consagración

The Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus...

is a Roman Catholic prayer [jaarlijks te vernieuwen!] composed by Pope Leo XIII. 

It was included in the 1899 encyclical Annum sacrum issued by Leo XIII... 

as he consecrated the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The consecration was influenced by two letters written to the pope by Sister Mary of the Divine Heart - who stated that, in visions of Jesus Christ, she had been told to request the consecration.

¨Most Sweet Jesus... 

Redeemer of the human race...

look down upon us, humbly prostrate before Thine altar. 

We are Thine, and Thine we wish to be. 

But to be more surely united with Thee...

behold each one of us freely consecrates himself today... 

to Thy most Sacred Heart.

-

Many indeed have never known Thee. 

Many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee. 

Have Mercy on them all, Most Merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy Sacred Heart.

-

Be Thou King, O Lord.

Not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee... 

but also of the prodigal [verloren] children who have abandoned Thee. 

Grant that they may quickly return to Thy Father's House... 

lest [want anders] they die of wretchedness [ellende] and hunger.

-

Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions... 

or whom discord [tweedracht] keeps aloof [op afstand]...

and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith...

so that there may be but one flock and one Shepherd.

-

Be Thou King of all those who are still involved in the darkness of idolatry... 

or of Islamism [islam-fundamentalisme]... 

and refuse not to draw them into the Light and Kingdom of God. 

-

Turn Thine Eyes of Mercy towards the children of the race, once Thy chosen people: 

of old they called down upon themselves [riepen over zich af] the Blood of the Savior... 

may it now descend upon them a laver [als een wasvat] of Redemption and of Life.

-

Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church... 

assurance of freedom and immunity from harm.

Give Peace and Order to áll nations... 

and make the Earth resound, from pole to pole, with one Cry: 

Praise be

to the Divine Heart

That wrought [bewerkte] our salvation. 

To It be Glory and Honor, 

for ever.

Amen¨

[wiki]

profetieën 2

In 1879 the letters were submitted to Pope Leo XIII...

who had been supreme pontiff for only a year...

having followed in the footsteps of Pope Pius IX, the pope who not only proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, but the one who ruled during the Apparitions at Lourdes in 1858 and who gave the apparition ecclesial approbation in 1862. 

The letters were never revealed by Leo nor his successor Pope Saint Pius X. In fact, shortly before the turn of the century, the letters were misplaced and the Vatican lost track. 

Fast forward a century later. Deep in the bowels of the Vatican Library, amid the many volumes of materials, Father Antoine La Grande, a researcher on Lourdes came across an iron box. Voila. Upon opening it, he discovered what now can be shared with the world. 

It is by the Providence of God that it has been found and found now...in God's time! It was first revealed earlier this year in an article by a Vincenzo Sardi in the tabloid Weekly World News. 

While we are skeptical about anything appearing in such a publication of that type, we have reason to believe it has a basis.

-

There were five pages...

and on each page was listed one of the prophecies. 

The first four have already been fulfilled and we will first touch on them briefly.

1.

The first dealt with the fact that Lourdes would become a renowned center for healing after Bernadette's death. 

This it has. In fact Leo authorized that in 1883 the magnificent Church of the Rosary be built. Since that time, millions have visited the shrine and countless faithful have been healed physically and spiritually.

2.

The second dealt with something few realized in 1879 when Thomas Alva Edison was still tinkering [sleutelen] with electrodes and the advent of what Our Lady referred to as ¨scientific achievements in harnessing [benutten] lighting.¨ 

This, of course was electricity, and it was just around the corner, literally in lighting the world and taking the world into a new dimension that has passed all expectations. This, the Blessed Mother said, would begin before the 20th century dawned. 

Two down, three to go.

3.

The third was not as encouraging but, like the others, also came to pass when Our Lady foretold of the terrible evil that would rise up in Germany and stifle most of Europe...    

4.

The fourth prophecy predicted that man would walk on the moon...

Consider the fact that in 1879 the Wright Brothers were still nearly a quarter of century away from even coming on the scene, let alone the tremendous leap in technology that would allow man to fly to other planets! 

That is four prophecies that have definitely been fulfilled.

5. 

And now the Fifth, following are the exact words of Bernadette: 

"Your Holiness, the Virgin has told me that when the 20th century passes away, with it will pass away the Age of Science. 

A new Age of Faith will dawn around the world. Proof will come at last, that it was Our Lord Who created the world and man, and this will be the beginning of the end for the scientists, in whom the people will cease to believe. Millions will return to Christ, and as the numbers of believers swell, the power of the Church will grow as never before. 

Also causing many to turn their backs on science, will be the arrogance of physicians who use their knowledge to create an abomination.These doctors will find the means to combine the essence of a man and the essence of a beast. The people will know in their hearts that this is wrong, but they will be powerless to stop the spawning of such monsters. In the end they will hunt scientists down as ravening wolves are hunted. 

On the eve of the year 2000, a final clash between the followers of Mohammed and the Christian nations of the world will take place. A furious  battle will be waged in which 5,650,451 soldiers are killed and a bomb of great power will fall on a city in Persia. But in the fullness of time the sign of the cross will prevail, and all of Islam will be forced to convert to Christianity. 

There will follow a century of peace and joy as all the nations of the earth lay down their swords and shields. Great prosperity will follow as the Lord showers His blessings down upon the faithful. No family on earth will know poverty or  hunger. One person in ten will be granted by God the power to heal and they will cast out all sicknesses from those who seek their aid. Many will rejoice at these  miracles.

The 21st Century will come to be known... 

as the Second Golden Age of  Mankind."

[bron]

al-maslub 13

Mariam's devotion to the Holy Spirit... 

was not common in her time. 

And yet her spiritual journey seemed to be guided by the Spirit in unprecedented ways. 

Inspired by having received a special prayer to the Holy Spirit during one of her ecstatic experiences, she was convinced that devotion to the Holy Spirit, who was then commonly known as the Paraclete [trooster,pleitbezorger], was needed by the whole Church. 

She even sent a petition to Pope Pius IX asking him to cultivate a greater devotion within the Church to the Holy Spirit. No one knows what the pope thought of this at the time, but 20 years later Pope Leo XIII published an encyclical about devotion to the Paraclete.

Concerning devotion to the Holy Spirit she wrote:

"The world and religious communities are seeking novelties in devotions, and they are neglecting true devotion to the Paraclete. That is why there is error and disunion, and why there is no peace or light. They do not invoke light as it should be invoked, and it is this light that gives knowledge of truth. It is neglected even in seminaries... Every person in the world that will invoke the Holy Spirit and have devotion to Him will not die in error."

Her Prayers to the Holy Spirit:

First, there is her famous little prayer to the Holy Spirit, prayed by people all over the world:

I couldn't think of God

and called on the Holy Spirit.

It is you who makes us know Jesus.

Who made the apostles know Jesus.

Holy Spirit, inspire me!

Holy Spirit, inspire me.

Love of God, consume me.

Along the true road, lead me.

Mary my Mother, look upon me.

With Jesus, bless me.

From all evil, from all illusion,

from all danger, preserve me.

And here is another of her prayers to the Holy Spirit:

Source of peace, Light,

come and enlighten me.

I am hungry, 

come and nourish me.

I am thirsty, 

come and quench my thirst.

I am blind, 

come and give me light.

I am poor, 

come and enrich me.

-

[bron]

wovoka 7

Buffalo Bill and Native Americans

received by Pope Leo XIII

1890

Buffalo Bill

†1917

Wovoka

†1932

wovoka 6

[6j. voor toespraak van Kicking Bear en Bloedbad van Wounded Knee

en 7 jaar voor Kicking Bear's visie-in-de-woestijn...]

On October 13, 1884... 

Pope Leo XIII, just after celebrating Mass... 

turned pale and collapsed as though dead. 

Those standing nearby rushed to his side. They found him alive, but the pontiff looked frightened. He then recounted having a vision of Satan approaching the throne of God, boasting that he could destroy the Church.

According to Pope Leo XIII, the Lord reminded him that his Church was imperishable [onvergankelijk]. 

Satan then replied, “Grant me one century and more power of those who will serve me, and I will destroy it.” 

Our Lord granted him 100 years.

-

The Lord then revealed the events of the 20th century to Leo XIII. 

He saw wars, immorality, genocide and apostasy [afvalligheid] on a large scale. 

-

Immediately following this disturbing vision, he sat down and wrote the prayer to St. Michael. For decades it was prayed at Mass until the 1960’s. 

-

75 years from 1884... is 1959. 

It was on January 25, 1959... 

that John XXIII publicly summoned the Second Vatican Council.

The council was concluded on December 8, 1965...

by Pope Paul VI (1963-1978).

[bron (oa)]

tupahue

The Sanctuary...

of the Immaculate Conception...

on San Cristóbal Hill in Santiago, the capital of Chile...

is one of the principal places of worship for the Catholic Church of Chile... 

as well as being an icon of Santiago, Chile. 

It is located at the summit of San Cristóbal Hill... 

some 863 meters above sea level.

The statue of the Immaculate Conception measures 14 meters tall... 

and the pedestal on which it rests, 8.3 meters. 

It weighs 36,610 kilograms.

On the pedestal there is a small chapel in which John Paul II prayed, and blessed the city of Santiago on April 1, 1987. The statue is lit up at night by lights placed on its sides, allowing it to be viewed from all over Santiago, both day and night.

At the foot of the statue there is an amphitheater, for holding masses or other religious ceremonies. Near the statue, there is also a small chapel for praying. 

The statue can be reached via the road joining the Santiago Metropolitan Park, via the Funicular de Santiago or the Santiago Cable Car, which has its final station next to the sanctuary.

The statue is currently in good condition... 

and was given a thorough clean and repaint (murals by painter Francisca Leighton) in early 2012.

Before the arrival of the Spanish forces in Chile, the place where the shrine now stands was venerated by the indigenous population and known as Tupahue, meaning 'Place of God' in Mapundungun. 

Some time after the founding of Santiago, a 10-meter cross was placed on the hill’s summit, where it remained until the end of the 19th century. 

Popes Leo XIII and Pius X both proclaimed that during 1904 the 50th anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception would be celebrated. Answering this call to commemoration, the Archbishop of Santiago, Monsignor Mariano Casanova, asked the priest José Alejo Infante to coordinate a meeting of clergymen and lay people. It was at this meeting that Infante proposed and received approval for the construction of a Marian shrine.

The statue is believed to be a reproduction of the 'Virgin of Rome' and was designed by Italian architect Luigi Poletti and a work by Italian sculptor Giuseppe Obici. The French foundry Val D’Osne was commissioned to construct the statue by then Chilean ambassador to France, Enrique Salvador Sanfuentes. The statue costed 22,000 francs at the time.

The land on which the sanctuary was built... 

was donated by the communities of the Recoleta Dominica Church and the Saint Teresa Carmelites of Santiago. The first stone was placed on December 8, 1904, and the shrine was officially inaugurated on April 26, 1908.

[wiki]

idesbald 1

Idesbald [†1167]... 

was de 3e abt van de Abdij Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Ten Duinen te Koksijde

In de 13de eeuw werd een nieuw abdijcomplex uitgebouwd. Daarbij werd in 1237 de loden kist van Idesbald naar de nieuwe kapittelzaal overgebracht. Bij de opening van de kist werden de omstaanders getroffen door de wondere geur, "hoewel het lichaam niet gebalsemd was om bewaard te worden". 

Later werd dit geïnterpreteerd als waren zijn stoffelijke resten toen goed bewaard, omdat ook in 1623 de kist nog een intact lichaam bevat zou hebben: monniken van de abdij ontdekten op 13 november 1623 een loden kist onder het puin van de kapittelzaal van de inmiddels verwoeste abdij, met daarin een ongeschonden lichaam, dat als dat van Idesbald (h)erkend werd. 

De kist werd eerst in de abdijhoeve Ten Bogaerde bewaard. 

Daar werden zijn stoffelijke resten officieel erkend door de bisschop van Ieper. Daarna bevestigden mirakels zijn vermeende heiligheid. Ook aartshertogin Isabella kwam zijn stoffelijk overschot begroeten.

Bij Gérardine Rychaert uit Veurne werd in 1624 een duiveluitdrijving uitgevoerd, na een bezoek aan Idesbaldus. Eerdere pogingen waren mislukt. Op 2 oktober 1625 bezocht dame Marie Briois, cisterciënzerin uit Marquette [bij Rijsel] de relieken van Idesbaldus, en werd genezen van haar zware migraine. 

De kustbewoners begonnen Idesbald te vereren... 

en er werd een kruis geplaatst op de plaats waar hij, bij de abdij, werd gevonden. 

Op 11 juni 1798, in de nadagen van de Franse Revolutie, werd dit kruis verwijderd en verbrand, om in 1983 door een nieuw te worden vervangen. In 1819 hadden de vijf laatste monniken van de abdij van Koksijde een kapel op de vindplaats gebouwd.

Bij de vlucht van de Duinheren uit Koksijde - via Nieuwpoort - naar Brugge, werd ook zijn kist overgebracht. Die wisten ze ongeschonden doorheen de Franse Revolutie te loodsen. Idesbald werd  er definitief begraven in de Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ter-Potteriekerk op 6 april 1831.

In 1894 werd Idesbald door paus Leo XIII zaligverklaard. 

Zijn feestdag is op 18 april. 

Hij is patroonheilige van de Vlaamse adel, en de zeelieden... 

en wordt aangeroepen tegen koorts, jicht en reuma.

De naam Idesbaldus werd gegeven aan de badplaats Sint-Idesbald in Koksijde.

In 2015 werd het reliekschrijn van de zalige Idesbald voor de twaalfde keer geopend voor onderzoek. Onderzoekers wilden daarmee inzicht verwerven in ziektebeelden en voedingspatronen uit het verleden.

In juni 2015 bleek "dat de kist niet het stoffelijk overschot van de zalige Idesbald kon bevatten, aangezien de aangetroffen resten 250 jaar jonger waren"...

[wiki]

salve regina 2

Marian antiphons... 

have been sung since the thirteenth century... 

at the close of Compline [de completen], the last Office of the day. 

Peter Canisius [d. 1597] noted that one praises God in Mary when one turns to her in song. Liturgically, the Salve Regina is the best known of four prescribed Marian Anthems recited after Compline, and, in some uses, after Lauds or other Hours. Its use after Compline is likely traceable to the monastic practice of intoning [aanheffen] it in chapel, and chanting it on the way to sleeping quarters.

It was set down in its current form... 

at the Abbey of Cluny in the 12th century... 

where it was used as a processional hymn on Marian feasts. 

The Cistercians chanted the Salve Regina daily from 1218. It was popular at medieval universities as evening song, and according to Fr. Juniper Carol, it came to be part of the ritual for the blessing of a ship. While the anthem figured largely in liturgical and in general popular Catholic devotion, it was especially dear to sailors.

In the 18th century, the Salve Regina served as the outline for the classic Roman Catholic Mariology book The Glories of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Liguori. In the first part of the book Alphonsus, a Doctor of the Church, discusses the Salve Regina and explains how God gave Mary to mankind as the 'Gate of Heaven'...

It was added to the series of prayers said at the end of Low Mass by Pope Leo XIII. The Salve Regina is traditionally sung at the end of a priest's funeral Mass by the decedent's fellow priests in attendance. As a prayer, it is commonly said at the end of the rosary.

[wikipedia]

goede vrijdag 4

Der heilige Johannes ist das Vorbild derer...

die in der Stunde des Verrats und der Abkehr Jesus durch Maria treu bleiben.

„Gott der Heilige Geist will in und durch Maria sich Auserwählte bilden und spricht zu ihr: ‚In electis meis mitte radices‘ (Sir 24, 12), „Laß, meine vielgeliebte Braut, alle Deine Tugenden in meinen Auserwählten Wurzeln schlagen, damit sie wachsen von Tugend zu Tugend und von Gnade zu Gnade“, schreibt der heilige Ludwig Maria Grignion von Montfort (Abhandlung über die wahre Hingabe an die Heilige Jungfrau, Nr. 34) und versichert uns, daß ihre Verehrer einen festen und unerschütterlichen Glauben erhalten werden, der sie inmitten aller Stürme standhaft und beständig machen wird (ebd., Nr. 214).

Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira hat gezeigt, wie die Marienverehrung – nicht äußerlich und unbeständig, sondern fest und ausdauernd – ein entscheidender Faktor im Kampf zwischen der Revolution und der Gegenrevolution ist, der immer akuter wird in den dunklen Zeiten, die uns erwarten. Maria, die Mittlerin aller Gnaden, ist in der Tat der Kanal, durch den alle Gnaden fließen, und die Gnaden für diejenigen, die sie anrufen und für sie kämpfen, werden im Überfluß herabregnen (Revolution und Gegenrevolution, TFP, Frankfurt am Main 1996).

Der große Erzdiakon von Évreux, Henri-Marie Boudon, dessen Spiritualität vom heiligen Ludwig Maria von Montfort geformt wurde, schrieb, daß wir in öffentlichen Katastrophen wie Kriegen oder Epidemien auf andere zeigen, während wir bei uns selbst und unseren Sünden suchen sollten:

„Gott schlägt uns, um betrachtet zu werden, und wir erheben stattdessen unsere Augen nicht von den Kreaturen“ (La dévotion aux saints anges, Clovis, Condé-sur-Noireau 1998, S. 265).

In diesen beunruhigenden Tagen wollen wir nicht nach der Hand der Menschen hinter der Pandemie suchen. Begnügen wir uns damit, die Hand Gottes darin zu sehen. Und da die Gottesmutter neben Miterlöserin und Mittlerin auch Königin des Weltalls (Leo XIII.) ist, dürfen wir nicht vergessen, daß Gott ihr die Aufgabe übertragen hat, in die Geschichte einzugreifen und sich dem Handeln des Teufels zu widersetzen. Deshalb ist Maria die einzige Zuflucht, wenn der Herr die Menschheit geißelt. Aus ihr schöpft Kraft, wer seinen Platz nicht aufgibt, sondern auf dem Feld bleibt, um die letzte Schlacht zu kämpfen: die für den Triumph ihres Unbefleckten Herzens.


~bron~

inzet vii

The Revolution is satanic in essence...

because it aims to undo the work of the creation and Redemption...

to build the social Kingdom of the devil, a hell on earth which foreshadows that of eternity, just as the social Kingdom of Christ also foreshadows the kingdom of the celestial paradise.

It is the truth of faith: demons exist, they fight men, they tempt and at times invade them. Satan’s primary activity is temptation. The devil insinuates, instigates, induces us to sin. He is, at least indirectly, in this sense the cause of our sins. Jesus Christ himself experienced this act of the tempter, who said to him: “All these things I will give you if you prostrate yourself before me and adore me.” [Mt. 4:9]

The mystical Body of Christ rests on two pillars.

Its visible structure, whose leaders are the Pope, the Vicar of Christ.

And its invisible structure, which is made up of the saints. Of which Our Lady is the model and epitome, who can also be defined as the “Vicar of Christ”, because of the authority which is not visible, but invisible,  exerted over the truly devout, who are the heart of the Church. 

The primary work of the devil is to conquer both the visible and invisible leaders of the Mystical Body of Christ: the authorities which guide the Church, and the saints who profess and live the Truth.

-

The temptation for men who represent the visible Church, is power.

The devil suggests that they serve not the Church, but their own ambitions, to satisfy their own cupidity.

Yet the souls to whom the devil most clings, are those called to sainthood.

Satan seeks out in particular those who, like himself, have received most graces from God. The seduction consists in convincing those souls that the good which they do, is the fruit of their own strength and their own merit. Leading them to forget that all the good they perform is accomplished in them by God.

To these souls, the tempter offers the gratification of gifts they have received, to change them from the humble to the proud and, where this is not possible, tempt them not to aim for the utmost good, which is perfection, but content themselves with the lesser good, which is frequently an evil, substituting the rough way of the Cross with an accommodating spirituality, which renounces heroism.

Satan prefers to conquer men of the Church rather than the laity, and from among the men of the Church, those who have the highest vocation; to lose a pure and generous soul, to lose a saint, to lose a bishop, to lose a Pope... these are Satan’s greatest conquests! 

This requires the highest level of seduction possible, which consists in offering his victim not vulgar material goods, but alternative spiritual goods, appealing to man’s desire for the absolute. As testified in his work Exorcism, Leo XIII saw the throne of abomination and godlessness, positioned even “ubi sedes beatissimi Petri et Cathedra veritatis ad lucem gentium constituta est.”


~bron~

inzet iii

The City of God...

is the Church in its three states: militant, suffering and triumphant.

A spiritual bond brings together, in a single Mystical Body, the faithful who fight on earth, the souls who suffer in purgatory, and the blessed who rejoice in Heaven.  Man is in fact a social being not only in the natural, but also in the supernatural order.

The vital communication of supernatural blessings among members of the three churches is the Communion of Saints.

-

An intimate solidarity also exists among the children of darkness.

The link which binds them is hatred. They hate and detest one another, yet come together in the struggle against Good, as stated in the Psalm: “convenerunt in unum adversus Dominum et adversus Christum eius” [Psalm 2:2].

Father Sebastian Tromp, a Jesuit theologian who collaborated in drafting the Encyclical Mystici Corporis of Pius XII, and in the II Vatican Council was adviser to Cardinal Ottaviani, added an appendix to his treatise Corpus Christi quod est ecclesia to De corpore diabolic, demonstrating, on the basis of scriptural and patristic citations, that the City of Satan assumes the guise of a mystical body of the devil.

In his books entitled Moralia, St Gregory the Great speaks frequently of the corpus diabuli, which is the devil and his followers. “Just as the saints are members of Christ, so the ungodly without faith are members of the devil” and “The devil is the father of all the iniquitous, and all the ungodly are members of this leader.”

-

Civitas diabuli...

is not merely a whole made up of errors and moral perversions, but an organised structure. It has dogmas, rights and hierarchies, representing as it does an imitation of the true Church. It is a counter-church, defined in the Apocalypse as the “synagogue of Satan” [Ap.2:9; 3:9].

Tertullian describes the rituals used in the second century, revealing that, even at that time, a diabolical parody of Christian mysteries was in existence. St Irenaeus speaks of the Cainites, who heralded as liberators the great rebels against God, Cain, Esau and Judas. The seven medieval Gnostics, like the Cathars, considered Cain, and those who built the tower of Babel, the inhabitants of the city of Sodom, to be their precursors.

Freemasonry, which inherits the faith and customs of Gnosticism, formed the visible driving force of the civitas diabuli from the 18th century onwards. No other sect has been the subject of such condemnation from the Church during the last three centuries, of which the Encyclical Humanum Genus of Leo XIII is, to some extent, a compendium.

-

The Mystical Body of Christ and Corpus diabuli are two kingdoms which oppose one another in history, as life and death, good and evil, light and darkness. Their aim is to annihilate one another. The struggle between the two armies is perpetual and implacable [onverbiddelijk], as summarised in these words:

“And I tell you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” [Mt 16:18].

On one side, the Church, which is the Kingdom of Christ.

And on the other an enemy described as “the gates of hell”,

Which will - in vain - make every effort to prevail over the Church.


~bron~

inzet ii

In seeking to throw a little light on the ´Mysterium iniquitatis´...

it is necessary to look back at the first moments of universal history.

In his Encyclical Humanum Genus [20 April 1884]  against Freemasonry, Leo XIII asserts:

“The race of man, after its miserable fall from God, the Creator and the Giver of heavenly gifts, ´through the envy of the devil,´ separated into two diverse and opposite parts, of which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue, the other of those things which are contrary to virtue and to truth. 

The one is the kingdom of God on earth. Namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ. And those who desire from their heart to be united with it, so as to gain salvation, must of necessity serve God and His only-begotten Son with their whole mind and with an entire will. 

The other is the kingdom of Satan, in whose possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader and of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the divine and eternal law, and who have many aims of their own in contempt of God, and many aims also against God.”

-

Pope Leo XIII therefore teaches that humanity is divided into two camps, which are in incessant combat: the kingdom of God, consisting of the Church of Christ, and the kingdom of Satan, consisting of followers of the Devil.

The combat is not merely an episode in history, but dates from the first moment of creation of the universe, and will continue until the end of time.

-

Angels were created together with light.

But when God separated light from darkness...

some angels separated themselves from the light, which is God, and plunged into darkness. This is repeated throughout history, and in fact constitutes the mysterium iniquitatis: a mystery impenetrable in itself, because our intelligence is not capable of comprehending either the intimate essence of the Supreme Good, or the profundity of Evil, whose existence is allowed by God, although against His will.

This is an ´unapproachable light´ [1Tim. 6:16], in which God lives. But there is also an unapproachable darkness which the divine light does not illuminate. This is why we say that Satan works in the mystery. Like every mystery, the mystery of evil is beyond the understanding of reason, yet does not contradict it. Through reason illuminated by faith, we can grasp a reflection of light in this mystery which, as St Paul assures us, will be revealed in time [2 Thess. 2:6-8]. Only ´God is light, and in Him there can be no darkness´ [1 John 2:5].

-

To explain this mystery of evil...

Leo XIII refers to the two cities, described by St Augustine in his classic work ´The City of God´ in these words: “Two loves formed two cities: the love of self, reaching even to contempt of God, an earthly city; and the love of God, reaching to contempt of self, a heavenly one.”

The forces of attraction and cohesion which generate and maintain these cities is love!

“Two forms of love have generated two cities: the earthly city, love of self to the extent of disdain of God; the heavenly city, love of God to the extent of disdain of self.” 

The radical choice is between God, to whom humility of heart is intimately joined, and the devil, to whom pride and self-love binds us.

The essence of this encounter is moral, and rooted in human liberty: a choice must be made according to the gravitational pull impressed on our life by love.


~bron~

jan -vii-

His death was followed by an outburst of devotion in Rome...

and an immense throng [menigte] crowded around his remains and sought to secure some relic of the saint. Many miracles were wrought in Belgium and in Rome, and crowned heads petitioned for his beatification.

Pius IX published the decree on May 3, 1865. On the eleventh, his relics were solemnly translated to their present resting place beneath the altar of our Lady in the Church of the Roman College, opposite the splendid shrine of St. Aloysius.

On January 15, 1888, Leo XIII, amid the festivities of his Sacerdotal Jubilee, solemnly canonized the Belgian student.


~bron~