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of you let us pray oh god it must instruct the
hearts of the faithful by the light of the holy ghost
grant us by the same spiritually truly wise and which rejoice in his consolation
through the same christ amen full of grace the lord is blessed and blessed with

00:02
jesus christ pray for us very well i'll begin with our patron our patroness
of these conferences which is uh who is saint philomena and
um this time i'd like to study some of the recognition that different
popes have given to saint philomena starting with leo the 12th
in the 19th century in the year 1826 he gave permission for altars to be
dedicated to saint philomena she wasn't even canonized yet and you
could have an altar built in her honor in your church which

00:03
is kind of a new unusual thing i remember back in the 90s more or less
in one of our chapels in texas uh the prior had put a nice image of the
archbishop in the church and it wasn't even at the front of the
church it was at the entrance of the church and on the back wall and it was a
photograph but made to look like a painting
and we had a visit from the one of the council members of the society
he wasn't the superior general anymore but he was one of the council members
he visited us on the part of the superior general and he said we all love
the archbishop that's good that we give him veneration
but since he's not canonized you're not allowed to have him in the
church yet as a painting or a statue so we had to take him out and we put
christ the king there you might remember that principle uh but
curiously enough saint filamento was already
having altars in churches before she was canonized

00:04
in 1826 that was when there was allowed later on
pope gregory the 16th came along and we studied that story last week with
pauline jerichot who had heart disease she saw the pope on her way down to
muniano on a deathly pilgrimage and he said say a prayer to me to to the
saintly remains of uh philomena and she said well sure i'll do that and
if i return here would you please work on her
canonization and he said i certainly will that would be a first-class miracle
which he never expected to happen and it did and so pope gregory the 16th
canonized her in 1837 pope pius ix he had an interesting pontificate as you know
it's the longest pontificate so far in history

00:05
and the enemies of the church were very active
during his time as they always are but the way they were particularly active at
his time was to get him i should say was to take away the papal states from the
church those were areas of what we call italy nowadays
that really belong to the church to show that christ does not only have power in
heaven he also has power here on earth and those papal states were rested
w-r-e-s-t were taken violently violently from the pope
and he himself had a threat upon his life and so he fled the vatican he had many
places he could have gone he was the pope and where did he go he went to muniano

00:06
of italy to visit st philomena to pray to her about the crisis to pray for
safety for himself and eventually he returned to rome
later on in life he made a gift of his pontifical sorry his pectoral cross to
saint philomena and it stays in her shrine to this day
pope pius ix made saint philomena they p the patroness of the children of mary
pope leo the 13th came along by that time saint john vienne had lived
and saint john vienne advocated this devotion to saint philomena which is the
cord a cord that one can wear around the waist
uh that's the same filament accord there are many different saints with that
same there's a saint joseph chord there are there are other ones

00:07
but this one was saint philimina's chord which is uh
two colors red and white and it's braided and has two knots at the end
the white stands for purity and the red stands for um
martyrdom and by wearing this cord one is there's a prayer to say each day
for wearing it and one is given a special connection to saint philimina
for her intercession and saint leo saint pope leo the 13th
attached a plenary indulgence to wearing that cord for the person wearing it on
the day of their death you know we hear a lot about plenary indulgences
next week for instance on the 2nd of november we can get a plenary indulgence
for praying for the faithful all things being equal that plenary
indulgence is not going to be for you it's going to be for another some soul
in purgatory and you can gain one each day from the second until the

00:08
10th uh maybe just a second until the 9th of november by praying in a cemetery
for the faithful departing and the 2nd of november that very day in
the church is enough to get the plenary indulgence
but 3rd fourth fifth sixth and throughout the octave you have to
actually visit a cemetery which is kind of difficult here i'm
finding in this country uh because uh when there's a big country
with a lot of land you visit the deceased in the yard
that's the word the british put on it and we all understood the word
churchyard to meet cemetery which meant right in the backyard of the
church is the cemetery here here not so easy but the point is um
you'll be getting those plenary indulgence for other faithful departing
so how do you get a plenary indulgence for yourself that's going to work for you
because you know before we die it's usually
those days are usually accompanied by not being lucid of being conscious

00:09
conscious all kinds of things like that so how to get a plenary indulgence for
yourself and that that is answered those who use the court of saint philomena
and say the prayer every day will get the plenary indulgence for themselves
on the day of their death whether they're able to keep up that prayer or not
uh during their unconscious days and then um pope pius 10th
pope senpai's tenth he beatified saint john vienne or the curie of ours
and that goes a long way towards increasing the cultists
of saint philomena because he was the uh most well-known uh
promoter of the devo devotion to saint philomena
so by pope is the tenth beatifying saint john vienne uh

00:10
that made sam phelamina much more known and popeye's tenth advocated
where wearing the cord also let me just go since i mentioned the
chord of saint philimina i'll just go through the other devotions
and devotionals that are well known about her
besides when those the people who wear the cord
besides winning the plenary indulgence at the end of their life
they will also win or earn the plenary indulgence
on the feasts of saint philomena so the 11th of august
is her day of her birthday in heaven the 25th of may is the
discovery of her relics and the sunday after the feast of the ascension
is the solemnization or solemnity of her feast
so on those three days you can get a plenary indulgence

00:11
there is also oil which comes from saint philomena
not from her body exactly there are saints whose bodies ooze
kind of oil but not with saint filament this is oil
in her case it's oil acquired from a lamp the oil lamp like we have here in the
sanctuary which burns near her tune so [Music]
for generations now people have taken that oil
and that's been able they've been able to distribute that oil to people
around the world in quite a an efficient way i imagine they can take
imagine the the sanctuary lamp is quite big
near her tomb to begin with so they can take a pretty sizable amount out of that
and then they follow the rule like we do with holy water perhaps you know about
this i'll talk about holy water now if you
have holy water in your house let's save a gallon of holy water
in your house and you want to make it multiply

00:12
or you don't want it to run away or run out um
you can refill that with regular water and that will multiply the holy water
as long as you refill it before the holy water gets down to
the halfway mark in the vessel you see so you can fill you can fill it up to
the top again and you do the same thing again when it
reaches just before half and you just keep multiplying your holy water that way
so if you think about it to distribute this oil
of saint filomina they use the same process they start with the original oil
from the sanctuary by saint philomena they distribute it in
i don't know bottles i don't know how big they are
and someone is able to pour out just about enough that is
less than half and fill it up with regular oil and
fill another bottle with that fill the main bottle fill another bottle with that
etc so it is originally oil from the tomb of saint philomena
it's it's valid to call that saint filament filament oil

00:13
and that is a sacramental that's one of the things i'm going to
talk about in the discussion on the mass is what is a sacramental we know what a
sacrament is there are seven sacraments and they are instituted by our lord
jesus christ there are seven of them there cannot be only six and there
cannot be eight or more there are only seven sacraments of our lord jesus christ
and the church has to guard and protect us and they will give grace immediately
and directly from our lord jesus christ as long as someone does not place an
obstacle you will always get the forgiveness of your sins and confession
as long as you do not place the obstacle of not being sorry for your sins
you will always receive the grace of forgiveness of your sins
in confession as long as you do not hide a grave sin

00:14
the sacraments work of themselves they say our lord jesus christ works directly
to the sacraments to give grace to a soul as long as you do not place something
against the purpose of those sacraments you will always receive grace
now a sacramento t-a-l at the end is an outward sign as well just like as
a sacrament but it's instituted by the church to give grace
and the church has the right and the duty to institute sacramentals
hustle because our lord said on one occasion to saint peter by himself and then
on another occasion to all the rest of the apostles together with saint peter
whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven whatsoever you shall
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven he means our lord means
whatever rules you make for the sanctification of souls in this world

00:15
will be recognized in heaven whatever rules you decide to change or dispense
from in this world will be dispensed from in heaven
regarding the sanctification of souls so a sacramento is a sign that the
church has promoted invented promoted to give grace so
when i make the sign of the cross that came from the church
that's a sacramental that gives me grace as long as i do it with some attention
and as long as i do it with reverence towards god
but if i make a sign of the cross only um sort of routinely and habitually
without really thinking about what i'm doing and even worse
um not using it as reverence to our lord jesus christ because it's just a
just a habit well then that's not going to bring me grace
you see so the sacramento does not give grace directly from our

00:16
lord jesus christ it gives grace from our lord jesus christ through the church
to the person receiving it as long as he has the right
dispositions and sentiments to receive the sac to receive the grace
that's what a sacramento is sacramental so this oil of saint philomena is a
sacramental one can use it it's most commonly used somewhere on the body
there was a woman who was anointing her child with his
oil of saint philomena because this child was having
night terrors so in the middle of the night the child would be having a bad
dream or whatever whatever it is very frightened and um
the mother didn't know what to do so her local
parish priest said well here's some saint filamento oil
anoint your child before she goes to bed so the woman uh put oil the same
filament on the forehead of this child in the

00:17
shape of a cross and there's a prayer that you can say to accompany that kind of
anointing and the child stopped having night terrors the mother forgot one
night to put it on the child and the child had night terrors again
so this is a sacramental um again we're gonna hopefully we're
gonna talk about it when we talk about the mass but
sacramentals as well as sacraments they receive their power from the holy mass
from the holy sacrifice of the mass originally or let's say in their their
origin they received their power from our lord's death on the cross
because that's where all the merits and the fruits of redemption are one for us
but remember we have to think like a catholic not like a protestant
all those merits and all those fruits of the redemption

00:18
of our lord's sacrifice in calvary remain locked in that point of history unless
there is the mass to make those fruits and those merits present to us
and that mass is made is done offered every day so so from the cross
through the mass every sacrament from baptism to holy eucharist extramuction
receives its power to um effect what it signifies every well
simply receives its power from the mass and the same thing with the sacramentos
saint philomena oil the blessing of a field by a priest
the blessing of animals uh reading holy scripture uh praying the holy rosary
these are all sacramentals and they will sanctify a soul if the person have

00:19
has the right disposition but even that gets its power from the cross through
the mass to the soul if we were to take away the holy mass
the merits all the earnings of our lord jesus christ on the cross would stay um
locked in history you know locked in history
that brings us back to saint to padre appeals
famous line that the world would be better off without the sun
than without the mass and we cannot imagine any kind of life happening
happening on this planet without the sun it would be worse without the mass
there would be no grace coming to souls no supernatural life
that's the oil of saint philimina and then there is the chaplet
uh of saint philomena and this is from saint john vianney

00:20
the chaplet is again there are many chaplets it's a type of abbreviated rosary
in the case of saint philomena it has 13 beads on it and that's it there's a
centerpiece metal there are three larger beads and then a crucifix
and the crucifix you pray for the grace of faith
and the three larger beads you pray in thanksgiving
to each person of the blessed trinity for the
graces bestowed upon saint philomena and for the favors received from her
and then on the 13 beads some people say hail mary's there
but actually it's more proper to say a prayer to saint philomena
which is a little bit shorter than a hail mary and i can't think of it right
now because i'm speaking out loud you know there's some things you memorize
only when you're sort of whispering then you go to speak out loud and it doesn't
come out anymore and sometimes the reverse you learn how

00:21
to say well speaking out loud and then you go to whisper and doesn't come out
anymore it's some sort of sort of strange connection between our brains
and our senses uh that makes that that happen so uh there are 13 beads on that
in honor of each year of her life as you recall she
she died she was martyred when she was a 13 year old
and then there's a novena one can pray to saint mina saint philomena
emphasizing especially the words through thy merits the tortures
and death without its endure i ask for such and such a grace
you know i'm not asking for free i'm asking based on everything you suffered
and then our saint is particularly known and particularly strong
in the virtue of purity and chastity well that's obvious
that was her whole um campaign there with uh diocletian

00:22
and i keep coming back to this story because i'm starting to see more and more
that her death is a pivotal point in christian history
and also a pivotal point in roman history with the the caesars and the emperors
and so forth fading out and being replaced by
roman history which is the catholic church you know the barbarians took over the
roman empire uh i think the official date they given
that given that is about the year 360. not that long after diocletian and even
less long after constantine and the only ones that were courageous
enough to stick around in the roman empire after all the destruction happened
were the christians they were used to hiding and being persecuted and
so forth and everything that used to belong to the emperors
suddenly was taken over by the christians you know sumo's pontifex the great

00:23
bridge builder that was the title of the emperors
it became the title of the pope sumo's pontifex
and um all that order of the roman empire became the order of the christian
empire and so i see uh saint philomena as this pivotal character to endure
the wickedness of the parts of the roman empire that were wicked
and then to christianize it even though noah knew of her for 1500 years after
her death uh her death is significant for humiliating what was wicked about the
roman empire and then bringing in the humility and simplicity
of our lord jesus christ in the converted roman empire
which was the christian empire or christendom
very good we continue with the holy sacrifice of the mass
um our big emphasis last week was the purpose of the mass which is called

00:24
propitiation to beg pardon for sins the two of the purposes which were
directed towards god are adoration and thanksgiving
the two of the purposes which are directed towards man are the propitiation
and the begging the grace that we need for sanctification
which is petition impetusion nice long latin words
propitiation is not a favorite word for modern catholics
you just sort of do the um logical work and work backwards propitiation why do
we need propitiation oh to beg pardon for my sins
i see well i can do that by myself i can beg pardon no you can't
you need someone outside of yourself who's greater than you um a

00:25
stronger than you more meritoriously than you and that's our lord jesus christ
because only he can pay the infinite debt for your infinite sins
oh that's kind of scary what do you mean infinite sins i don't have any infinite
sins well i don't want to be judgmental but
a lot of people do have mortal sins and those are infinite
we were born with original sin and that was infinite
and even when we talk about venial sin it doesn't sound that big you know
coming late to class or being disrespectful to someone or something like that
it doesn't sound that big but we are offending an infinite god
even by just venial sin so offending an infinite god
requires an infinite sacrifice to pay for it an
infinite reparation or propitiation and man modern man does not want to
admit that either so he's got him he has sin he's got to

00:26
admit that he's not big enough to pay for his sin
and he's got to admit that his sin is that offensive
and that's where he needs to sacrifice outside of himself which is greater than
himself and as you can tell you know i'm sure you talk with people
who don't belong to our little church here and you'll find that
it's kind of hard to find a person who says that oh yeah that was
that was a sin and that was serious i better go to confession
what you usually find nowadays is something like well
that was unfortunate what so-and-so did to such and such
uh this other person and i hope they get it all worked out i mean
they're both good people so um i'm sure they'll
they'll take care of it they love god and they pray so
i'm sure they'll work out their problem well you never hear something like oh
that was bad what so-and-so did i hope they get
to confession i hope they get back in the state of grace

00:27
we don't hear that kind of term anymore i hope they get back in the state of
grace so that they're not offensive to god anymore no no
we don't hear that kind of talk anymore that's gone now for at least 60 years
uh and it's our job to maintain it and bring it back when god wants to
bring it back propitiation that's what we mainly studied
and then finally there was the petition um what we asked for
must always be for the sanctification of our soul
that's what our lord means when he says until now you've not asked
in my name now ask in my name something i'll be saying
something that will be for the sanctification of your soul
very good this evening's class we'll study we will study those who receive
the fruit of the mass that's an interesting question those who
receive the fruit of the mass well immediately immediately i would

00:28
think that everyone receives the fruit of the mass our lord does not
exclude anyone um yes come about period yes and we'll study that a little bit
but talking about the fruit of the mass and the fruit of our lord's redemption
helping everyone that's a good point please distinguish in your mind
something called the objective redemption of our lord jesus christ and the
subjective redemption of our lord jesus christ
it is correct to say that everyone has been redeemed by our lord
all of you here have been redeemed by our lord
all of the people that um know about catholics but don't become a catholic
are redeemed by our lord all the people that have never met a catholic and maybe

00:29
never will meet a catholic and maybe they live in a kind of
primitive circumstances they are redeemed by our lord that's
what's called the objective redemption of our lord
there is a great price on the head of all of us that says capable of
receiving heaven eligible for heaven ever since our lord died on the cross
and the devil knows about that and he's furious because in many cases
eligible for receiving heaven turns into qualified and will be receiving heaven
and the devil is furious about that and he will fight and he's fighting an
all-out war against our lord ever since he allowed
our lord to be put to death on the cross
which caused that redemption for all men now here's the important distinction

00:30
just because we all wear a sign that says eligible for heaven does not mean we
have gained heaven and that's where the subjective redemption comes into it it
means our lord has paid the price we have a great value upon us now
but we have to um have to kind of turn on the water from the faucet in order to
drink it you know all that water is in there reserved
because of the redemption but now we have to get to that water we have to
drink it we have to drink from the sacrifice of our lord and drink
from the grace of our lord for that water to refresh us and convert our life
that's subjective redemption and all of us need it in order to get to heaven
when you receive baptism you start to drink from that water confession communion

00:31
confirmation the other sacraments assisted mass holy deeds holy sacrifices
all of that is the power the grace of our lord entering your soul and you're
you are living in the redemption of our lord you are um cashing in on you are
activating you are realizing all the fruits and the merits of the
sacrifice on calvary in your own soul and the objective redemption is becoming
the subjective redemption for you and it's gaining you heaven
this is a very important point because it um it divides or distinguishes the way
catholics have always observed the mass and something that crept in
in vatican ii actually after vatican ii when they made the new mass and they
gave out the translations in the various languages
in the original latin even of the new mass the same formula let's see not

00:32
completely not all the words but essential words were still kept in the
uh consecration of the chalice at mass it said uh provobius
april multis this sacrifice is for you and for many unto the remission of sins
even in the new mass it said that in latin but when the translations came out
uh all of a sudden that consecration formula said that
this sacrifice is for you and for all unto the remission of sins
and that is not what our divine lord said at the last supper
so someone started telling a lie and a significant doctrinal lie because by that
way of consecrating the chalice they're saying
just by the redemption of our lord on the cross all are saved

00:33
and that is not true by the sacrifice of our lord on the cross
all are redeemed but they have not entered into their redemption
they're still standing outside the house or next to the water
faucet a water spigot saying let's have water but i'm not going to turn on the
faucet and that's a significant doctrinal difference
which they've let slide by thanks to pope benedict xvi
he insists that you get that translation made correctly
and hopefully a significant amount of priests are
obeying that order of pope benedict xvi but i can think of many cases in which
they did not obey him and so there's still that doctrinal error going around
it's for you and for many unto the redemption the remission of sins
and that means get you must you must integrate yourself into the redemption
of our lord don't just stand outside of it and say
we're redeemed therefore i'm saved it should be we're redeemed

00:34
now i must live in that redemption very good so adoration and thanksgiving
are for god um propitiation and petition are for us there's a hierarchy of those
who receive um the goods the mass the fruits and the merits and that is
first of all the entire church the entire mystical body of our lord
in a general way universal way and then those assisting faithful
the faithful who are assisting at mass and then the priest and then finally the
one for whom the mass is offered in that order you get to more and more
particular more and more applied is the intention of the mass so
let's talk about this the mass is offered for the whole church it is most

00:35
abundantly for the militant church the church militant and the church suffering
uh it is also it's not for the church triumphant the
souls in heaven they don't need the mass their souls are already sanctified and
in their beatitude so it's for the church militant that's us here
and the church suffering the souls in purgatory but it is also for the souls
who should return to the church those who have been it and been in it
and left it they are receiving something from the
mass even if they're in the state of sin state of mortal sin they're
receiving a grace to convert and repent and convert
the mass is also offered for people who should enter the church
that's interesting it says for the whole church it's even for people who should
enter it somehow they're receiving fruits and merits from the mass

00:36
the mass benefits and gives blessings to the entire world
and as much as it will help them convert our lord bought the church at huge
expense to himself obviously he will give the church his first attention
saint augustine speaks about this you know that when our lord died on the cross
or actually when he had already died it was the
practice it was the standard procedure of the executioners
to see if so if a criminal an executed person was really dead
by putting a spear in the heart if only blood comes out it means they're
still living if blood and water come out it means that
the water in their body has built up so much in their lungs that it has
suffocated them and they're dead so we know that from the side of our

00:37
side of our lord jesus christ came out blood and water saint augustine says
the water is baptism and the blood is the holy eucharist
and between these two sacraments we have all the life
of grace in the church we have baptism which
initiates us which gives us the life of christ for the first time in our soul
and then we have the holy eucharist which constantly nourishes
our soul from the body and the blood of our lord jesus christ
saint augustine says our lord jesus christ gave birth to the church
when that spear was put in his sight because the whole church
came from his side the baptism which gives us the life to begin with
and the holy eucharist which preserves that life until our death
and saint augustine says just as eve came from the site of adam and formed

00:38
the physic physical humanity so the church the bride of christ came from
the site of christ nice and slow the bride of christ came
from the side of christ uh to sanctify all the souls
that belong to the church it's magnificent when you see these
parallels was something that happened in the old testament
which finds us fulfillment in the life of our lord
and that's not just poetry that's that was planned by god you know
that our lord bought the church at huge expense to himself
so obviously he's he's going to give it his first attention um
a particularly large share of the fruit goes to the contributors
of the mass such as the pastors sorry the contributors of the church which
would be the pastors and also the teachers of the church the

00:39
pope the bishops and priests for the faithful the more perfectly they
cooperate in the offering with virtue and piety the more fruit do they receive
so the more you are intent on the mass uh the more you are trying to make
prayer during the holy mass the more you're going to receive from the mass
however you should continue to commend yourself
to all masses throughout the world every day
even though it's better to actually be present i think i mentioned that last
week when you say your morning morning offering in the morning
uh dear jesus through the immaculate heart of mary i
offer thee my prayers works joys and sufferings of this day for all the
intentions of thy sacred heart in union with with all the masses
throughout the world this holy sacrifice of the mass throughout the

00:40
world in reparation for my sins etc etc when you make that prayer in the morning
remember that you are receiving the fruits of the mass just by saying i
offer my life in union with the intentions
of all the masses throughout the world nevertheless it's still better to be
actually physically physically present at the mass
after the whole church and those who are actually present at mass
the personal fruit goes to the celebrant the priest offering the mass
he is the real offerer of the mass and expressly offers the sacrifice
for himself he's actually offering for the intention
asked but he's gaining sanctity by offering the holy mass just by offering
the mass he automatically receives the fruit
he must be in the state of grace and he must offer the mass with attention and
devotion to receive exclusive graces but actually no special intention is

00:41
required the priest doesn't have to go to the altar and say um now i am
i especially want help with um being a more prayerful person
and that's what i'm going to be that's why i offer this mass for myself
besides the person who's the mass is actually intended for
no the priest doesn't doesn't even have to think something like that and it's
already helping him it's automatic and finally the priest chooses to whom
the propitiatory and uh and impetuory the propitiatory fruit and also the
fruit of petition should be applied usually this is the
intention written on the mass request envelope so there's a good uh
nuts and bolts uh explanation that person that you ask for the mass to

00:42
be offered for receives the major amount of fruit from the mass
as we said it sort of whittles down in a funnel to that person
uh good for whom may the sacrifice the mess be offered for that's intention
that's interesting for whom may we offer the sacrifice of the mass
here we are this is not a priority thing this is just
this one yes this one no this one yes this one no so
mass may be offered for the members of the church in the state of grace they
receive a fullness of fruits no problem there mass may be offered for
the members of the church not in the state of grace we already covered that
it helps them convert and make a good confession and come back to
make a good confession and come back to the practice of the catholic faith
for members of the church not in the state of grace
not all the fruits of the sacrifice can be applied to them

00:43
but some of them yes it has the effect of obtaining the mercy
and reconciliation of god a little uh parentheses here be careful
the word reconciliation you might hear that in the novus ordo
they don't want to say the sacrament of confession or go to
confession they'll say we're going to have the um
sort of not apostolate i don't know we're going to have the function
of uh reconciliation they might say we're going to have the sacrament of
reconciliation now the area we're going to the minister we
have the ministry of reconciliation now they'd like to change the words to get
us away from uh the way things always used to be all
right what is the minister of ministry of reconciliation
well that's where god forgives us for our sins that's where man reconciles
himself to god be careful because that word reconciliation is kind of a two-way
street if i have a dispute with a friend of mine
and we sort of part ways for a few weeks i'll say something like well you know

00:44
what i really should reconcile with so-and-so and him with me
we're both going to come together we're going to make our apologies and we'll be
friends again we're going to reconcile now how is it that i'm going to go to
god and be reconciled thinking that way you know i'm going to
see god in the sacrament and i'm going to say i'm sorry and he's going to say
well i shouldn't have been so mean and we're going to reconcile you know
it's sort of the theme of a lot of modern day cartoons you know the dad at
the end said well you know i guess i was a jerk and the son says he's sorry and
everyone's good friends after that well god is not going to do that with us
god god is not that and we want to finish that sentence
he doesn't owe us anything if we have a problem with him and we have sinned
it is us it is we who owe him an apology
and hopefully he'll let us off easy with an easy penance
but uh reconciliation be careful it's kind of a two-way street that word

00:45
uh better to say confession and um um a penis
at the mass is also for people outside the church it can be
it let's see for people outside the church this is important
mass is celebrated for their conversion uh if you would like to pray for a pagan
that's perfect that's fine hopefully he'll convert um
we on our side we're probably not going to be announcing that
the mass is offered for so and so and you think well that's kind of a famous
pagan i'm not going to pray for him i'm not going to pray for him so
sometimes usually the priest is not going to announce something like that
what if this person who were praying for their conversion this person dies
and uh i still want to have the mass offered for him

00:46
maybe amongst other intentions but i want to have the mass offered for him
this question is kind of disputed amongst theologians
but the one that seems to convince me the most is
continue praying for that person i have the example of saint john vienne
who uh you maybe heard this story uh a woman went running to saint john
viennese saying uh curie curie help me my husband who is a drunk
has just committed suicide and she was all
out of sorts i think women would be sad if their husband died
even if he was a drunk maybe not completely sad but kind of sad uh and uh so
he said to her because he had special knowledge of a lot of things he said
i know i was in communication with that soul
and i know that your husband repented between jumping off the bridge and

00:47
hitting the water down below uh or whatever you jumped into maybe you
jumped into a canyon i never quite figured that one out
either why people jump off of bridges into rivers to die because sometimes it
doesn't kill them but uh uh this one did die
in the saint john vanessa saint john viennese said that
he had dispositions of repentance as he was going down to the water
so you never really know if a person died
unrepentant or not and then you get into another area which is prayer
belongs to the eternal world that word eternal and it means ex
extempore or ex-terminus eternal it means outside of time
so here i am praying in the 21st century and my prayers might actually be

00:48
valuable for someone that lived several hundred years before me because
prayer is outside of time and just taking that principle well let's go
the other way too someone who died 500 years before me
offered her prayers and sacrifices which are helping me now
the prayer is outside of time and the mass is outside of time you step into
eternity when you assisted mass so um a pagan who dies
and i continue to celebrate a mass for him i'm not going to announce it
and be careful not to idealize or praise people who have passed on
uh without giving any signs of converting to the true faith
but given that principle of prayers outside of time
uh what i celebrate for them now can be of use to them 10 years ago
sounds unusual but there it is so there's nothing wrong with praying for someone

00:49
10 years ago even though i'm doing it right now
there it is uh we can the mass be offered for departed catholics catholics
who have passed on to the next life the souls in purgatory the answer is yes
by the council of trent in his council trent says the mass most especially
procures help and relief for the faithful departed
it helps them more than prayers and indulgences the holy mass does
in what way it reduces their time in purgatory
it doesn't make them into more virtuous people they're already
um they're already sanctified they're already um welcomed into
let's see they're already saved here we are they're already saved they're not
going to get holier they're not going to get
wicked uh so the mass is not going to help them in that change of the level of
virtue but it is going to help them in so far as it takes away their time

00:50
in purgatory you might have heard of a certain practice called
a privileged altar i remember years ago i saw one
but it was a wooden altar which means they've been moved it had been moved
from one place to another and just by it's being moved from one
place to another means it would have lost that
honor of being a privileged altar it normally should be an altar
of stone well what is a planet what is a privileged altar it means that uh
whenever mass is offered for a soul in purgatory at that altar
uh that person is removed from purgatory it adds a plenary indulgence to the
intention of that person this is a privilege which is given by
the bishop to some altars in his diocese he can't give it to all the altars and
it would not be a privilege anymore privy private um

00:51
you know reduced uh but he's allowed to give it to some altars in his diocese
however it's important to know that even that is subject to the merciful
acceptance of god god can choose whether he's going to accept that as a mass
to save that soul in purgatory or you can say still not enough prayers offered
for that person nevertheless it is certain that only the
only effect they can receive from the mass is that their time in purgatory
is shortened that's that's always certain um uh going back to um
the plenary indulgence and it still depends on the mercy of god etc
you probably know already what are the conditions for receiving a plenary
indulgence a plenary indulgence which removes all the temporal guilt
uh attached to our sins you know the priest says
the absolution over us and the sin is forgiven be it venial sin or be it

00:52
mortal sin is forgiven but we remain we remain with uh temporal guilt
which we try to pay for in this life if not we'll pay for the next life
the conditions you can get sorry you can get a partial indulgence
300 days taken away from your time in purgatory
or uh 50 years something like that and that's another question too that's
really not 300 days or 50 years it means that amount of time in what
used to be the canonical penances of the church
that's another topic better to cover cover that some other night
but the plenary indulgence is what takes away all the temporal guilt
connected to our sins and what are the conditions
you must go to confession within a week of gaining that indulgence you must go
to mass and receive holy communion within a week of gaining that indulgence
you must pray for the pope uh which is usually our father hail mary and glory be

00:53
you must pray for the pope and here's the biggie you must not have any
connection to sin oh well if i get up late tomorrow
morning and want to sleep in just two minutes
longer that might be a venial sin there goes my connection
there goes my not being connected to venue to sin you see
so that's that's where you get into this idea of uh
whether it's in whether god has accepted what we have done to get the plenary
indulgence depends god has the last word on whether we've
gained the plenary indulgence because he will decide
whether we are or not or are not attached to venial sin or any sin
in any way so that was question of whether
we should offer holy mass for the souls of the departed the answer is yes
next question is should we offer mass for the reprobate
for souls in hell this is very easy to answer

00:54
no do not offer holy mass for souls in hell
uh how can it help them they're there forever
that's not going to help them at all then you get to the next question
uh who's in hell we don't really know that one
uh i the best i learned from theology and seminary is that we're sure of two
people being in hell they are cain the son of adam that killed his brother abel
and left he was left with a mark on his forehead for the rest of his life
and the other one is martin luther he's in hell
so between kane and martin luther we have four thousand
five thousand five hundred five thousand seven hundred years
uh that elapsed and we're only sure of those two being hell
but our lord says the way to hell is wide and easy and many that are that
find it as compared to the road to heaven it is narrow and difficult and
few there are to find that so we know from our lord's own words
that proportionately hell is much more full than heaven

00:55
even though the apocalypse says that heaven is filled with an
innumerable number of saints so just to give you
hope you know innumerable number of saints
unbaptized children children who don't do not have the use of reason should we
offer a holy man holy mass for them this is always a toughing and the answer
is no you cannot offer the mass for unbaptized children
why because they are excluded from the supernatural goods
which are applied through the sacrifice of the mass
how about that for a black and white solid answer
you should not you cannot offer the holy mass for unbaptized children
because they are excluded from the supernatural goods
which are applied through the sacrifice of the mass
okay why why are they excluded from the supernatural goods

00:56
the answer is the blood that our lord jesus christ shed on the cross
has not flown over their bodies and their souls to wash them from original sin
there it is a sacrament is um a visible sign of an invisible grace
when the priest pours water over a baby or even an adult
in baptism what you see going on on the outside
which is the washing of a body is what is really going on
on the inside to that soul so when the priest is washing that body
the soul is being washed is being washed by the power
of the blood of our lord jesus christ no other water would wash them that water
has a special power with those words that water has a special power

00:57
to clean a soul only because of the death of our lord on the cross
if i were to say that well come on the child is innocent the child
died he didn't know any better the answer is were born to an enslaved race
it is the race of fallen man because of adam and eve
if the merits the fruits and the merits of the sacrifice of our lord on calvary
are not physically given to the soul in baptism
that soul remains outside of that redemption
like i said before objective redemption without subjective redemption
that soul remains outside of that redemption and it remains unwashed
now the part about well that child is not responsible for that
responsible for that original sin which it has why can we put the blame on it
and the answer is i'm not putting the blame on it i'm just saying that it
belongs to the fallen race of adam and eve

00:58
but you're right since that child is not guilty
he does not go to a place of suffering he goes to a place of natural happiness
which doctors of the church fathers of the church have called limbo the place
in between it's not heaven it's not hell it's not earth
it's limbo and there they will have natural happiness for all eternity
they didn't do anything wrong so they won't suffer
but they will not be able to see our lord jesus christ which is what we're
made for to see our lord jesus christ but without
that blood of our lord being applied to our soul we can't without without the
blood of our lord being washing our soul we cannot see him for all eternity
and then um should we offer mass for the church
triumphant i already answered that but here's a little longer explanation
the church triumphant or the saints in heaven

00:59
the mass cannot be offered for them they
are already in the possession of all the
riches of the lord their essential glory cannot be increased
the mass is a greater praise to god than they themselves could offer
that's interesting this is not a reason why we should not offer mass for them
but the mass is a greater praise to god than even they themselves could offer
i mean you have some great people in heaven
yeah i'm not talking this i won't talk about our blessed mother that's just
another topic altogether but you know david the very symbol of
our lord is in heaven in heaven saint joseph is in heaven
um saint paul is in heaven said peter's in heaven
nevertheless the mass is a greater praise to god than
even they could give to god and we get to witness that right here on earth

01:00
the sanctuary is all full of angels angels are higher than men but when
a man offers the holy mass that is our lord giving a sacrifice to his father and
that just puts obviously our lord is above angels but
it puts man above angels and so far as he's attending assisting at the holy mass
you know our lord became a human being he didn't become an angel
uh it's our lady is the queen of angels because she had the word the incarnate
word within her and she offered the incarnate word
at the cross she's above angels because of our lord jesus christ and
because of the sacrifice of the mass nevertheless uh talking about the
triumphant their graces and virtues give us matter
worthily to praise and honor god which is great
this evening's mass was in honor of saint anthony mary clarett i think there

01:01
must be at least 200 masses in the year of 365 days
that masses are offered for this saint that saint this saint or the other saint
uh their mass their gr their lives give us matter to worthily praise and
honor god that's why we have the mass and honor
this same mess none of that saying they are a step towards offering a very
um um praiseworthy mass by the veneration of saints
the most blessed trinity is glorified the their merits have come through the
holy sacrifice you see that they became holy because of the holy
sacrifice of the mass and that's why now their lives give such
great glory to god so we remember them we offer the mass in honor of them
when we give great glory to god through the holy mass
very good so those are the ones that we can offer mass for

01:02
and that was followed by who receive the fruit of the mass next week we'll
continue with the eucharistic sacrifice in the organization of the church
and we'll close with a prayer in the name of the father and the son
when he goes to heaven foreign you