The Great Itinerant Pope

With all the popular hype about good Pope Francis, it would be easy to become distracted from and forgetful of the holiness, zeal, and apostolic courage of Blessed Pope John Paul II, who will one day be known around the world as "John Paul the Great". In fact, the 2014 ORDO hails Blessed John Paul II for his "exceptional apostolic zeal". Here, in full, is the precis:

Karol Jozef Wojtyla was born in 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. As archbishop of Poland, he took part in the Second Vatican Council. On October 16, 1978, he was elected Pope and took the name John Paul II. His exceptional apostolic zeal, particularly for families, young people, and the sick, led him to make numerous pastoral visits throughout the world. He left as a heritage to the Church a rich Magisterium and the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the revised Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church and Eastern Churches, and the third typical edition of the Roman Missal. Pope John Paul II departed peacefully in the Lord on 2 April 2005. Pope Benedict XVI beatified him on 1 May 2011. (Emphasis mine.)

In the United States of America, the optional memorial of Blessed John Paul II is on October 22. Let us never forget this great Pope and the teachings he promulgated. For John Paul did not promulgate his own thought; the teachings he promulgated (for instance, the Catechism of the Catholic Church) are the teachings of the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church founded by Jesus the Christ, the Son of God made man for our salvation.

Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever !

Saint Christopher Magellanes

I was very glad to learn about the Cristero martyrs Fr Miguel Augustin Pro and Jose Sanchez del Rio, and today--thanks to the Sacred Liturgy of the Church--I was delighted to discover even more Cristero martyrs: St. Christopher Magellanes and Companions. Each martyr imitates Jesus to the fullest extent by giving his life for Christ and praying for his persecutors.

Almighty and eternal God, who made the Priest Saint Christopher Magallanes and his companions faithful to Christ the King even to the point of martyrdom, grant us, through their intercession, that, persevering in confession of the true faith, we may always hold fast to the commandments of your love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Viva Cristo Rey! Long live Christ the King and the Holy Virgin of Guadalupe!

Habemus Papam

Hi everybody ! I made a mistake. Actually, it is spelled, "Habemus papam." The Latin word that means "papa" or "Pope" is a first declension noun. In the singular, the endings are -a (nom.), -ae (gen. & dative.), -am (accusative), -a (ablative). As Cardinal of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis' statements were very much in accord with the natural moral law and against "gay marriage" so called. As Sophocles--through Antigone--said of the natural law: These live for all time !

Habemus Papem

Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio, S.J., is chosen the 265th successor of St. Peter. He is the Holy Father for all the Church and for the whole world--not for any particular nationality or political agenda. We can also say he is for all nationalities with Jesus as the one and only Lord and Savior. He is the Vicar of Christ. Ad maior Dei gloriam.

The Humility of Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI did not renounce the office of Peter because he couldn't take it anymore. He renounced the chair because he judged, in conscience, that he could not give the Church the leadership it needed and deserved, given his own diminished strength. That's an act of ... humility, not a concession to exhaustion. -George Wiegel

Editor's note: Benedict XVI realized he could no longer give the Church the leadership it needed and deserved. He did provide great leadership during the relatively short span of his pontificate. We see this leadership especially in his implementation of Liturgicam Authenticam resulting in a beautiful and profound translation of the prayers of the Mass for the English-speaking world, in the wisdom of Summorum Pontificum, and in his making it easier for Anglicans to covert to Catholicism and bring their beautiful "High-Church" liturgy with them.

Credo in Spiritum Sanctum

Hooray for this! The Holy Spirit will decide.

Madrid, Spain, Feb 14, 2013 / 02:02 pm (EWTN News/CNA) - The secretary general of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference defended Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign and said that the Holy Spirit will choose a new shepherd to govern God’s people.

Yes, and one more thing (perhaps a bit premature, but I will say it anyway): Santo subito !

Every year on January 21, the Church gives us such beautiful prayers in honor the Lord and his Virgin-Martyr Agnes. Here is the Collect:

Almighty ever-living God, who choose what is weak in the world to confound the strong, mercifully grant, that we, who celebrate the heavenly birthday of your Martyr Saint Agnes, may follow her constancy in the faith. Per Dominum Nostrum Iesum Christum ...

Here the Church is clearly drawing upon St. Paul's first Letter to the Corinthians (1:29), where St. Paul says that God chooses the weak of this world to confound the strong, that no flesh may glory in God's sight. Then, in Preface I of Holy Martyrs, it is stated:

For the blood of your blessed martyr Agnes, poured out like Christ's to glorify your name, shows forth your marvelous works, by which in our weakness you perfect your power and on the feeble bestow strength to bear you witness, through Christ our Lord.

And so, on this Inauguration evening, as the rich and powerful of this world are having their empty, secular celebrations that last only for a short time, we the baptized faithful rejoice in the eternal love of God shown forth in the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and his witnesses, his martyrs, as we give our hearts to Jesus and His Father and their Holy Spirit, one God, as we endeavor to live always in accord with their eternal values.

Almost nothing is known of this saint except that she was very young--12 or 13--when she was martyred in the last half of the third century. ... Agnes is a symbol that holiness does not depend upon length of years, experience, or human effort. It is a gift God offers to all, one he can protect in the most fearful of circumstances. -Leonard Foley, O.F.M., ed. Saint of the Day, Vol. 1, pages 18 - 19.