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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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