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Robert Drobot | 28 December 2008 Anno Dómini | The Most Holy Trinity

[Robert Drobot]

The Month of December Is Dedicated To
The Immaculate Conception

by Zurbaran Francisco

The Immaculate Conception is, according to Roman Catholic dogma, the conception of the Virgin Mary without any stain ( "macula" in Latin ) of original sin. The dogma thus says that, from the first moment of her existence, she was preserved by God from the lack of sanctifying grace that afflicts mankind, and that she was instead filled with divine grace. It is further believed that she lived a life completely free from sin. In the words of Pope Pius XII in Mystici Corporis, "she was free from any personal or hereditary sin". Her immaculate conception in the womb of her mother, by normal sexual intercourse, should not be confused with the doctrine of the virginal conception of her son Jesus.

The feast of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated on December 8, was established as a universal feast in 1476 by Pope Sixtus IV. He did not define the doctrine as a dogma, thus leaving Roman Rite Catholics freedom to believe in it or not without being accused of heresy; this freedom was reiterated by the Council of Trent. The existence of the feast was a strong indication of the Church's belief in the Immaculate Conception, even before its 19th century definition as a dogma.

In the Roman Catholic Church, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception ( December 8th ) is a Holy Day of Obligation, except where conferences of bishops have decided, with the approval of the Holy See, not to maintain it as such. It is a public holiday in some countries where Roman Catholicism is predominant e.g. Italy. In the Philippines, although this is not a public holiday, the predominance of Catholic Schools make it almost a holiday.

The Immaculate Conception was solemnly defined as a dogma by Pope Pius IX in his constitution Ineffabilis Deus, on December 8, 1854. The Roman Catholic Church believes the dogma is supported by Scripture ( e.g. Mary's being greeted by Angel Gabriel as "full of grace" or "highly favored" ), as well as either directly or indirectly by the writings of Church Fathers such as Irenaeus of Lyons and Ambrose of Milan, as well as sensus fidei and often calls Mary the Blessed Virgin (Luke 1:48). Catholic theology maintains that, since Jesus became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, it was fitting that she be completely free of sin for expressing her fiat.

For the Roman Catholic Church the dogma of the Immaculate Conception gained additional significance from the apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes in 1858. In Lourdes a 14-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed a beautiful lady appeared to her. The lady said "I am the Immaculate Conception" and the faithful believe her to be the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In this sense, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception defined by Pope Pius IX is also viewed as a key example of the use of sensus fidelium shared by the faithful and the Magisterium rather than pure reliance on Scripture and tradition. The Vatican quotes in this context Fulgens Corona, where Pius XII supported such a faith:

If the popular praises of the Blessed Virgin Mary be given the careful consideration they deserve, who will dare to doubt that she, who was purer than the angels and at all times pure, was at any moment, even for the briefest instant, not free from every stain of sin?”

Now, the Roman Catholic tradition has a well established philosophy for the study of Immaculate Conception and the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary via the field of Mariology with Pontifical schools such as the Marianum specifically devoted to this task.

Because The Blessed Virgin was conceived without original sin, she had a perfect purity, with no bad inclinations. Therefore, she had a great facility to correspond entirely with the grace of God at every moment. Natural and the supernatural grandeur merged together in her soul in a profound and extraordinary harmony. Above all others creatures, she had the highest notion of the sanctity of God and His correspondent glory. She also had the clear notion of what Creation owes to that glory. She knew, and knows, how all created beings should glorify God.

As a consequence, she also had a profound horror of the opposite of good, which is evil. She had a great intransigence to such evil, a complete rejection of it in its least forms and a strong combativeness against it. This is the reason Holy Scripture refers to Our Lady as “terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata,” as terrible as an army set in battle array. The Church also says that it is she alone who smashes all heresies. To celebrate this fact, in statues of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady is crushing the head of the serpent.

The feast of her Immaculate Conception is, then, in many senses, the commemoration of her purity, her intransigence, and her combativeness.

Let us look more closely at what intransigence is. When a person has a very clear notion of what is good and an understanding of the highest expressions of this good, this person knows that the opposite is bad. It is not a theoretical knowledge, like that of a scientist who analyzes a specimen in a laboratory, but rather a knowledge that comes hand in hand with a great love for good. The person naturally recognizes the opposite of such good, which is evil, and hates evil with an intensity proportionate to the magnitude of his love for the good.

Since he loves the highest ideals that good represents, he cannot tolerate the opposite of that good, because he clearly sees the evil that exists in it. He rejects evil not only in its ensemble, but in each of its parts. He rejects evil not only when it is very intense, but when it barely appears. This is intolerance or intransigence.

The human spirit is constituted in such a way that when a man hates evil, he increases and perfects his love for the good. In a certain way the presence of something that he rejects reinforces his conviction of, and his love for the good. The human psychology is so established that such contrast makes a person more acutely aware of how the good is good. For instance, we love our counter-revolutionary vocation more when we can see concretely how the revolutionaries hate it. Seeing this, we receive a confirmation that we are taking the right position.

What is combativeness? Combativeness is a consequence of intransigence. It is to make a deliberate decision to destroy the evil that opposes the glory of God. It is a calm deliberation followed by the utilization of every means one has at his disposal to achieve that goal. It is not a fleeting resolution to fight during one single episode when evil is attacking good, but it is a permanent determination applied to all aspects of evil and throughout the life of a person. The person does not rest until evil is destroyed.

A true combativeness does not rest until evil is reduced to ashes. In Portugal there was an expression regarding evil that was applied in different ways in old Portuguese Law: Evil shall be reduced to ashes by fire. If a man committed a horrific crime, he received the sentence of capital punishment: his body was burned, and his ashes dispersed either in the air or water. This was the application of that axiom.

Here I am not advocating this punishment be applied to this or that person in this or that present day State. I am taking it as a general principle to apply to the fight of ideas and institutions. A bad man can be killed, and he is gone. But who can kill a bad idea or destroy a revolutionary conspiracy that strives to prevent God from receiving the glory He deserves and Holy Mother Church from exerting her mission on earth? For this fight we need a true combativeness that reduces the Revolution and its cohorts to ashes by fire. This kind of intransigence and combativeness were two attributes of Our Lady that were consequences of the privilege of her Immaculate Conception. ~~ Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveiraessor

[Robert Drobot]

"Catholics who remain faithful to Tradition,
even if they are reduced to but a handful,
they are THE TRUE CHURCH. They've got the churches, but we've got the faith"
-- Saint Athanasius, "Apostle of Tradition", 373 Anno Domini

The Holy Tridentine Roman Rite Mass

The Tridentine Mass takes its name from the Council of Trent ( 1545-63 ), under the watchful eye of Pope Saint Pius V. The "Tridentine Rite" is, therefore, more properly called the Ancient or Traditional Roman Rite. The last edition of its missal was published in 1962.

The traditional Roman Rite differs from the new rite -- the 1969 Novus Ordo. This “new Mass” omits about 70 percent of the traditional Mass prayers. Most consider the traditional Latin Mass to be much more formal, more dignified.

It’s emphasis is on the sacrifice of Jesus and the recognition of the “true presence” of Jesus—Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity—in the Holy Eucharist. The entire Mass focuses on the Consecration of the Body and Blood and on reception of Christ in Holy Communion. This is represented in the photograph below.

The priest and the faithful face forward to the altar...and to God. The Holy Traditional Tridentine Roman Rite Latin Mass is the manner in which Catholics worshiped The One True God for well over 1,000 years. For those over the age of 40, it is the Mass of their youth. For those too young to remember incense filled churches, Gregorian chant, and the reverent silence at Mass, the Tridentine rite offers a return to a profound manner of worship.

[Robert Drobot]

Pope Saint Felix III

"Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it; and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it, is no less a sin than to encourage them."

[Robert Drobot]

Pope Saint Pius V - July 14, 1570

To Our Venerable Brethren: the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See -- Venerable Brethren, health and Apostolic Benediction!

From the very first, upon Our elevation to the chief Apostleship, We gladly turned our mind and energies and directed all out thoughts to those matters which concerned the preservation of a pure liturgy, and We strove with God's help, by every means in our power, to accomplish this purpose. For, besides other decrees of the sacred Council of Trent, there were stipulations for Us to revise and re-edit the sacred books: the Catechism, the Missal and the Breviary. With the Catechism published for the instruction of the faithful, by God's help, and the Breviary thoroughly revised for the worthy praise of God, in order that the Missal and Breviary may be in perfect harmony, as fitting and proper - for its most becoming that there be in the Church only one appropriate manner of reciting the Psalms and only one rite for the celebration of Mass - We deemed it necessary to give our immediate attention to what still remained to be done; the re-editing of the Missal as soon as possible.

Hence, We decided to entrust this work to learned men of our selection. They very carefully collated all their work with the ancient codices in Our Vatican Library and with reliable, preserved or emended codices from elsewhere. Besides this, these men consulted the works of ancient and approved authors concerning the same sacred rites; and thus they have restored the Missal itself to the original form and rite of the holy Fathers. When this work has been gone over numerous times and further emended, after serious study and reflection, We commanded that the finished product be printed and published as soon as possible, so that all might enjoy the fruits of this labor; and thus, priests would know which prayers to use and which rites and ceremonies they were required to observe from now on in the celebration of Masses.

Let all everywhere adopt and observe what has been handed down by the Holy Roman Church, the Mother and Teacher of the other churches, and let Masses not be sung or read according to any other formula than that of this Missal published by Us. This ordinance applies henceforth, now, and forever, throughout all the provinces of the Christian world, to all patriarchs, cathedral churches, collegiate and parish churches, be they secular or religious, both of men and of women - even of military orders - and of churches or chapels without a specific congregation in which conventional Masses are sung aloud in choir or read privately in accord with the rites and customs of the Roman Church. This Missal is to be used by all churches, even by those which in their authorization are made exempt, whether by Apostolic indult, custom, or privilege, or even if by oath or official confirmation of the Holy See, or have their rights and faculties guaranteed to them by any other manner whatsoever.

This new rite alone is to be used unless approval of the practice of saying Mass differently was given at the very time of the institution and confirmation of the church by Apostolic See at least 200 years ago, or unless there has prevailed a custom of a similar kind which has been continuously followed for a period of not less than 200 years, in which most cases We in no wise rescind their above-mentioned prerogative or custom. However, if this Missal, which we have seen fit to publish, be more agreeable to these latter, We grant them permission to celebrate Mass according to its rite, provided they have the consent of their bishop or prelate or of their whole Chapter, everything else to the contrary notwithstanding. All other of the churches referred to above, however, are hereby denied the use of other missals, which are to be discontinued entirely and absolutely; whereas, by this present Constitution, which will be valid henceforth, now, and forever, We order and enjoin that nothing must be added to Our recently published Missal, nothing omitted from it, nor anything whatsoever be changed within it under the penalty of Our displeasure.

We specifically command each and every patriarch, administrator, and all other persons or whatever ecclesiastical dignity they may be, be they even cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, or possessed of any other rank or pre-eminence, and We order them in virtue of holy obedience to chant or to read the Mass according to the rite and manner and norm herewith laid down by Us and, hereafter, to discontinue and completely discard all other rubrics and rites of other missals, however ancient, which they have customarily followed; and they must not in celebrating Mass presume to introduce any ceremonies or recite any prayers other than those contained in this Missal.

Furthermore, by these presents [this law], in virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us. We likewise declare and ordain that no one whosoever is forced or coerced to alter this Missal, and that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remain always valid and retain its full force notwithstanding the previous constitutions and decrees of the Holy See, as well as any general or special constitutions or edicts of provincial or synodal councils, and notwithstanding the practice and custom of the aforesaid churches, established by long and immemorial prescription - except, however, if more than two hundred years' standing.

It is Our will, therefore, and by the same authority, We decree that, after We publish this constitution and the edition of the Missal, the priests of the Roman Curia are, after thirty days, obliged to chant or read the Mass according to it; all others south of the Alps, after three months; and those beyond the Alps either within six months or whenever the Missal is available for sale. Wherefore, in order that the Missal be preserved incorrupt throughout the whole world and kept free of flaws and errors, the penalty for nonobservance for printers, whether immediately or immediately subject to Our dominion, and that of the Holy Roman Church, will be the forfeiting of their books and a fine of one hundred gold ducats, payable ipso facto to the Apostolic Treasury. Further, as for those located in other parts of the world, the penalty is excommunication latae sententiae, and such other penalties as may in Our judgment be imposed; and We decree by this law that they must not dare or presume either to print or to publish or to sell, or in any way to accept books of this nature without Our approval and consent, or without the express consent of the Apostolic Commissaries of those places, who will be appointed by Us. Said printer must receive a standard Missal and agree faithfully with it and in no wise vary from the Roman Missal of the large type ( secundum magnum impressionem).

Accordingly, since it would be difficult for this present pronouncement to be sent to all parts of the Christian world and simultaneously come to light everywhere, We direct that it be, as usual, posted and published at the doors of the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles, also at the Apostolic Chancery, and on the street at Campo Flora; furthermore, We direct that printed copies of this same edict signed by a notary public and made official by an ecclesiastical dignitary possess the same indubitable validity everywhere and in every nation, as if Our manuscript were shown there. Therefore, no one whosoever is permitted to alter this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept, grant, indult, declaration, will, decree, and prohibition. Should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.

Given at Saint Peter's in the year of the Lord's Incarnation, 1570, on the 14th of July of the Fifth year of Our Pontificate.

[Robert Drobot]

Symbolum Apostolorum ~ THE APOSTLES' CREED

While the present form of the Apostles' Creed first appeared in the 6th century in the writings of Caesarius of Arles ( d 542 ), it can be traced in one form or another back to Apostolic times. Rufinus' Commentary on the Apostle's Creed ( ca. A.D. 407 ) contains the prayer in a form very close to what we have today. The Creed can also be found in a letter to Pope Julius I ( A.D. 340 ) and even earlier in a circa 200 document containing the Roman baptismal liturgy. It appears that originally this Creed was a baptismal creed summarizing the teachings of the Apostles and was given to the catechumens when they were baptized. Instead of the continuous prayer as we have it today, each line was rather in the form of a question to which the catechumen gave assent indicating he both understood and believed. Eventually this question and answer style was modified into the prayer form as we have it today. A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who recite the Symbolum Apostolorum.

CREDO in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae. Et in Iesum Christum, Filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum, qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine, passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus, descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis, ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis, inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos. Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum, carnis resurrectionem, vitam aeternam. Amen.

:  I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell: The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead: I believe in the Holy Ghost: I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints: The forgiveness of sins: The resurrection of the body: And the life everlasting. Amen.

[Robert Drobot]

THE ATHANASIAN CREED

The Athanasian Creed, attributed to Saint Athanasius, also know as the Quicumque vult, was formerly recited at the office of Prime on Sundays and Trinity Sunday is the time when we renew our commitment to our Faith and the dogma Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus - "Outside the Church There is No Salvation." The Athanasian Creed is one of the four authoritative Creeds of Holy Mother Church ( The Apostle's Creed; Nicene Creed; and The Tridentine Creed, and it is not something that is an opinion but what every Roman Catholic must believe.

Quicumque vult salvus esse, ante omnia opus est, ut teneat catholicam fidem: Quam nisi quisque integram inviolatamque servaverit, absque dubio in aeternam peribit. Fides autem catholica haec est: ut unum Deum in Trinitate, et Trinitatem in unitate veneremur. Neque confundentes personas, neque substantiam seperantes. Alia est enim persona Patris alia Filii, alia Spiritus Sancti: Sed Patris, et Fili, et Spiritus Sancti una est divinitas, aequalis gloria, coeterna maiestas. Qualis Pater, talis Filius, talis Spiritus Sanctus. Increatus Pater, increatus Filius, increatus Spiritus Sanctus. Immensus Pater, immensus Filius, immensus Spiritus Sanctus. Aeternus Pater, aeternus Filius, aeternus Spiritus Sanctus. Et tamen non tres aeterni, sed unus aeternus. Sicut non tres increati, nec tres immensi, sed unus increatus, et unus immensus. Similiter omnipotens Pater, omnipotens Filius, omnipotens Spiritus Sanctus. Et tamen non tres omnipotentes, sed unus omnipotens. Ita Deus Pater, Deus Filius, Deus Spiritus Sanctus. Ita Dominus Pater, Dominus Filius, Dominus Spiritus Sanctus. Et tamen non tres Domini, sed unus est Dominus. Quia, sicut singillatim unamquamque personam Deum ac Dominum confiteri christiana veritate compelimur: ita tres Deos aut Dominos dicere catholica religione prohibemur. Pater a nullo est factus: nec creatus, nec genitus. Filius a Patre solo est: non factus, nec creatus, sed genitus. Spiritus Sanctus a Patre et Filio: non factus, nec creatus, nec genitus, sed procedens. Unus ergo Pater, non tres Patres: unus Filius, non tres Filii: unus Spiritus Sanctus, non tres Spiritus Sancti. Et in hac Trinitate nihil prius aut posterius, nihil maius aut minus: sed totae tres personae coaeternae sibi sunt et coaequales. Ita ut per omnia, sicut iam supra dictum est, et unitas in Trinitate, et Trinitas in unitate veneranda sit. Qui vult ergo salvus esse, ita de Trinitate sentiat. Sed necessarium est ad aeternam salutem, ut incarnationem quoque Domini nostri Iesu Christi fideliter credat. Est ergo fides recta ut credamus et confiteamur, quia Dominus noster Iesus Christus, Dei Filius, Deus et homo est. Deus est ex substantia Patris ante saecula genitus: et homo est ex substantia matris in saeculo natus. Perfectus Deus, perfectus homo: ex anima rationali et humana carne subsistens. Aequalis Patri secundum divinitatem: minor Patre secundum humanitatem. Qui licet Deus sit et homo, non duo tamen, sed unus est Christus. Unus autem non conversione divinitatis in carnem, sed assumptione humanitatis in Deum. Unus omnino, non confusione substantiae, sed unitate personae. Nam sicut anima rationalis et caro unus est homo: ita Deus et homo unus est Christus. Qui passus est pro salute nostra: descendit ad inferos: tertia die resurrexit a mortuis. Ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis: inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos. Ad cuius adventum omnes homines resurgere habent cum corporibus suis: et reddituri sunt de factis propriis rationem. Et qui bona egerunt, ibunt in vitam aeternam: qui vero mala, in ignem aeternum. Haec est fides catholica, quam nisi quisque fideliter firmiterque crediderit, salvus esse non poterit. Amen.

:  Whosoever wishes to be saved must, above all, keep the Catholic Faith. For unless a person keeps this Faith whole and entire, he will undoubtedly be lost forever. This is what the Catholic Faith teaches: we worship one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit. But the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit have one divinity, equal glory, and coeternal majesty. What the Father is, the Son is, and the Holy Spirit is. The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated. The Father is boundless, the Son is boundless, and the Holy Spirit is boundless. The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal. Nevertheless, there are not three eternal beings, but one eternal being. So there are not three uncreated beings, nor three boundless beings, but one uncreated being and one boundless being. Likewise, the Father is omnipotent, the Son is omnipotent, the Holy Spirit is omnipotent. Yet there are not three omnipotent beings, but one omnipotent being. Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. However, there are not three gods, but one God. The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord. However, there as not three lords, but one Lord. For as we are obliged by Christian truth to acknowledge every Person singly to be God and Lord, so too are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say that there are three Gods or Lords. The Father was not made, nor created, nor generated by anyone. The Son is not made, nor created, but begotten by the Father alone. The Holy Spirit is not made, nor created, nor generated, but proceeds from the Father and the Son. There is, then, one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three sons; one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits. In this Trinity, there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less. The entire three Persons are co-eternal and co-equal with one another. So that in all things, as is has been said above, the Unity is to be worshipped in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity. He, therefore, who wishes to be saved, must believe thus about the Trinity. It is also necessary for eternal salvation that he believes steadfastly in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is both God and man. As God, He was begotten of the substance of the Father before time; as man, He was born in time of the substance of His Mother. He is perfect God; and He is perfect man, with a rational soul and human flesh. He is equal to the Father in His divinity, but inferior to the Father in His humanity. Although He is God and man, He is not two, but one Christ. And He is one, not because His divinity was changed into flesh, but because His humanity was assumed unto God. He is one, not by a mingling of substances, but by unity of person. As a rational soul and flesh are one man: so God and man are one Christ. He died for our salvation, descended into hell, and rose from the dead on the third day. He ascended into Heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there He shall come to judge the living and the dead. At His coming, all men are to arise with their own bodies; and they are to give an account of their own deeds. Those who have done good deeds will go into eternal life; those who have done evil will go into the everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith. Everyone must believe it, firmly and steadfastly; otherwise He cannot be saved. Amen.

[Robert Drobot]

THE NICENE CREED

Symbolum Nicaenum, or Nicene Creed, has a complex history. It was first promulgated at the Council of Nicea ( A.D. 325 ), though in an abbreviated form from what we have below. Saint Athanasius attributes its composition to the Papal Legate to the Council, Hossius of Cordova. The Creed is also sometimes called the Nicene-Constantinoplan Creed since it appears in the Acts of the Council of Constantinople ( 381 ), but it is clear that this Council is not the source of that composition for it appears in complete form in the Ancoratus of Epiphanius of Salamis some seven years earlier in 374. In any case, it was this text that appears in the Acts of the Council of Constantinople that was formally promulgated at Chalcedon in 451 and has come down to us as our present Nicene Creed. It was at the councils of Nicea and Constantinople that the true nature of Jesus was defended against two heresies that had sprung up. The Arians denied Christ’s divinity and the Monophysites denied Christ’s humanity. The councils, drawing upon the traditions handed down to them from the Apostles, condemned both heresies and declared that Jesus was indeed both true God and true man.

Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem caeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum Iesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum, et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, Lumen de Luminem, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum non factum, consubstantialem Patri; per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de caelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est, et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas, et ascendit in caelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, iudicare vivos et mortuos, cuius regni non erit finis. Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen.

:  I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, only-begotten and of the Father born before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through Whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate; suffered, and was buried, and rose the third day according to the Scriptures; sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver, Who from the Father and the Son proceeds. Who, with the Father and the Son, is simultaneously adored and equally glorified: Who has spoken through the prophets. And one holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come. Amen.

[Robert Drobot]

Professio fidei Tridentinae
The Tridentine Creed

Pope Pius IV promulgated this creed in his Bull, Injunctium Nobis, in 1565, about year after the close of the Council of Trent. It begins by repeating the Nicene Creed, and then goes on to re-affirm dogmas of the Church that were then being attacked by Protestants. For a long time thereafter it was used in reconciling Protestants who wished to return to the Church. Although seldom used any more, it has never been abrogated and remains one of the four Creeds of the Holy Mother Church.

Ego N. firma fide credo et profiteor omnia et singula, quae continentur in Symbolo, quo Sancta Romana ecclesia utitur, videlicet: Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, factorem caeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. Et in unum Dominum Iesum Christum, Filium Dei unigenitum, et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Deum de Deo, Lumen de Lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, genitum non factum, consubstantialem Patri; per quem omnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de caelis. Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine, et homo factus est. Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est, et resurrexit tertia die, secundum Scripturas, et ascendit in caelum, sedet ad dexteram Patris. Et iterum venturus est cum gloria, iudicare vivos et mortuos, cuius regni non erit finis. Et in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem, qui ex Patre Filioque procedit. Qui cum Patre et Filio simul adoratur et conglorificatur: qui locutus est per prophetas. Et unam, sanctam, catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam. Confiteor unum baptisma in remissionem peccatorum. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum, et vitam venturi saeculi. Amen. Apostolicas et ecclesiasticas traditiones reliquasque eiusdem ecclesiae observationes et consitutiones firmissime admitto et amplector. Item sacram Scripturam iuxta sensum eum, quem tenuit et tenet sancta mater Ecclesia, cuius et iudicare de vero sensu et interpretatione sacrarum Scripturarum, admitto, nec eam umquam nisi iuxta unanimem consensum Patrum accipiam et interpretabor. Profiteor quoque septem esse vere et proprie Sacramenta novae legis, a Iesu Christo Domino nostro instituta, atque ad salutem humani generis, licet non omnia singulis, necessaria: scilicet Baptismum, Confirmationem, Eucharistiam, Poenitentiam, Extremam Unctionem, Ordinem et Matrimonium, illaque gratiam conferre, et ex his Baptismum, Confirmationem et Ordinem sine sacrilegio reiterari non posse. Receptos quoque et approbatos ecclesiae catholicae ritus in supradictorum omnium Sacramentorum solemni administratione recipio et admitto. Omnia et singula, quae de peccato originali et de iustificatione in sacrosancta Tridentina Synodo definita et declarata fuerunt, amplector et recipio. Profiteor pariter, in Missa oferri Deo verum, proprium et propitiatorium sacrificium pro vivis et defunctis, atque in sanctissimo Eucharistiae Sacramento esse vere, realiter et substantialiter Corpus et Sanguinem, una cum anima et divinitate Domini nostri Iesu Christi, fierique conversionem totius substantiae panis in Corpus at totius substantiae vini in Sanguinem, quam conversionem Ecclesia catholica transsubstantiationem appellat. Fateor etiam sub altera tantum specie totum atque integrum Christum verumque Sacramentum sumi. Constanter teneo, purgatorium esse, animasque ibi detentas fidelium suffragiis iuvari. Similiter et Sanctos, una cum Christo regnantes, venerandos atque invocandos esse, eosque orationes Deo pro nobis offerre, atque eorum reliquias esse venerandas. Firmissime assero, imagines Christi ac Deiparae semper Virginis, necnon aliorum Sanctorum habendas et retiendas esse, atque eis debitum honorem et venerationem impertiendum. Indulgentiarum etiam potestatem a Christo in Ecclesia relictam fuisse, illarumque usu christiano populo maxime salutarem esse affirmo. Sanctam catholicam et apostolicam Ecclesiam romanam omnium ecclesiarum matrem et magistram agnosco, Romanoque Pontifici, beati Petri, Apostolorum principis, successori, ac Iesu Christi Vicario, veram obedientiam spondeo ac iuro. Cetera item omnia a sacris canonibus et oecumenicis Conciliis, ac praecipue a sacrosancta Tridentina Synodo, et ab oecumenico Concilio Vaticano tradita, definita et declarata, praesertim de Romani Pontificis primatu et infallibili magesterio indubitanter recipio ac profiteor; simulaque contraria omnia, atque haereses quascumque ab Ecclesia damnatas et reiectas et anathematizatas ego pariter damno, reicio, et anathematizo. Hanc veram catholicam fidem, extra quam nemo salvus esse potest, quam in praesenti sponte profiteor et veraciter teneo, eamdem integram, et inviolatam usque ad extremum vitae spiritum, constantissime, Deo adiuvante, retinere et confiteri, atque a meis subditis, vel illis, quorum cura ad me in munere meo spectabit, teneri, doceri et praedicari, quantum in me erit, curaturum, ego idem N. spondeo, voveo ac iuro. Sic me Deus adiuvet et haec sancta Dei Evangelia.

:  I, ( name ), with firm faith believe and profess all and everything which is contained in the creed of Faith, which the holy Roman Church uses, namely: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God; born of the Father before all ages; God of God, light of light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven. And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary; and was made man. He was crucified also for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And on the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven. He sits at the right hand of the Father. And He shall come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead; of whose kingdom there shall be no end. And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son; Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified; Who spoke by the Prophets. And in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead. And the life of the world to come. Amen. “The Apostolic and Ecclesiastical traditions and all other observances and constitutions of that same Church I most firmly admit and embrace. “I likewise accept Holy Scripture according to that sense which our holy Mother Church has held and does hold, whose (office) it is to judge the true meaning and interpretation of Sacred Scriptures; I shall never accept nor interpret it otherwise than in accordance with the unanimous consent of the Fathers. “I also profess that there are truly and properly seven Sacraments of the New Law instituted by Jesus Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of mankind, although not all are necessary for each individual; these sacraments are Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Order, and Matrimony; and (I profess) that they confer grace, and that of these Baptism, Confirmation, and Order cannot be repeated without sacrilege. I also receive and admit the accepted and approved rites of the Catholic Church in the solemn administration of all the aforesaid Sacraments. “I embrace and accept each and everything that has been defined and declared by the Holy Synod of Trent concerning original sin and justification. “I also profess that in the Mass there is offered to God a true, proper sacrifice of propitiation for the living and the dead, and that in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist there is truly, really, and substantially present the Body and Blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that there takes place a conversion of the whole substance of bread into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the blood; and this conversion the Catholic Church calls Transubstantiation. “I also acknowledge that under one species alone the whole and entire Christ and the true Sacrament are taken. “I steadfastly hold that Purgatory exists, and that the souls there detained are aided by the prayers of the faithful; likewise that the Saints reigning together with Christ should be venerated and invoked, and that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics should be venerated. “I firmly assert that the images of Christ and of the Mother of God ever Virgin, and also of the other Saints should be kept and retained, and that due honor and veneration should be paid to them; I also affirm that the power of indulgences has been left in the Church by Christ, and that the use of them is especially salutary for Christian people. “I acknowledge the holy Catholic and apostolic Roman Church as the mother and teacher of all Churches; and to the Roman Pontiff, the successor of blessed Peter, Prince of Apostles and Vicar of Jesus Christ, I promise and swear true obedience. “Also all other things taught, defined, and declared by the sacred Canons and Ecumenical Councils, and especially by the sacred and holy Synod of Trent (and by the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, particularly concerning the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff and his infallible teaching,*) I without hesitation accept and profess; and at the same time all things contrary thereto, and whatever heresies have been condemned, and rejected, and anathematized by the Church, I likewise condemn, reject, and anathematize. “This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved, (and) which of my own accord I now profess and truly hold, I (name) do promise, vow, and swear that I will, with the help of God, most faithfully retain and profess the same to the last breath of my life as pure and inviolable, and that I will take care as far as lies in my power that it be held, taught, and preached by my subjects or by those over whom by virtue of my office I have charge, so help me God, and these holy Gospels of God.”

[Robert Drobot]

SACRORUM ANTISTITUM ~ OATH AGAINST MODERNISM

Declared by His Holiness Pope Saint Pius X, September 1, 1910.

To be sworn to by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries.

I . . . . firmly embrace and accept each and every definition that has been set forth and declared by the unerring teaching authority of the Church, especially those principal truths which are directly opposed to the errors of this day. And first of all, I profess that God, the origin and end of all things, can be known with certainty by the natural light of reason from the created world (see Romans 1:90 ), that is, from the visible works of creation, as a cause from its effects, and that, therefore, his existence can also be demonstrated: Secondly, I accept and acknowledge the external proofs of revelation, that is, divine acts and especially miracles and prophecies as the surest signs of the divine origin of the Christian religion and I hold that these same proofs are well adapted to the understanding of all eras and all men, even of this time. Thirdly, I believe with equally firm faith that the Church, the guardian and teacher of the revealed word, was personally instituted by the real and historical Christ when he lived among us, and that the Church was built upon Peter, the prince of the apostolic hierarchy, and his successors for the duration of time. Fourthly, I sincerely hold that the doctrine of faith was handed down to us from the apostles through the orthodox Fathers in exactly the same meaning and always in the same purport. Therefore, I entirely reject the heretical' misrepresentation that dogmas evolve and change from one meaning to another different from the one which the Church held previously. I also condemn every error according to which, in place of the divine deposit which has been given to the spouse of Christ to be carefully guarded by her, there is put a philosophical figment or product of a human conscience that has gradually been developed by human effort and will continue to develop indefinitely. Fifthly, I hold with certainty and sincerely confess that faith is not a blind sentiment of religion welling up from the depths of the subconscious under the impulse of the heart and the motion of a will trained to morality; but faith is a genuine assent of the intellect to truth received by hearing from an external source. By this assent, because of the authority of the supremely truthful God, we believe to be true that which has been revealed and attested to by a personal God, our creator and Lord.

Furthermore, with due reverence, I submit and adhere with my whole heart to the condemnations, declarations, and all the prescripts contained in the encyclical Pascendi and in the decree Lamentabili, especially those concerning what is known as the history of dogmas. I also reject the error of those who say that the faith held by the Church can contradict history, and that Catholic dogmas, in the sense in which they are now understood, are irreconcilable with a more realistic view of the origins of the Christian religion. I also condemn and reject the opinion of those who say that a well-educated Christian assumes a dual personality-that of a believer and at the same time of a historian, as if it were permissible for a historian to hold things that contradict the faith of the believer, or to establish premises which, provided there be no direct denial of dogmas, would lead to the conclusion that dogmas are either false or doubtful. Likewise, I reject that method of judging and interpreting Sacred Scripture which, departing from the tradition of the Church, the analogy of faith, and the norms of the Apostolic See, embraces the misrepresentations of the rationalists and with no prudence or restraint adopts textual criticism as the one and supreme norm. Furthermore, I reject the opinion of those who hold that a professor lecturing or writing on a historico-theological subject should first put aside any preconceived opinion about the supernatural origin of Catholic tradition or about the divine promise of help to preserve all revealed truth forever; and that they should then interpret the writings of each of the Fathers solely by scientific principles, excluding all sacred authority, and with the same liberty of judgment that is common in the investigation of all ordinary historical documents.

Finally, I declare that I am completely opposed to the error of the modernists who hold that there is nothing divine in sacred tradition; or what is far worse, say that there is, but in a pantheistic sense, with the result that there would remain nothing but this plain simple fact-one to be put on a par with the ordinary facts of history-the fact, namely, that a group of men by their own labor, skill, and talent have continued through subsequent ages a school begun by Christ and his apostles. I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was, and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.

I promise that I shall keep all these articles faithfully, entirely, and sincerely, and guard them inviolate, in no way deviating from them in teaching or in any way in word or in writing. Thus I promise, this I swear, so help me God.

[Robert Drobot]

Compare... Traditional Latin Mass Atmosphere of Reverent Worship : Peaceful, otherworldly atmosphere. Emphasis on individual 'lifting his heart & mind to God.' The faithful direct their prayer and attention to God, not each other." Profound Reverence for His Real Presence : Sixteen genuflections. The hands of the priest alone touch the consecrated host. Communion given only on tongue. Fidelity to Catholic Doctrine : Over the course of a year, all facets of Roman Rite Catholicism are presented. Antiquity : Bulk of Sunday prayers & their arrangement goes back at least to 300s and 400s AD. Canon essentially the same since Blessed Saint Ambrose ( 397 Anno Dómini ). Stability : Everything regulated by precise tradition to protect the purity of worship and doctrine. Priest is Sacrificer: Priest faces tabernacle, cross and altar ( symbolically toward God ). Priest performs all the actions & recites all the prayers of the Mass.

With.... Modern Mass at your parish Social, Classroom, Entertainment Atmosphere : Constant standing, sitting, amplified noise; atmosphere like a public meeting. Emphasis on 'instruction.' Socializing in church before & after service, and handshaking during. Indifference, Irreverence towards Real Presence : Only three genuflections required. Lay men & women distribute communion. Communion given in hand - a practice protestants introduced to deny Christ's Real Presence. Systematic Omission of Catholic Doctrines : New and or 'revised' prayers systematically omit all references to hell; judgment; punishment for sin; merits of the Saints; the One True Church; the souls of the departed; and heavenly miracles. Novelty : Traditional Sunday prayers omitted, or stripped of doctrines, and 'rearranged' from the 1960s to this day. Only 17% of old prayers remain. Chunks of ancient Canon are now 'optional'. The words of consecration, Christ's own words "For you and for many" have been changed. Three substitute 'Canons' invented & introduced in 1960s, with more invented later. Constant Change : Options, options and more options. Individual priests & parish liturgy committees get to pick, drop or invent texts to push whatever they think the faithful should believe. Priest is "President", Actor : Priest faces people instead of symbolically "toward God." Priest sits off to side. His functions given away to lay men and women whose hands have not been consecrated to hold the precious Body of Christ Jesus, nor have they been given the Holy Sacrament of Holy Orders to perform priestly duties.

©2007 traditionalmass.org.

[Robert Drobot]

THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

"Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin. All hope consists in confession. In confession there is mercy. Believe it firmly, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God." ~ Saint Isidore of Seville

As soon as Jesus rose from the dead and earned salvation for us, he brought his apostles a new gift. After speaking peace to them, he said, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you" ( Blessed Apostle Saint John 20:21 ). Just as Jesus was sent by the Father to reconcile the world to God, Jesus sent the apostles to continue his mission.

Jesus then breathed on the apostles. This is a verse that is often passed over, but it has extraordinary significance because it is only the second time in all of Scripture where God breathes on anyone. The other instance was at the moment of creation, when God breathed his own life into the nostrils of Adam. This should tell us that something of great importance is taking place. Upon doing this, Jesus said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" ( Blessed Apostle Saint John 20:22–23 ).

Notice that Jesus is not simply commissioning the apostles to preach about God’s forgiveness. He is not saying, "Go tell everyone that when God forgives men’s sins, they’re forgiven." In using the second person plural you, Jesus is telling his apostles that by the power of the Holy Spirit he has given them the power to forgive and retain the sins of men. Having the power to forgive and to retain sins implies that the apostle knows what a person’s sins are, which in turn implies oral confession. Otherwise, how is the apostle to know what to retain or forgive?

Consider the following early Christian writings from the first five centuries:

"Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. . . . On the Lord’s Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure" ( Didache 4:14, 14:1 [ A.D. 70 ] ).

"[ Regarding confession, some ] flee from this work as being an exposure of themselves, or they put it off from day to day. I presume they are more mindful of modesty than of salvation, like those who contract a disease in the more shameful parts of the body and shun making themselves known to the physicians; and thus they perish along with their own bashfulness"(Tertullian, Repentance 10:1 [ A.D. 203 ] ).

"[ The bishop conducting the ordination of the new bishop shall pray: ] God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . pour forth now that power which comes from you, from your royal spirit, which you gave to your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and which he bestowed upon his holy apostles . . . and grant this your servant, whom you have chosen for the episcopate, [the power] to feed your holy flock and to serve without blame as your high priest . . . and by the Spirit of the high-priesthood to have the authority to forgive sins, in accord with your command" ( Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition 3 [ A.D. 215 ] ).

"Priests have received a power which God has given neither to angels nor to archangels. It was said to them: ‘Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose, shall be loosed.’ Temporal rulers have indeed the power of binding; but they can only bind the body. Priests, in contrast, can bind with a bond which pertains to the soul itself and transcends the very heavens. Did [God] not give them all the powers of heaven? ‘Whose sins you shall forgive,’ he says, ‘they are forgiven them; whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.’ What greater power is there than this? The Father has given all judgment to the Son. And now I see the Son placing all this power in the hands of men" ( Saint John Chrysostom, The Priesthood 3:5 [ A.D. 387 ] ).

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

Prayers before Confession

Act of Contrition

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, do penance and to amend my life. Amen.

A Review of the Ten Commandments

Preliminary

Besides telling the nature of your sins, you must also recollect, as far as possible, the number of times you have committed them, telling also ( and only ) those circumstances which at times may either make a venial sin mortal or a mortal sin notably worse.

1. Have I ever failed to confess a serious sin or disguised it?
2. Have I been guilty of irreverence for this sacrament by failing to examine my conscience carefully?
3. Have I failed to perform the penance given me by the confessor or disobeyed any of his directions?
4. Have I neglected the Easter duty of receiving Holy Communion or failed to confess my sins within a year?
5. Have I any habits of serious sin to confess first (impurity, drunkenness, etc.)?
6. Have I improved on cutting down these habitual sins or is one confession after another sound like the same? If so, what can I resolve to improve?

First Commandment : I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have strange gods before Me

1. Am I ignorant of my catechism ( Act of Contrition, Apostle's Creed, Ten Commandments, Seven Sacraments, the Our Father )?
2. Have I willfully doubted or denied any of the teachings of the Church ( heresy )?
3. Have I taken active part in any non-Catholic worship?
4. Am I a member of any anti-Catholic or any secret society?
5. Have I knowingly read any anti-Catholic literature or watched an anti-Catholic film or program or listened to anti-Catholic rhetoric?
6. Have I practiced any superstitions (horoscopes, fortune tellers, etc.)?
7. Have I failed to defend my Faith when it was attacked or have I remained silent for fear of being rebuked?

Second Commandment : Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain

1. Have I used God's name in vain by way of profanity?
2. Have I condoned others who use profanity by my silent approval?
3. Have I murmured or complained against God (blasphemy)?
4. Have I maligned priests or others consecrated to God without just reason?
5. Have I sworn by God's name (oath) either falsely or rashly?
6. Have I broken any vow to God either public or private?
7. Have I rationalized myself around a vow by cutting corners?

Third Commandment : Keep holy the Lord's Day

1. Have I missed Mass on Sundays or holydays through my own fault?
2. Have I been late for Mass through my own negligence?
3. Do I realize it is a venial sin to miss any part of the Mass?
4. Do I realize being really late for Mass is a mortal sin and my only alternative is to wait and go to another Mass?
5. Have I been inattentive at Mass or otherwise failed in reverence for the Most Blessed Sacrament?
6. Have I done unnecessary servile work (physical labor) or shopping on Sunday?
7. Have I eaten flesh meat on Friday (especially on Good Friday) or on Ash Wednesday or the assigned vigil fast days?
8. Have I obeyed the laws of the Church on fast and abstinence?

Fourth Commandment : Honor thy Father and Mother

1. Have I been disrespectful to my parents or neglected them?
2. Have I failed in obedience or reverence to others in authority?
3. Have I mistreated my wife or children?
4. Have I been disobedient or disrespectful to my husband?
5. Regarding my children:

-Have I neglected their material needs?
-Have I failed to care for their early Baptism or their proper religious instruction?
-Have I allowed them to neglect their religious duties?
-Have I tolerated their keeping questionable company or steady dating without chaperones?
-Have I otherwise failed to discipline them?
-Have I given them bad example in any way?
-Have I let boys and girls sleep together or with their parents?
-Have I interfered with their freedom to marry or follow a religious vocation?

Fifth Commandment : Thou shalt not kill

1. Have I placed any one's life in danger?
2. Have I threatened any one's life in anger?
3. Have I condoned or promoted abortion?
4. Have I condoned or tolerated others who promote abortion?
5. Have I taken pleasure in anyone's misfortune?
6. Have I jeopardized others by my driving recklessly?
7. Have I used contraceptives thus preventing life?
8. Have I been sympathetic to those contemplating suicide?

Sixth & Ninth Commandments : Thou shalt not commit adultery and Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife

1. Have I committed adultery or fornication?
2. Have I jeopardized my marriage by flirting or untoward glances and advances toward the opposite sex?
3. Have I denied my spouse his or her marriage rights?
4. Have I practiced birth control?
5. Have I abused my marriage rights in any other way?
6. Have I touched or embraced another impurely?
7. Have I sinned with others of the same sex?
8. Have I committed masturbation or otherwise sinned impurely with myself?
9. Have I harbored lustful desires for anyone?
10. Have I indulged in other impure thoughts?
11. Have I failed to dress modestly?
12. Have I done anything to provoke or occasion impure thoughts in others?
13. Have I read indecent literature or looked at indecent pictures or websites?
14. Have I watched suggestive films or television programs?
15. Have I permitted my children or others under my charge to do these things?
16. Have I used indecent language or told indecent stories?
17. Have I willingly listened to such stories?
18. Have I boasted of my sins?
19. Have I condoned promiscuity by my silent consent of the actions of others?
20. Have I sinned against chastity in any other way?
21. Do I realize my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost and must be treated as such?
22. Do I realize that there are more souls in hell for the sins of the flesh than any other sin? How seriously do I take that and what can I do to become more chaste?

Seventh & Tenth Commandments : Thou shalt not steal and Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods

1. Have I stolen anything?
2. Have I damaged anyone's property through my own fault?
3. Have I cheated or defrauded others?
4. Have I refused or neglected to pay any just debts?
5. Have I neglected my duties or been slothful in my work?
6. Have I refused or neglected to help anyone in urgent necessity?
7. Have I failed to make restitution?
8. Have I harmed the good name or reputation of others in any way?

Eighth Commandment : Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor

1. Have I lied about anyone ( calumny )?
2. Have I rash judged anyone of a serious sin?
3. Have I engaged in gossip (detraction) or spread scandal?
4. Have I lent an ear to scandal about my neighbor?
5. Have I been jealous or envious of anyone?
6. Have I taken pleasure in anyone's misfortune?
8. Have I quarreled with any one and caused scandal?
2. Have I cursed anyone or otherwise wished evil on him?
7. Is there anyone to whom I refuse to speak or be reconciled?

OTHER SINS :

1. Have I knowingly caused others to sin?
2. Have I cooperated in the sins of others?
3. Have I sinned by gluttony?
4. Have I become intoxicated?
5. Have I misused liquor or narcotics?
6. Have I been motivated by avarice?
7. Have I indulged in boasting or vain glory?
8. Have I received Holy Communion or another sacrament in the state of mortal sin?
9. Is there any other sin I need to confess?

Take time to thoroughly go over the list before you travel to church to go to confession. Once at church or in line for confession, recall the sins you have examined, and sincerely say the following prayer:

Prayer to the Holy Ghost

Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love.

For inspiration, read how Christ forgives from the Cross (Blessed Apostle Saint Luke 23:33-34), the story of Mary Magdalen and the Parable of The Two Debtors ( Blessed Apostle Saint Luke 7:36-50), and the Parable of the Prodigal Son ( Blessed Apostle Saint Luke 15:11-32 ). See also Saint Ephraem's "Homily on the Sinful Woman."

[Robert Drobot]

To be a Roman Rite Catholic you must believe the body of Jesus Christ is present in each consecrated wafer ( Holy Eucharist ); that the sacrifice of Calvary is repeated at every Mass; and that he gives Himself to us in the form of Holy Communion to sustain His creation ( you ) as His tabernacle.

Eucharistic Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle or through exposition :

Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is a wonderful devotion that adores Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament. Through a deeper love and closer relationship with Jesus, you acquire the strength, healing and peace to make it through your pilgrimage of life and to achieve your ultimate goal - Heaven and the Beatific Vision.

In many ways, Our Lord, is calling us to worship and receive Him in the Eucharist. He speaks this desire in many ways: through the Pope and the Magisterium of the Church, in the Bible ( Blessed Apostle Saint John 6 ), through his Blessed Mother in approved Marian apparitions, through the testimonies of Saints and Martyrs, through Eucharistic miracles, through Church approved messages given by Jesus by Divine Revelation, through our souls who long for Jesus in Communion, and through our suffering world which is in much need of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. Unfortunately many of us disbelieve or have grown indifferent towards Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

COMMUNION IN THE HAND BY ONE NOT CONSECRATED

REMAINS A PROHIBITED AND CONDEMNED ABOMINATION

WITHIN THE HOLY AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH

"Communion in the hand" is a Protestant innovation foisted upon the Roman Rite Catholic world in the name of false ecumenism. The Novus Ordo practice of communion in the hand is rooted in the rejection of the Catholic doctrine on the Holy Eucharist and the denial of the Catholic priesthood.

The Church has condemned communion in the hand from the early centuries :

Pope Saint Sixtus ( 115-125 ). Prohibited the faithful from even touching the Sacred Vessels: "Statutum est ut sacra vasa non ab aliis quam a sacratis Dominoque dicatis contrectentur hominibus..." [It has been decreed that the Sacred Vessels are not to be handled by others than by those consecrated and dedicated to the Lord.]

Pope Saint Eutychian ( 275-283 ). Forbade the faithful from taking the Sacred Host in their hand.

Saint Basil The Great, Doctor of The Church ( 330-379 ). "The right to receive Holy Communion in the hand is permitted only in time of persecution." Saint Basil considered Communion in the hand so irregular that he did not hesitate to consider it a grave fault.

COUNCIL OF SARAGOSSA ( 380 ). It was decided to punish with EXCOMMUNICATION anyone who dared to continue the practice of Holy Communion in the hand. The Synod of Toledo confirmed this decree.

Pope Saint Leo The Great ( 440-461 ). Energetically defended and required faithful obedience to the practice of administering Holy Communion on the tongue of the faithful.

SYNOD OF ROUEN (650). Condemned Communion in the hand to halt widespread abuses that occurred from this practice, and as a safeguard against sacrilege.

SIXTH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, AT CONSTANTINOPLE (680-681). Forbade the faithful to take the Sacred Host in their hand, threatening the transgressors with excommunication.

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). "Out of reverence towards this sacrament [ the Holy Eucharist ], nothing touches it, but what is consecrated; hence the corporal and the chalice are consecrated, and likewise the priest's hands, for touching this sacrament." ( Summa Theologica, Pars III, Q. 82, Art. 3, Rep. Obj. 8 ).

COUNCIL OF TRENT (1545-1565). "The fact that only the priest gives Holy Communion with his consecrated hands is an Apostolic Tradition."

Pope Paul VI ( 1963-1978 ). "This method [on the tongue] must be retained." (Apostolic Epistle "Memoriale Domini" ).

Pope John Paul II. "To touch the sacred species and to distribute them with their own hands is a privilege of the ordained. ( Dominicae Cenae, sec. 11)

"It is not permitted that the faithful should themselves pick up the consecrated bread and the sacred chalice, still less that they should hand them from one to another." ( Inaestimabile Donum, April 17, 1980, sec. 9).

The Sacrifice of the Eucharist as the central act of worship of the Roman Rite Catholic Church. The "Mass" is a late form of mission (sending), from which the faithful are sent to put into practice what they have learned and use the graces they have received in the Eucharistic liturgy. The Mass cannot be understood apart from Calvary, of which it is a re-presentation, memorial, and effective application of the merits gained by Christ.

"Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." ( Blessed Apostle Saint Matthew 26:26-28 ).

[Robert Drobot]

Pope Pius XII with Tiara and Sedalia

"The use of the Latin language, customary in a considerable section of the Church, is a manifest and beautiful sign of unity, as well as an effective antidote for any corruption of doctrinal truth." ~~ Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Mediator Dei #60, November 20, 1947

[Robert Drobot]

Traditional Holy Mass Propers

† Dominica infra Octavam Nativitatis Domini ~ Sunday within the Octave of Christmas †

† Childermas ~ Children's Mass †

FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS

Missa médium siléntium tenérent ómnia

( "all things were in quiet silence" )

Statio ad S. Pauli Apostoli ~ Station at Saint Paul's Outside the Walls

28 December 2008 Anno Dómini

".... be filled with the knowledge of the will of God...."

"All whatsoever you do in word or work, do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
giving thanks to God the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord"--- Blessed Apostle Saint Paul

"Let it not be as a murderer or a thief, a malefactor or a coveter of other men's goods that any of you suffer; but if it is for the name of Christian, let him be not ashamed, but glorify God in that name." --- Blessed Apostle Saint Peter ( First Epistle 4:15-16 )

For God so loved the faithful that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life. ~~ Blessed Apostle Saint John 3:16

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ~~ Philippians 2:5-11

Color: Violaceus ~ Violet II Classis ~ Second Class Observance

A very special 'Thank you' to the ASU.edu; fisheaters.com; Friends of Fatima; catholic.org; and saints.sqpn.com, for edited commentaries and resources related to the presentation of today's Proper. Additional sources: Saint Andrew Daily Missal and the 1945 Marian Missal

Suffer the little children......

FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS

Our Lady of Guadalupe defending the children

The Feast of the Holy Innocents or 'Childermas' takes on a special significance and poignancy in our age when so many unborn children, created by the hand of our Almighty Father, are murdered by the hand of man. Since the 5th century, this feast remembers those children who were massacred by Herod in his vain attempt to eradicate the Christ-child as a claimant to his throne. As such, they are venerated as martyrs who gave their lives for Jesus Christ. As the Second Reading in the Office of Readings, a sermon by Saint Quodvultdeus says: "Though they know it not, these children die for Christ and their parents are mourning the death of martyrs. The Christ-child has made babies, who are unable to talk, fitting witnesses to himself...They could not speak yet they confessed Christ. Helpless to enter the battle, they carried off the palm of victory." How tragic still are the deaths of those innocent babes whose parents don't mourn and in fact, in many cases, actively will! The Byzantine liturgy says fourteen thousand were killed while the Syrian texts speak of sixty-four thousand. But these number pale in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of babies who are killed in the womb in our day. In other Western rites, this feast commemorates "the holy babes and sucklings" or simply "the infants". It is fitting then that today, of all days in the year, and in such proximity to the liturgical Feast of the Christ-child, we can remember the innocent victims who have been killed in their infancy.

We do well to pray not only for their souls and the stain of mortal sin being carried by the parents, but we should also ask the Holy Innocents to pray for those of us who choose to be silent, or verbally condone the butchering taking place in our name.

It is impossible to determine the day or the year of the death of the Holy Innocents, since the chronology of the birth of Christ and the subsequent Biblical events is most uncertain. All we know is that the infants were slaughtered within two years following the apparition of the star to the Wise Men ( Belser, in the Tübingen "Quartalschrift", 1890, p. 361 ). The Church venerates these children as martyrs ( flores martyrum ); they are the first buds of the Church killed by the frost of persecution; they died not only for Christ, but in his stead ( Saint Augustine, "Sermo 10us de sanctis" ). In connection with them the Apostle recalls the words of the Prophet Jeremiah ( XXXI:XV, 31:15 ) speaking of the lamentation of Rachel. At Rama is the tomb of Rachel, representative of the ancestresses of Israel. There the remnants of the nation were gathered to be led into captivity. As Rachel, after the fall of Jerusalem, from her tomb wept for the sons of Ephraim, so she now weeps again for the men children of Bethlehem. The ruin of her people, led away to Babylon, is only a type of the ruin which menaces her children now, when the Messias is to be murdered and is compelled to flee from the midst of His own nation to escape from the sword of the apparitor. The lamentation of Rachel after the fall of Jerusalem receives its eminent completion at the sight of the downfall of her people, ushered in by the slaughter of her children and the banishment of the Messias.

The Roman Station of 28 December is at St. Paul's Outside the Walls, because that church is believed to possess the bodies of several of the Holy Innocents. A portion of these relics was transferred by Sixtus V to Santa Maria Maggiore. The church of St. Justina at Padua, the cathedrals of Lisbon and Milan, and other churches also preserve bodies which they claim to be those of some of the Holy Innocents.

At the end, Prudentius' vision of the Holy Innocents at play around the altar of God in heaven shall become a reality for all :

"All hail, sweet flowers of martyrdom,
Cut down in life's bright dawning hour,
And shattered by the foe of Christ,
As rosebuds in a whirling storm...

First victim of Christ,
Tender flock of the immolated
Simple at the altar's foot,
simple souls, simple children,
You play with the palm and the crowns,
With your palm and your crowns.

Amidst the streams of blood that flowed
From tender babes of equal age,
Alone, the Virgin's Son escaped
The sword that pierced the mothers' hearts."

The image above is called 'Our Lady of Guadalupe defending the children'.
May our Holy Mother, Ever Virgin, intercede for all the unborn and
protect them from harm, loving them as a true Mother.

~~ In part, by Lawrence Lew, OP and Robert Drobot

'How great a gift of grace is here!'

A tiny child is born, who is a great king. Wise men are led to him from afar. They come to adore one who lies in a manger and yet reigns in heaven and on earth. When they tell of one who is born a king, Herod is disturbed. To save his kingdom he resolves to kill him, though if he would have faith in the child, he himself would reign in peace in this life and for ever in the life to come.

Why are you afraid, Herod, when you hear of the birth of a king? He does not come to drive you out, but to conquer the devil. But because you do not understand this you are disturbed and in a rage, and to destroy one child whom you seek, you show your cruelty in the death of so many children.

You are not restrained by the love of weeping mothers or fathers mourning the deaths of their sons, nor by the cries and sobs of the children. You destroy those who are tiny in body because fear is destroying your heart. You imagine that if you accomplish your desire you can prolong your own life, though you are seeking to kill Life himself.

Yet your throne is threatened by the source of grace, so small, yet so great, who is lying in the manger. He is using you, all unaware of it, to work out his own purposes freeing souls from captivity to the devil. He has taken up the sons of the enemy into the ranks of God’s adopted children.

The children die for Christ, though they do not know it. The parents mourn for the death of martyrs. The child makes of those as yet unable to speak fit witnesses to himself. See the kind of kingdom that is his, coming as he did in order to be this kind of king. See how the deliverer is already working deliverance, the savior already working salvation.

But you, Herod, do not know this and are disturbed and furious. While you vent your fury against the child, you are already paying him homage, and do not know it.

How great a gift of grace is here! To what merits of their own do the children owe this kind of victory? They cannot speak, yet they bear witness to Christ. They cannot use their limbs to engage in battle, yet already they bear off the palm of victory. ~~ by Saint Quodvultdeus (d. 450 AD)

Introitus ~ Introit
Wisdom 18:14-15; Psalm 92:1

Dum médium siléntium tenérent ómnia, et nox in suo cursu médium iter habéret, omnípotens sermo tuus Dómine, de cælis a regálibus sédibus venit. Psalm 92:1 Dóminus regnávit, decórem indútus est; indútus est Dóminus fortitúdinem, et præcínxit se. V. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Repeat : Roráte coeli désuper, et nubes pluant justum....

W hile all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, Thy almighty Word, O Lord, came from heaven, from Thy royal throne.. Psalm 92:1 The Lord hath reigned, He is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded Himself. V. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Repeat : Drop down dew, ye Heavens, from above....

ORATIO ~ COLLECT

Omnípotens sempitérne Deus, dírige actus nostros in beneplácito tuo: ut in nómine dilécti Fílii tui mereámur bonis opéribus abundáre. Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sæcula sæculórum. Amen. Collect For The Intercession Of The Blessed Virgin Mary Deus, qui de beátæ Maríæ Vírginis útero Verbum tuum, Angelo nuntiánte, carnem suscípere voluísti: præsta supplícibus tuis; utqui vere eam Genitricem Dei crédimus, ejus apud to intercessiónibus adjuvémur. Per eúmdem Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus. Collect For The Intercession Of The Saints A cunctis nos quæsumus Dómine mentis et córporis defénde perículis: et intercedénte beáta et gloriósa semper Vírgine Dei Genitrice María, cum beáto Joseph, beátis Apóstolis tuis Petro et Paulo, et ómnibus Sanctis, salútem nobis tríbue benígnus et pacem; ut destrúctis adversitátibus et erróribus univérsis, Ecclésia tua secúra tibi sérviat libertáte. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Collect For The Living and the Dead Omnipotens sempiterna Deus, qui vivorum dominaris simuesse praenoscis: te supplices exoramus; ut, pro quibus effundere preces decrevimus, quosque vel praesens saeculum adhuc in carne retinet, vel futurum jam exutos corpore suscepit, intercedentibus omnibus Sanctis tuis, pietatis tuae clementia omnium delictorum suorum veniam consequantur. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Collect for God's Holy Church Ecclésiæ tuæ, quæ-sumus, Dómine, preces placátus admítte: ut, destrúctis adversitátibus et erróribus univérsis, secura tibi sérviat libertáte. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus.

A lmighty and everlasting God, guide all our actions according to Thy good pleasure; so that we may abound in good works done in the name of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. Collect For The Intercession Of The Blessed Virgin Mary O God, Who didst will that at the message of an angel Thy word should take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary: grant that we, Thy suppliants, who believe her to be truly the mother of God, may be helped by her intercession with Thee. Through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, One God. Collect For The Intercession Of The Saints D efend us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, from all dangers of mind and body: and through the intercession of the blessed and glorious Mary, ever Virgin, mother of God, of Saint Joseph, of Thy holy apostles, Saints Peter and Paul, and of all the saints, in Thy loving-kindness grant us safety and peace; that, all adversities and errors being overcome, Thy Church may serve Thee in security and freedom. Collect For The Living and the Dead O Almighty and Eternal God, Who hast dominion over both the living and the dead, and hast mercy on all Whom Thou knowest shall be Thine by faith and good works: we humbly beseech Thee that all for whom we have resolved to make supplication whether the present world still holds them in the flesh, or the world to come has already received them out of the body, may, through the intercession of all Thy saints, obtain of Thy goodness and clemency pardon for all their sins, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost; One God; forever and ever, Amen. Collect For God's Holy Church Graciously hear, O Lord, the prayers of Thy Church that, having overcome all adversity and every error, she may serve Thee in security and freedom.

EPISTOLA ~ EPISTLE ¤ Gálitas IV:I-VII ~ Galatians 4:1-7

Léctio Epístolæ beáti Pauli Apóstolii ad Gálitas. Fratres, Quanto témpore hæres párvulus est, nihil differt a servo, cum sit dóminus ómnium: sed sub tutóribus, et actóribus est usque ad præfinítum tempus a patre: ita et nos cum essémus párvuli, sub eleméntis mundi erámus serviéntes. At ubi venit plenitúdo témporis, misit Deus Fílium suum, factum ex mulíere, factum sub lege, ut eos, qui sub lege erant, redímeret, ut adoptiónem filiórum reciperémus. Quóniam autem estis fílii, misit Deus Spíritum Fílii sui in corda vestra clamántem: Abba, Pater. Itaque jam non est servus, sed fílius: quod si fílius: et hæres per Deum.

Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Apostle Saint Paul to the Corinthians. Brethren, as long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all: but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father: so we also, when we were children, were serving under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the law: that He might redeem them who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father. Therefore now he is not a servant, but a son; and if a son, an heir also through God.

GRADUALE Psalm XLIV:II-III ~ GRADUAL ¤ Psalm 44:2-3

S peciósus forma præ fíliis hóminum, diffúsa est grátia in lábiis tuis. Eructávit cor meum verbum bonum: dico ego ópera mea Regi: lingua mea cálamus scribæ, velóciter scribéntis. V. Psalm 92:1 Allelúia, allelúia. Dóminus regnávit, decórem índuit: índuit Dóminus fortitúdinem, et præcínxit se virtúte. Allelúia.

Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in Thy lips. My heart hath uttered a good word, I speak my works to the King: my tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly. V. Psalm 92:1 Alleluia, alleluia. The Lord hath reigned, He is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded Himself with power. Alleluia.

From A Series of 153 Woodcuts by Jerome Nadal, SJ,
published in Evangelicae Historiae Imagines c.1593

EVANGELIUM ~ GOSPEL - Blessed Apostle Saint Lucam/Luke II:XXXIII-XLVI ~ 2:33-40

† Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam † I n illo témpore: Erat Joseph et María mater Jesu mirántes super his, quæ dicebántur de illo. Et benedíxit illis Símeon, et dixit ad Maríam matrem ejus: Ecce pósitus est hic in ruínam, et in resurrectiónem multórum in Israël: et in signum, cui contradicétur: et tuam ipsíus ánimam pertransíbit gládius ut reveléntur ex multis córdibus cogitatiónes. Et erat Anna prophetíssa, fília Phánuel, de tribu Aser: hæc procésserat in diébus multis, et víxerat cum viro suo annis septem a virginitáte sua. Et hæc vídua usque ad annos octogínta quátuor: quæ non discedébat de templo, jejúniis, et obsecratiónibus sérviens nocte ac die. Et hæc, ipsa hora supervéniens, confitebátur Dómino: et loquebátur de illo ómnibus, qui exspectábant redemptiónem Israël. Et ut perfecérunt ómnia secúndum legem Dómini, revérsi sunt in Galilæam in civitátem suam Názareth. Puer autem crescébat, et confortabátur plenus sapiéntia et grátia Dei erat in illo.

† The Gospel recorded by Blessed Apostle Saint Luke † A t that time, Joseph and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, were wondering at these things which were spoken concerning Him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted: and thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser; she was far advanced in years, and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow until fourscore and four years; who departed not from the temple, by fastings and prayers serving night and day. Now she, at the same hour, coming in, confessed to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel. And after they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their city Nazareth. And the Child grew and was strengthened, full of wisdom: and the grace of God was in Him.

Homily For The Sunday within the Octave of Christmas
29 December 2002 Anno Domini

by Father Louis J. Campbell
"Qui legit, intelligat"
"He who readeth, let him understand"

"Good Tidings of Great Joy" ~ Blessed Apostle Saint Luke 3:4

The celebration continues for those who realize the reason for the season - all the more reason to extend the celebration from twelve to forty days.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Just a few days ago we celebrated the holy feast of the Nativity of Our Lord. For those without faith, Christmas is over when they have opened the last Christmas present, or swallowed the last mouthful of turkey or pumpkin pie. After that there's nothing to do but take down the Christmas decorations and wait for the excitement of New Year's Eve.

For those who have a more spiritual outlook, there are twelve days of Christmas, ending with the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. Yet in the monumental work, The Liturgical Year, by Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., we read:

"We apply the name of Christmas to the forty days which begin with the Nativity of our Lord, December 25, and end with the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, February 2. It is a period which forms a distinct portion of the Liturgical Year..." He adds that nothing is "able to distract our Holy Mother the Church from the immense joy of which she received the good tidings from the Angels on that glorious Night for which the world had been longing four thousand years."

Unfortunately, each year at this time the Church must struggle to uphold the purity and integrity of this feast, not only against the excesses of feasting and drinking, but against the attacks of those who have no love for the Christ Child, and would like to see the very memory of Him destroyed. Because the word "Christmas" contains the name of "Christ" Christmas trees must become "Holiday trees," "Merry Christmas" must be replaced with "Happy Holidays," while Christmas carols and Christmas Mangers are outlawed in schools and public places.

Some of the arguments against Christmas are downright ridiculous. The well known preacher, Garner Ted Armstrong says, for instance, "The words Christmas, holly wreath, mistletoe, Rudolph, Santa Claus and Christmas tree do not appear anywhere in the Bible." On the other hand, the Rev. Jerry Falwell says, "I believe the celebration of Christmas is a wonderful opportunity to honor Christ and share the gospel." ( See Joe Kovacs, Christmas in America…, www.worldnetdaily.com, Dec. 14, 2002 ).

The neo-pagans say that the real reason for the celebration is winter solstice, and that Christmas is merely a veneer over the pagan celebration of the Natalis invicti solis (birthday of the unconquered sun), which was observed in ancient Rome. They even offer a list of ways to "re-paganize" Christmastime. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has posted its annual atheistic message in the rotunda of the state seat of government in Madison, Wisconsin:

"At this season of the winter solstice may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."

Even some Traditional Catholics have the idea that we should abandon Christmas to the pagans, because they think Christ was really born in the fall of the year, perhaps October. Imagine what that would do to the Liturgical Year. And we thought there was chaos in the Novus Ordo. But Dom Gueranger thinks otherwise:

"…[W]ith regard to our Savior's Birth on December 25, we have Blessed Saint John Chrysostom ( d.407A.D. ) telling us, in his Homily for this Feast, that the Western Churches had, from the very commencement of Christianity, kept it on this day. He is not satisfied with merely mentioning the tradition; he undertakes to show that it is well founded, inasmuch as the Church of Rome had every means of knowing the true day of our Savior's Birth, since the acts of the Enrolment, taken in Judea by command of Augustus, were kept in the public archives of Rome. The holy Doctor adduces a second argument, which he founds upon the Gospel of Blessed Apostle Saint Luke, and he reasons thus: we know from the sacred Scriptures that it must have been in the fast of the seventh month that the priest Zachary had the vision in the Temple; after which Elizabeth, his wife, conceived Blessed Saint John the Baptist: hence it follows that the Blessed Virgin Mary having, as the Evangelist Blessed Apostle Saint Luke relates, received the Angel Gabriel's visit, and conceived the Savior of the world in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, that is to say, in March, the Birth of Jesus must have taken place in the month of December."

The Church, however, does not insist upon December 25 as the actual date of the birth of Jesus Christ. We know, for one thing, that those who established what we call the Gregorian Calendar, made a mistake of two or three years, so that it is believed that Christ Jesus was actually born around 3 B.C. On the day that I was preparing this sermon I happened to tune in, as though by accident, to a program dealing with these very matters. Astronomers, it was said, have found that there was a constellation, or conjunction of planets on September 11, in the year 3 B.C. Fifteen months later, on December 25 of the year 2 B.C., the planet Jupiter hovered for a brief time directly over the city of Bethlehem, as seen from Jerusalem. This would be the perfect setting for the visit of the Magi, as recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew, who visited the Child Jesus bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. In fact, the Child Jesus would have been about the age of fifteen months at the time of their visit. According to this scenario, the actual date of Jesus' birth would be September 11, 3 B.C., and the date of the Epiphany, or what was once called Old Christmas, would be December 25, 2 B.C.

In any case, we are not about to abandon the celebration of Christmas to the neo-pagans. We will defend the rights of Jesus Christ, our newborn King, and observe the ancient rites of the Church in the traditional manner all the more deliberately. Our religion is not rooted in time but in eternity, and the focus of our celebration is not man but "God made Man," Who comes to us today as a helpless Babe in the arms of the Holy Virgin Mary, His Mother. The Angels announced good news of great joy to the shepherds who were watching their flocks in the fields by night. This same Good News we preach to all men of good will: "Jesus Christ, your King, is born; Come, let us adore Him." †

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

OFFERTORIUM / OFFERTORY ¤ Psalm 92:1-2

Deus enim firmávit orbem terræ, qui non commovébitur: paráta sedes tua, Deus, ex tunc; a sæculo tu es.

God hath established the world, which shall not be moved: Thy throne, O God, is prepared from of old; Thou art from everlasting.

SECRETA ~ SECRET

Concéde quæsumus omnípotens Deus: ut óculis tuæ majestátis munus oblátum, et grátiam nobis piæ devotiónis obtíneat, et efféctum beátæ perennitátis acquírat. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sæcula sæculórum. Amen. Secret For The Blessed Virgin Mary In méntibus nóstris, quæsumus, Dómine, veræ fídei sacraménta confírma: ut, qui concéptum de Vírgine Deum verum et hóminem confitémur; per ejus salutíferæ resurrectiónis poténtiam, ad ætérnam mereámur perveníre lætítiam. Per eúmdem Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Secret For The Intercession Of The Saints Exaudi nos Deus salutáris noster: ut per hujus sacraménti virtútem, a cunctis nos mentis et córporis hóstibus tueáris, grátiam tríbuens in præsénti, et glóriam in futuro. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Secret For The Living and the Dead Omnipotens sempiterna Deus, qui vivorum dominaris simul et mortuorum, omniumque misereris quos tuos fide et opera futuros esse praenoscis: te supplices exoramus; ut, pro quibus effundere preces decrevimus, quosque vel praesens saeculum adhuc in carne retinet, vel futurum jam exutos corpore suscepit, intercedentibus omnibus Sanctis tuis, pietatis tuae clementia omnium delictorum suorum veniam consequantur. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Secret for God's Holy Church Prótege nos, Dómine, tuis mystériis serviéntes: ut divínis rebus inhæréntes, et córpore tibi famulémur et mente. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum.

F avourably look down, we beseech Thee, almighty God, upon this our offering; grant to us to lead a good and holy life, and so to come to enjoy a happy eternity. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. Secret For The Blessed Virgin Mary Strengthen in our minds, O Lord, we beseech Thee, the mysteries of the true faith, that, confessing Him Who was conceived of the Virgin to be true God and true man, we may deserve, through the power of His saving resurrection, to attain everlasting joy, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, One God, forever and ever. Amen. Secret For The Intercession Of The Saints Graciously hear us, O God our Savior, and, by virtue of this Sacrament, defend us from all enemies of soul and body, bestowing upon us Thy grace here and Thy glory hereafter. Secret For The Living and the Dead O Almighty and Eternal God, Who hast dominion over both the living and the dead, and hast mercy on all Whom Thou knowest shall be Thine by faith and good works: we humbly beseech Thee that all for whom we have resolved to make supplication whether the present world still holds them in the flesh or the world to come has already received them out of the body, may, through the intercession of all Thy saints, obtain of Thy goodness and clemency pardon for all their sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost; One God; forever and ever, Amen. Secret For God's Holy Church Protect us, O Lord, who assist at Thy mysteries, that, cleaving to things divine, we may serve Thee both in body and in mind. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.

PREFACE OF THE NATIVITY

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper, et ubique gratias agere: Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus: Quia per incarnati Verbi mysterium, nova mentis nostrae fulsit: ut dum visibiliter Deum cognoscimus, per hunc in invisibilium amorem rapiamur. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominationibus, cumque omni militia caelestis exercitus, hymnum gloriae tuae canimus, sine fine dicentes: SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS....

IIt is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, for through the Mystery of the Word made flesh, the new light of Thy glory hath shone upon the eyes of our mind, so that while we acknowledge God in visible form, we may through Him be drawn to the love things invisible. And therefore with Angels and Archangels, with Thrones and Dominations, and with all the hosts of the heavenly army, we sing the hymn of The glory, evermore saying: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY....

COMMUNICANTES - INVOCATION OF THE
SAINTS IN THE CANON
For the Nativity of Our Lord

Communicantes, et diem sacratissimum celebrantes, quo beatae Mariae intemerata virginitas huic mundo edidit Salvatorem: sed et memoriam venerantes, in primis ejusdem gloriosae semper Virginis Mariae, Genetricis ejusdem Dei et Domini nostri Jesu Christi: sed et beatorum Apostolorum ac Martyrum tuorum, Petri et Pauli, Andreae, Iacobi, Ioannis, Thomae, Iacobi, Philippi, Bartholomaei, Marrhaei, Simonis, et Thaddei: Lini, Clet, Clementis, Xysti, Cornelii, Cypriani, Laurentii, Chrysogoni, Ioannis et Pauli, Cosmae et Damianis: et omnium Sanctorum tuorum; quorum meritis, precibusque concedas, ut in omnibus protentionis tuae muniamur auxilio. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

Communicating, and keeping this most holy day, on which the spotless virginity of blessed Mary brought forth a Savior to this world; and also reverencing the memory first of the same glorious Mary, ever Virgin, Mother of the same our God and Lord Jesus Christ: as also of the blessed Apostles and Martyrs Peter and Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, and Thaddeus; Linus, Cletus, Clement, Xystus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and of all Thy Saints, through whose merits and prayers, grant that we may in all things be defended by the help of Thy protection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

COMMUNIO ~ COMMUNION ¤ Blessed Apostle Saint Matthew 2:20

Tolle púerum et matrem ejus, et vade in terram Israël: defúncti sunt enim, qui quærébant ánimam púeri.

Take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead that sought the life of the Child.

POSTCOMMUNIO ~ POSTCOMMUNION

Per hujus, Dómine, operatiónem mystérii, et vítia nostra purgéntur; et justa desidéria compleántur. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitáte Spíritus Sancti, Deus, per ómnia sæcula sæculórum. Amen. Postcommunion For The Blessed Virgin Mary Grátiam tuam quæsumus, Dómine, méntibus nostris infúnde: ut qui, Angelo nuntiánte, Christi Fílii tui incarnatiónem cognóvimus: per passiónem ejus et crucem, ad resurrectiónis glóriam perducámur. Per eúmdem Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fílium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spíritus Sancti, Deus. Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Postcommunion For The Intercession Of The Saints Mundet et múniat nos quáesumus Dómine dívini sacraménti munus oblátum: et intercedénte beáta Vírgine Dei Genitríce María, cum beáto Joseph, beátis Apóstolis tuis Petro et Paulo, et ómnibus Sanctis; a cunctis nos reddat et pervérsitátibus expiátos, et advérsitátibus expedítos. Per eúmdem Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum Fiiium tuum: Qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spíritus Sancti, Deus. Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Postcommunion For The Living and the Dead Omnipotens sempiterna Deus, qui vivorum dominaris simul et mortuorum, omniumque misereris quos tuos fide et opera futuros esse praenoscis: te supplices exoramus; ut, pro quibus effundere preces decrevimus, quosque vel praesens saeculum adhuc in carne retinet, vel futurum jam exutos corpore suscepit, intercedentibus omnibus Sanctis tuis, pietatis tuae clementia omnium delictorum suorum veniam consequantur. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Postcommunion for God's Holy Church Quæsumus, Dómine Deus noster, ut quos divína tribuis participatióne gaudére, humánis non sinas subjacére perículis. Per Dóminum nostrum Jesum Christum.

By virtue of these sacred mysteries, O Lord, may our sins be washed away and our righteous wishes accomplished. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen. Postcommunion For The Blessed Virgin Mary Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may, by His passion and cross, be brought to the glory of His resurrection. Postcommunion For The Intercession Of The Saints Graciously hear us, O God our Savior, and, by virtue of this Sacrament, defend us from all enemies of soul and body, bestowing upon us Thy grace here and Thy glory hereafter. Postcommunion For The Living and the Dead O Almighty and Eternal God, Who hast dominion over both the living and the dead, and hast mercy on all Whom Thou knowest shall be Thine by faith and good works: we humbly beseech Thee that all for whom we have resolved to make supplication whether the present world still holds them in the flesh or the world to come has already received them out of the body, may, through the intercession of all Thy saints, obtain of Thy goodness and clemency pardon for all their sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Postcommunion for God's Holy Church O Lord our God, we pray Thee that Thou suffer not to succumb to human hazards those whom Thou hast been pleased to make sharers of divine mysteries. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.

PRAYER OVER THE MANY

Inclinantes se, Domine, majestati Tuaee, propitiatus intende; ut, Qui divino munere sunt refecti, caelestibus semper nutriantur auxiliis. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Qui vivis et regnas in cum Deo Patri in unitate Spiritus Sancti, Deus, unum Deum. Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

L ook down, O Lord, in Thy mercy, upon those who bow before Thy majesty; that they who are refreshed by Thy divine gift may ever be sustained by heavenly aid, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with You Almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God; for ever and ever. Amen.

THE BLESSING

V. Sit Nomen Domini benedictum. R. Ex hoc nunc, et usque in saeculum. V. U Adjutorium nostrum in Nomine Domini. R. Qui fecit cœlum et terram. V. Benedicat vos, Omnipotens Deus: V. Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus, descendat super vos, et maneat semper. R. Amen.

V. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. R. Now and for ever more. V. U Our help is in the Name of the Lord. R. Who made Heaven and earth. V. May Almighty God bless thee: V. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, descend upon thee, and always remain with thee. R. Amen.

† - Holy Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us. - †

[Robert Drobot]

Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God, Save us.

Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament, Save us.

Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony, Save us.

Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging, Save us.

Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns, Save us.

Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Price of our salvation, Save us.

Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls, Save us.

Blood of Christ, river of mercy, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Victor over demons, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Courage of martyrs, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Strength of confessors, Save us.

Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Help of those in peril, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Relief of the burdened, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Solace in sorrow, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Hope of the penitent, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Consolation of the dying, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Peace and Tenderness of hearts, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Pledge of Eternal Life, Save us.

Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory, Save us.

Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor, Save us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood, And made of us a kingdom for our God.

Let Us Pray:

Almighty and Eternal God, Thou hast appointed Thine only-begotten Son the Redeemer of the world, and willed to be appeased by His Blood. Grant, we beseech Thee, that we may worthily adore This Sacrifice for our salvation, and through Its Power be safeguarded from the evils of this present life, so that we may rejoice in its fruits forever in Heaven. Through the will of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Source: Treasury of Novenas, Father Lawrence G. Lovasik

[Robert Drobot]

CALENDAR of the SAINTS

28 December 2008 Anno Dómini

"....and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. ~ ~ Apocalypse

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Agapes

Martyred in 303 at Nicomedia during the persecutions of Roman Emperor Diocletian. No other information has survived.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Anthony of Lérins

Also known as :

• Antony of Lerins and
  

• Anthony the Hermit

Saint Anthony's father died when the boy was eight years old, and he was raised for several years by Saint Severinus. However, Saint Severinus died when the boy was in his early teens, and Saint Anthony moved in with his uncle, Bishop Constantius of Lorsch, Bavaria. When he was of age, he became a monk. Hermit in the area of Lake Como, Italy. He and some other solitaries gained such a reputation for sanctity that they attracted would-be students. Wanting to live the life of a hermit, Saint Anthony moved on to Lerins, France where he lived the last two years of this temporal life.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Caesarius of Armenia

Dissolute and sinful most of his life. Father of the Arian heretic Eudoxius. In the end, however, he was martyred for his faith under Galerius Maximian. Saint Caesarius was burned to death at the stake in 309 at Arabissus, Armenia.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Castor

African martyr. No other information has survived.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Conindrus

Converted by Saint Patrick. Ordained as priest and bishop by Saint Patrick, and sent by him to evangelize the Isle of Man.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Domitian

Deacon. Martyred at Ankara, Galatia (modern Turkey) with Saint Eutychius. No other information has survived.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Domna

Martyred in 303 at Nicomedia during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian. No other information has survived.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Domnio of Rome

Fourth century priest in Rome. He collected old texts which were used by Saint Jerome. Both Saint Jerome and Saint Augustine wrote glowingly of Saint Domnio and his ministry in Rome.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Eutychius

Priest. Martyred at Ankara, Galatia (modern Turkey) with Saint Domitian. No other information has survived.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Gowan of Wales

Also known as :

• Govan

• Goven

• Cofen

Queen; wife of King Tewdrig of Glamorgan. The parish of Llangoven, Monmouthshire, and a chapel in Pembrokeshire are named for her.

Α ☧ Ω

Holy Innocents

The new-born children slaughtered by Herod the Great when he tried to murder the infant Son of God made Son of Man.

"When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.” - Blessed Apostle Saint Matthew 2:16-18

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Indes

Martyred in 303 at Nicomedia during the persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian. No other information has survived.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Maughold

Also known as :

• Apostle of the Isle of Man;

• Macaldus

• Maccul

Mawgan

• Morgan

Prince, pirate and thief. Converted to Christianity by Saint Patrick. To avoid temptation, he set sail from Ireland in a wicker boat, letting God set his course. He landed on the Isle of Man where he served as missionary bishop. Some versions say that Patrick ordained him, and assigned him to the Isle of Man as penance for his earlier life. Many geographic features on the Isle still bear his name. Legend says he divided the island into parishes, but it is unlikely.

Α ☧ Ω

Blessed Otto of Heidelberg

Brother of Blessed Herman of Heidelberg. Benedictine monk and priest at the monastery of Niederaltaich, Bavaria (modern Germany). After his brother's death, Otto exercised his vocation from Herman's old cell.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Rogatian

African martyr. No other information has survived.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Romulus

African martyr. No other information has survived.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Theophila

Martyred in 303 at Nicomedia during the persecutions of Diocletian. No other information has survived.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Victor

African martyr. No other information has survived.

Α ☧ Ω

[Robert Drobot]

CHINESE MARTYRS

Prayerfully dedicated to the courageous and loyal
Faithful of China,
where
Holy Mother Church
has been sustained
on the sacrifice, arrest, torture, imprisonment and
blood of
Holy Martyrs.

[Robert Drobot]

VIETNAMESE MARTYRS

Prayerfully dedicated to the courageous, loyal and persecuted
Faithful of Vietnam,
where
Holy Mother Church
has been sustained
on the sacrifice, arrest, torture, imprisonment and
murder of
Holy Martyrs.

A Litany of the Martyrs of Vietnam

Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.   God the father of heaven; God the son, redeemer of the world; God the Holy Spirit; Holy Trinity, one God;   Holy Mary; Queen of martyrs; Queen of all saints;

Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, graciously hear us.   Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us.   Pray for us. Pray for us. Pray for us. Pray for us.

Saint Matthew Alonso Leciniana, pray for us. ~ January 22, 1745
Saint Francis Gil de Federich, pray for us. ~ January 22, 1745
Saint Hyacinth Castaneda, pray for us. ~ November 7, 1773
Saint Vincent Le Quang Liem, pray for us. ~ November 7, 1773
Saint Emmanuel Nguyen Van Trieu, pray for us. ~ September 17, 1798
Saint John Dat, pray for us. ~ October 28, 1798
Saint Peter Le Tuy, pray for us. ~ October 11, 1833
Saint Francis Isidore Gagelin, pray for us. ~ October 17, 1833
Saint Paul Tong Viet Buong, pray for us. ~ October 23, 1833
Saint Andrew Tran Van Trong, pray for us. ~ November 28, 1835
Saint Joseph Marchand, pray for us. ~ November 30, 1835
Saint John Charles Cornay, pray for us. ~ September 20, 1837
Saint Francis Xavier Can, pray for us. ~ November 20, 1837
Saint Francis Do Van Chieu, pray for us. ~ June 25, 1838
Saint Dominic Henares, pray for us. ~ June 25, 1838
Saint Vincent Do Yen, pray for us. ~ June 30, 1838
Saint Joseph Nguyen Dinh Uyen, pray for us. ~ July 4, 1838
Saint Peter Nguyen Ba Tuan, pray for us. ~ July 15, 1838
Saint Clement Ignatius Delgado, pray for us. ~ July 21, 1838
Saint Joseph Fernandez, pray for us. ~ July 24, 1838
Saint Bernard Vu Van Due, pray for us. ~ August 1, 1838
Saint Dominic Nguyen Van Hanh, pray for us. ~ August 1, 1838
Saint Anthony Nguyen Dich, pray for us. ~ August 12, 1838
Saint Michael Nguyen Huy My, pray for us. ~ August 12, 1838
Saint James Do Mai Nam, pray for us. ~ August 12, 1838
Saint Joseph Dang Dinh Vien, pray for us. ~ August 21, 1838
Saint Joseph Hoang Luong Canh, pray for us. ~ September 5, 1838
Saint Peter Nguyen Van Tu, pray for us. ~ September 5, 1838
Saint Francis Jaccard, pray for us. ~ September 21, 1838
Saint Thomas Tran Van Thien, pray for us. ~ September 21, 1838
Saint Vincent Nguyen The Diem, pray for us. ~ November 24, 1838
Saint Peter Dumoulin Borie, pray for us. ~ November 24, 1838
Saint Peter Vo Dang Khoa, pray for us. ~ November 24, 1838
Saint Peter Truong Van Duong, pray for us. ~ December 18, 1838
Saint Paul Nguyen Van My, pray for us. ~ December 18, 1838
Saint Peter Vu Van Truat, pray for us. ~ December 18, 1838
Saint Dominic Vu Dinh Tuoc, pray for us. ~ April 2, 1839
Saint Augustine Phan Viet Huy, pray for us. ~ June 12, 1839
Saint Nicholas Bui Duc The, pray for us. ~ June 12, 1839
Saint Dominic Dinh Dat, pray for us. ~ July 18, 1839
Saint Thomas Dinh Viet Du, pray for us. ~ Nov. 26, 1839
Saint Dominic Nguyen Van Xuyen, pray for us. ~ Nov. 26, 1839
Saint Thomas Nguyen Van De, pray for us. ~ December 19, 1839
Saint Francis Xavier Ha Trong Mau, pray for us. ~ December 19, 1839
Saint Augustine Nguyen Van Moi, pray for us. ~ December 19, 1839
Saint Stephen Nguyen Van Vinh, pray for us. ~ December 19, 1839
Saint Dominic Bui Van Uy, pray for us. ~ December 19, 1839
Saint Andrew Tran An Dung Lac, pray for us. ~ December 21, 1839
Saint Peter Truong Van Ti, pray for us. ~ December 21, 1839
Saint Peter Nguyen Van Hieu, pray for us. ~ Apr. 28, 1840
Saint Paul Pham Khac Khoan, pray for us. ~ April 28, 1840
Saint John Baptist Dinh Van Thanh, pray for us. ~ April 28, 1840
Saint Joseph Do Quang Hien, pray for us. ~ May 9, 1840
Saint Luke Vu Ba Loan, pray for us. ~ June 5, 1840
Saint Thomas Toan, pray for us. ~ June 27, 1840
Saint Anthony Nguyen Huu Quynh, pray for us. ~ July 10, 1840
Saint Peter Nguyen Khac Tu, pray for us. ~ July 10, 1840
Saint Dominic Trach, pray for us. ~ September 18, 1840
Saint John Baptist Con, pray for us. ~ November 8, 1840
Saint Paul Nguyen Ngan, pray for us. ~ November 8, 1840
Saint Joseph Nguyen Dinh Nghi, pray for us. ~ November 8, 1840
Saint Martin Ta Duc Thinh, pray for us. ~ November 8, 1840
Saint Martin Tho, pray for us. ~ November 8, 1840
Saint Simon Phan Dac Hoa, pray for us. ~ December 12, 1840
Saint Agnes Le Thi Thanh, pray for us. ~ July 12, 1841
Saint Peter Khanh, pray for us. ~ July 12, 1842
Saint Matthew Le Van Gam, pray for us. ~ May 11, 1847
Saint Augustine Schoeffler, pray for us. ~ May 1, 1851
Saint John Louis Bonnard, pray for us. ~ May 1, 1852
Saint Philip Phan Van Minh, pray for us. ~ July 3, 1853
Saint Joseph Nguyen Van Luu, pray for us. ~ May 2, 1854
Saint Andrew Nguyen Kim Thong, pray for us. ~ July 15, 1855
Saint Lawrence Nguyen Van Huong, pray for us. ~ February 13, 1856
Saint Paul Le Bao Tinh, pray for us. ~ April 6, 1857
Saint Michael Ho Dinh Hy, pray for us. ~ May 22, 1857
Saint Peter Doan Van Van, pray for us. ~ May 25, 1857
Saint Joseph Mary Diaz Sanjurjo, pray for us. ~ July 20, 1857
Saint Melchior Garcia Sampedro, pray for us. ~ July 28, 1858
Saint Francis Tran Van Trung, pray for us. ~ October 6, 1858
Saint Dominic Ha Trong Mau, pray for us. ~ November 5, 1858
Saint Dominic Pham Trong Kham, pray for us. ~ January 13, 1859
Saint Luke Pham Trong Thin, pray for us. ~ January 13, 1859
Saint Joseph Pham Trong Ta, pray for us. ~ January 13, 1859
Saint Paul Le Van Loc, pray for us. ~ February 13, 1859
Saint Dominic Dinh Cam, pray for us. ~ March 11, 1859
Saint Paul Hanh, pray for us. ~ May 28, 1859
Saint Emmanuel Le Van Phung, pray for us. ~ July 31, 1859
Saint Peter Doan Cong Quy, pray for us. ~ July 31, 1859
Saint Thomas Khuong, pray for us. ~ January 30, 1860
Saint Joseph Le Dang Thi pray for us. ~ October 24, 1860
Saint Peter Francis Neron, pray for us. ~ Novemeber 3, 1860
Saint John Theophane Venard, pray for us. ~ February 2, 1861
Saint Peter Nguyen Van Luu, pray for us. ~ April 7, 1861
Saint Joseph Tuan, O.P., pray for us. ~ April 30, 1861
Saint John Doan Trinh Hoan, pray for us. ~ May 26, 1861
Saint Matthew Nguyen Van Phuong, pray for us. ~ May 28, 1861
Saint Peter Almato Ribera, pray for us. ~ November 1, 1861
Saint Valentine Berrio Ochoa, pray for us. ~ November 1, 1861
Saint Jerome Hermosilla, pray for us. ~ November 1, 1861
Saint Stephen Theodore Cuenot, pray for us. ~ November 14, 1861
Saint Joseph Nguyen Duy Khang, pray for us. ~ December 6, 1861
Saint Joseph Tuan, pray for us. ~ January 7, 1862
Saint Lawrence Ngon, pray for us. ~ May 22, 1862
Saint Joseph Tuc, pray for us. ~ June 1, 1862
Saint Dominic Ninh, pray for us. ~ June 2, 1862
Saint Paul Duong, pray for us. ~ June 3, 1862
Saint Dominic Huyen, pray for us. ~ June 5, 1862
Saint Dominic Toai, pray for us. ~ June 5, 1862
Saint Peter Dinh Van Dung, pray for us. ~ June 6, 1862
Saint Vincent Duong, pray for us. ~ June 6, 1862
Saint Peter Thuan, pray for us. ~ June 6, 1862
Saint Dominic Mao, pray for us. ~ June 16, 1862
Saint Dominic Nguyen, pray for us. ~ June 16, 1862
Saint Dominic Nhi, pray for us. ~ June 16, 1862
Saint Andrew Tuong, pray for us. ~ June 16, 1862
Saint Vincent Tuong, pray for us. ~ June 16, 1862
Saint Peter Da, pray for us. ~ June 17, 1862

All holy men and women, intercede for us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world; Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world; Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world; Have mercy on u us.

[Robert Drobot]

SERBIAN ORTHODOX CATHOLICS
OF KOSOVO and METOHIA

Prayerfully dedicated to the courageous, loyal and persecuted
Orthodox Catholic Faithful of Kosovo and Metohia

Destroyed And Desecrated Serbian Orthodox Churches In Kosovo And Metohia (1999-2000)

Vitina -- the Monastery of the Holy Archangels, 14th c., resolution number PZ1*-175/63, Buzovik (Binac) the Serb cemetery, a belfry and the woods; Letinica a statue of the Mother of God of Montenegro with Christ and a statue of St Roko, 17th c., r.n. PZ-245/68.

Vucitrn -- the tower, 14th c., r.n.RZ-858/48 and Vojinovici Bridge, 14th c., r.n. RZ2*-859/49; Samodreza -- the Church of St Lazarus, 14th c., restored in 1932, r.n. PZ-381/64 and the Gradina church hill; Gojbulja -- remains of the church with the cemetery. 16th c., r.n. PZ-593/65.

Gnjilane -- Kmetovce remains of the Holy Barbara monastery, 14th c., r.n. PZ-369/63, a hundred years old cemetery and centennial oak trees; Podgradje --fortified stronghold (Kaljaja), 14th c., r.n.PZ-251/56; Grncar --hillfort, 14th c., r.n. PZ-199/55; Trpeza -- hillfort, 14th c.,r.n. PZ-200/55.

Decani -- the Monastery of Christ the Pantocrator, 14th c., r.n. RZ-426/47 and the hermitages of Decani: the hermitage of King Stafan Decanski and the hermitage of Belaje, 14th c., r.n. PZ-774/66, as well as the Locani hut, 14th c., r.n. PZ-273/58.

Djakovica -- Srpska Street with the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin, 16th c., r.s. PZ-951/67.

Zubin Potok -- the monastery with the Church of Our Lady in Duboki Potok, 14th-16th c., r.n. RZ-2300/48; the Church of St Nicholas in Crepulja, 16th c., r.n. RZ-2305/48; the Church of St Petka in Cecevo, 14th c., (restored in 20th c.), r.n. PZ-984/66; Brnjaci remains of the palace of Helen of Anjou, 14th c., r.n. PZ-967/66; Ilinica-Jabuka -- remains of old church grounds with the cemetery, 14th c., r.n. PZ-836/66.

Istok -- the Monastery of Gorioc,14th c., r.n. PZ-160/58, the Church of St John in Crkolez, 14th --17th c., r.n. PZ-236/58 and church remains in the villages of Sinaje and Saljinovica; remains of the Monastery of the Holy Virgin, 13th c., r.n. PZ-370/63; Studenice Hvostanske above the villages of Studenica and Vrela near Pecka Banja; the Church of St Nicholas in Djurakovac, 14th --16th c., r.n. PZ-475/55 with an old cemetery and a centennial oak tree; Banja Rudnicka-the Rodop sarcophagus in the Church of St Nicholas, 14th c., r.n. PZ-259/58; Dobrusa-Vucar-remains of the church with the cemetery, 14th c., r.n.PZ-982/66; Crni Lug the old cemetery, 16th --19th c., r.n. PZ-960/64; Rudnik the Church of St George with the cemetery, 16th c., r.n. PZ-248/58.

Klina -- the Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration in Budisavci, 14th --16th c, with a forest, cemetery, old church grounds, centennial oak trees and ancient tomb stones in the villages of Naglavci, Veliko Krusevo and Jagoda; Dobra voda, Petrovica church, 13th--14th c., r.n. PZ-245/58, the endowment of Peter of Korisa, with a hillfort and a church well; Dolac monastery -- the Church of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin, 14th-16th c., r.n. 241/58; Drsnik the Church of St Petka, 16th c., r.n. PZ-242/58; Kijevo -- the Church of St Nicholas, 16th c., r.n. PZ-238/58; Ljubizda -- remains of the church in the south-east part of the village, 14th 17th c., r.n. PZ-553/66; Mlecane -- the Church of St Nicholas, 16th c., r.n. PZ-250/58, Podgradje with the Church of the Holy Healer (St Demetrius), 16th c., and the Upper Church, 14th-16th c., r.n. PZ-249/58; Svrhe Volujacke -- church remains, 14th c., r.n. PZ-513/66; Sicevo -- the Church of St Nicholas, 16th c., r.n. PZ-246/58; Malisevo (Uljarice) -- the river Mirusa valley with lakes, waterfalls, and the hermitages of Uljarice, 13th-14th c., r.n. PZ-231/62, with a church; Cabici -- the Church of St Nicholas, 16th c., r.n. PZ-246/58.

Kosovska Kamenica -- Ajnovce (Recane) remains of the monastery of Tamnica, 14th c., r.n. PZ-476/55, with towers and old cemeteries; Mocare remains of the Monastery of Ubozac (Rdjavac), 14th c., r.n. PZ-478/55; Vaganes, the Church of Our Lady, 14th c., r.n. PZ-474/55, with ancient oak trees and the cemetery; Berivojce -- the Church of St John, 14th-16th c., r.n. PZ-338/63.

Lipljan -- the old Church of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin, 14th c., r.n. PZ-1737/49, with a konak (the old primary school), 19th c., r.n. PZ-818/56 and the Church of SS Florius and Lavra; Petrovo (Stimlje) church remains, 16th c., r.n. PZ-562/66; Racak near Stimlje -- the Church of the Holy Healers, 14th c., r.n. PZ-561/66; Slovinje the church of St John, 16th c., r.n. PZ-975/66 and the Church of St Nicholas, 16th c., r.n. PZ-54/67 as well as the Monastery of St George, 14th c., r.n. PZ-56/67.

Novo brdo -- medieval town the fortress with remains of an ancient settlement on the fill, 14th c., r.n. RZ-266/48 and the church in the village of Bostanje.

Orahovac -- Brnjaca-the church of an unknown saint, 14th c. (restored in 20th c., destroyed in 1941), r.n. PZ-557/65; Velika Hoca with 13 churches and konaks, vineyards and the winery; churches: of St John, 16th c., r.n. PZ-253/58, of St Lucas, 14th-16th c., r.n. PZ-169/67, of St Nicholas, 16th c., r.n. PZ-287/58, Zociste monastery with the Church of the Holy Healers, 14th-16th c., r.n. PZ-494/54, mineral spring, old grounds of the Church of St John; Opterusa the Church of St George, 15th c., r.n. PZ-558/66.

Pec -- the Patriarchate of Pec, 13th c., r.n. RZ-428/47, with an old cemetery,16th-19th c., r.n. PZ-519/58 and the old "Sam-dud" tree (Murus Sp.), r.n. RZ-709/57, Rugova hermitages, 13th-14th c., r.n. PZ-988/66 and church remains in the village of Ljevosa; the Church of St Demetrius in "Metova livada" (Meto's meadow), 14th c., r.n. PZ-989/66; the Church of St George, 14th c., r.n. PZ-990/66; the Church of St Marko, 14th c., r.n. PZ-996/66; the Church of St Nicholas, 14th c., r.n. PZ-991/66; the old cemetery in "Savova livada" (Savo's meadow), 17th c., r.n. PZ-995/66; remains of the fortress of Idolac (Idvorac), 14th c., r.n. PZ-974/65; Duvarinje (Zdrelnik) wall remains of a well, r.n. PZ-992/66; Paskalica remains of Paskalija church, 13th c., r.n. PZ-520/66; Plavljane the old cemetery, 16th-18th c., r.n. PZ-976/66; Belo Polje the Church of Our Lady, 16th-18th c., r.n. PZ-954/64; Bucane the old Stojkovic cemetery, 18th c., r.n. PZ-57/67; Krusevo -- a tomb head-stone, 14th c.; a church, r.n. PZ-243/58; Radavac -- the Beli Drim spring, the Radevacka cave and remains of the Radev-grad (the city of Radev), r.n. PZ-987/66; Gorazdevac the Church hut of St Nicholas, 16th c., r.n. PZ-240/58 and the Church of Our Lady with an ancient cemetery and oak-trees.

Podujevo -- Palatna remains of the church and the cemetery in an oak grove,14th c., r.n. PZ-596/65; Belasica --the town of Vrhlab, 13th-14th c., r.n. PZ-475/58.

Prizren -- a medieval fortress Dusanov Grad (the city of Dusan) "Kaljaja", 14th c., r.n. RZ-1585/48; Podkaljaja the Church of the Holy Salvation, 14th c., r.n. RZ-1598/48; the Church of the Holy Healers, the Church of the Holy Sunday, the icon of the Holy Mother with Christ, 14th c r.n. RZ-1102/57, in the Church of St Nicholas (Rajkov); the Church of St Nicholas (Tutic), 14th c., r.n. PZ-2236/62; the Church of St George (Runovic), 16th c., r.n. PZ-956/64; the icon of the Holy Mother Pelagonitisa in the Cathedral Church of St George, 14th c., r.n. PZ-235/62; the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary (the Church of the Young Prince Marko), 14th c., r.n. PZ-983/66; the Church of Our Lady of Ljeviska, 14th c., r.n. RZ-352/48 with remains of the Monarchs' chapels, Metropolitans' konaks and the old belfry; the stone bridge, 14th-15th c., r.n.PZ-2345/58; the Sahat-kula (clock-tower), 14th-16th c., r.n. PZ-994/66; Sredacka zupa with 16 sites of old church grounds and churches; the Church of Our Lady, 16th c., r.n. RZ-1574/50, the Church of St George, 16th c., r.n. PZ-510/56; Spinadije remains of a church with a cemetery, 16th c., r.n. PZ-470/63, the Korisa gorge with the villages of Kabas, Korisa and Ljubizda, the hermitages of St Peter of Korisa in the village of Kabas, 13th c., r.n. PZ-1573/50 and the Monastery of St Marko, 14th c., r.n. PZ-591/65; old church grounds in Luka mahala, 14th c., r. PZ-469/63, a cemetery church near the village school, 14th c., r.n. PZ-979/65; Korisa -- remains of the Church of SS Peter and Paul, 14th c., r.n. PZ-572/62; the Church of St George, 14th c., r.n. 468/63; the Church of St Nicholas, 14th c., r.n. PZ-467/63; the Church of the Our Immaculate Lady (the so called "Sisters of Peter of Korisa), 14th c., r.n. PZ-978/65; the Church of Our Lady near Vrela in Korisa, 16th c., r.n. PZ-955/64; hillfort remains, 13th c., r.n. PZ-975/65; Sukalje -- remains of the pyrgos (tower), 13th c., r.n. PZ-977/65; 13 churches and the sites of old church grounds in the villages of Gornja Srbica and Ljubizda: the Church of St Nicholas, 16th c., r.n. PZ-976/65; Korisa -- fortified stronghold-fortress above the villages of Korisa and Ljubizde, 13th c., r.n. PZ-975/65; Biljusa the Church of "Kaludjerski kamen" (the monk's rock), 16th c., r.n. PZ-837/67; Bogosevci the Church of St Nicholas, 16th c., r.n. PZ-119/56; Gornje selo the Church of St George, 16th c., r.n. PZ-252/58; Muzljak monastery remains, 14th c.,r.n. PZ-1092/64; Nasec church foundations, 14th c.,r.n. PZ-966/66; Novake the old konak, 19th c., r.n. PZ-761/56; the Prizrenska Bistrica gorge with remains of the Monastery of the Holy Archangels,14th c., r.n. PZ-352/48; the town of Visegrad with the church of St George,13th-14th c., r.n. RZ-1583/48; Dusan's Bridge in the gorge, 14th-15th c., r.n. PZ-1149/58; 40 wells ("Krk bunar"), the hermitage of St Nicholas, 14th c., r.n. PZ-772/66; nameless hermitages as well as Tsar Dusan's maple tree in Maras mahala at the entrance into the city of Prizren, r.n. PZ-01-569/59.

Pristina -- the Church of St Nicholas and the iconostasis, 19th c., r.n. PZ-261/56 with the Metropolitanates building and the building of the first Serbian school, 19th c., r.n. PZ-385/61; the Byzantine Ulpijana; Gazimestan -- a monument to Kosovo heroes, r.n. PZ-375/50 and Kosovo peonies reserve (peonia decora), r.n. RZ-26/50.

Gracanica -- the Monastery of the Annunciation, 14th c., r.n. RZ-427/47 and the town of Veletin, 14th c., r.n. PZ-694/66 with remains of Vojsilovice monastery, 14th c., r.n. PZ-198/67; churches in the villages of Saskovac, 14th c., r.n.PZ-691/66, and Susica on the slopes of mount Veletina; Gladnica -- the early Serbian necropolis at Badovac, r.n. PZ378/65; Orlane remains of the Church of Our Immaculate Lady of Braina, 14th c., r.n.PZ-521/66 and the Church of St Constantine and Helena, 16th c., r.n. PZ-9/8/66; Badovac (Novo Selo) remains of a cemetery church, 16th c., r.n. PZ-718/64; Balabane (Orlane) church remains, 16th c., r.n. PZ-977/66; Donja Fustica church remains, 14th --16th c., r.n. PZ-55/67.

Srbica -- Lausa the Monastery of Devic, 14th-15th c., r.n. RZ-439/48 with the Gradina hill, monastic woods, orchard, the spring of St Joannicius and the river Devic; Belica the Church of St George, 14th --16th c., r.n. PZ-589/65; Leocina with the Church of St John, 14th c., r.n. PZ-589/65; the Church of the Holy Transfiguration, 14th th c., r.n. PZ-959/64, a carved cross, 14th-16th c., in the house of Zdravko Smigic, r.n. PZ-506/66.

Suva reka -- Musutiste the Church of Our Lady, 14th c.,r.n. RZ-2112/48, the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, 14th --19th c., r.n. PZ-754/66; cave hermitages in Matoski brook, 13th-14th c., r.n. PZ-775/66 and Rusinica, 13th c., r.n. PZ-773/66; Recane the Church of St George, 14th c., r.n. RZ-837/53 with ancient oak trees and a cemetery; Popovljane the Church of St Nicholas, 16th c., r.n. RZ-1575/50; Pecane -- the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, 15th c., r.n. PZ-958/64.

Kosovska Mitrovica -- the Monastery of St Stefan in Banjska, 14th c., r.n. RZ-159/47 with church remains in the small villages of: Jelici, Stevovici and Kozareva rijeka; Stari trg -- remains of the Old Saxon Church, 13th c., r.n. PZ-8/58; the town of Zvecan, 10th-13th c., r.n. RZ-373/47, with Mali Zvecan (Little Zvecan) on the right bank of the river Ibar and the Monastery of Sokolica (the Church of Our Lady) 14th c., r.n. RZ-2304/48, on the left river bank; Rasane Trepcanski grad (town of Trepca) 13th-14th c., r.n. PZ-267/67; Ceranska reka remains of the Church ''Mramor'' with a marble statue, 14th c.,r.n. PZ-897/64; Spilje (Ipilje) Kuline -- remains of the monastery with a cemetery,14th c., r.n. PZ-981/66.

Urosevac -- Gornje and Donje Nerodimlje with the Monastery of the Holy Archangels, 14th c., r.n. PZ-502/66, Tsar Dusan's pine tree (Pinus heldreichii) r.n. RZ--01-327/61, the towns of Mali and Veliki Petric, 14th c., r.n. PZ-959/67, the Church of Tsar Uros and an icon collection, 16th c, r.n. PZ-595/65; the Church of St Nicholas in Gotovusa, 16th c., r.n. PZ-235/55; Nerodimlja -- remains of King Milutin's palace, 14th c., r.n. PZ-958/67; Svrcin (Sarajiste) remains of a summer house, 14th c., r.n. PZ-960/67; Sarenik (Sajkovac) -- the Monastery of St Uros, 14th-16th c., r.n. PZ-966/66.

Strpce -- the Church of St Nicholas, 16th c., PZ-904/67; Cajlije -- the fortress above Brezovica, 13th c., r.n. PZ-957/67; Kacanik -- the fortress (Kaljaja), 16th c., r.n. PZ-979/66; Sirinicka zupa with 11 churches; Gornje Bitinje -- a stone slate, cemetery and the Church of St George,16th c., r.n. PZ-244/58; Donje Bitinje the Church of St Theodore Tyro, 16th c., r.n. PZ-251/58; Gora zupa which was converted into Islam, with 14 Christian churches left; Opolje with churches in 12 villages and many more old church grounds, churches, hillforts, hermitages etc.

Notes:

PZ -- abbreviation for the Kosovo County Heritage Institute ( Pokrajinski zavod za zastitu spomenika kulture )

RZ -- abbreviation for the Republic of Serbia Heritage Institute ( Republicki zavod za zastitu spomenika kulture )