BELLUM CONTRA HÆRÉTICOS

St. John Bosco wrote a small book of advice to fathers, mothers and children in 1858. In it he included these two letters written by Bl. Sebastian of Valfrè to a couple of mothers on how to order their days well.

During the forty days, that followed the Resurrection, the Redeemer posed the foundations of HIs Church, to which He needed to send just after the Holy Spirit. The Epistle and the Gospel of this day summarize the teaching of the Master. Jesus leaves therefore this earth, and the whole Mass is the celebration of His glorious elevation in heaven escorted by the souls freed from Limbo (Alleluja), who enter following Him in the heavenly kingdom, to be sharers in His own divinity (Praefatio). The Ascension preaches us the duty to raise our hearts to God, and, in fact, the Oratio asks us to live in spirit with Jesus in the celestial regions, where we are called to live also with the body. In fact, sitting at the right hand of the Father, with His assumed human nature, Christ our Head also waits for us in HIs glory of which we have to merit with a worthy way of life. During the whole Octave it is recited the Credo: “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God... And ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us”. In the Praefatio proper that is recited till Pentecost, are given praises of thankfulness to God for the fact that “His Resurrection, appeared openly to all His disciples, and, while they looked on, was taken up into heaven”. Throughout the entire Octave the Communicantes is also recited precisely at this feast; in it the Church reminds us that “We pray in union with and keep the most holy day on which thy only-begotten Son our Lord set at the right hand of thy glory the substance of our frail human nature, which he had taken to himself” to which He had joined in the Mystery of the Incarnation. Every day the liturgy reminds us, Every day the liturgy reminds us, in the Offertorium (Suscipe Sancta Trinitas) and in the Canon (Unde et memores) that it, according to the order of the Lord, offers the Holy Sacrifice “in memory of the Passion, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ”. In fact, man is saved only by the union of the mysteries of the Passion and Resurrection with that of the Ascension. “Through Thy death and burial, O Lord, through Thy holy Resurrection, through Thine admirable Ascension, O Lord, deliver us.” (Litany of the Saints). Let us offer to God the divine sacrifice “in memory of the glorious Ascension of thy Son” so that, we may be delivered from present dangers and attain eternal life (Secreta).

ASCENSION OF THE LORD In the Basilica of St. Peter, dedicated to one of the principal testimonies of the Ascension of the Lord, it is celebrated today (Oratio) the anniversary of this mystery, that marks the fulfillment of the earthly life of Jesus and the supreme glorification of the Only Begotten of God who in virue of His divinity ascends in heaven, surrounded by the jubilant Angels and the Souls of the Just, triumphant on the devil, on sin, on death. With the Ascension are opened the last times, the time of the Church, in the expectance of the second coming of the Son of God to judge men and the world by fire.

“Mary cooperated in our redemption with so much glory to God, Our Lord ordained that no one shall obtain salvation except thru her intercession. ~ Saint Alphonsus

WEDNESDAY OF ROGATIONS After the disastrous natural and public disasters that struck in the fifth century on the diocese of Vienne, in the Dauphiné, St. Mamertus († 475) established a solemn procession of penance in the three days preceding the feast of the Ascension. The council of Orleans (511) propagated this use throughout France. In 816, the Supreme Pontiff Saint Leo III (795-816) adopted it for Rome and soon the use was extended to the whole Church. The Litany of the Saints, the Psalms and the Orations, which are sung, are prayers of supplication, hence the name Rogations. Their purpose is to ward off the scourges of God's justice, to attract the blessings of his mercy on the fruits of the earth (fruitfulness of the countryside) and to obtain the tranquility of homes, and the holiness of people, in short, the blessing of God in all. how many things. Violet vestments are used as a sign of penance and the Paschal Candle is not lit. The Litany of the Saints sung during the procession are an admirable prayer: they contain brief invocations and ejaculatory prayers in dialogue, in which the charity of the Communion of Saints is manifested, which unites the triumphant Church, the militant Church and the Church in purgatory. Let us follow the example of the Church and put it into practice. The whole Mass demonstrates the efficacy of the prayer of the just, when it is humble, trusting and persevering. With the prayer Elijah closed and opened the heavens (Epistola). Our Lord shows us with two parables that God, who is good, gives his Paraclete to those who ask Him (Evangelium, Alleluja). In afflictions we put our trust in God, and He will hear us as he heard Jesus Christ and exalted him (Introitus, Offertorium).

Surrexit Dominus vere, Alleluia. The Lord truly has resurrected, Alleluia.

“Mary, then, is said to be omnipotent in the manner in which omnipotence can be understood of a creature; for a creature is incapable of a divine attribute. Thus she is omnipotent, inasmuch as she obtains by her prayers whatever she asks.” — St Alphonsus Liguori

Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima, pray for us!

Sancte Roberte Bellarmine, Episcope Confessor et Ecclesiæ Doctor, ora pro nobis!