has no other course to pursue than this, if she would hear the answer to that yearning request expressed in the sacred Canticle: 'Show me, O Thou Whom my soul loveth, where Thou restest in the midday!' [Cant. i 6] Indeed, by reascending the sacred stream, not only is she sure of reaching the Divine Heart, but moreover she is ceaselessly renewing, in its waters, that pure beauty which makes her become in the eyes of the Spouse an object of delight and glory to Him. [Eph. v 27] For thy part, carefully gather up today the testimony of the disciple of love; and congratulating Jesus with the Church, His bride and thy mother, on the brilliancy of her empurpled robe, [Prima ant. in Vesp.] take good heed likewise to conclude with St John: 'Let us then love God, since he hath first loved us.' [1 St. John  iv 19

The Church, whilst presenting her gifts for the sacrifice, sings how that chalice which she is offering to the benediction of her sons, the priests, becomes by virtue of the sacred words the inexhaustible source whence the Blood of her Lord flows out upon the whole world. 

Taken from Dom Prosper Gueranger's commentary on the Feast of the Precious Blood in The Liturgical Year.