Honouring the Sacred Heart of Jesus…
St. Margaret Mary was born in 1647 in France. She entered the Religious Life and received apparitions during which Our Lord showed her His Sacred Heart. Jesus made twelve promises to her telling her how He would help those who honour His Sacred Heart. Jesus said to her: “Look at this Heart which has loved people so much, and yet they do not want to love Me in return. Through you My Divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth.” St. Margaret Mary died in 1690. Her Feast Day is October 17.
Below are the Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart. A couple of years ago, we discussed these; I remember quoting a friend who said she was amazed to find her own life transformed when she placed an image of the Sacred Heart in her home. She said that she had no doubt that Our Lord has kept his promise to bless her home in a very special way after she’d placed His image there and, moreover, she felt that she’d gained the grace to be fervent after many years of lukewarm indifference to the Faith. As we approach the end of June, Month of the Sacred Heart, perhaps it’s time to reflect on the Sacred Heart devotion, and in particular on the Twelve Promises, once again. Everything related to this devotion is of interest to us – personal anecdotes, experiences, especially if you believe, like my friend, that you have had the grace of experiencing one or more of the Promises of the Sacred Heart. Feel free, too, to share your favourite prayers and hymns to the Sacred Heart. Over to you…
Twelve Promises of the Sacred Heart…
1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life.
2. I will establish peace in their families.
3. I will comfort them in their trials.
4. I will be their secure refuge during life, and, above all, in death.
5. I will shed abundant blessings on all their undertakings
6. Sinners will find in My Heart an infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Lukewarm souls will become fervent.
8. Fervent souls will rapidly grow in holiness and perfection.
9. I will bless every place where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honoured.
10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. The names of those who promote this devotion will be written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
12. I promise thee, in the excessive mercy of My Heart, that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.
Comments (110)
To Honour The Sacred Heart, is to listen to His Church, and be guided by The Pastors given to us by him for our care.
FA,
If you even think of hijacking this thread to defend the current crisis in the Church, when the thread’s purpose is as stated in the introductory article, then your posts will be moderated and only published after due correction by me. I hope that’s clear. In fact, off topic comments will be removed from now on. Take note, please and thank you.
Now, if you don’t regard the following question as being revealing of “biographical details” may I ask (and receive an answer to) the following question.
Do you have an image of the Sacred Heart in your home?
First part of this comment removed.
Pope Paul VI, in a letter dated February 25, 1965, to all the Bishops of the world, wrote:
“This therefore seems to us to be the most suitable ideal: that devotion to the Sacred Heart . . . now reflourish daily more and more. Let it be esteemed by all as an acceptable form of true piety, which in our times, especially because of the norms laid down in the Second Vatican Council, must be rendered to Christ Jesus, ‘the King and Centre of all hearts…'”
On this, we sing from the same Hymn Sheet!
What is reputed to be The First Public Shrine for Devotion to The Sacred Heart in The U.K. is at the former Home of Blessed John Cardinal Newman, at Maryvale in Birmingham. It is, of course, well worth a visit, and he, himself, has much to teach us in his preaching, and writings.
I love the devotional threads, and I love that hymn on the video. It’s just beautiful.
I do have a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in my home, with a picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary alongside. I’m sure it has brought graces to my family as promised in no. 12 of the Promises of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary.
I made a mistake, it should be no. 9 of the Promises, not 12.
I have read the 12 promises of the Sacred Heart over and over, and I desire to cultivate a solid devotion to the Sacred Heart, the image of God’s love. When I get my own house, I will put up a picture of the Sacred Heart, enthroned by a Priest. I would like to do the First Fridays now, but my Church doesn’t do confessions on a Friday. I doubt that my PP has heard of them.
Catholic Convert 1,
You don’t need to go to Confession on the first Friday. You can confess anytime within the octave, so you can go to Confession on the Saturday before or after the First Friday. Most churches have Confessions on a Saturday.
Margaret Mary,
Do I just go to confession with the intention of fulfilling the First Friday devotion? Is there a particular prayer that I should say in this regard, such as an Act of Reparation?
You just go to Confession. End of.
Does home enthronement require a priest to do it?
Yes.
Oh that’s a shame. Do priests have time to visit people’s houses these days?
They don’t all play golf! From experience, I would say most priests would accept a specific invitation even if they do not routinely visit every house.
As with most of these things, the obligation would be to go to Confession at the first possible opportunity.
From Fisheaters:
Novena to the Sacred Heart
Say once a day for 9 days, especially beginning on the Feast of Corpus Christi and ending on the Feast of the Sacred Heart
O most holy Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore Thee, I love Thee and with a lively sorrow for my sins, I offer Thee this poor heart of mine. Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to Thy will. Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in Thee and for Thee. Protect me in the midst of danger; comfort me in my afflictions; give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, Thy blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Within Thy Heart I place my every care. In every need let me come to Thee with humble trust saying, Heart of Jesus help me.
Sacred Heart Bridgeton, Glasgow, used to have a ‘Gethsemane hour’ of reparation to the Sacred Heart, on a Thursday, as is traditional. It is a shame it does not take place any more. It was followed by a very traditional Benediction.
Miles Immaculatae,
You can do the hour of reparation privately in your own home if you want to
http://www.catholictradition.org/Two-Hearts/holy-hour.htm
That’s a simple solution, I hadn’t thought of that. Nothing like Eucharistic Adoration though. I thought of finding a Church that was open on a Thursday evening in Glasgow, where I could do the Holy Hour. Failing that, I could sit on the pavement outside Saint Andrew’s church on Renfrew Street, but that’s incredibly sad 🙁
Reparation to Our Lord’s most Sacred Heart is particularly urgent today, especially given the indifference and sacrileges against the Blessed Sacrament facilitated by Communion in the hand and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, both of which practices were illicitly introduced into the Church without Papal authority. Imagine all those fragments being dropped and trodden underfoot, each fragment the Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity of Our Blessed Lord.
And think of the arrogance of those who refuse to kneel before their Saviour in humility at the altar rails, choosing rather to stand before Him as equals. “But we are not children any more,” is the usual protestation. Ah, how proud a comment! Did not Our Lord say: “Unless you become as little children you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven”?
Sad to say, the reforms of the Council have witnessed a great deterioration in belief in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, as per the aforementioned abuses and the almost complete cessation of Benediction. We have also witnessed it in the removal of tabernacles from their central place of honour in the Sanctuary, often pushed off to a side altar or some other remote location that one would need a metal detector to track down.
We see this in St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Glasgow, the tabernacle replaced in the Sanctuary by the Bishop’s chair – man sitting in the place of God! Even the side altar where the tabernacle now resides in that Church breaches the Church’s own rubrics in that Howson’s hideous depiction of St. John Ogilvie dominates the space. Nothing is supposed to be hung above the tabernacle that could detract in any way from the Real Presence, yet they come from all over, many of them non-Catholics, to view and photograph that horrible painting while Our Lord is chiefly ignored.
This is the tragedy we live with today and so it is down to those who still adore the Lord in His Real Presence and are eager to humble themselves before His Majesty to make reparation for so much coldness, especially amongst His chosen souls – consecrated priests.
Editor, you claim the posts must be on topic, and off topic posts will be removed.
Jesus said say yes when you mean yes, and no when you mean no.
I await you removing the post by Athanasius. Truth matters in pursuit of truth.
FIDELITYALWAYS,
I have only written the truth as we have all experienced it. What is it in particular that makes you uncomfortable with that, especially since the truths I have written pertain to honouring Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament? Is there something in what I have written that troubles your conscience, perhaps?
Fidelity Always,
As a matter of fact I came in here to report something I’ve just read in this week’s Catholic Herald.
It is Fr Tim Finigin’s “problem” column where he gives advice to those who ask him for help with a particular issue.
This week, he answers a parent whose second child is to receive First Holy Communion this week. This parent was asking for help after the scandal experienced at the first child’s First Communion. The parent describes the shocking lack of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament at the first child’s First Communion and how upsetting it was etc., and Father Finigin’s advice is merely to offer up the noise, chatter etc. as a penance because confronting other parents would end up in an argument. (and we can’t have anything interfering with the false peace reigning supreme at the moment, now, can we?) Father Finigin admitted in his column that priests are aware of this problem, but can’t really do anything about it because even the immediate families of many of the First Communicants are lapsed and resistant to being corrected. It’s that “new” word again: the new springtime of Vatican II that we were promised. In fact, Father Finigin concludes his advice by writing that this parent’s problem highlights “the urgency of the new evangelisation”. It would be downright hilarious were it not so tragic. We often talk about the diabolical disorientation on this blog, and the way it manifests itself in a spiritual blindness. Reading Fr Finigin’s column just now I couldn’t help thinking that – like the majority of his brother priests – he’s now become so much as part of the revolution in the Church that he’s as blind as a bat.
So, I’d actually been planning to say the very same thing that Athanasius has said, only in this specific context because it’s not off-topic to apply the topic to a particular example to show the importance of the topic, if you get my drift.
Thus, what the Fr Finigin advice column reveals this week is that we ought, ever more fervently, to pray and be devoted to the Sacred Heart and encourage others to do the same. If their priests would only tell those lapsed parents that placing an image of the Sacred Heart in their home would transform their lives, I think some, at least, would do so and, their lukewarmness would disappear like snow in summer. If Fr Finigin had said this to that parent, and suggested a means of spreading the devotion – even by asking her priest to promote it, his work might have been of some worth. As it is, any old Agony Aunt in any old women’s magazine could have said the same thing, minus the concluding paragraph about the “new evangelisation” (whatever that actually means – nobody to date has explained it satisfactorily).
Worth a try, don’t you think – spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart? Seems to have worked for many Catholics, those who have never attended a “let’s dialogue” meeting in their entire lives.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, we place all our trust in Thee.
My PP [60 years a priest last Thursday] commenting with regard to new communicants – he was unlikely to see the great majority of them at Mass ever again.
The children of an African family march up the aisle make a perfect genuflection and Sign of the Cross before entering their pew – they will not have been taught that at school.
‘Penance’ : exactly that which I was advised by a nearby Traditional; priest when I had to hear Mass at a particular church. [Please do not comment that I should not have gone there.]
Sixupman,
This is the only comment I have to make about your “having gone there”…
You have my sincerest imaginable sympathy 😯
If you don’t keep the rules of the Church it is not difficult to see why you don’t keep your own in house rules.
However, it has to be said Francis, Bishop of Rome, has said the Church must be more welcoming.
However, part of the problems is Trad’s like you don’t want to take into account the reality on the ground, and will be the first to complain if a priest doesn’t baptise an Infant. (The guidelines say baptism should be deferred if it is not clear the child will be raised in a truly Catholic household.) Then having baptised the little darling, we then have the mockery of “First Holy Communion”, Confirmation” etc, which are no more than a cultural thing that a religious thing! part of the problem is trad’s like you insisting on a child be baptised even if they will never ever practice.
The better thing is if we ensure parents, and Godparents, intend to keep the baptismal promises, and insist children who are to receive any of the sacraments of Initiation will practice, and be properly prepared, before the sacrament is received conferred.
I have known priests baptise little darlings so that they can make their First Communion with the class, when no-one else is Catholic, or will be Catholic in that family. (I know some frightening examples of what has happened to priests who try to resist such pressures. But there are even examples of non Catholic children being allowed to receive Holy Communion so that don’t miss on out a Class event!)
The Church will never been renewed whilst trad’s like you seek to destroy the Church from within, or whilst we give into secular cultural pressures to let children enjoy a class event!
I thought Fr Finegan was one of The High Priests of your sad little movement.
BBC TV News 18:00hrs to-day: Franciscus receives a “blessing” from Welby that holder of “null and void” ‘orders’!
To the best of my knowledge, blessings come from God, as God dispenses them, and even though I don’t know Dr Welby I suspect he is closer to God that some Whited Sepulchres who ignore their own Church authorities, but “rent a room” in the Church.
FA
Don’t be so hard on yourself.
I am definitely not in the category Francis identified, and every sensible commentator believes he means dissident Trad’s seeking to destroy The Church from within. Even you would concede I am not a disgruntled Trad.
I think I’ll stick personally with St. Pius X’s observation that it’s the Modernists who seek to destroy the Church from within. That great saintly Pope was by far superior in sanctity, wisdom and learning to Francis. Just one statistic that proves St. Pius X correct: Since Vatican II every seminary in Scotland has closed down, and that’s just a tiny example of the bitter fruits of Modernist reform.
The thing is most of what he termed “Modernism”, but not all, is not understood to be Modernism, but a movement of the Holy Spirit.
Surely, you agree with your own thesis sometimes a Pope confuses personal opinion, with authentic teaching? Or are you going to move the goalposts again and say, as an slimey politician would, I didn’t leave The Party, The Party left me.
If you are consistent you will, of course, deny your own thesis expounded over many posts, because you are at sea, rather than in the warm embrace of The Holy See.
FA
It remains modernism and it’s condemned. The devil disguised as an angel of light is what is being called a movement of the holy ghost. That fallen angel convinced Bishops and priests to break their oath against modernism with the stupid idea that St. Pius X was wrong.
The person I replied to suggested the issues were condemned throughout history, whereas for the term “Modernism” to apply, as in a fad of the time, the issues can only have arisen in the lifetime of those who (wrongly sometimes) condemned them.
If that is not so, it wouldn’t be Modernism!
Accepting Modernism as condemned by St. Pius X is and always will be a sin.
But The Church, in her infinite wisdom, herself judges, through The Grace of The Holy Spirit, that some things were wrongly condemned. That is, The Pope(s) didn’t actually understand the issue they were addressing,
That’s an excuse invented by the devil to tempt men to embrace modernism. Whether or not someone acts on those temptations could be the difference between heaven and hell.
Popes do not err when they formally condemn with the authority of the Petrine See. You say they can if they don’t fully understand what they condemn, yet earlier you were saying “follow Peter.” So, whose moving goal posts and what is it to be.
The Syllabi of Popes Pius IX & X condemn many of the propositions you uphold, or applaud others for upholding, such as separation of Church and State, ecumenism, etc. You say these Popes didn’t fully understand what they were condemning. Well, they condemned that old chestnut excuse for disobedience along with the rest. I suggest you read those authoritative documents.
On the contrary, it is because I believe a Pope can over egg the pudding I can say Pope Benedict was wrong on some issues. You take the contrary view, and condemn every recent Pope. It is not me that is being inconsistent.
You, not I, have to explain why for example banned Biblical Exegesis, and why his Oath Against Modernism was lifted, and why the List of Prohibited Books is now no more. They over reached themselves, and largely condemned activities, and thoughts, which were either the work of The Holy Spirit, when they were taking place, or were not taking place and were needlessly condemned.
Your live in fear of problems that don’t exist, and claim “Infallibility” for teachings, and documents, The Church does not endorse.
Just how can an excommunicated, now dead Bishop, be your guide, and Papal teaching not deemed by The Magisterium to be binding so enslave you.
Pope Paul was right, Satan is seeking to undermine the fruits of the Council. The Church is soon to be Beatified. At present, it is unlikely you will be. And two of the men you mostly roundly condemn for their teaching, and leadership, are already saints.
History, Theology and The Church are not on your side.
“null and void” ‘orders’ – avoided?
I think there is a whole list of blessings that lay people can implore. As with all prayers, God decide on how best to answer prayers. I am not claiming to God, but you seem to be.
Are you admitting that, in Catholic terms Welby, his fellow bishops and vicars are mere laymen/women?
My eighty seven year old friend, never ceases to tell me such when seeing them on television.,
I have never doubted they are, lay people in Catholic terms, but they are not Catholics, and so that won’t concern them too much.
He is, of course, a gifted theological, and has the endorsement of his Communion – neither of which can you claim for yourself.
But many claim they are Catholic per consecration through the “Old Catholic” line – what hypocrisy on their part. I have no “Communion” by which to be endorsed of my humble self and am certainly not a cleric
I believe only The Former Bishop of London, Leonard(?), was ordained conditionally on those grounds. So the claims can’t be that plentiful.
Some of your partners in “crime” are claiming Infallibility, and so scoundrels abound.
Damn it!!!! I have broken my resolution not to involve myself with this, I suspect clerical, troll.
The Pharisees were gifted theologians yet they remained blind to the truth. Martin Luther was a gifted theologian and look what happened to him. The innovators of Vatican II were gifted theologians and see the state the Church is in today. Being a gifted theologian only means that Mr. Welby cannot claim invincible ignorance as an excuse for his continued separation from the true Church. His theological insight means that he should know better.
I think the issue about Invincible Ignorance applies to your outright rejection of Church teaching, and your odd belief in your own Infallibility.
Your lack of theological insight will lead you into peril.
“History, Theology and The Church are not on your side.”
That’s where you are quite wrong. Read the combined Syllabi of Pius IX & X, true authoritative teaching of the Magisterium, and you will find all that you have just suggested condemned in the most formal manner.
Could it be that the proponents of those condemned errors gradually gained power in the offices of the Church and then set about dismantling all safeguards against heresy? It’s a valid question since all that was once condemned is now applauded and encouraged!
The Teaching, and practice, of The Church, under the guidance of The Magisterium, shows that they wrong outlawed things.
Sixupman,
I’ve just posted on that below – didn’t see your comment. I’ve made a suggestion which not only keeps us on topic, but also is designed to help Papa Francis.
SIXUPMAN,
But then, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, a few years before his Papal election, knelt down in front of 7000 witnesses to receive the blessing of numerous Protestant pastors. Can you imagine a Pius IX, X, XI or XII doing such an unthinkable thing?
“The better thing is if we ensure parents, and Godparents, intend to keep the baptismal promises, and insist children who are to receive any of the sacraments of Initiation will practice, and be properly prepared, before the sacrament is received conferred”. I think you need a reality check here, Fidelity. By what means can the priest ensure the parents and godparents intend to keep their baptismal promises?
As for renting rooms….. honestly, at the rate Pope Francis is dismantling the Church, there will be nothing left to rent!
Well, if they are not coming to Church at the time they ask for baptism, and haven’t been to Church in the years before that, then there is a good chance they won’t be coming after the event. It isn’t rocket science, but I know some struggle even to accept Divinely revealed truth, and the authentic teaching of The Magisterium.
Just for the record, rocket science is not the hardest thing to study!
How does the priest keep track of who comes to Church and who does not? If cohabiting couples can be married in the Church, if a lesbian couple can have their daughter baptized, and Pope Francis refuses to judge homosexuality as sinful, do you seriously expect a priest to refuse to baptize a baby because the parents don’t come to Church? You were saying something about someone struggling to accept Divinely revealed truth?????
Well said, Jobstears. There’s not a priest in the land to be found who will contradict Papa Francis’s cowardly “who am I to judge” – in fact, there’s a letter in this week’s Catholic Herald from a priest (Fr David Bingham, Durham, England) saying that by his words re. homosexuals, “even Pope Francis does not claim to be able to judge the internal forum of our consciences”.
Just as well these brainless liberals are not in charge of the legal system, as the armed robbers, rapists and murderers could go about their business uncontested. If we can’t “judge” one type of action, after all, then who are we to judge any actions?
Are you the same editor, and leader of a group of dissidents, who says the recent canonisations were not for real, and whose group cherry picks teaching from Church Teaching? To give one example, the whole of The Teaching in Summorum Ponticum and the accompanying letter?
The one’s who quote an excommunicated, dead Bishop, and his cult, or a man obsessed with Fatima who has had his priestly faculties withdrawn?
To misquote Francis: “who are you to judge?”
The recent canonisations were a shock to a lot of people. They brought the Church into disrepute as even many admirers of Pope John Paul II’s prolife statements could see that he had been fast tracked and there had not been a thorough investigation taking account of what critics had to say. If the traditional system had been used neither of these canonisations would have taken place IMHO.
If you are talking about Fr Gruner, he has not had his priestly faculties withdrawn. He is a priest of an Archdiocese in India.
Why would he have his priestly faculties withdrawn yet Father Hans Kung not have his withdrawn? Father Gruner believes all that the Church teaches, Father Kung rejects many things, and says he is considering suicide if his illness gets worse. Why would he be allowed to practise as a priest but not Father Gruner? I don’t understand why you would think that.
He did have his faculties withdrawn – see The Vatican’s own notification.
Most of the Church, except some dissidents who do not follow Tradition, rejoiced at The canonisations.
(Another answer elsewhere was published before I could edit it:. Why do we pray for our deceased if baptism alone guarantee’s salvation? Being necessary for salvation, does not mean it is all that is necessary to lived as one who accepts God’s love and mercy.
In each of the situations the priest should safeguard Church teaching, and uphold it, whilst being welcoming to those seeking home in the Church. Francis, Bishop of Rome, teaches wisely he wants priests who “smell the sheep”, and if they do they can’t not know their sheep.
So, Bishop of Rome wants priests who “smell the sheep”, that’s good, then please tell me how or why the lesbian couple in Argentina was allowed to baptize their adopted daughter in a Catholic church? Did these particular sheep smell familiar? Why do some parish priests allow cohabiting couples to marry while others refuse (and are,as a result, branded by loving Christian-Catholics as uncharitable)? The popes you defend so vigorously changed the rules, FA, in a bid to be ‘flexible’ and ‘charitable’ they bent the rules to accommodate sin or occasions of sin- and in doing so they have confused the sheep they ought to have been safeguarding.
If you defend the popes and their interpretations of Catholic teaching, you have to be able to defend the fall-out of their actions, and the mess in the Church today is the fall-out. One would have to be seriously mentally impaired to set off a bomb and then scurry around blaming others (the ones who were strong enough to survive the destruction) for the devastation, when this fails, one then deludes oneself into believing the devastation to be a glorious renewal!
Jobstears,
You give a fantastic answer there – I agree with every word. Your final paragraph says it all really.
FA…Well, if they are not coming to Church at the time they ask for baptism, and haven’t been to Church in the years before that, then there is a good chance they won’t be coming after the event.
Wouldn’t you say that there is a greater chance that they might come back again? I mean after all, if they think it important enough to baptise the child, then there must be some acknowledgement of the authority of the Church. The more exposure to the Church surely means more exposure to the influence of its truth.
I’m finding it difficult to follow your logic on this.
No. The same children sometimes have no knowledge they were ever baptised, or if, say, they make Holy Communion, with their class they remember the gifts, or the Party, and not receiving Holy Communion.
Inter-faith dialogue, and ecumenism, are bringing more people into to The Church than is sacramentalising children in families where a number of generations won’t be seen dead in Church. I mean that literally. I am told of one family that fought to get their little darling baptised to get them into the school, as it was a brilliant school, and yet when the chief protagonist died shortly after they got the local, female, \minister to do a service at the Crematorium because “it was what she would have wanted, as she does like long services”.
The same argument that, rightly says, Holy Communion is a sign of unity between Christians, and not a means to it, says sacraments should not be treated like bargains in a shop window, in the hope of getting passing trade. Either they are what he Church says they are, or they are not.
You misunderstood my question. I’m asking if the parents, having come back to baptise their child, would have a higher probability of reestablishing a connection with the Church due to this event. ie it’s a catalyst potentially that would not be there otherwise.
I haven’t misunderstood the question. If the parents literally turn up asking for a baptism for their little darling I am told the signs are not good. If however, they start coming to Mass, and seek an interview with the priest, and even, say, Confession maybe, but, I am told, many who just want baptism don’t even turn up to Church: they phone or email, and the evidence is there that once the little darling is baptised you won’t see them again. In other words, a request for baptism, and even the baptism itself, is not a real indication.
Francis, B of R, has said, for example , we shouldn’t refuse baptism because the parents are unwed, but they should surely still come to Church? Thus in 1980 The C.D.F. said:
“Assurances must be given that the gift thus granted can grow by an authentic education in the faith and Christian life, in order to fulfill the true meaning of the sacrament.[37] As a rule, these assurances are to be given by the parents or close relatives, although various substitutions are possible within the Christian community. But if these assurances are not really serious there can be grounds for delaying the sacrament; and if they are certainly non-existent the sacrament should even be refused.”
But if baptism is necessary for salvation is it not better to give the child a chance because the seed of faith is planted in the soul at baptism. We don’t know what graces will come from that later in the child’s life.
Perhaps you should read the whole Vatican document, and ask yourself if baptism is lived out, does every human being that has just been baptised, and done no more, and even leads reckless life, are you saying they will automatically get to Heaven? What need have we of God’s grace after baptism, if baptism is the sole guarantor of salvation? Can we stop preaching about sin and redemption, and get rid of The Sacrament of Reconciliation, and will there be no need to go to any Holy Mass, whatever Rite? And the dual commandments of love and neighbour, are they redundant after baptism? Why do you we pray for our deased whon we know were baptised?,
I don’t think anybody says you don’t need the other sacraments but if a baby dies without baptism it cannot go to heaven. It will not go to a place of suffering but if Jesus meant what he said, then nobody enters heaven who is not baptised.
As far I know The Church doesn’t say that an unbaptized children automatically go to hell. Indeed The International Theological Commission stated in the past few years:
“102. Within the hope that the Church bears for the whole of humanity and wants to proclaim afresh to the world of today, is there a hope for the salvation of infants who die without Baptism? We have carefully re-considered this complex question, with gratitude and respect for the responses that have been given through the history of the Church, but also with an awareness that it falls to us to give a coherent response for today. Reflecting within the one tradition of faith that unites the Church through the ages, and relying utterly on the guidance of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised would lead his followers “into all the truth” (Jn 16:13), we have sought to read the signs of the times and to interpret them in the light of the Gospel. Our conclusion is that the many factors that we have considered above give serious theological and liturgical grounds for hope that unbaptised infants who die will be saved and enjoy the Beatific Vision. We emphasise that these are reasons for prayerful hope, rather than grounds for sure knowledge. There is much that simply has not been revealed to us (cf. Jn 16:12). We live by faith and hope in the God of mercy and love who has been revealed to us in Christ, and the Spirit moves us to pray in constant thankfulness and joy (cf. 1 Thess 5:18).
103. What has been revealed to us is that the ordinary way of salvation is by the sacrament of Baptism. None of the above considerations should be taken as qualifying the necessity of Baptism or justifying delay in administering the sacrament.[135] Rather, as we want to reaffirm in conclusion, they provide strong grounds for hope that God will save infants when we have not been able to do for them what we would have wished to do, namely, to baptize them into the faith and life of the Church”
Why would a Traditional Catholic be harsher than The Church? The mind boggles!
Again, you are evading my point.
The probability of the parents re-establishing some kind of relationship with the Church through the Baptism of a child must be mathematically greater than not making contact with a Church to baptise their child, because ipso facto the connection has been established by the event. Your logic is faulty.
I have a fairly broad knowledge of this subject matter, but the evidence shared with me, by people who have first hand knowledge, suggests you haven’t got a clue about the reality on the ground.
How can it be, that a second, third, and fourth generation of a family get their “kid’s done” but none come to Church except for the baptism?
FA,
Fr Finigin is a diocesan priest who hit the headlines because he offered the Traditional Latin Mass. He’s about as “traditional” as a mobile phone. His blog is entitled “Hermeneutic of Continuity” which says it all. If, in fact, the “hermeneutic of continuity” means “Catholic Tadition” why not just say “Catholic Tradition”? Oops, silly me, we need a “new” in there and since “New Tradition” is a contradiction in terms, we have to coin a …er… new term altogether. Crackers.
So, no, we are not fooled by the new Catholics! Not at all. If you check out Father Finigan’s blogroll at the side it has all the best known modern sites, (but not Catholic Truth) and includes Auntie Joanna (Bogle) who (I’ve just checked for the purpose of this comment) is bemoaning the state of the world, forgetting that two minutes ago, metaphorically speaking, she was denouncing Father Gruner, telling us that the Consecration of Russia has been done and that we are now enjoying a period of peace in the world. She wrote at length about how wonderful Russia is now and generally made an even bigger idiot of herself that heretofore.
So, no, Fr Finigan is not one of our “High Priests” – not at all. He may be included in the litany of “best of a bad bunchers” but that’s about it.
Oh, and if you think our “movement” is “sad” and “little” – not at all. We’re read in our hard copy on every continent and our sitemeter keeps me informed that our website and blog receive visits from every corner of the earth.
The only sad thing about your comments, FA, is that you have fallen, hook, line and sinker for the Modernism infecting Christ’s Church in our times. For that, your idol, Papa Francis and his immediate predecessors will have to answer on Judgment Day.
Let’s all pray to the Sacred Heart during what is left of the Month of June devoted to Him in a special way, that we all receive, and respond to, all the graces necessary to follow the wise advice of St Vincent Lerins for Catholics living at times of crisis in the Church: stick to what has been believed always, by everyone, everywhere. Can’t go wrong, there, FA. Can’t go wrong there.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee…
PS my post went up with your reply to Fidelis on Baptism. Fidelis did not say that unbaptized infants go automatically to Hell. In fact, Fidelis stated clearly that they would not go to a “place of suffering” so you really must not twist and distort what others say. If – as you rightly say – we cannot be harsher than the Church, neither can the Church be more liberal than Christ’s own words. “Unless a man is baptised by water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven” hardly falls into the “ambiguous” category. Unlike an adult intent on baptism who dies before he can be baptised and is therefore granted baptism due to his desire, a baby cannot “desire” baptism and so, according to the Church’s teaching (until this “new” idea gained ground) such a baby would be in a place of happiness, but not heaven.
From my perspective Joanna Bogle, and Fr Finegan, are bordering on becoming paid up members of The SSPX!
If you bother to read all my replies, I am hardly a modernist by any yardstick. I just prefer to listen to authentic teachers rather than people who dictate, and use the internet as a natural progression to a megaphone.
I disagree with the majority of your theological “iinsights”, and wish a Bishop could bring you back into the fold, but I have visited this site for years, and study your newsletter with interest, and whilst you appear to be the equivalent of the News of The World, you occasionally raise important, valid issues.
FA,
Joanna Bogle and Fr Finigan ‘paid up members of the SSPX’!!!
ROFL ROFL ROFL
FA
What is The Immaculate Conception?
If you don’t know the answer to that it is even more clear why you do not know other truths of the faith.
FA
Seriously, what is the Immaculate Conception? I thought you would answer any question about the Faith and your reply just wasn’t a real reply.
I know what it is, and exactly how me teaching you what you should have learnt on the knee of your Mother, and you claim to have more authority that The Pope, I do not know.
FA
Why are you dodging this question? How come you don’t just give me the answer to get rid of me? What is the Immaculate Conception?
I have no reason to explain to someone who is acting as if they are The Pope, and issuing edicts, and infallible statements all day.
FA
Everyone can see that reply makes no sense. I did ask about the Immaculate Conception because I know that it Is very difficult for some kinds of people to want to define. If I had asked about Adam or Eve or the Sacraments or Holy Mass, this brings out very long explanations.
I’m afraid you are very much a modernist. I’ve read all your posts, and Pascendi could have been written for you. No offence meant, but it’s obvious that you live by modernist principles such as evolving truth.
I am a loyal member of The Church attentive to The Magisterium, and not fostering the cult of an excommunicated, long dead, Bishop.
FIDELITYALWAYS,
Define your understanding of “cult”.
The Oxford dictionary defines it thus: A system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object
I would say this fits better with modern ecumenism than with an Archbishop whose only crime was to refuse to alter Traditional Catholic teaching.
I am not following a man whose work was described as evil, by the successor of Peter, and was excommunicated.Nor do I deny the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, or that The Holy Mass, is the one, unrepeatable, perfect representation of Calvary. As you do not assent to this:
Pope Benedict, in Summorum Pontificum:
“Art 1. The Roman Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the ‘Lex orandi’ (Law of prayer) of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite. Nonetheless, the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and reissued by Bl. John XXIII is to be considered as an extraordinary expression of that same ‘Lex orandi,’ and must be given due honour for its venerable and ancient usage. These two expressions of the Church’s Lex orandi will in no any way lead to a division in the Church’s ‘Lex credendi’ (Law of belief). They are, in fact two usages of the one Roman rite.”
I accept authentic Traditional Teaching, and not something made in the image of people who “rent a room in the church”, and deny the lawful Magisterium in The Church.
My siblings went to a Jesuit run school. Shortly after the children made their First Communions the nuns would help and encourage the children to make the First Fridays. So my many brothers did so at an early age. I was born 10 to 20 years after them and missed out on this! It was impossible to do the First Fridays or the First Saturdays where I lived, so I made a novena to the Sacred Heart and He answered my prayers. I look back and I’m astonished. While making the novena there’s no way I could have even imagined how He would provide for that.
I think it is worth remembering that Pope Leo XIII, when asked on his deathbed what was the most important act of his pontificate, unhesitatingly replied:
“The Consecration to the Sacred Heart”.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/leo_xiii/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_25051899_annum-sacrum_en.html
I hope the following link to the words of another Vicar of Christ and great pastor of souls will also help readers derive much spiritual benefit from this great Feast.
http://sspx.org/en/hom-slide-sacred-heart
Important though the Devotion is, it is accepting Jesus Christ, and the whole of his message, and The Holy Mass that surely outweighs any particular devotion? If not, why seek to destroy the Church for liturgical niceties?
FA,
That’s a non-sequitur. Nobody who has a true Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart of to any approved devotion will refuse any part of Christ’s divine revelation. After all, it is the Modernists, like yourself, with all due respect, who are dismissing what has gone before in favour of novel ideas which are not and never can be authentic Catholic doctrines and morals.
Never forget that the Catholic must adhere to what has been taught always, believed by everyone, and that, everywhere.
That, together with St Paul’s warning that even if an angel from Heaven brings us a new doctrine, we reject it.
I’m offline now for a few hours, so be good. I don’t want to have to be brutal with my deletion button when I return, I really don’t, so stick to the topic, albeit relating it to the crisis in the Church where necessary, but no cheeky personal remarks… about me, anyway 😀
Sweet Heart of Jesus, we implore, O make us love Thee, more and more…
Signed, Saint Editor….
With respect, people can pay lip service to devotion, and wear every scapular, and medal, and like the devil quote scripture, but to seek to celebrate the sacraments, worthily, and experience a conversion of heart is what matters.
Thanks Leo – will check out those links later. For now, I am in a state of disbelief because…
I have just seen the BBC News at Six report on the meeting today between Pope Francis and the ‘Archbishop of Canterbury’ Justin Welby.
I was stunned to see the two men standing facing each other for the purpose of exchanging blessings. Pope Francis first blessed Justin Welby and then stood meekly while Mr Welby “blessed” him, the Vicar of Christ on earth.
It is difficult to get inside the mind of Pope Francis, who appears to have little to no fear of God. His glip remark about not having long to go anyway, or something to that effect, when he dispensed with the Popemobile, indicating that he realised his death (and Judgment) might not be far off, strongly suggests that he is at ease with his conscience in dealing insult after insult to God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
Lest anyone thinks this is off topic – no way.
My purpose on reporting this scandal on this thread is because I thought I would suggest, with respect, that all of us who are deeply concerned about this horrendous pontificate, and especially with this latest scandalous action, offer the efficacious novena to the Sacred Heart which Padre Pio used to pray, for all the graces needed for Pope Francis to turn away from such populist and scandalous behaviour.
There are three prayers given, so I presume that we pray this novena in three cycles (days 1,2,3 – the prayers given, then start the cycle again and again until we have completed all nine days and then pray the concluding prayer). Click here…
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, we place all our trust in Thee…
Editor, unless I am mistaken (there’s always a first time for everything :D) the Padre Pio novena is just one prayer with three parts, to be recited everyday!!!! The novena to the Infant of Prague (the ‘flying novena’) is identical to this one – don’t know which is older- and all three parts (minus the Our Father and Hail Mary) are said everyday.
Jobstears,
That makes more sense. What am I LIKE (strictly rhetorical question) 😯 although you’d think they’d have explained that on the website wouldn’t you? Yes? No? Am I the only numpty who would think it was a “cycle”? Don’t answer that – I feel daft enough. Although not so daft that I’d ask a Protestant minister or “archbishop” to give me a blessing. Not that daft. Something, I suppose…
Editor, what are you like? You are slim, glamorous, witty and overworked! My mother had a great devotion to the Infant of Prague and would say the novena frequently, so I knew what the novena was!
No, you’d never ask a Protestant minister to give you a blessing- that would be most unCatholic!! Our pp used to have the first grade school children give the adults a blessing after Mass.
I do think homes that have a devotion to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart are blessed in a special way, promises # 8 and 9, never fail. Devotions are important because they are, as the Little Flower said, the little bits of straw that we can throw on the fire of our love for God, to keep it going when it is in danger of growing cold. Devotion to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart, is a fail-proof means of keeping the Faith alive in families.
Editor, I do sympathize with the family that was shocked by the irreverence shown to the Blessed Sacrament. Fr. Finigan’s advice is typical- a call for action (the new evangelization) and useless (because it does not get to the root cause of the irreverence- loss of faith). I agree with you, Fr. Finigan would have actually helped the family by suggesting they not only increase their devotion to the Sacred Heart, but try and spread the devotion in the parish. That might not go down well, though, because it sounds too simplistic and unsophisticated.
I don’t know if anyone else has read Cardinal Kasper’s latest book Mercy.
It is a shocker. Apart from telling us not to go over the top in our Marian devotions, he mentions the Sacred Heart of Jesus…
In many centuries, veneration of the sacred heart of Jesus functioned as a special expression of faith in God’s love and mercy, as revealed in Jesus Christ . Nowadays this devotion has become alien to us in many different ways. The new emphases that the liturgical movement has established for piety have contributed to this development. But the representations of the heart of Jesus, as we are familiar with them from the eighteenth and nineteenth century, have also contributed to the decline in veneration of the heart of Jesus. For these representations , which portray Jesus with a pierced heart that is often surrounded by a crown of thorns, strike us today as indiscreet, indeed, tasteless and kitschy. They are also theologically questionable because they focus on the physical heart of Jesus, rather than understanding the heart as the primordial symbol and focal point of the human person, understood holistically. Cardinal Walter Kasper ( ). Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life
The representations, which portray the heart of Jesus pierced with a crown of thorns are ‘indiscreet, indeed, tasteless and kitschy’? Unbelievable! But then the unthinking ‘sheeple’ will see the words ‘theologically questionable’ and decide Church authorities have spoken, so it must be so.
Stephen,
That is truly shocking. To think this man is wielding huge influence over the (badly confused already) pontiff. All we need now is for Hans Kung to be appointed adviser to the autumn synod on family life. That is really ALL we need.
Of course, the fact that he lacks a love for these key Catholic devotions is one key reason why he is so utterly protestantised. God help him.
Sweet Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Well you think you have heard it all from Kasper, until the next thing.
From the same book… One may and, indeed , must certainly criticize many of the attempts to exaggerate Mary’s status, which are to be assessed by the criterion of the Bible’s testimony to Jesus Christ, who is the foundation —laid once and for all— and the permanent center of Christian faith. Cardinal Walter Kasper. Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life
How utterly fawning to protestantism is that quote?
But I read his keynote speech early this morning in 2003 of the Conference of the Society for Ecumenical Studies (yes, this was my form of morning mortification). I suppose many have read this and wept…
… and so also in the future the Petrine ministry has to be exercised in line with the changing needs of the Church.
and
These insights have led to a re-interpretation of the dogma of the Roman primacy.
and on inter-faith progress…
One of the consequences of this intermediate phase is that no Church should take any important decision without taking into account its repercussions in other Churches and without contact and consultation with other Churches.
God give us strength!
Stephen,
Reading those Kasper quotes I am in absolutely no doubt whatsoever that this man, objectively speaking certainly, is a cross between a Protestant and an Apostate.
He is definitely NOT a Catholic – by any definition. And the fact that, according to various online reports of recent weeks, he is reputedly the Pope’s favourite theologian just means that the only thing left to say is “will the last person to leave the room, or should that be blog, switch off the lights…”
He is infected by a virus.
I argue with myself that surely he cannot be acting with malevolence and so I conclude that he is infected beyond help.
Apologies for taking this off topic but his scandalous Sacred-Heart quote was still fresh in my memory.
I see that troubled soul, FIDELITYALWAYS, is disrupting every thread like a man with a conscience issue, and I have fallen into the trap of helping him to depart from this very solemn and holy subject. So I will take my leave for the time being with this touching quote from The Way of Divine Love – Revelations of the Sacred Heart to Sister Josefa Menendez:
“Contemplate Me in the prison where I spent the greater part of the night. The soldiers came and, adding words to injuries, insulted Me, mocked Me, outraged Me, and gave Me blows on My face and on My whole body. Tired of their sport, at length they left Me bound and alone in that dark and noisome place, where, seated on a stone, My aching body was cramped with cold.
Compare the prison with the tabernacle…and especially with the hearts that receive Me. In the prison I spent only part of one night…but in the tabernacle, how many days and nights? In the prison I was insulted and ill-treated by soldiers who were My enemies. In the tabernacle most often it is they who call Me their Father who treat Me thus, but how unlike that of children is the treatment!..
In the prison I endured cold, sleeplessness, hunger and thirst, pain, shame, solitude and desertion. And there passed before My mind’s eye all the tabernacles where in the course of the ages I should lack the shelter of love…the icy-cold hearts that would be as hard and unfeeling as the stones of the prison floor were to My numbed and wounded body. And how often should I wait for this or that other soul to visit Me in the Blessed Sacrament and receive Me into his heart…how many nights should I spend longing for his coming, and he would not come!
In the prison what shame I felt at the obscene words of those around Me…and My distress was increased by the thought that like words would one day fall from lips I love. When blows and buffets were rained upon Me by the filthy hands of the soldiery it recalled to My mind how often those who would receive Me into hearts fouled by unrepented sin would shower reiterated blows on Me by habitual and willed sin…
O all of you who are steeped in sin, and who for a time more or less long have lived as wanderers and fugitives because of your crimes…if the offences of which you have been guilty have hardened and blinded your hearts…if to grant satisfaction to one or other of your passions you have sunk into evil ways…Ah! when the motives or accomplices of your sin have forsaken you, and you realise the state of your soul, O then, do not yield to despair! For as long as a breath of life remains a man may have recourse to mercy and ask for pardon.
If you are still young, if already the scandals of your life have lowered you in the eyes of the world, do not be afraid…Even if there is reason to treat you as a criminal, to insult and cast you off…your God has no wish to see you fall into the flames of hell…On the contrary, He ardently desires you to come to Him so that He may forgive you. If you dare not speak to Him, at least look at Him and let the sighs of your heart reach Him, and at once you will find His kind and fatherly hand stretched out to lead you to the springs of pardon and life.
Should it happen that you have spent the greater part of your life in impiety and indifference, and that the sudden approach of the hour of death fills you with blinding despair…Ah! do not let yourself be deceived, for there is still time for pardon. If only one second of life remains to you, in that one second you can buy back eternal life!
If your whole life has been spent in ignorance and error…if you have been the cause of great evil to others, to society at large, or to religion, and if through some set of circumstances you have come to realise that you have been deceived…do not allow yourself to be crushed by the weight of your sins and of the evil of which you have been the instrument; but with a soul penetrated with deep contrition throw yourself into the abyss of confidence, and hasten to Him who awaits your return only to pardon you…”
The passage goes on a bit longer, perhaps too long for one post on a blog, but what an appeal from the Sacred Heart to those who are indifferent or even hostile to the Sacrament of Confession and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament!
“If only one second of life remains to you, in that one second you can buy back eternal life!”
This is the wonderful grace of devotion to the Sacred Heart, we are reminded of the infinite love of God – thank you for posting that reminder of the depth of God’s love for sinners, Athanasius.
I love the Sacred Heart devotion and have made the First Fridays, although I want to make them again to pray for lapsed relatives. I think it’s a shame that priests don’t talk about the First Fridays any more. The priest used to take Communion to the sick on the First Fridays but that has gone as well and they come on any weekday. .
Reply to FidelityAlways June 18, 2014 at 8:41 pm in which he says I have a fairly broad knowledge of this subject matter, but the evidence shared with me, by people who have first hand knowledge, suggests you haven’t got a clue about the reality on the ground.
Was that meant to be some kind of answer?
My charge against your drivel was that your logic was faulty. Your reply was something along the lines of…
It’s my ball and I’m going home in a huff.
I’ll use an analogy for you to help you a little, as you seem to be struggling with this. And this is a simple one for you…
Unless you expose yourself to a virus, you have zero chance of contracting it. However if you do expose yourself to it, it might not mean that you will contract the virus, but you are increasing the probability of contracting it.
So with regards to baptism being a potential event (exposure to virus) whereby the parents (potential hosts) are exposed to Christianity (virus), it is logical that the probability of assuming a religious life (contracting the virus) are increased dramatically due to that exposure.
I mean this isn’t so difficult to comprehend. And you’re saying i don’t have a clue? How do you do the irony smiley?
Stephen
Unfortunately, there isn’t really a suitable smiley for irony. Of those supported by WordPress, your best option is probably “colon-wink-colon” which looks like this 😉
But I’m afraid the fact of the matter is that some people just don’t get irony and probably won’t even if you flag it up!
Confitebor Domino,
I love your analogy to a virus for baptism of the babies of lapsed parents.
I’ve known people, friends, who were baptised in lapsed families and grew up to be committed practising Catholics. Priests who take the view that it’s not worth baptising those lapsed family children need to look at things in a supernatural way for a change, and see it as a chance to let God work.
As it’s ironical to have to suggest priests take a supernatural view I’m going to have a bash at doing that irony smiley! 😉
Margaret Mary
I’d love to take the credit for the virus analogy but I’m afraid that was Stephen’s ingenious idea, not mine.
I hope I’m not going to be responsible for a pandemic of winks! 😀
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