Virgo Potens

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 19th The Mystery of the Precious Blood Had it not been for Jesus, the case of earth would have been hopeless, now that sin had come. God would have let it go, as he had let the angels go. It would have been all hateful and dark in His sight, as the home of the fallen spirits is. But it was not so. Earth was dimmed, but it was not darkened, disfigured but not blackened. God saw it through the Precious Blood, as through a haze; and there it lay with a dusky glory over it, like a red sunset, up to the day of Christ. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 18th 142. The second way in which we can sin in our actions by pride is when, knowing and admitting that we have received such and such a gift of God, we nevertheless attribute it inwardly to our own merit and desire that others should do so likewise, and in our exterior demeanour we behave as if we had indeed deserved to receive these gifts. It was thus that Lucifer sinned through pride; for being infatuated with his own beauty and nobility, and although he recognized that God was the author of it all, he nevertheless had the presumption to think that he had merited it himself and was worthy to sit beside God in the highest Heaven, “I will ascend into Heaven.” [Isai. xiv, 13] (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 18th The Mystery of the Precious Blood Sin came. With sin came many fearful consequences. This beautiful earth was completely wrecked. It went on through space in the sunshine as before: but in God's sight, and in the destiny of its inhabitants, it was all changed. Jesus could no longer come in a glorious and unsuffering Incarnation. Mary would have to die; and, though she was sinless, she would need to be redeemed with a single and peculiar redemption, a redemption of prevention, not of rescue. She also, the immaculate Mother and Queen of creation, must be bought by the Precious Blood. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 17th [141. continued] This is true pride, because if God had given all these good things for our use. He has reserved the glory of them for Himself. “To God alone be glory and honour,” [1 Tim. i, 17] and whoever usurps this glory is guilty of pride. And therefore we must observe with Saint Thomas that in order to commit a sin of pride it is not necessary to declare positively that these gifts do not come from God, for this would be a sin of infidelity, but it is enough that we should glory in them as if they belonged to us, “which relates to pride.” [2a 2æ, qu. clxii] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

St. Anne, pray for us. NOVENA to ST. ANNE (July 17- July 25) Begins today, July 17th, at Christus Regnat ~ https://t.me/RexUniversi

PRAYER to ST. ANNE May be said as a Novena (July 17- July 25) Begins today, July 17th, at Christus Regnat ~ https://t.me/RexUniversi

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 17th The Mystery of the Precious Blood To God's eye earth was all the more beautiful because it was innocent, and the dwelling-place of innocence. Then sin came. Why God let it come we do not know. We shall probably know in heaven. We are certain however that in some way or other it was more glorious for Him and better for us, that evil should be permitted. Some people trouble themselves about this. It does not trouble me at all. Whatever God does must of course be most right. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

2 of 2 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 16th In the same way the rich man, mentioned in St. Luke, sinned when he took such pleasure in his riches and regarded them as his own substance, saying: “I will gather all things, and will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.” [Luke xii, 18, 19] And, therefore, we may say that it is through this pride that all sin who flatter themselves and are ostentatious, glorifying themselves either for their great talents, or for their riches, or their prudence, or their eloquence, or the beauty of their body, or the costliness of their apparel, as if God had nothing to do with it, and who, esteeming themselves immoderately, desire also to be esteemed by others. ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 16th 141. St. Gregory and St. Thomas teach that one can sin in four different ways by one’s own acts of pride. The first is when we hold that we have any good, either bodily or spiritual, of ourselves, and glory in it as really belonging to us without thinking of God Who is the giver of all good gifts. It is with this pride that Arfaxad, King of the Medes, sinned when he gloried in the power of his enormous army; and King Nabuchodonosor sinned likewise when he boasted of the building of Babylon: “Is not this the great Babylon which I have built by the strength of my power?” [Dan. iv, 27] (continued)

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 16th The Mystery of the Precious Blood We know what an intense pleasure men take in looking at beautiful scenery. When we feel this pleasure, we ought to feel that we are looking at a little revelation of God, a very true one although a little one, and we ought to think of God’s complacency when He beheld the scenery of the primaeval earth, and rejoiced in what He saw. There was no sin then. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

St. Charbel, pray for us. NOVENA to ST. CHARBEL MAKHLUF Feast July 24th Countless, countless miracles are attributed to this remarkable saint of the Middle East, St. Charbel. Begins today at Christus Regnat ~ https://t.me/RexUniversi

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 15th [140. continued] The proud man does not take any pleasure in sermons, meditations, instructions concerning eternal truth, in fact they are wearisome to him. If you discover any signs of this in yourself, you must at once conclude that you are proud, and humble yourself a little, O you who read this doctrine, in order that the eternal Father of all light may give you light even as Christ said: “I confess to Thee, O Father, Who hast revealed them to little ones.” [Matt. xi, 25] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 15th The Mystery of the Precious Blood God made the stars; and, whether the earth was made by itself from the first, or was once part of the sun, and thrown off from it like a ring, God made the earth also, and shaped it, and adorned it, and filled it with trees and animals; and then looked upon His work, and it shone forth so beautifully with the light of His own perfections, that He blessed it, and, glorying in it, declared that it was very good. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

2 of 2 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 14th It is St. Thomas himself who will convince you of this. You can learn truth in two ways, that is by the intellect and by the affections. The proud man does not know it by his intellect, because God hides it from him, as Christ said: “Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent”; [Matt. xi, 25] and still less will he know it with his affection, because no one who takes pleasure in vanity can take pleasure in truth. “When the proud delight in their own excellence,” explains St. Augustine, “they recede from the excellence of truth.” [D. Th. 2a 2æ, qu. clxii, art. 3] (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 14th [140. continued] If you sift these worldly expressions, you will find that the quintessence of a most consummate pride issues therefrom. This is indeed the only thing I ask of you, that if you have unfortunately been deceived by others, you will at least not deceive yourselves. Study to know your own ills, if you wish to be cured of them. I recommend you only to apply yourselves to learn the truth and profit by this advice, that if the knowledge of this truth seems difficult to you, it is a sign that you are proud. (continued)

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 14th The Mystery of the Precious Blood But the sight of sin was also with God from the beginning, that is, through all His unbeginning eternity; and thus the Precious Blood also, as the ransom for sin, was with Him from the beginning. It was one of His eternal thoughts. If we may dare to say so, it was an idea which made Him more glorious, a thought which rendered Him more blessed. That same dear Blood, the thought of which makes us so happy now, has been part of God's happiness for ever. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

ON SACRIFICE (The Second Apparition of the Angel, 1916) ‘How must we sacrifice?' I asked the Angel. 'Offer God a sacrifice of anything you can as an act of reparation for the sins with which He is offended and as a supplication for the conversion of sinners. Draw peace upon your country by doing this. I am its guardian angel – the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and endure with submission whatever suffering the Lord sends you.' Then he disappeared. The angel's words were impressed upon our souls like a light that made us understand Who God is, how much He loves us and wishes to be loved, the value of sacrifice and how sacrifice pleases God, and how He converts sinners because of it. ~ Lucia dos Santos

2 of 2 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 13th As humility is generally called weak and contemptible by the blind lovers of this world, so pride is called courage and greatness, and the proud are said to be spirited, dignified, of noble behaviour and good judgment, sustaining their position with honour, maintaining their reputation, keeping up their rank and fulfilling the duties of their state. What a vocabulary of vanity! But let us set against it the vocabulary of truth which was used by Job: “I have said to rottenness, Thou art my father; to worms, my mother and my sister.” [Job xvii, 4] (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 13th 140. This last danger is for us the greatest of all, and all the more because we ourselves seem to co-operate so as not to recognize this vice, inventing titles, colours, artifices to conceal its ugliness, and studying innumerable pretexts in order to deceive ourselves into believing that pride is not pride, and does not reign in our heart at the very moment when it is more dominant than ever. (continued)