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Photo by Gregorio Borgia, AP
upon
this
rock
I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld
shall not prevail against it.
(Matt 16:18)
The new Pope, putting the enemy to rout and overcoming every obstacle, guides the ship right up to the two columns and comes to rest between them; he makes it fast with a light chain that hangs from the bow to an anchor of the column on which stands the Host; and with another light chain which hangs from the stern, he fastens it at the opposite end to another anchor hanging from the column on which stands the Immaculate Virgin.—http://www.markmallett.com/blog/2009/01/pope-benedict-and-the-two-columns/
Our faithful people believe in the Eucharist as a priestly people… Our faithful people believes
as a Eucharistic people in Mary. They tietogether their affection for the Eucharist and their affection for the Virgin, our Lady and Mother. In the “school of Mary” (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, n. 1) Eucharistic woman, we can reread contemplatively the passages in which John Paul II sees our Lady as a Eucharistic woman, and see her not alone but “in the company of” (Acts 1:14) the People of God.
We follow here that rule of tradition by which, with different nuances, “what is said of Mary is said of the soul of every Christian and of the whole Church.”(Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 57). Our faithful people have the true “Eucharistic attitude” of giving thanks and of praise.Remembering Mary, they are grateful for being remembered by her, and this memorial of love is truly Eucharistic. In this respect I repeat what John Paul II affirmed in Ecclesia de Eucharistia number 58: “TheEucharist has been given to us so that our life, like that of Mary, can become completely a Magnificat.” —Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (POPE FRANCIS),www.catholiculture.org
This century thirsts for authenticity… The world expects from us simplicity of life, the spirit of prayer, obedience, humility, detachment and self-sacrifice…People listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and when people do listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.—POPE PAUL VI, Evangelization in the Modern World, 22, 76, 41
The Church will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning. She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes… She will lose many of her social privileges… As a small society, [the Church] will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members.It will be hard-going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek… The process will be long and wearisome as was the roadfrom the false progressivism on the eve of the French Revolution — when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain… But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church. Men in a totally planned world will find themselves unspeakably lonely. If they have completely lost sight of God, they will feel the whole horror of their poverty. Then they will discover the little flock of believers as something wholly new. They will discover it as a hope that is meant for them, an answer for which they have always been searching in secret.
And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times. The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already with Gobel, but the Church of faith. She may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but she will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death. —Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (POPE BENEDICT XVI), Faith and Future, Ignatius Press, 2009
A clear rejection of the law of God, engraved in our hearts, is in jeopardy… Here, the envy of the Devil, through which sin entered the world, is also present, and deceitfully intends to destroy the image of God: man and woman, who receive the mandate to grow, multiply, and conquer the earth. Let us not be naive: it is not a simple political struggle; it is an intention [which is] destructive of the plan of God. It is not a mere legislative project (this is a mere instrument), but rather a “move” of the father of lies who wishesto confuse and deceive the children of God.
Jesus tells us that, in order to defend us from this lying accuser, he will send us the Spirit of Truth… the Holy Ghost that may place the light of Truth amid the shadows of error; [we need] this Advocate who may defend us from the enchantment of so many sophisms… which confuse and deceive even people of good will.That is why I turn to you and ask from you prayer and sacrifice, the two invincible weapons which Saint Thérèse confessed to have. Cry out to the Lord that he may send his Spirit to the Senators who are to place their votes. That they may not do it moved by error or by circumstantial matters, but rather according to what the natural law and the law of God tell them. Pray for them, for their families; that the Lord may visit, strengthen, and console them. Pray that they may do great good……Let us look towards Saint Joseph, to Mary, the Child, and let us ask with fervor that they will defend [us]. Let us recall what God himself told his people in a time of great anguish: “this war is not yours, but God’s”… May Jesus bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin protect you. —Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, (POPE FRANCIS), June 22, 2010
- Understanding Mary’s role in the Church and our times: Key to the Woman
this full time apostolate. Please pray for my missions.
Thanks so much.
- cf. On the Eve [↩]
- cf. The False Unity [↩]
- cf. Possible… or Not? [↩]
- cf. Matt 7:24 [↩]




