Treasures New & Old

He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old. Matt 13:52

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Love Among the Ruins

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Socialists Stealing The Very Gospel Itself

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For, indeed, although the socialists, stealing the very Gospel itself with a view to deceive more easily the unwary, have been accustomed to distort it so as to suit their own purposes, nevertheless so great is the difference between their depraved teachings and the most pure doctrine of Christ that none greater could exist: “for what participation hath justice with injustice or what fellowship hath light with darkness?” Their habit, as we have intimated, is always to maintain that nature has made all men equal, and that, therefore, neither honor nor respect is due to majesty, nor obedience to laws, unless, perhaps, to those sanctioned by their own good pleasure. But, on the contrary, in accordance with the teachings of the Gospel, the equality of men consists in this: that all, having inherited the same nature, are called to the same most high dignity of the sons of God, and that, as one and the same end is set before all, each one is to be judged by the same law and will receive punishment or reward according to his deserts. The inequality of rights and of power proceeds from the very Author of nature, “from whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named.” Pope Leo XIII on Socialism

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Make Them Pass Over From Death To Life

Jesus saith to her: Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith to him: I know that he shall rise again, in the resurrection at the last day.  Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live…When Mary therefore was come where Jesus was, seeing him, she fell down at his feet, and saith to him: Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. Jesus, therefore, when he saw her weeping, and the Jews that were come with her, weeping, groaned in the spirit, and troubled himself, And said: Where have you laid him? They say to him: Lord, come and see. And Jesus wept. John 11:22

Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
free the souls of all the faithful departed
from infernal punishment and the deep pit.
Free them from the mouth of the lion;
do not let Tartarus swallow them,
nor let them fall into darkness;
but may the sign-bearer, Saint Michael,
lead them into the holy light
which you promised to Abraham and his seed.

O Lord, we offer you
sacrifices and prayers in praise;
accept them on behalf of the souls
whom we remember today.
Make them pass over from death to life,
as you promised to Abraham and his seed. Offertory of Requiem Mass

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Jesus saith to her: Did not I say to thee, that if thou believe, thou shalt see the glory of God? They took therefore the stone away. And Jesus lifting up his eyes said: Father, I give thee thanks that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always; but because of the people who stand about have I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. When he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth. And presently he that had been dead came forth, bound feet and hands with winding bands; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus said to them: Loose him, and let him go.  Many therefore of the Jews, who were come to Mary and Martha, and had seen the things that Jesus did, believed in him. John 11:40

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Communists More Honest Than Western Seculars

“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world,” said the lecturer. “We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life is what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.” Chinese Academy of Social Sciences of the People’s Republic of China. (Source)

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She Will Be Sorely Afflicted

The Church well knows that the gates of hell will not prevail against her. Furthermore, she knows that she will be sorely afflicted; that her apostles are sent as lambs among wolves; that her followers will always bear the brunt of hatred and contempt, just as her Divine Founder received hatred and contempt. So the Church advances unafraid, spreading the Kingdom of God wherever she preaches and studying every possible means she can use in regaining the losses in the kingdom already conquered. “To restore all things in Christ” has always been the Church’s motto, and it is especially Our Own during these fearful moments through which we are now passing. “To restore all things” — not in any haphazard fashion, but “in Christ”; and the Apostle adds, “both those in the heavens and those on the earth.” “To restore all things in Christ” includes not only what properly pertains to the divine mission of the Church, namely, leading souls to God, but also what We have already explained as flowing from that divine mission, namely, Christian civilization in each and every one of the elements composing it. St. Pius X: Catholic Action

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In Hoc Signo Vinces

On this day (October 28) 312 A.D. : Constantine was directed in a dream to cause the heavenly sign to be delineated on the shields of his soldiers, and so to proceed to battle. He did as he had been commanded, and he marked on their shields the letter X, with a perpendicular line drawn through it and turned round thus at the top (P), being the cipher of CHRISTOS. Having this sign, his troops stood to arms.

The enemies advanced, but without their emperor, and they crossed the bridge. The armies met, and fought with the utmost exertions of valour, and firmly maintained their ground. In the meantime a sedition arose at Rome, and Maxentius was reviled as one who had abandoned all concern for the safety of the commonweal; and suddenly, while he exhibited the Circensian games on the anniversary of his reign, the people cried with one voice, “Constantine cannot be overcome!”

Dismayed at this, Maxentius burst from the assembly, and having called some senators together, ordered the Sibylline books to be searched. In them it was found that:- “On the same day the enemy of the Romans should perish.” Lactantius Account of Conversion of Constantine

He (Constantine) said that about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, CONQUER BY THIS. At this sight he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which followed him on this expedition, and witnessed the miracle. He said, moreover, that he doubted within himself what the import of this apparition could be. And while he continued to ponder and reason on its meaning, night suddenly came on; then in his sleep the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies. AT dawn of day he arose, and communicated the marvel to his friends: and then, calling together the workers in gold and precious stones, he sat in the midst of them, and described to them the figure of the sign he had seen, bidding them represent it in gold and precious stones. And this representation I myself have had an opportunity of seeing.

Now it was made in the following manner. A long spear, overlaid with gold, formed the figure of the cross by means of a transverse bar laid over it. On the top of the whole was fixed a wreath of gold and precious stones; and within this, the symbol of the Saviour’s name, two letters indicating the name of Christ by means of its initial characters, the letter P being intersected by X in its centre,and these letters the emperor was in the habit of wearing on his helmet at a later period. From the cross-bar of the spear was suspended a cloth, a royal piece, covered with a profuse embroidery of most brilliant precious stones; and which, being also richly interlaced with gold, presented an indescribable degree of beauty to the beholder. This banner was of a square form, and the upright staff, whose lower section was of great length, bore a golden half-length portrait of the pious emperor and his children on its upper part, beneath the trophy of the cross, and immediately above the embroidered banner. Eusebius of Caesarea’s account of the Conversion of Constantine

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Diocese want to save some money?….

Then get really small nuns…. They eat alot less.

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Non Ego

And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself for me. Gal 2:20

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Terrible As An Army Set In Array

One is my dove, my perfect one is but one, she is the only one of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and declared her most blessed: the queens and concubines, and they praised her. 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? Canticles 6:9

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The Turks, with their haughty emperor, were seized with the utmost consternation at the news of their dreadful overthrow; and the city of Constantinople was as much alarmed as if the enemy had been at the gates; many of the inhabitants carried their treasures to the Christians to keep for them, as if the town had been already in their hands. The infidels, who, elated by their rapid conquests in the East, had already swallowed up, in their imagination, Italy and all the rest of Christendom, were taught by this defeat that the tide of their victories was stemmed. The holy pope, from the beginning of the expedition, had ordered public prayers and fasts, and had not ceased to solicit heaven, with uplifted hands, like Moses on the mountain, besides afflicting his body by watching and fasting. At the hour of the battle, the procession of the Rosary in the church at the Minerva was pouring forth solemn prayers for the victory. The pope was then conversing with some cardinals on business; but, on a sudden, left them abruptly, opened the window, stood some time with his eyes fixed on the heavens, and then shutting the casement, said, “It is not now a time to talk any more upon business; but to give thanks to God for the victory he has granted to the arms of the Christians.” This fact was carefully attested, and authentically recorded both at that time and again in the process of the saint’s canonization.

In consequence of this miraculous victory, the pope ordered the festival of the Rosary to be kept on the first Sunday of October in perpetual thanksgiving to God, and in the litany of our Lady inserted those words, “succour of Christians.” He caused a triumph to be decreed Don John, which was graced with many illustrious prisoners; and he bestowed honours and gratifications on other generals and officers. Article on Lepanto

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Romanism! XIII

Hail, O Rome,
Eternal abode of memories;
A thousand palms and a thousand altars
Sing your praises.

O city of the Apostles,
Mother and guide of the elect,
Light of the nations,
And hope of the world!
Hail, O Rome!
Your light will never fade;
The splendour of your beauty
Disperses hatred and shame.

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O city of the Apostles,
Mother and guide of the elect,
Light of the nations,
And hope of the world! Pontifical Hymn

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(Church Fathers on the  Primacy of Rome)

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The Works of the Lord

For in his hand are both we, and our words, and all wisdom, and the knowledge and skill of works. For he hath given me the true knowledge of the things that are: to know the disposition of the whole world, and the virtues of the elements, The beginning, and ending, and midst of the times, the alterations of their courses, and the changes of seasons, The revolutions of the year, and the dispositions of the stars, The natures of living creatures, and rage of wild beasts, the force of winds, and reasonings of men, the diversities of plants, and the virtues of roots. Wisdom 7:16

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He Gave Them Power

And having called his twelve disciples together, he gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities. Matt 10:1

The cult that has emerged here in Sarsina, a town in the hills between Tuscany and the northern Adriatic Sea, centers on the metal collar. Legend has it that St. Vicinus, bishop in Sarsina around AD 300, used it first as a form of self-castigation when he prayed. It resembles a shackle that might be used on a slave. He would put it around his neck attached to a heavy stone to focus his mind in penitence.

Eventually he began to use it to ward off evil spirits. St. Vicinus became one of the church’s early exorcists, and the fame of the collar and its purported powers have endured. (The one used now is not said to be St. Vicinus’ original but is believed to date to the 8th or 9th century, roughly the same time the church was built.) St. Vicinus

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Another

I am come in the name of my Father, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. John 5:43

With their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. Matt 13:15

One of the many “Anothers”: I remember quite a few years back, when the gentleman on the  billboards (Menachem Schneerson) passed away his followers plastered stickers, and ads throughout NYC emblazoned with the word “Mosiach” (Messiah). Evidently some of the NY Hasidim considered him to be the long-awaitied Messiah. Some of them waited for his Resurrection (perhaps some still are). Some interesting articles below:

NY times Article: The messianists, who say they believe they can hasten the rebbe’s return by persuading as many people as possible that he is the messiah, promote their agenda in the streets, proselytizing regularly in non-Lubavitch neighborhoods, approaching strangers and prodding them to recite Yechi. Their calls are echoed by two messianic talk-radio shows, ”Living With Moshiach” (the Hebrew word for messiah) and ”Moshiach in the Air.”

They are also reclaiming an abandoned element of the religion; Judaism, after all, was the original Western messianic faith. Still, for most Jews today, observant and secular alike, the very concept of a messiah has become, at most, a metaphorical one.

Another Article (Protestant Site): Rebbe Menachem Schneerson wouldn’t be of much interest to most of us outside his movement, except for one fact. Beginning in the1980s, speculation was rife among many followers that the Rebbe was, indeed, the long awaited Messiah, the Moshiach, as they called him. Many Lubavitch were certain that Rebbe Schneerson would reveal himself as Moshiach. You could even see some bumper stickers around New York reading Moshiach Now!

There was only one slight problem. In 1994, the Rebbe died.

Here, though, is the fascinating thing: though Rebbe Schneerson died, speculation that he was the Messiah didn’t. Many followers believed that he would soon be resurrected and assume his rightful position as the Messiah. Rumors abounded that holes were drilled in the top of his coffin so that he could breathe. One Lubavitch newspaper wrote the following about Schneerson–after his death: “May our Master, Teacher, and Rabbi the King Messiah live forever.”
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Nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Matt 26:64

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