November 19, 1989 in Le Bourget, in a metal disabled in light f, twenty thousand people are gathered around Mgr Lefebvre who offers God the sixty years of priesthood he has devoted to Him. In the provisional choir, the four bishops and the Superior General are held. « Coming from all continents and from many countries », peoples and languages, they surrounded the altar of sacrifice and the Immolated Lamb », will write the Letter to friends and benefactors February 15, 1990. Twenty years before, in the first Letter to friends dated All Saints' Day 1971, Mgr Lefebvre wrote: « What this modest correspondence will be in the future, we leave it to God to know ... We have no other ambition than to make holy priests, the way Our Lord made them. »
At the origin of the Christian faith in the Rus ’: the baptism of Prince Vladimir.
Prior note : this article was originally published in the Simandre, review of the Fraternity of the Transfiguration, in 2016; it would therefore be misleading, even if it is tempting, to seek there some allusion to the news ( the conflict between Russia and Ukraine ), in this year 2022 where it appears on the Latin Gate, in a version where only purely formal modifications have been made…
Preliminary remarks
One of the most famous sites in Moscow gives us the opportunity to speak about the first great figure of Russian Christianity, on which there is much to say. On November 4, 2016, a world was inaugurated for Vladimir the Great, the prince who was at the origin of the punishment of Russian lands. Located on Place Borovitskaya, just at the foot of the Kremlin's remains, this statue is 16 meters high and represents the prince holding his sword with one hand, and presenting the other with a Latin cross higher than him; difficult to make more triumphalist ! If in Western Europe, we don't even want to mention the Christian roots of our countries anymore,we seem in Russia to have few complexes in this regard ... It must however be pointed out that the establishment of this giant monument was not done without controversies: at the start, the statue was to measure no less than 25 meters and be erected on the Mont des Moineaux ( named Mont Lenin from 1935 to 1999 ), prestigious site overlooking all of Moscow and where the buildings of Moscow State University are located, a river in Australian architecture ... Chagrin spirits, no doubt admirers of the former Soviet regime, obtained the cancellation of this project, and finally, following a sort of referendum by electronic means, it is Place Borovitskaïa, equally famous and steeped in history, which has been chosen ; and UNESCO,after making some ( difficulties because the site is listed in the world heritage ), ended up accepting the project.
The goal of this monument is to commemorate the millennium of Vladimir the Great, who died on July 15, 1015, after 35 years of reign. It is true that this statue and this commemoration are not without political knowledge: at the origin of this project, there is the Russian Historical and Military Society… We can also notice that just the current master of Russia is named Vladimir ... Alongside the patriarch of Moscow Kirill, President Putin was therefore of course present on November 4, 2016, for this inauguration. There was no shortage of ( is this for political calculation, is it by profonde conviction, I do not know, God knows ) to insist on the importance of the spiritual heritage of the Russian nation,in connection with the most global episodes of his history ... And we can still note with satisfaction the fact that in the XXIe century, on the public highway, the status of a person holding a huge cross could thus have been erected.
Other chagrin spirits could object only to Xecentury, Russia did not exist ( any more, moreover, than France existed at the time of the baptism of Clovis ). There were then Slavic tribes, and the political seal of the Eastern Slavs, it was not Moscow which had not yet been founded, it was Kiev, probably already capital of a state structure. Note, moreover, that the city of Kiev already has its own status of the prince – Saint Volodymyr to give it its ukrainian name: inaugurated in 1853, this statue is only « 4 meters 50 high, but it is placed on a 16-meter pedestal, on a hill overlooking the entire city of Kiev ; and as on the state of Borovitskaya Square, the prince holds a cross larger than him. It’s a historical fact, anyway,that the « Rus ’ » general term to designate Ukraine and Russia ( is awarded for real founder Prince Vladimir: the baptism of this is considered, by both Italians and Russian Christians, such as the nation’s founding event. A bit like Clovis' baptism for us French – and besides, we can find some analogies between the two characters.
Origins of the Christian faith in the Rus ’: the baptism of Prince Vladimir
Be that as it may be, it is worth giving our readers a small biography of the Slavic Barbarian leader who, five centuries after Clovis, ignited the Christian faith : Vladimir the Great, a tradition considered as the founder of Christian Russia – the liturgical books of Russia and Ukraine give it the title of ’ « equal to the apostles », attributed to the great evangelizers.
To narrate the origins of the Christian faith in Russian lands, it is still necessary to go back up a little before Vladimir. We must specifically mention the grandmother of this one, she also carried on the altars: Saint Olga, of variegated origin ( that is to say Scandinavian ). She probably received baptism in 954 or 955, at least after the death of her husband the Grand Duke of Kiev Igor ( killed in 945 ). The erudits still discuss whether it was Byzantine or Latin priests who received his conversion; at the time, in fact, some indigenous Christians were already on Russian lands, converted by missionaries either varègues ( latins ) or grecs ( byzantins ). And it is established that in Kiev, from the 940s,there was a Byzantine church dedicated to Saint Elijah ( probably in the dependence of the Saint-Elie monastery of Constantinople, frequented by the Christian Varangues of capital ). Princess Olga of Christian Affairs tried to develop faith in these regions, but she was very disappointed by the Byzantines: received in Constantinople in 957 by the emperor and by the patriarch, she founded great hopes, which did not meet: she could not obtain the hand of a Byzantine princess for her son Sviatoslav, and he was not granted a bishop for his country. Olga also turned west, that is to say towards the Latin and towards the German emperor Othon the Great ... With the support of the latter, a mission with a bishop was organized,but the pagism remained very lively and there was a strong reaction: several missionaries from Germany were masked, the cause of the Gospel trampled on, and Bishop Saint Adalbert, who led the mission, had to leave the country ... Olga continued to do what she could to promote real religion, having ( churches built in the capital, Kiev, and also to the very north-east of the country, at Pskov ), but the time for a more general conversion of the Rus ’ had not yet arrived.and also to the very north-east of the country, at Pskov ), but the time for a more general conversion of the Rus ’ had not yet arrived.and also to the very north-east of the country, at Pskov ), but the time for a more general conversion of the Rus ’ had not yet arrived.
After Olga's death in 969, his son Prince Sviastoslav was content to be more caring to the Christian faith. Truth be told, this princely family had very harsh manners, a bit like Clovis and the Merovingian dynasty ... What we can know then about Vladimir's life, Sviatoslav's youngest son, before his conversion, shows a shocking violence, even in family reports, as well as real marital assumptions that are truly incompatible with the Gospel. In a few words, here is the course of events: the three sons of Sviatoslav had shared their father's lands, but soon the elder had his second brother killed and seized his domains; the third, our Vladimir, installed in Novgorod, rather than suffering the same fate,recruited Varied mariners and managed to seize Kiev, eliminating his brother and becoming the only great prince. He must have had some political sense, because the historians recognize that he managed to strengthen and make prosper his possessions.
Furthermore, like Clovis again, the barbarian Vladimir was endowed with opportunism, which led him to calculate and take seriously the Christian Church and the civilization which it brought with it. Vladimir no doubt considered that the Rus ’ should abandon the gross pagism, under pain of remaining lower and better in the eyes of the Byzantines as well as the Latins ( let us not forget that at the time, Rome and Byzantium were still in communication ). The Time Story Spent( oldest literary source in Russian history ) says that Vladimir, determined to move on to monotheism, had an investigation made among Muslim Bulgarians, among Jewish Khazars, and among Christians ( Latin Germans or Byzantine Greeks ); given their prohibitions on alcohol, Muslims were quickly sidelined, as were Jews deprived of their land and Temple… Rome and Byzantium remained in the running: in between, it was the spectacle of the Divine Byzantine Liturgy that caused the balance to hang; Vladimir's word of the emissaries remains famous : « We no longer knew if we were in heaven or on earth » ! Current historians assure that this is only a beautiful legend, but which nevertheless reflects the wonder of the Slavic soul in the presence of the sumptuosity of the long Byzantine ceremonies.
The reality was a little more prosaic: the emperor of Constantinople Basile II, threatened by a usurper, sought an effective ally in the person of the prince of Kiev. In 987, an assistance treaty was concluded between the old Empire and the young principle: the Slavs would provide mothers to support Basile II, and a marriage would strengthen the alliance ; Vladimir indeed obtained the hand of Princess Anne Porphyrogenet, sister of the emperor. It was necessary that he was hard pressed to give his sister as well in marriage to a Barbarian, which was contrary to all the customs of the Byzantine court and did not please the said princess very much. But a condition for this matrix alliance was that the Barbarian was baptized. Vladimir accepted: he sent his elite troops, the Varangian mercenaries,who released Basile II from his rival, and he received baptism. According to the most popular tradition, the ceremony took place on January 6, 988, in Chersonese in the south of Crimea; for Russian Christians, Chersonese is therefore the equivalent, for us French Catholics, baptismal font from Reims. The prince was imitated, a few weeks later, by part of his warriors.
This version of the facts is the most widespread, but there are uncertainties about the details of the events : fairly reliable historical sources would rather place Vladimir's baptism in Kiev well before his marriage, which only took place after Vladimir's expedition to Crimea : the Byzantines tapping to honor their promesse, Vladimir would have launched a military operation against Byzantium, occupying the peninsule, and it was only after finally receiving Princess Anne that he would have stayed Chersonese and Crimea…
Either way, Vladimir is sure to convert to Christian faith. All sources agree that he returned his numerous concubines and that he was zealous in preparing true faith in his states. Without surprise, the historian must admit that the prince lacked discretion and doubt to obtain the conversion of his people : Vladimir’s treatment and the days he lived probably didn’t allow it to be any other. It was in any case in his time and under his influence that Russia was placed in the sphere of Byzantine Christianity. Vladimir's conversion seems to have been sincere: he who collected the avenues and the crimes of the past before his baptism, seems to have renounced this range of sin. Furthermore, it practically abolishes slavery.The princely couple had bishoprics erected and churches built. The hunters bring all these beautiful actions like repairs to its many previous sins. Finally, the most recent historians consider it likely that Kiev has become a metro-polian seat ( in other words, archiepiscopal ) even before the end of the Xe century, very shortly after Vladimir's baptism, in the direct dependence of the patriarch of Constantinople. Christian Russia would therefore follow, over time, the aims of the Byzantine Church and not of the Latin Church. In a very sustainable way, the Slavic peoples found themselves divided between Russo- Ukrainians of Byzantine tradition, and Poles of rite and Latin obedience ( as well as Lithuanians and Hungarians, non slavs ); the whole history of Eastern Europe will be conditioned by this distribution.
Posthumous fate of Prince Vladimir
To sum up, we can say that after his baptism, Vladimir behaved in Christian sovereign according to the standards of the time, but the mores of his family and his people remained very harsh. The historian then notes without great astonishment that after his death in 1015, his sons are offered the power in a sanitary way: two of them, the young and innocent Boris and Gleb, will be assassied by their elder who fears rivals in them, and will very quickly be driven by popular devotion and by the miracles that their intercession obtained.
As for Vladimir, it was only tardi that he was worn on the altars; it does not work miracles, and it was rather because of the decisive role he had for the punishment of the Rus ’ that his motivation became ultimately imposed. But it was only with the elevation of his relics in 1635 that the historian spotted a truly official cult towards Saint Vladimir. He had been buried in the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin, known as the Church of the Dîme, in Kiev, the first place of worship he built, and where he had placed relics of Pope Saint Clement brought back from Chersonese; the misfortunes of history have moved, on several occasions, the destruction of this building: in the XIXe century, a pompous neo-classical church was built on the site, but the Soviets razed it in 1935 and it is still waiting to be rebuilt ... It is much earlier in Chersonese, that is to say in a suburb of present-day Sevastopol, which is today the most visible world souvenir of Saint Vladimir, with the cathedral erected under its term in the XIXe century: archaeological excavations then made it possible to find Byzantine ruins, including those of the basic where baptism took place; at this location was then built a sumptuous cathedral, whose ( merger following the destruction during the Second World War ) did not end until the 2000s.
One question could arise in the minds of our readers: is Vladimir's cult admissible for a Catholic ? And the answer can only be positive: Vladimir died before the official and lasting separation between Byzantium and Rome; theoretically, it is considered that this rupture took place in 1054, although, in Slavic countries at least, this schism had no recognition or consequence for at least two centuries. Otherwise, Vladimir's channel was operated according to the ancient principle which considers the voice of the people as the voice of God ( in the West it was thus throughout the first millennium ). And it is a rule in the Church to accept at least the established cult of local saints,when an ecclesial community converts or strengthens its ties with the Mother Church of Rome. This was the case for Byzantine Ukraine, the majority of whose bishops made a splash of Catholic faith through the union of Brest-Litovsk in 1596. Consequently, the liturgical books officially conceded by the Roman authorities to the Ukrainians and the Catholic Russians of Byzantine rite, have always been the feast of the founder of Christianity in Russian lands on July 15.have always been the feast of the founder of Christianity in Russian lands on July 15.have always been the feast of the founder of Christianity in Russian lands on July 15.
Saint Vladimir the Great is especially revered by the Ukrainians who honor him as the founder of their homeland: he is, among others, the patron saint of the Greek Catholic cathedral in Paris ( rue des Saints- Pères ) as well as the ( deicesis, to take the western term ) of the Ukrainian Catholics of Byzantine rite in France.
Blessed be God for the greatest entry of seminarians since the creation of the Saint Pius X Fraternity.
However, remember that the number is not necessarily a sign of benefit. What God is looking for is holiness.
Editorial by Father Guillaume Gaud
Dear friends,
The academic meeting has just taken place in our seminars, and it is a cry of astonishment and thanksgiving that rises to God. 'Cause we just got the largest entrance to seminanists since the creation of the Saint Pie X Fraternity by His Excellency Monsignor Lefebvre in 1970.
97 young men entered this year in the first year of training in our seminars, including 79 for the priesthood and 18 for the religious life ( Brothers of the Brotherhood ). Here in Flavigny, we have just hosted a proposal of 21 seminarians and 3 possible brothers.
For seminarians: an Englishman, a Swiss, an Austrian, a Hungarian, a Serb, a Croatian, a Danish, a Dutchman, an Indian, a Sri Lankan, a Chilean, a Nicaraguan, a Nigerian, 2 Canadians, 2 Argentines, 2 Mexicans, 2 Italians, 4 Brazilians, 6 Germans, 9 Poles, 14 French, 25 Americans.
For the potential brothers: a Swiss, an Argentinian, a Brazilian, 2 Canadians, 2 Poles, 3 French, 8 Americans.
We invite you to change the Lord's mischievous with us ; blessed be God a thousand and a thousand times because we are witnesses to the activity of God in souls and to his gentle and patient strength. It is really at work, despite all our faults.
Let us not hesitate to approach the words of Saint Vincent de Paul, to keep us in humility: « Let us consider the Saint Pius X Fraternity as the smallest of all Companies; not even the penultimate, but the last… Let’s never put our eyes on what’s good about us, but what’s bad is a great way to keep humility [ 1 ]».
We must also be careful to imagine that number is necessarily a sign of benefit, since what God is looking for is holiness.
However, this increase in the number of seminarians follows a general curve, of slow but constant growth, parallel to the growth in the number of faithful. It is enlightening to briefly highlight the factors.
Interior factors
First, it is the fruit of families seeking to live in accordance with the Gospel, and to combat the infiltration of the spirit of the world today within them, with good natural balance. This year, 79% of young men who entered Flavigny come from families guaranteeing loyalty to the Catholic Tradition.
This is also the fruit of the Tradition schools, since 70% of the candidates for this proposal have been trained there, and among them all the French have spent a good number of years there.
It is also the fruit of the development of the missionary apostolate of the colleagues. Indeed, this year we welcome, among these 79 seminarians, 22 different nationalities, which is still a record. Think of the priests, missionaries in all these countries, who sow year after year, and entrust us with these voices. This is possible thanks to the relative freedom of the Brotherhood in its foundations, and its missionary impulse not hindered by ecumenism. Each voice is almost a miracle of grace, at least the fruit of years of devotion and prayer.
Dear friends, you see, God listen to your prayers for vocations. A great merci for your perseverance.
External factors
The increase in vocations roughly follows the increase in the number of faithful. However, the past few years have seen a considerable increase in these, albeit very unevenly depending on the country.
The first factor was the attitude of many priests and progressive bishops, on the occasion of the covid, who shocked many of their followers. They prohibited the Holy Communication on the language, accepted without really opposing the closure of many churches, or even the total cessation of sacraments. The stupor of Christians was at its height when they saw priests refuse to baptize. All of this left the strong impression of an immense lack of faith in much of the clergy.
The second factor, like a background wave, is much more durable and lucid, this is what we call the « phenomenon François ». For years, Pope Francis, by his repeated and argued statements, by his convictions, by the support he seems to give to the agents of the New World Order and the appearance of support for some of their lobbies, by opposing those who are resistant to this Novus Ordo sæculorum, turns against the world conservative population. In recent years, we have continuously seen an influx of people approaching the PSSPX for reasons of opposition to what they call the pope's political ideology.They are often non-practicing Catholics, or non-baptized people of Catholic descent. It is also young people who want to act for their country, who go beyond the political approach resulting from the death of grace.
New phenomenon, we see more and more « Catholic canvassers » arriving, practicing usually in the conciliary parishes, or Ecclesia Dei, but very sensitive to the defense of Life, the Numerous Family, Catholic morals, the authority of the father, the « Christian roots of Europe ». They understood one thing: we must fight, defend Christian Europe, that is to say fight against Islamization, against the monstrous unnatural lobby, against « Cancel-culture and wokism », against disarming neutrality, against the destruction of children. The last synodes, like that on the family and its applications, revolt them because they see in it the disarmament of the Catholics and the justification of progressism.
Finally, the latest Rome documents on the subject of the Mass have better highlighted the doctoral struggle which has been taking place since the Council.
In short, the good Lord shows us that we should not be proud, because the causes of the increase are visibly external to us. But we hope that everyone's prayers, renunciations and efforts contribute to it, albeit without glory, but not without fruit.
Call for an elite in Tradition
Dear friends, following Pope Pius XII [ 2 ], we would like to encourage you tocontinue to work to develop an elite more, even if it is not only necessary to aim for that.
Let us make our young people want to throw themselves into the arena to take part in the debate for the advancement and defense of good causes. The nobility has always been the honor of France. She must stay that way. I am talking about the true nobility, that of the soul, which we must make admire to all young Catholics.
Let's show them that love of work will be the strongest title that will later give them a place among the leaders of the Society. Let us show them that the value of a man is in close dependence on his commitment to the common good. Let us show them that there will always be a large place in society for Catholics if they are truly elites optimal, that is to say people remarkable for the serenity of their soul, their promptness for action, their generous devotion, and the search for excellence in their profession, whatever it is. Abatement and pusillatinity must be banned in front of the evolution of times.
This extension of seminarists sees the entry of young men who have developed this ardor and awarded the diplomas of doctorate, engineer, masters or various licenses; which were engaged in youth movements, apostolate or Catholic politics.
The influence of the elite on the moral renewal of the Church
Above all, we must apply ourselves to conduct irreparable religious and moral conduct, especially within our families, and to practice a healthy austere life. Lazy comfort is the elite’s worst enemy. The constant connection to the internet is therefore consequently.
Let us make sure that other men notice the heritage of virtues and qualities that distract us, often the fruit of long family traditions. These are the imperturbable strength of soul, loyalty and devotion to the most worthy causes, the tender and generous step towards the weakest and poor, firm behavior, measured and delight in serious matters, constant respect for all. The implementation of these qualities and the exercise of religious and civic vertus are the most convincing response to prejudices and suspicions, as they demonstrate the intimate vitality of our Christian spirit.
Raise a bulwark against the relaxation of customs
Our influence in society can aim to divert a serious danger specific to the present era. It must be known that society falls into decline when defects and abuses occur between the different environments ( and at the risk of repeating themselves : films and media should not enter your home without entertainment, as you would be the only culprits in the loss of your surroundings and yourself ), just as it rises when the virtues of a celebrity category come together with the others.
The Catholics themselves can act in both directions: we can easily become hotbeds of mistreatment of morals, in particular by these abuses which threaten the sanctity of marriage, youth education, Christian tourism in entertainment, respect for modesty. The tradition of our families and our homelands must be highlighted and defended in these areas as well, and now sacred and unviable. It should not only be protected from the seeds of corruption, but it should be conquent and proud. Let us be an elite. Let us be noble and magnanimous. May this deep respect for the traditions we cultivate, and by which we distinguish ourselves in society, be our claimed honor.
You can be this elite
Vigor and fertility of works ! These are the two characteristics of true nobility of soul engendered the elite. This is educated from an early age, in particular by the example of parents, who do not hang around in front of the screens, but know how to contribute with measure to the common good, outside the family.
To use Ernest Hello's words: « If you are alive, explain your life. Take your soul and bring it into the fray ! Take your wishes, preach your thought, your prayer, your love ! Take in your hands the instruments you know how to use and throw yourself entirely into the balance where everything weighs. If you are asleep, wake up. If you are dead, stay. Search your past life, in your extinct life the best of your desires. Remember the morning part of the roses from other times that you must have felt, and see if you have the strength to say: what does it matter !
Placed between the fire of those who love and the fire of those who hate, you have to lend a helping hand to one or the other. Know it ! it is not to man in general, it is to you in particular that the call is made; for all the moral, intellectual, material forces at your disposal, are as many weapons as God has put in your hands, with the freedom to use them for him or against him. You have to fight; you necessarily fight.
Father Guillaume GAUD is currently Director of Saint Curé d'Ars seminar in Flavigny under the authority of the General House and therefore higher than major. He is known for his skills with Islam.
"And Joseph knew not Mary till she had brought forth her first-born Son, and he called His name Jesus."—Saint MATTHEW i. 25.
Jesus is called first-born of Mary, because at the foot of the Cross the Immaculate Virgin was to become the Mother of the human race—these represented in the person of Saint John. Joseph and Mary led the life of angels, and towards the Divine Child Saint Joseph exercised all the rights and fulfilled all the duties and offices of father.
In the first place, it is he who has the honour of naming Mary's Son—an honour, we have said, that exalts Joseph far above Patriarchs, Apostles, and Doctors. Now, if the name of Jesus is the only word that we have from the lips of Joseph, this single word reveals the one thought which filled the mind, heart, and life of Saint Joseph.
Great Saint, obtain for me this one favour—to know Jesus, and to know but Jesus. I shall do this, if Jesus, and Jesus alone, is first in my mind and heart, on my lips and in my hands, that is to say, first in my thoughts and my affections, in my words and in my actions. May it be my one ambition, my sole happiness and glory to study Jesus and His Gospel, to serve Jesus and His Church !
Watchword. — You are a Christian : be proud of this name.
9. Joseph and the Infant Jesus.
Yolande of Silva, of the Order of Saint Dominic, had an especial veneration for Saint Joseph, because he had the happiness of hearing the cries, of the Infant JESUS, of beholding Him during the days of His infancy, of carrying Him, of caressing and fondling Him with loving reverence.
"And Joseph, rising up from sleep, did as the Angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife."—SAINT MATTHEW i. 24.
Here two things in the conduct of Joseph strike me forcibly—its simplicity and its promptitude. The Angel has spoken: instantly, with out question or hesitation, Joseph obeys: Fecit sicut prcecepit. Admirable simplicity! How this straight-forwardness bears away the palm from human prudence, with its many calculations—its sinuosities and its deliberations.
True, it is permissible to hesitate, and as already said, we must suspend our judgment and reflect carefully when we are in doubt: Haec eo cogitante; but when once God has spoken, whether by the voice of Angel or of man, by a ray of human intelligence or a feeling of the heart, arise and act: Ex surgens fecit sicut prcecepit. In the hour of anguish let silence be our wisdom, and the voice of God our light ; suddenly the darkness shall be dispelled—all obstacles will disappear ; our desires and our designs will be realised, and that far beyond out fondest expectations.
Watchword.—What it is your duty to do, do it resolutely, promptly, and simply.
8. Saint Joseph and Saint Francis de Sales.
Saint Francis de Sales being at Lyons on the Feast of Saint Joseph, preached at the Carmelites. As soon as the sermon was ended, the Superior of the Jesuits came to the Saint and entreated him to preach at their church, dedicated to Saint Joseph. "I confess," replied the amiable Prelate, " that two sermons a day are rather beyond my powers ; still, for love of Saint Joseph, I will do my best." He did so, and it was well seen that Saint Joseph was his saint of predilection. The Superior was about to thank him when the Prelate exclaimed; "But, Father, do you not perceive how entirely I am devoted to Saint Joseph"
This same Father being with the good Bishop one day previous to his death, asked permission to make use of his breviary, and remarked that in it there was but one picture, that of Saint Joseph.
"Mary shall bring forth a son ; and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."—SAINT MATTHEW 1. 21.
Now Joseph comprehends the high degree of honour to which union with Mary admits him. He is chosen as father to Mary's Son, the Son of God, and the honour will be his of bestowing on the Divine Child the admirable name of JUDO, a name which in itself designates all that He is, and all that He will be!
No longer let us murmur at Joseph's silence. We know but one word that issued from his lips, but by this one word Joseph has revealed more than all the Prophets of the Old, and as much as the Apostles and Doctors of the New Testament : for Joseph has named JESUS.
The prophets foretold what Measles would do and say, but none declared His name ; but this name in itself reveals all that Jesus is, all that Jesus will be. The Apostles can fell us no more than this. If they traverse the world, it is to preach the name of Jesus ; if they create astonishment by their miracles, it is because they work them in the name of Jesus; whether they suffer, whether they die, it is for the name of Jesus.
The Doctors speak and write but to explain, propagate, and defend the Faith in the name of Jesus ; and Saint Bernard exclaims, as did Saint Paul, that he knows but one thing, but one word—Jesus. All the Doctors and all the Apostles say the same.
For ourselves, let there be fewer words, fewer ideas. One suffices. With Joseph let us seek but Jesus, think but Jesus, speak but Jesus, serve but Jesus, act but for Jesus, and then shall we never be separated from Jesus.
Watchword. — Invoke incessantly the Holy Name of Jesus.
7. The Three Great Names.
Father Gaspard Bon began and ended all his questions, and all his replies, by invoking the holy names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and expired uttering these sacred names, which are in themselves a pledge of salvation.
"Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy
wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost."—
Son of David, descendant of the Prophet-King; of him who in vision
beheld the eternal reign of the Messiah. Joseph, let the recollection of thy
origin recall to thee the wondrous things that shall be effected in thy line!
The prediction of thy ancestor is about to be accomplished in the womb of the
Virgin of Jesse, co-descendant with thee of the line of David, the Holy Virgin
whose fate is linked with thine! Fear not, thou son of David, to remain with
thy spouse, Virgin Daughter of David's royal line! Thou art worthy of her, and
to thee is confided that sacred deposit, the divine treasure of her virginity!
True, it is by the operation of the Holy Ghost that she has become a mother,
but she ceases not to be thy spouse. She and her Son are thine 1 An orphan here
below, the Son of the Most High, and Mary's Son needs an earthly father, this
father thou shalt be, for it is thy right: Noli timere accipere Mariam
conjugem team.
Is anxiety at its climax, difficulty insuperable, do thou thy
best. _ Reflect, seek for a way to extricate thyself and then resolve: Hace
autem, eo cogitante; but act with calmness, like Joseph, in spite of
anxiety, sleep thou in peace in the arms of a living Providence. The night of
trial shall usher in a brilliant day. You fell asleep in sorrow; you shall
awake in joy.
Watchword.—Hope ever; God is faithful.
6. Saint Joseph and Saint Ignatius.
Saint
Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus, was ever mindful of Saint Joseph. In
his " Exercises" he proposes the Saint to our consideration in
relation to our Lord's hidden life. In his oratory was an image of Saint
Joseph, before which he loved to pray, and when any extraordinary difficulty
occurred -it was on this spot that Saint
Ignatius put it into writing, in order to obtain a happy solution.
