The young man's guide/Part 2: Vow to Conquer
How to conquer
LXX. Trusty Sentinels.
1.The worst enemy of man is evil concupiscence, that lust of the flesh which seeks to wither the heavenly flower, the lily of purity, and to deprive him of it altogether. At no period is this enemy more daring and persistent than at your present time of life. Sensual desire is kindled like some uncanny fire, and frequently impels to sin with such force that the unhappy young man is obliged to put forth all the spiritual and moral strength of which he is possessed, in order not to succumb in this arduous encounter.
It is of the utmost importance that you should know exactly what are the means to defend and to preserve your chastity. It is of these means that I am now about to speak.
2. In the first place, let me point out to you the trusty sentinels who will help you to conquer in the fight. The first is the holy fear of God and humility of heart. Happy are you, if you are constantly filled with this holy fear, and never forget that you bear about you the treasure of chastity in very frail vessels.
Take care that you do not talk like so many young men, who indeed are not evil minded, but thoughtless and inexperienced. Such a one witnesses the sad fall of one of his friends. What does he say? " Oh! this will not happen to me," he remarks, " I am not so stupid as he is." Or he exclaims in his conceit: "How can a reasonable being so far forget himself! I should not have believed so and so to be capable of it! No, indeed, I am cast in a very different mold!"
Thus it never occurs to the foolish and conceited young man that a similar misfortune may overtake him. He does not believe that he stands in need of warnings and exhortations; he throws them to the wind. Behold these are the lying utterances of Satan: "You shall not die."
But do you, my friend, be firmly convinced that every one who trusts in himself, and believes that his footing is firm, and therefore does not fly from the. tempter, is certain to be lost. Let him remember those words of Holy Writ: "He that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall;" let him place humility and holy fear as the first sentinels in the conflict with the enemy of chastity.
3. A second sentinel is the determination to resist evil thoughts and impulses without a moment's delay. The great and important principle in regard to attacks of disease is to employ, from the outset, suitable methods to resist them. The same principle holds good in regard to diseases of the soul.
As soon as you become conscious of impure thoughts, images, and impulses, strive at once to concentrate your thoughts upon something else, upon the work in which you are engaged, or anything else which is harmless and calculated to engross your attention. And in case you are alone, seek, if you possibly can, some companionship which is not dangerous. In every case utter, with all the fervor of which you are capable, some ejaculatory prayer, such as: "My Jesus, mercy!" " Sweet Heart of Jesus, be my love! " "Sweet heart of Mary, be my salvation! " Such ejaculations as these, when uttered with true devotion and childlike confidence, have a marvelous power.
You must avoid all voluntary and proximate occasions which are likely to lead to the sin of unchastity. In such a voluntary and proximate occasion does a young man find himself, who without necessity seeks out some place, or lingers in it, or holds converse with persons where it is highly probable, or almost certain, that he will fall into some grievous sin of unchastity.
For example, a young man cultivates familiar intercourse with a girl; they meet every week, or perhaps several times a week; he is alone with her; very often, possibly every time, they both sin grievously, at least by voluntary indulgence in impure thoughts and imaginations. That is a proximate voluntary occasion.
5. Such proximate voluntary occasions must be avoided at any cost, else nothing is of any avail; follow in time the divine warning: Watch and pray!"
Be watchful; taken by surprise
How many fall, no more to rise!
The storm that wakes the passion's glow
Shall lay the tender lily low.
LXXI. A Strong Bulwark
1.IT IS your duty to protect and defend the virtue of chastity, as if your heart were some beleaguered fortress. Nothing contributes to the successful defense of any fortress so much as strong bulwarks. The same argument holds good in a spiritual sense; you must surround your virtue, the favorite virtue of the Saviour and of His Blessed Mother, with mighty ramparts.
One of the most important of these ramparts for the preservation of your purity - an absolutely necessary bulwark for the salvation of our soul, is prayer. Love prayer, and practise it earnestly; then you can not fail to win the victor's crown in your conflict with the enemies of your soul.
2. In the happy days of childhood, long since past, scarcely had you given the first signs of awakening reason than you were taught to fold your hands in prayer. From the pulpit and in the confessional, at home and in the church, you are exhorted to pray; the sound of the church bell, the sight of the crucifix, admonish you to raise your heart to God in prayer. It is not without the most weighty reasons that I myself have frequently and urgently encouraged you to pray. It behooves young men especially to follow the injunction of St. Paul: "Pray without ceasing"; for they are so frequently exposed to the fiercest onslaughts of passion. How otherwise could they in their weakness obtain the strength and grace which are needed in order permanently to resist the blandishments of the world and their own evil concupiscence?
Certainly young people must pray, and pray in the right manner, in order to protect and preserve the pearl of virtues; just as the wise Solomon did in his youth, according to his own words: " Because I knew that I could not otherwise be continent except God gave it, I went to the Lord, and besought Him" (Wis. viii. 21).
3. St. Paul points out to us a special method of prayer for the preservation of chastity in the following words: "In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one." By this shield of faith is meant that the truths of our holy religion, more especially serious meditations upon the four last things, will enable us to conquer the fiercest temptations. If such temptations assail you, and dangers threaten you, have recourse to mental prayer. Place before you as vividly as you can death, judgment, heaven, and hell. Thus will you be prevented from falling into sin, or at least from remaining in sin, and you will bridle and overcome your passion. Holy Scripture reminds us of this in the following words: "In ail thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin."
4. St. Paul exhorts us to vocal prayer when he says: "In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God." Obey this injunction; pray without ceasing, that you may be kept from temptation, or at least from falling when you are tempted. Our Lord teaches us to pray thus: " Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." In another place He says: "Ask, and it shall be given you." Ask, and you shall receive strength in temptation, courage in the fight, deliverance from the bondage of sin, if you have been so unfortunate as to fall into it. As long as a young man continues to pray all is not lost; there is certainly hope for his salvation. But if he grows careless in regard to prayer, or ceases altogether to pray, there is everything to fear, as I know by experience. To take one instance of the many which have come under my observation: A young girl who had formerly been pious and good lost her innocence, to the grief of all who knew her. Her confessor spoke to her upon the subject, and asked how her sad fall had come about. " Alas! reverend Father," she exclaimed, bursting into sobs. " this is what one comes to if one neglects prayer and at last gives it up altogether!" Fain would I say to every young man on the face of the earth: Grow not weary of praying if you would not be lost!
5. The most precious fruit of prayer is that it unites us to God and renders us heavenly-minded. True prayer is an elevation of the heart to God in which you hold intercourse with Him. He, the loving Father, during every moment of this sweet communion, infuses more light, fresh love and strength into the heart of the child who kneels before Him. In this way the heart is more and more raised up to God and is excited to pious affections.
When Moses had communed with God for forty days, his face shone with such dazzling brightness that he was obliged to cover it when he came near to the people. We read something of a similar nature in the lives of many of the saints, who, whilst engaged in prayer and contemplation, or after they had concluded these exercises, shone with heavenly radiance.
6. We poor sinful mortals can not expect to receive from God favors such as these. One thing is certain, however: he who loves prayer, and prays frequently and devoutly, will find his soul to be illumined from on high; he will grow in the love of God, he will strive more and more to please Him, he will more and more despise all that is base, unholy, and impure. He, on the contrary, who does not pray at regular times, who does not raise his heart to God and to heaven, becomes of necessity more and more worldly-minded, loses all relish for higher things, and seeks only the gratification of his lower nature.
Like a pillar of fire, prayer will lead you unharmed through the perils of this world. Prayer will open for you the gates of everlasting blessedness. Never murmur, never despair, whatever may be the dangers and temptations that surround you! You can always pray; if not with your lips, with your heart at least, which is far better. With St. Peter cry out in these words to the sacred Heart of Jesus: "Lord, save us, we perish!" But do not pray in a pusillanimous spirit; pray with firm confidence.
Jesus! eternal Truth sublime!
Through endless years the same!
Thou crown of those who through all time
Confess Thy holy name:
Encircled by Thy virgin band,
Amid the lilies Thou art found;
For thy pure brides with lavish hand
Scattering immortal graces round.
Keep us, O Purity divine,
From every least corruption free;
Our every sense from sin refine,
And purify our souls for Thee.
- Lyra Catholica
Hail thou Star of Ocean!
Portal of the sky!
Ever Virgin Mother
Of the Lord most High.
Show thyself a Mother;
Offer Him our sighs,
Who for us Incarnate
Did not thee despise.
Virgin of all virgins!
To thy shelter take us;
Gentlest of the gentle!
Chaste and gentle make us
Still as on we journey,
Help our weak endeavor;
Till with thee and Jesus
We rejoice forever.
- Lyra Catholica.
LXXII. Impassable Barricades
1.From time immemorial barricade? have played an important part whenever street fighting has been carried on in large cities. They consist of impediments artificially constructed, and made of various materials, such as, for instance, beams joined together, heaps of earth and stones, which render it very difficult for an enemy to pass along the streets.
In the spiritual conflict, in the war against the enemy of chastity, various kinds of mortification and the good employment of one's time may be compared to these barricades. They prevent the entrance of the sin of impurity into the citadel of our heart, or at least render it more difficult. Let us see how this comes to pass.
2. Why are many young people so weak in regard to the preservation of their chastity? There is no doubt that this is principally caused by want of mortification, by effeminate bringing up. Such a system of bringing up awakens and fosters animal propensities in the human being at an early age, and lays him open to the most terrible temptations later in life. He falls an easy prey to these temptations, because he has but little strength; he is wanting in moral stamina. In this way habits of impurity originate.
He who wishes to prevent sins of impurity from entering his heart must surround it with a thorny hedge of mortification; I mean that he must by severe self-discipline bring his body Into subjection to the spirit.
In order to overcome their bodies, the saints ate sparingly, slept but little, wore rough penitential garments, dwelt in caves, sometimes even beneath the vault of heaven, and practised various corporal austerities. In order to vanquish his rebellious flesh, St. Aloysius scourged himself unto blood, St. Francis of Assisi rolled in thorns, St. Bernard immersed himself in a half-frozen pond, even the Apostle chastised his body.
3. Extraordinary severities are not required of you, not even advisable for you; but without some practice of self-denial and mortification of the senses you will fall into effeminacy and vicious habits.
H There is no alternative," writes St. Alphonsus Liguori, "we must either fight or perish. If the soul does not subdue the body, the flesh will conquer the spirit."
In reference to sensualists who deride the mortification of the flesh, St. Bernard says: u If we are cruel in crucifying the flesh, they, by sparing it, are far more cruel; for by their inordinate love of the flesh and the pleasures of the body in this life, they shall merit for soul and body inexpressible torments in the next." St. Philip says: " The perfection of a Christian consists in mortifying himself for the love of Christ. Where there is no great mortification, there is no great sanctity." And St. Francis de Sales admonishes us: " Prayer without mortification is like a soul with out a body. Be assured that the mortification of the senses in seeing, hearing, and speaking, is far more profitable than wearing even sharp chains or hair-shirts. It ought to be our principal object to conquer ourselves, and from day to day to go on increasing in spiritual strength and perfection."
4. Another barricade, a powerful obstacle against the entrance of the spirit of impurity, is industry, useful employment. Over and over again does daily experience teach the truth of the proverb: "Idleness is the beginning of every vice"; and it is very especially the beginning of the vice of impurity.
5. Therefore St- Jerome warns us: "Never let the devil find thee idle." The saint had experienced in his own person how great is the power of industry in repelling temptations. Buried in the desert, terribly emaciated by fasting and chastisement of his body, he felt none the less the sting of the flesh in the most humiliating manner.
Then he applied himself to an occupation so repulsive and tiresome, that only a will of iron, such as he possessed, could expect to carry it through. At last he was able to exclaim: " How grateful I feel to God that my labor and toil have finally helped me to attain the peace and consolation for which I longed!"
6. Therefore it is a fortunate thing for you, my friend, if you always have plenty of occupation, and have no time left to stand about idle, or to wander aimlessly hither and thither. Indeed, if this is your case, you must give thanks to God that it is so. Think of a spring; it is always clear, because the water is ever in motion. How thick and foul, on the contrary, is a stagnant pool or pond, whose waters are still and motionless. Therefore bar the way to your heart by constant and useful occupation. Let it be your ambition by indefatigable industry, unremitting activity, and endurance, to become a useful member of society, and thus be a credit to your faith, a source of joy to your parents, and a benefactor to your fellow-men.
That man should work is God's good will
And man's own welfare too;
For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.
LXXIII. A Well-Furnished Storehouse
1.Of WHAT avail would the most impregnable fortifications and the most powerful weapons be to a general besieged by enemies, and shut up in a fortress, if provisions, the means of life, were wanting to him? He could maintain no permanent resistance, b« could not possibly conquer, and there would remain for him no alternative except either to see the garrison perish from hunger, or to surrender at discretion to the enemy.
Such a disaster can never fall to your lot in the war which you wage against the enemy of chastity; for never can spiritual means of support be wanting to you, since well-furnished storehouses stand open to you at all times, from which you may always draw fresh spiritual strength, invincible power, and inexhaustible grace. I understand by these storehouses, the sacraments of Penance and of the Altar.
2. In confession and communion our merciful Redeemer has bequeathed to the young inexhaustible treasures of grace, which may always enable them to come off victorious in the war against the enemy of their salvation.
It matters not how grievous may be the sins into which a young man has fallen, or how violent and persistent may be the temptations by which he is assailed, if only he goes to confession regularly - with a humble and contrite heart - hell will not secure its coveted prey. Frequent confession and communion are the best means to preserve chastity.
Many holy confessors, like St. Philip Neri and St. Alphonsus Liguori, often enjoined upon such deeply fallen or cruelly tempted young men nothing more for a penance than that they should after their first sin of relapse, again present themselves in the confessional.
If young people really did this with seriousness and perseverance their condition would speedily show a marked improvement.
3. The richest and most inexhaustible storehouse of divine grace is the most holy Sacrament of the Altar. That necessarily follows from the essence of this sacrament. For who is present there, who gives Himself Co you in holy communion? It is He, who once reposed as a little child in the manger of Bethlehem, who passed through all the stages of adolescence, who, when He had attained to man's estate, showed a very special love for the young, who called children to His side, embraced, and blessed them; who so mercifully healed the epileptic young man, the servant of the centurion at Capharnaum, the daughter of the Samaritan woman; who raised to life the widow's son at Nairn, and the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus.
Certainly you know Him. who now as the same merciful Saviour, both God and man, the same loving friend of youth, is still present among us under the eucharistic veil, and so often deigns to descend into our sinful heart in all the plenitude of His grace and love.
4. Think you that He does not know your struggles and temptations, the manifold dangers which beset the soul He purchased with His own most precious blood? Or do you think He has not the same power which He possessed when as the Incarnate Son of God He walked among men and came so frequently and so mercifully to men's rescue and relief; or that He does not feel the same fatherly love, that He is no longer desirous to aid and deliver you? Why these foolish doubts? Go direct to Him, confidently invoke His help; say to Him: "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Pray with lively faith, with childlike confidence: "O sacred Heart of Jesus, I put my trust in Thee! "
5. Then will you assuredly feel that strength and consolation are poured into your heart; then will you appreciate the truth of St. Paul's words: "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will make also with temptation issue that you may be able to bear it." You will find that God is true to the promise He made to each one of us by the mouth of His prophet: "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will I not forget thee." How touching, how consoling is this assurance! Surely it must inspire the coldest, the most despairing heart with confidence and hope! The God of love and goodness, of mercy and long-suffering will not forget you when you are tormented by temptation, and exposed to the risk of losing your innocence.
6. But you must endeavor to receive Him frequently in holy communion.
For the celestial dew contained in this wondrous sacrament imparts divine strength. How could it be otherwise? Holy communion is a union between Jesus and ourselves, a union so intimate that even His almighty love could have devised none closer. He Himself has said: "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in Him." This most intimate union effects a transformation by the fire of divine charity. The partaking of His most sacred body and blood weakens concupiscence and gives the feeble will strength for conflict By partaking of this Sacrament the soul is filled with a joy compared with which the pleasures of sin appear contemptible, and bitter as gall. If Jesus, who is Purity itself, unites Himself so closely to your soul, how can the unclean spirit dare to approach you? If you frequently receive Him in this sacred banquet, if He nourishes, fortifies, ennobles, and sanctifies your soul with His omnipotent grace, must not your lily of innocence ever become stronger, fairer, and more fragrant?
Amid dangers and temptations let this be your prayer:
In life's hard conflict be Thou near,
My God, for then no foe I fear;
Left to myself I needs must fall;
Strengthened by Thee, I conquer all.
LXXIV. Holy Communion: Our Life and Our Strength
Pontifical Decree Concerning Daily Communion
THE Council of Trent, having in view the unspeakable treasures of grace which are offered to the faithful who receive the Most Holy Eucharist, makes the following declaration: "The holy synod would desire that at every Mass the faithful who are present should communicate not only spiritually, by way of internal affection, but sacramentally, by the actual reception of the Eucharist" (Sess. xxii, cap. 6). Which words declare plainly enough the wish of the Church that all Christians should be daily nourished by this heavenly banquet, and should derive therefrom abundant fruit for their sanctification.
And this wish of the Council is in entire agreement with that desire wherewith Christ our Lord was inflamed when He instituted this divine sacrament. For He Himself more than once, and in no ambiguous terms, pointed out the necessity of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, especially in these words:. "This is the bread that came down from heaven; not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead: he that eateth this bread shall live forever" (John vi. 59). Now, from this comparison of the food of angels with bread and with the manna, it was easily to be understood by His disciples that, as the body is daily nourished with bread, and the Hebrews were daily nourished with manna in the desert, so the Christian soul might daily partake of this heavenly bread and be refreshed thereby. Moreover, whereas, in the "Lord's Prayer" we are bidden to ask for "our daily bread," the holy Fathers of the Church all but unanimously teach that by these words must be understood, not so much that material bread which is the support of the body, as the eucharistic bread which ought to be our daily food.
Moreover, the desire of Jesus Christ and of the Church that all the faithful should daily approach the sacred banquet is directed chiefly to this end, that the faithful, being united to God by means of the sacrament, may thence derive strength to resist their sensual passions, to cleanse themselves from the stains of daily faults, and to avoid these graver sins to which human frailty is liable; so that its primary purpose is not that the honor and reverence due to Our Lord may be safeguarded, or that the sacrament may serve as a reward of virtue bestowed on the recipients (St. Augustine, Serm. 57 in Matt, de Oral. Dom. n. 7). Hence the holy Council of Trent calls the Eucharist "the antidote whereby we are delivered from daily faults and preserved from deadly sins" (Sess. xii cap. 2).
This desire on the part of God was so well understood by the first Christians, that they daily flocked to the Holy Table as to a source of life and strength. "They, were persevering in the doctrine of the apostles, and in the communication of the breaking of bread" (Acts ii. 42). And that this practice was to continue into later ages, not without great fruit of holiness and perfection, the holy Fathers and ecclesiastical writers bear witness.
But when in later times piety grew cold, and more especially under the influence of the plague of Jansenism, disputes began to arise concerning the dispositions with which it was proper to receive communion frequently or daily, and writers vied with one another in imposing more and more stringent conditions as necessary to be fulfilled. The result of such disputes was that very few were considered worthy to communicate daily, and to derive from this most healing sacrament its more abundant fruits; the rest being content to partake of it once a year, or once a month, or at the utmost weekly. Nay, to such a pitch was rigorism carried, that whole classes of persons were excluded from a frequent approach to the Holy Table; for instance, those engaged in trade, or even those living in the state of matrimony.
Others, however, went to the opposite extreme. Under the persuasion that daily communion was a divine precept, and in order that no day might pass without the reception of the sacrament, besides other practices contrary to the approved usage of the Church, they held that the Holy Eucharist ought to be received, and in fact administered it, even on Good Friday.
Under these circumstances the Holy See did not fail in its duty of vigilance. For, by a decree of this Sacred Congregation, which begins with the words Cum ad aures, issued on February 12, 1679, with the approbation of Innocent XI, it condemned these errors, and put a stop to such abuses; at the same time declaring that all the faithful of whatsoever class, merchants or tradesmen, or married persons not excepted, might be admitted to frequent communion, according to the devotion of each one and the judgment of his confessor. And on December 7, 1600, by the decree of Pope Alexander VIII, Sanctissimus Dominus, the proposition of Baius, postulating a perfectly pure love of God, without any admixture of defect, as requisite on the part of those who wished to approach the Holy Table, was condemned.
Yet the poison of Jansenism, which, under the pretext of showing due honor and reverence to the Holy Eucharist, had infected the minds even of good men, did not entirely disappear. The controversy as to the dispositions requisite for the lawful and laudable frequentation of the sacrament survived the declarations of the Holy See; so much so, indeed, that certain theologians of good repute judged that daily communion should be allowed to the faithful only in rare cases, and under many conditions.
On the other hand, there were not wanting men of learning and piety who more readily granted permission for this practice, so salutary and so pleasing to God. In accordance with the teaching of the Fathers, they maintained that there was no precept of the Church which prescribed more perfect dispositions in the case of daily than of weekly or monthly communion; while the good effects of daily communion would, they alleged, be far more abundant than those of communion received weekly or monthly.
In our own day the controversy has been carried on with increased warmth, and not without bitterness, so that the minds of confessors and the consciences of -the faithful have been disturbed, to the no small detriment of Christian piety and devotion. Accordingly, certain distinguished men, themselves pastors of souls, have urgently besought his Holiness Pope Pius X to deign to settle, by his supreme authority, the question concerning the dispositions requisite for daily communion; so that this usage, so salutary and so pleasing to God, might not only suffer no decrease among the faithful, but might rather be promoted and everywhere propagated; a thing most desirable in these days, when religion and the Catholic faith are attacked on all sides, and the true love of God and genuine piety are so lacking in many quarters. And His Holiness, being most earnestly desirous, out of his abundant solicitude and zeal, that the faithful should be invited to partake of the sacred banquet as often as possible, and even daily, and should profit to the utmost by its fruits, committed the aforesaid question to this Sacred Congregation, to be looked into and decided once for all (definiendum).
Accordingly, the Sacred Congregation of the Council, in a plenary session held on December 16, 1905, submitted the whole matter to a very careful scrutiny; and, after sedulously examining the reasons adduced on either side, determined and declared as follows:
1. Frequent and daily communion, as a thing most earnestly desired by Christ our Lord and by the Catholic Church, should be open to all the faithful, of whatever rank and condition of life; so that no one who is in the state of grace, and who approaches the Holy Table with a right and devout intention, can lawfully be hindered therefrom.
2. A right intention consists in this: that he who approaches the Holy Table should do so, not out of routine, or vainglory, or human respect, but for the purpose of pleasing God, or being more closely united with Him by charity, and of seeking this divine remedy for his weaknesses and defects.
3. Although it is more expedient that those who communicate frequently or daily should be free from venial sins, especially from such as are fully deliberate, and from any affection thereto, nevertheless it is sufficient that they be free from mortal sin, with the purpose of never sinning mortally in future; and, if they have this sincere purpose, it is impossible but that daily communicants should gradually emancipate themselves from even venial sins, and from all affection thereto.
4. But whereas the sacraments of the New Law, though they take effect ex opere operate, nevertheless produce a greater effect in proportion as the dispositions of the recipient are better; therefore, care is to be taken that holy communion be preceded by serious preparation, and followed by a suitable thanksgiving according to each one's strength, circumstances, and duties.
5. That the practice of frequent and daily communion may be carried out with greater prudence and more abundant merit, the confessor's advice should be asked. Confessors, however, are to be careful not to dissuade any one (ne quemquam avertant) from frequent and daily communion, provided that he is in a state of grace and approaches with a right intention.
6. But since it is plain that, by the frequent or daily reception of the Holy Eucharist, union with Christ is fostered, the spiritual life more abundantly sustained, the soul more richly endowed with virtues, and an even sure pledge of everlasting happiness bestowed on the recipient, therefore parish priests, confessors, and preachers - in accordance with the approved teaching of the Roman Catechism (Part ii. cap. iv, q. 58) - are frequently, and with great zeal, to exhort the faithful to this devout and salutary practice.
7. Frequent and daily communion' is to be promoted especially in Religious Orders and Congregations of all kinds; with regard to which, however, the decree Quemadmodum, issued on December 17, 1890, by the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars is to remain in force. It is also to be promoted especially in ecclesiastical seminaries, where students are preparing for the service of the altar; as also in all Christian establishments of whatever kind, for the training of youth.
8. In the case of religious institutes, whether of solemn or simple religious vows, in whose Rules, or Constitutions, or calendars, communion is assigned to certain fixed days, such regulations are to be regarded as directive and not preceptive. In such cases the appointed number of communions should be regarded as a minimum, and not as setting a limit to the devotion of the Religious. Therefore, freedom of access to the eucharistic table, whether more frequently or daily, must always be allowed them, according to the principles above laid down in this decree. And in order that all Religious of both sexes may clearly understand the provisions of this decree the Superior of each house is to see that it is read in community, in the vernacular, every year within the octave of the feast of Corpus Christi.
9. Finally, after the publication of this decree, all ecclesiastical writers are to cease from contentious controversies concerning the dispositions requisite for frequent and daily communion.
All this having been reported to His Holiness Pope Pius X by the undersigned Secretary of the Sacred Congregation, in an audience held on December 17, 1905, His Holiness ratified and confirmed the present decree, and ordered it to be published, anything to the contrary notwithstanding. He further ordered that it should be sent to all local ordinaries and regular prelates, to be communicated by them to their respective seminaries, parishes, religious institutes, and priests; and that in their reports concerning the state of their respective dioceses or institutes they should inform the Holy See concerning the execution of the matters therein determined.
Given at Rome, the 20th day of December, 1905.
✠ Vincent,
Card. Bishop of Palestrina, Prefect.
Cajetan De Lai, Sec.
LXXV. Mary, Help of Christians
1.At the close of my instructions in regard to the conflict for the preservation of chastity comes perhaps the most pleasing and consoling of all, the one best calculated to inspire you with a glad hope of victory. Whither does a dutiful son betake himself when any burden weighs heavily upon him? To his beloved mother.
She, the good mother, always has a word of advice, of comfort, and of encouragement. And even the youthful soldier amid the rush and roar of battle thinks, in the moment of greatest peril, of his dear mother far away.
Upon you, my friend, a heavy burden is pressing; the preservation of your chastity; you also are standing in the thick of the battle, surrounded on every side by the enemies of innocence. Do you, therefore, think of your mother, do you also have recourse to your mother; for truly you have a mother in Mary, the ever blessed virgin. She is called by the Church in the Litany of Loretto: "Help of Christians."
2. Beseech Mary, that her maternal eye may watch over and protect you. St. Bernard, who was so enthusiastically devoted to Mary, addresses you in the following touching words:
"O man, whoever thou art, if thou wouldst not be engulfed in the abyss, turn not thine eye away from the sharing star, turn it not away from Mary! If thou wouldst not be tossed hither and thither by the waves of pride and ambition, look up to this star, call upon Mary! If die billows of concupiscence and sensual desires break over thy little bark of life, look up to this star, call upon Mary!
"Keep her in thy heart; let her name be ever on thy lips. If she hold thee up, thou wilt not fall; if she guide thee, thou wilt not go astray; if she protect thee, thou hast no need to fear; if she look favorably upon thee, thou wilt escape the snares of hell, and reach the gate of eternal felicity."
3. Therefore in the battle with the impure spirit, in which your will is apt to become paralyzed, cling fast to the maternal hand of Mary. This hand is strong enough to help, to protect, and to save you.
Innumerable are the instances in which young persons have been delivered from the most furious assaults of the flesh, and have found grace and strength to overcome them, because they have invoked the Mother of God with the fullest confidence.
4. The celebrated Father Succhi of Rome was wont to recommend to young men who were inclined to sins of impurity, the following prayer to our Lady: "My Queen! My Mother! remember I am thine own: keep me, guard me, as thy property and possession." The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX, granted to all the faithful an indulgence of forty days every time that, when assailed by temptation, they shall say this ejaculation.
St. Anselm thus addresses the blessed Mother of God:
"O Lady, thou art the Mother of Him who pardons and of those who are pardoned; of Him who justifies and of those who are justified; of Him who saves and of those who are saved. O blessed hope! O safe refuge! The Mother of God is our Mother; the Mother of Him in whom alone we hope, and whom alone we fear, is our Mother; the Mother of Him who alone can save or destroy is our Mother."
Father Dignam, S. J., says
"Go to our Lady, whose love is as the sea; pray her to help you to overcome your faults, to obtain for you never to commit a deliberate fault, never to offend God. She will not only make you very good but very happy.
"Bear this in mind: it was because of his mother, 'being moved with mercy toward her' (Luke vii. 13), that Jesus raised the dead man at the gate of Naim. Be careful, when you desire any great favor, to implore the intercession of your Mother, of Mary. Ask for great favors and for all graces in the name of Christ's Mother; remind Our Lord of her agony, when, her soul pierced with a sword of sorrow, she stood at the foot of the cross. Have the most unbounded confidence in Mary's intercession."
Our Lord once revealed to St. Catherine of Siena that He had charged Mary to take men, and especially sinners, prisoners, and lead them to Him; and Mary herself told St. Bridget that there was no sinner, no matter how abandoned, who, if he called on her, would not return to God and, by her mediation, obtain forgiveness. Just as the magnet attracts iron, so does she draw the hardest hearts to herself and to God. -"Who," exclaims Innocent III, "has. ever had recourse to Mary, and was not heard?"
"Mary, the Mother of God, is my Mother," St. Aloysius was wont to exclaim in an ecstasy of delight and gratitude, and like a true servant of Mary he was ever anxious to avoid the least thing that could displease her or her divine Son, and always eager to honor and please her by acts of mortification and by the imitation of her virtues. Let us do likewise, let us carefully avoid whatever is displeasing to Almighty God. "Detach thy will from sin," wrote St. Gregory VII to the Countess Matilda, "and you will find in Mary a mother more willing to protect and assist you than any earthly mother." If you love Mary truly, you will please her by a constant struggle against your passions, by striving to become ever more like to her in virtue, by mortifying yourself in little things, and by performing some devotion in her honor every day. Your constant endeavor should be to please your sweet Mother, and this you will do above all by doing the will of her divine Son, by your fidelity in the service of God, in laboring for your own sanctification, and the salvation of souls.
"True devotion," as we read in "The Little Book of Our Lady," "comes from God and leads to God. The fundamental rule in regard to the homage which we offer to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints is, that it must ultimately be referred to God and our eternal salvation. Our devotion to the Blessed Virgin would be of no avail if it did not tend toward our union with God, toward possessing Him eternally.
"True devotion extends itself to the saints without being separated from the eternal Source of all sanctity. 'For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus' (i Cor, iii. 11). Let Him be the foundation of our devotion to His holy Mother.
"We are not able to honor our blessed Lady adequately, since, through her, Jesus has come to us. Oh, how great, how sublime was Mary's vocation! God predestined her before all ages to be the Mother of the Saviour ,of the world. And having called her to fill this most glorious office He would not have her be a mere channel of grace, but an instrument co-operating, both by her excellent qualities and by her own free will, in the great work of our Redemption.
"For thousands of years the world had been expecting the promised Messias. The fulness of time has now come. The eternal Father sends a heavenly messenger to Mary, to treat with her of the mystery of the Incarnation. She pronounces the word 'Fiat!' 'Be it done!' And the heavens open; the earth possesses a Saviour; Mary has become the Mother of God,
"Years pass by. The time. has arrived when the great sacrifice is to be consummated. We find Mary at the foot of the cross. With the dying breath of Jesus she receives the Church as an inheritance. Mary becomes our Mother.
"These are the two great titles which give Mary a claim on our veneration and affection. She is like a fountain from which the waters of grace have spread themselves abundantly over the whole human race. As we have once received through her Jesus, the source of all blessing and grace, so we also obtain through her powerful intercession the various effects and applications of this grace in all the circumstances of life. Her maternal charity, which shines forth in the mystery of the Incarnation, also causes her to take a share in the consequences of this universal principle of benediction. Thus Mary is, by her intercession, the Mother of all Christians, the Mother of all men. Her overflowing charity is an appropriate instrument for the operations of grace.
"Who is better able than Mary to plead in our behalf? She can confidently speak to the heart of her divine Son, where her wishes, her sentiments, find an echo. She fears no refusal. The love of the Son makes Him lend a favorable ear to the request of His Mother.
"Our blessed Lady is able and willing to help us, but in order to secure her powerful and kind assistance we must have a sincere devotion to her. This devotion must be practical: it ought not to consist in words only, but in actions. A person truly devout to Mary will enroll himself in her confraternities, especially in the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary; he will celebrate her feasts, venerate her images, visit her temples, and endeavor to imitate her virtues. Certainly, he cannot be said to have a true devotion toward the Mother of God who does not honor and invoke her by frequent and fervent prayers. Among the various exercises in her honor, comes in the first place the Mass of our blessed Lady. Pious historians record many favors obtained by those who celebrated or heard Mass in her honor. The Church also grants special privileges to the Mary-Mass on Saturdays. The Office of the Blessed Virgin, her Litanies, and the holy Rosary are singularly pleasing to her. Let us not imagine, however, that to secure the special protection of the Mother of God our prayers must needs be very long; much will depend upon circumstances; but let us not forget the advice which blessed John Berchmans gave to his companions at his death: 'The least homage is sufficient, provided it be constant.' Hence, what we have once resolved to do in honor of our blessed Lady must never be put aside or neglected, but must be faithfully persevered in, daily, until death."
Father Basso urges the devout clients of Mary to observe some very commendable practices, as follows:
On rising in the morning and on retiring at night say three Aves in honor of the purity of Mary with the aspiration: "By thy holy virginity and immaculate conception, O most pure Virgin, purify my body and sanctify my soul!" Take refuge under her protecting mantle, that she may keep you from sin by day and by night. When the clock strikes, salute Mary with an Ave. Do the same on leaving or returning to your room, also when passing her pictures and shrines. At the beginning and end of every work or action, say an Ave, for blessed is that work which is placed between two Aves. Whenever we salute our dearest Queen with the "Angelic Salutation," so pleasing to her ears, she answers us with a grace from heaven.
An Act of Consecration, the Salve Regina, the Sub tuum praesidium, the Memorare, or some other favorite prayer is said daily by devout souls in honor of our blessed Mother, to obtain from her the grace of a holy life and a happy death. Make with great fervor the novenas preparatory for the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Let us conclude this chapter with some special reflections on the Rosary. In the Litany of Loreto the Church calls Mary, "Queen of the most holy Rosary." In his beautiful and instructive sermon on the solemnity of the most holy Rosary, the Very Rev. D. T. McDermott says: "Why is the devotion called the most holy Rosary? The Church carefully weighs her words. She selects terms to convey her meaning as precisely as it is possible for language to express it. However language, in its poverty, may fail to express fully her meaning, the Church never indulges in exaggeration. Yet she calls the devotion of the Rosary - most holy. And most holy it shall be found to be in its origin, in its prayers, in its object, and in its effects."
The word Rosary, as applied to this devotion, means Garden of Roses. It is, of course, figurative, and is intended to impress upon all that they will be able to gather, flowers of piety and the fruits of every virtue from this devotion.
In Sacred Scripture, our prayers and good works, because of an analogy they bear to them, are likened to material things. For example, our pious deeds are compared to light, in the following text: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Good example is likened to the perfume of precious ointmentet: "Let us run in the odor of Thy ointments." Incense, in the words of holy David, has be come a symbol of prayer: "Let my prayer ascend like incense in Thy sight." Men regard those who live soberly, justly, and piously as diffusing around them, by holiness of life, a sweet odor, just as fragrant flowers fill the surrounding atmosphere with perfume. Hence, St. Paul says of those who lead holy lives: "They are the good odor of Christ unto God." And men say of them at death: "They died in the odor of sanctity."
Christians were accustomed to decorate the altars of the Blessed Virgin, and to crown her statues with flowers, because these were emblematic of Mary's virtues. Hence, they hoped their prayers and devotions would be as acceptable to the holy Virgin as the sweet-smelling flowers they offered her were agreeable to men, and that their contemplation of these flowers would lead to the cultivation in their own hearts of those virtues which found in flowers such beautiful emblems. The Rosary is then fittingly called Mary's chaplet or wreath.
The Rosary is a string of one hundred and fifty small beads, divided by fifteen larger ones into tens or decades, as they are commonly called. The string of beads ordinarily used has but five decades, and is but a third part of the Rosary.
The arrangement of beads in this manner for the purpose of telling prayers shows that they come to us, not only from the earliest Christian times, but that they were in use among the Jews. And it is not at all unlikely that the Blessed Virgin used something very similar to a string of beads in counting her prayers. So completely identified did beads become (in the course of time) with the counting of prayers, that the word "bead" signified prayer. The advantage of a string of beads for those who had a certain number of prayers to say was, that it allowed the mind and heart to be concentrated entirely on God. while the hand mechanically told the number by passing a bead between the fingers.
The one hundred and fifty beads represent the psalms of David. The devotion ol such of the Jews and of the early Christians as could read and procure books was the reading of the psalms. In order to furnish a substitute to those who could not read or procure books, vocal prayers were assigned to the number of one hundred and fifty - to be told by transferring a pebble (for every prayer) from one pocket to another, or by passing a bead through the fingers.
The Rosary was recited in this form until the thirteenth century. While, since that era it has developed, and been made eminently practical, yet there is nothing in it to-day that did not spring from the germs it held then.
It was then aptly called the people's psalter. The psalms of David are very suggestive of he Rosary as developed by St Dominic.
Some of the psalms are prophetic, descriptive of Our Saviour's coming, His office, and His reign. These correspond to the Joyful Mysteries. Other psalms are lamentations for sin, and prayers for deliverance from sufferings and enemies. These correspond to the Sorrowful Mysteries. Then again there are those which are hymns of thanksgiving and praise, psalms of victory. These correspond to the Glorious Mysteries. The fifteen larger beads denote the mysteries of the Rosary. The arrangement of the Rosary in this form, with its meditation on the mysteries, is generally credited to St. Dominic. It matters not whether the Rosary of to-day was given to the saint by the Blessed Virgin herself, who is said to have appeared to him, or whether it was the result of an inspiration of grace. It has proved its title to heavenly origin by its fruits. "A good tree can not bring forth evil fruit; neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit; wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them."
The one great object of this devotion is to impress upon men the truths connected with the Redemption. When the number, the piety, the heroic virtues of those joined together in the devotion of the Rosary are considered, it must appear manifest that this form of prayer is simply irresistible with God.
Just think of the number of holy souls joined in the confraternities of the Rosary, some still in the world, others in religious communities! Many of these, like Aloysius, are angels in human flesh, who add bodily mortifications to innocence of life. Others are holy penitents, like Magdalen, Augustine, and Mary of Egypt, who honor God more by their penance than ninety-nine just who need not penance. Think, then, of this countless number of devout men and women, who every day recite the Rosary piously for themselves and their brethren! Think of the dying who, in momentary expectation of seeing God, devoutly offer the prayers of the Rosary as their last petitions to heaven in behalf of their brethren and themselves! Think of those who were once members of these confraternities, who are now among the elect of God, and who constantly watch over the welfare of these fellow-members on earth. Think of the prayers, almsdeeds, mortifications of all those united in the Rosary, as presented to Jesus Christ through the hands of His Mother, and may it not be said they do a holy violence to heaven? "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away." How truly may it be said of those who, through this devotion, learn the virtues of Mary, and exhibit them in their daily lives: "They that-v explain me shall have everlasting life."
The Rev. Mother Francis Raphael, O.S.D. (Augusta Theodosia Drane), writes, in "The Spirit of the Dominican Order": "If we examine the special devotion of our saints, we shall find that the mysteries of the Rosary were like an unseen thread running through them all. Take the story of Magdalen Angelica, whose life was divided according to the three parts of the Rosary. At the commencement of her religious conversion she kept entirely to meditation on the Joyful Mysteries, in order to obtain a childlike gaiety and innocence of heart. Then when she had received the habit of religion, she look the Sorrowful Mysteries to meditate upon, and with them entered upon a long course of austerities and disciplines. And at last she passed on to the Glorious Mysteries; and heaven rained down a very deluge of light and consolation into her soul, so long left disconsolate on the cross of her agonizing Spouse. This light was so divine and wonderful that it often became visible, encircling even her body in a bright luminous cloud, 'She acquired all her perfection,' says her biographer, 'through the meditations of the Rosary': and when one Rosary Sunday, toward the close of her life, she knelt before our Lady's altar, and prayed for innocence of heart, the divine Mother spoke to her and said: 'Be of good heart, my daughter; for that which thou prayest for, thou already hast.' "
In "The Rosary Magazine" we read the following interesting communication: "The Holy Father Pope Pius X has offered a signal mark of his love for the Rosary in granting, July 31, 1906, to all those who piously carry the beads about with them, an indulgence of one hundred years and as many quarantines. This indulgence may be gained daily, provided, of course, that one be in a state of grace. Rosarians will recall that this privilege was long enjoyed by members of the Rosary Confraternity, Pope Innocent VIII, in a bull dated Feb. 26, 1491, having conferred it in the blessed hope that such a plenitude of favor might spread devotion to the Rosary over land and sea. In 1899 Pope Leo XIII published a catalogue of indulgences in which the above did not appear. As Rosarians we rejoice that this favor is again ours, and we fervently pray that a still wider propagation of the Rosary devotion may result, and that the desire of the Venerable Pontiff to bring all things to Christ may be speedily realized.
" An indulgence of five years and five quarantines can be gained by Rosarians each time the holy name of Jesus is reverently pronounced in the recitation of the Dominican Rosary."
We read in " The Sentinel of the Blessed Sacrament ": "It was our Lady herself who, at Lourdes, excited us to the devotion of the Rosary. She passed through her fingers a long Rosary of glittering beads, smiling the while upon Bernadette, who was reciting her chaplet.
"If we desire to gather the fruit, we must bend the branch. If we long to possess Jesus, we must draw Mary to us. The Rosary is the sweet and powerful means of finding Jesus through His Mother. What, in truth, does Jesus eucharistic long for? What does He desire in abiding with us, except to live always in our thoughts, in our love? 'Do this in commemoration of Me,' did He say when giving us the Eucharist. Now, the Rosary responds to the same desire. As the Blessed Sacrament contains Jesus, with all the graces and virtues of His past states, so the Rosary calls up before the mind's eye all His mysteries. Therefore it is that, after the Eucharist and the liturgical offices, which successively recall to us all the feasts of Our Lord, the Rosary is the very best way of continually contemplating the life of Jesus Christ and of uniting ourselves to Him. "If we afford so much pleasure to father, to mother, to friends, by a hearty greeting, how much more must our fervent Angelic Salutation, "please Jesus and Mary! Oh, then, let us repeat, without tiring, this filial salutation, and Jesus and Mary will help us now and at the hour of our death!"
LXXVI. St. Joseph, the Universal Helper
Like stars in the sky, through the long night of Time, shine out the saints, gracious, serene, and holy, and, like the celestial orbs, exercising a beneficent influence upon successive generations of men. Amongst them all, as some planet of surpassing radiance, is Joseph, the descendant of kings, the carpenter of Nazareth, as though in that one person were united the extremes of earthly rank. Down through the centuries his influence has been felt, comparatively still and small at first, but gradually expanding into its full importance, until in these past three centuries he has become the Father of Christians, the Patron of the Universal Church. "The saint of Scripture," says Cardinal Newman, "the foster-father of Our Lord, he was an object of the universal and absolute faith of the Christian world from the first; yet devotion to him is comparatively recent. When once it began, men seemed surprised that they had not thought of it before; and now they hold St. Joseph next to the Blessed Virgin in their religious affection and veneration."
Religious literature resounds with the praises of him who was emphatically railed in Holy Writ "the just." In prose and in verse, his noble, majestic figure has formed the theme of many a beautiful or striking passage. In art, Joseph appears almost from the first, and in a variety of ways. Now he is seen in some gorgeous canvas of Raphael or Perugino, or the more homely but forcible and lifelike presentations of the Dutch artists. Now he is feeble and old, the austere guardian of the Lily of Nazareth; again he is in a vigorous middle age, the defender and supporter of the royal Son and Mother; with a gravely intellectual head, portraying the wise and prudent guardian of his Immaculate Spouse; or in comparative youth, the strong protector of the flight into Egypt.
The saints in all ages have chosen St. Joseph as their special advocate at the throne of grace , holding - with that most modern of the beatified, whose cause has been introduced at Rome, Father Eymard, Apostle of the Blessed Eucharist - that St. Joseph is the helper of all Christians. "Happy the soul," says he, "who is devout to St. Joseph. It is a certain pledge of a good death, of salvation, and of eternal happiness. St. Joseph is also the patron of afflicted souls; for he had many trials and troubles. In your griefs, therefore, always have recourse to St. Joseph."
But no tribute was ever stronger to the power of the Patriarch of Bethlehem than that of the Virgin of Avila. Says St. Teresa:
" To render the Lord propitious to my prayers, X took glorious St. Joseph for my advocate and protector, and recommended myself most earnestly to him. His help was shown . forth in the most striking manner. That tender father of my soul, that beloved protector, hastened to draw me from the condition in which my body languished, as he had snatched me from the greater perils of another kind which threatened my eternal salvation. ... I do not remember ever to have asked anything of him which he did not grant me. What a picture I should place before your eyes, were it given me to trace out the signal favors which God has bestowed upon me, and the dangers both of soul and body from which I have been delivered, through the mediation of that blessed saint! The Most High gives grace to the other saints to help us in such or such a want, but glorious St. Joseph, as I know from experience, extends his power to all. Our Divine Lord wishes in this way to make us understand that, as He Himself was subject to St. Joseph in the land of exile, recognizing in him the authority of a foster-father and guardian, so He is still pleased to do His will in heaven by hearing and granting his requests. . . .
"Therefore the number of souls who honor him begins to be great, and the happy effects of his mediation every day confirm the truth of my words. Knowing now by my own experience the amazing influence of St. Joseph with God, I would wish to induce every one to honor him by a particular cultus. Hitherto I have always seen that persons who had a real devotion to him, sustained by works, made progress in virtue; for that heavenly protector favors in a special manner the spiritual advancement of souls who recommend themselves to him. I will content myself, then, with conjuring, for the love of God, those who do not believe me to make the experiment. They shall discover for themselves how advantageous it is to honor that glorious Patriarch with a special devotion."
And this testimony of the great Carmelite is, in fact, the testimony of the ages, that St. Joseph never refuses to aid those who confide themselves and their affairs to his patronage. As expressed on one occasion by a contemporary preacher, this saint has been set over the human race in the character of father and head of the family; so that temporalities may be recommended to him with all confidence, in the certain hope that, if the thing asked for be not prejudicial to the petitioner, it will be granted; or, failing that, something of greater value shall be given in its stead. Were it possible to set down here the numberless favors granted through the mediation of that saint, even in temporal concerns, by religious who best know how to ask, or by devout souls in the world, it would be simply incredible to the unbelieving many. The venerable Patriarch of Bethlehem proves himself a veritable haven of refuge amid the trials and the needs of this transitory life; and above all in the last and greatest trial which, for each in turn, closes life's drama.
Prayer to St. Joseph for the Preservation of Chastity
GUARDIAN of virgins and father, holy Joseph, to whose faithful care Christ Jesus, innocence herself, and Mary, Virgin of virgins, were committed: I pray and beg of thee, by these dear pledges, Jesus and Mary, free me from all uncleanness, and make me with spotless mind, pure heart, and chaste body, ever most chastely to serve Jesus and Mary, all the days of my life.
R. Amen.
The Sovereign Pontiff, Pius IX, by a rescript of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, Feb. 4, 1877, recalling all indulgences hitherto given, granted to all the faithful who, with at least contrite heart and devotion, shall say this prayer, in indulgence of one hundred days, once a day.
Ejaculation
St. Joseph, model and patron of those who love the sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.
One hundred days' indulgence, once a day.-Leo XIII, Dec. 19, 1891.