The Rosary and the Hail Mary by St. Louis de Montfort

The Hail Mary well said--that is, with attention, devotion, and modesty--is, according to the saints, the enemy of the devil which puts him to flight, and the hammer which crushes him. It is the sanctification of the soul, the joy of the angels, the melody of the predestinate, the canticle of the New Testament, the pleasure of Mary, and the glory of the most Holy Trinity. The Hail Mary is a heavenly dew which fertilizes the soul. It is the chaste and loving kiss which we give to Mary. It is a vermilion rose which we present to her; a precious pearl we offer to her; a chalice of divine ambrosial nectar which we proffer to her. All these are comparisons of the saints.

I pray you urgently, by the love I bear you in Jesus and Mary, not to content yourselves with saying the Little Crown of the Blessed Virgin, but to say five decades, or even, if you have time, fifteen decades of the Rosary every day. At the moment of your death you will bless the day and the hour in which you followed my advice. Having thus sown in the blessings of Jesus and Mary, you will reap eternal blessings in Heaven. "He who soweth in blessings, shall also reap blessings." (2 Cor. 9:6).

Mary is Necessary to God in the Sanctification of Souls by St. Louis de Montfort

If Moses, by the force of his prayer, stayed the anger of God against the Israelites in a manner so powerful that the most high and infinitely merciful Lord, being unable to resist him, told him to let Him alone that He might be angry with and punish that rebellious people, what must we note, with much greater reason, think of the prayer of the humble Mary, that worthy Mother of God, which is more powerful with His Majesty than the prayers and intercessions of all the angels and saints both in Heaven and on earth?

In the Heavens Mary commands the angels and the blessed. As a recompense for her profound humility, God has empowered her and commissioned her to fill with saints the empty thrones from which the apostate angels fell by pride. The will of the Most High, who exalts the humble (Lk. 1:52), is that Heaven, earth and Hell bend, with good will or bad will, to the commandments of the humble Mary, whom He has made sovereign of Heaven and earth, general of His armies, treasurer of His treasures, dispenser of His graces, worker of His greatest marvels, restorer of the human race, Mediatrix of men, the exterminator of the enemies of God, and the faithful companion of His grandeurs and triumphs.

God the Father wishes to have children by Mary till the consummation of the world; and He speaks to her these words "Dwell in Jacob" (Ecclus. 24:13); that is to say: Make your dwelling and residence in My predestined children, prefigured by Jacob, and not in the reprobate children of the devil, prefigured by Esau.

Just as in the natural and corporal generation of children there are a father and a mother, so in the supernatural and spiritual generation there are a Father, who is God, and a Mother, who is Mary. All the true children of God, the predestinate, have God for their Father and Mary for their Mother. He who has not Mary for his Mother has not God for his Father. This is the reason why the reprobate, such as heretics, schismatics and others, who hate our Blessed Lady or regard her with contempt and indifference, have not God for their Father, however much they boast of it, simply because they have not Mary for their Mother. For if they had her for their Mother, they would love and honor her as a true child naturally loves and honors the mother who has given him life.

The most infallible and indubitable sign by which we may distinguish a heretic, a man of bad doctrine, a reprobate, from one of the predestinate, is that the heretic and the reprobate have nothing but contempt and indifference for Our Lady, endeavoring by their words and examples to diminish the worship and love of her, openly or hiddenly, and sometimes by misrepresentation. Alas! God the Father has not told Mary to dwell in them, for they are Esaus.

Mary has produced, together with the Holy Ghost, the greatest thing which has been or ever will be--a God-Man; and she will consequently produce the greatest saints that there will be in the end of time. The formation and the education of the great saints who shall come at the end of the world are reserved for her. For it is only that singular and miraculous Virgin who can produce, in union with the Holy Ghost, singular and extraordinary things.

When the Holy Ghost, her Spouse, has found Mary in a soul, He flies there. He enters there in His fullness; He communicates Himself to that soul abundantly, and to the full extent to which it makes room for His spouse. Nay, one of the greatest reasons why the Holy Ghost does not now do startling wonders in our souls is because He does not find there a sufficiently great union with His faithful and inseparable spouse. I say "inseparable" spouse, because since that Substantial Love of the Father and the Son has espoused Mary, in order to produce Jesus Christ, the Head of the elect, and Jesus Christ in the elect, He has never repudiated her, because she has always been fruitful and faithful.

Mary is Necessary to Men:

In the second place we must conclude that, the most holy Virgin being necessary to God by a necessity which we call "hypothetical," in consequence of His will, she is far more necessary to men, in order that they may attain their last end. We must not confuse devotion to the Blessed Virgin with devotions to the other saints, as if devotion to her were not far more necessary than devotion to them, and as if devotion to her were a matter of supererogation.

"To be devout to Thee, O holy Virgin," says St. John Damascene, "is an arm of salvation which God gives to those whom He wishes to save."

Necessity of The Blessed Virgin and of Devotion to Her, by St. Louis de Montfort

I avow, with all the Church, that Mary, being a mere creature that has come from the hands of the Most High, is in comparison with His Infinite Majesty less than an atom; or rather, she is nothing at all, because only He is "He who is" (Exod. 3:14); consequently that grand Lord, always independent and sufficient to Himself, never had, and has not now, any absolute need of the holy Virgin for the accomplishment of His will and for the manifestation of His glory. He has but to will in order to do everything.

Nevertheless, I say that, things being as they are now--that is, God having willed to commence and to complete His greatest works by the most holy Virgin ever since He created Her--we may well think He will not change His conduct in the eternal ages; for He is God, and he changes not, either in His sentiments or in His conduct.

Mary Was Necessary to God in the Incarnation of The Word:

It was only through Mary that God the Father gave His Only-begotten to the world. Whatever sighs the patriarchs may have sent forth, whatever prayers the prophets and the saints of the Old Law may have offered up to obtain this treasure for full "four thousand years", it was only "Mary" who merited it and found grace before God (Lk. 1:30) by the force of her prayers and the eminence of her virtues. The world was unworthy, says St. Augustine, to receive the Son of God directly from the Father's hands. He gave Him to Mary in order that the world might receive Him through her.

The Son of God became man for our salvation; but it was in Mary and by Mary. God the Holy Ghost formed Jesus Christ in Mary; but it was only after having asked her consent by one of the first ministers of His court.

God the Father communicated to Mary His fruitfulness, inasmuch as a mere creature was capable of it, in order that He might give her the power to produce His Son and all the members of His Mystical Body.

God the Son descended into her virginal womb as the New Adam into His terrestrial paradise, to take His pleasure there, and to work in secret marvels of grace.

God made Man found His liberty in seeing Himself imprisoned in her womb. He made His omnipotence shine forth in letting Himself be carried by that humble maiden. He found His glory and His Father's in hiding His splendors from all creatures here below, and revealing them to Mary only. He glorified His independence and His majesty in depending on that sweet Virgin in His conception, in His birth, in His presentation in the temple, in His hidden life of thirty years, and even in His death, where she was to be present in order that He might make with her but one same sacrifice and be immolated to the Eternal Father by her consent, just as Isaac of old was offered by Abraham's consent to the will of God. It is she who nourished Him, supported Him, brought Him up and then sacrificed Him for us.

Oh, admirable and incomprehensible dependence of God, which the Holy Ghost could not pass over in silence in the Gospel, although He has hidden from us nearly all the admirable things which the Incarnate Wisdom did in His hidden life--as if He would enable us, by His revelation of that at least, to understand something of its excellence and infinite glory! Jesus Christ gave more glory to God the Father by submission to His Mother during those thirty years than He would have given Him in converting the whole world by working of the most stupendous miracles. Oh, how highly we glorify God when, to please Him, we submit ourselves to Mary, after the example of Jesus Christ, our sole Exemplar!

If we examine closely the rest of our Blessed Lord's life, we shall see that it was His will to begin His miracles by Mary. He sanctified St. John in the womb of his mother, St. Elizabeth, but it was by Mary's word. No sooner had she spoken than John was sanctified; and this was His first miracle of grace.

At the marriage of Cana He changed the water into wine, but it was at Mary's humble prayer; and this was His first miracle of nature. He began and continued His miracles by Mary, and He will continue them to the end of ages by Mary.

God the Holy Ghost, being barren in God--that is to say, not producing another Divine Person--is become fruitful by Mary, whom He has espoused. It was with her, in her, and of her that He produced His Masterpiece, which is God made Man, and that He goes on producing daily, to the end of the world, the predestinate and the members of the Body of that adorable Head. This is the reason why He, the Holy Ghost, the more He finds Mary, His dear and inseparable spouse, in any soul, the more active and mighty He becomes in producing Jesus Christ in that soul, and that soul in Jesus Christ.

It is not that we mean that our Blessed Lady gives the Holy Ghost His fruitfulness, as if He had it not Himself. For inasmuch as He is God, He has the same fruitfulness or capacity of producing as the Father and the Son; only He does not bring it into action, as He does not produce another Divine Person. But what we mean is that the Holy Ghost chose to make use of our Blessed Lady, though He had no absolute need of her, to bring His fruitfulness into action, by producing in her and by her Jesus Christ and His members--a mystery of grace unknown to even the wisest and most spiritual among Christians. (True Devotion to Mary #14-21, by St. Louis de Montfort)

Catholic Teaching - Indissolubility of Marriage from Dogmatic Series, 1915

Matrimony produces a bond of union between man and wife which can not be severed except by death. The Sacrament of Matrimony increases sanctifying grace in the soul if it be worthily received. Those who receive this Sacrament in the state of sin do not receive sanctifying grace. However, the grace revives if the hindrance is afterwards removed.

The Sacrament of Matrimony confers sacramental grace. This grace enables the married to resist the assaults of concupiscence. The evil desires of the flesh are not satisfied with one person. Concupiscence seeks not the utility which nature intends. It seeks pleasure alone. Satiated lust loathes its victim. Sacramental grace enables the husband to be content with his own wife. It enables the married to use marriage for its proper purpose. It enables them to bear the burdens of their state.

The bond of marriage can not be broken except by the death of one party. In no case can one party enter another marriage contract so long as the other party is still alive. It might seem that if two persons freely enter a contract they can dissolve it by mutual consent. This is true of material contracts amongst men. Ordinary contracts are dissolved by the agreement of both parties concerned.

If matrimony be viewed as a means of propagating the human race, there would often seem to be reasons for dissolving the marriage contract. Some women are sterile. Others suffer from some chronic disease that hinders them from fulfilling their conjugal duties. It would seem reasonable to sever such a union.

St. Thomas Aquinas answer the difficulty: "Matrimony was instituted mainly for the common good of humanity because of its principal object, which is the good of offspring, though it was instituted secondarily for the good of the contracting parties insofar as it is a remedy against concupiscence. Thus in the laws of matrimony more attention is paid to what is beneficial for all than to what is beneficial for one. Though the inseparability of matrimony may hinder the interest of offspring in a particular case (because of sterility), yet it promotes the interest of offspring in general." (Supplement q. 67; a.I.)

The common good is always superior to the individual good. This principle is recognized by all governments. In time of national crises the individual is sometimes forced to take up arms and give his life for the welfare of the nation at large. No society could exist unless the interest of the individual were subservient to the common interest of all. So it is with human society. Its first great foundation is the family. Matrimony is the bond of union in the family. States are composed of families. Individuals could not perpetuate society.

Divorce is perhaps the greatest evil in the social order. It strikes at the very vitals of a nation. It makes the family an unstable institution. It gives lust license to seek promiscuity. It enables corrupt human weakness to shirk the responsibilities imposed upon it by nature. Divorce endangers the welfare of offspring. It destroys homes. It blights the bloom of filial love. It tears little ones away from their parents. It marks them as the children of disgrace.

Divorce is essentially a pagan idea. It is a product of lust. It is a tenet of Epicurean philosophy. Life is a time of pleasure and self-indulgence. "Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we may die." According to this pagan creed man is free to seek all that can bring him pleasure so long as he can escape the civil law. If he can make the conquest of one younger and more beautiful and more attractive than his wife, he calls her his "soul-mate". He then puts away his wife and marries the other.

Undoubtedly there are many joined in wedlock whose tempers are incompatible. Many good men are joined to fickle and faithless women. Many devoted women are joined to base and shiftless husbands. Their earthly lives are perhaps filled with bitterness and unhappiness because of their matrimonial union. Children are growing up in sin and depravity because of the evil parent.

It seems cruel that the innocent party should suffer because of the other's guilt. It seems unreasonable to demand that they respect a bond that unites them to reprobates. Indeed, if matrimony were intended solely to bring earthly joy to the individual it would be impossible to defend such a union.

If pagan teachings represent the true philosophy of life then these unhappy ones should be free to seek more agreeable life-companions. If man was created for earthly pleasures alone then the time is short. He must hasten to indulge himself before the end comes. If he must labor hard in dire poverty he is also in an unpleasant position. He should steal a million from his neighbor and live in luxury. Pagan philosophy should permit him to do so.

If he is in prison for a crime he should be liberated. His crime was a mistake, just as is the unhappy marriage. The dark prison cell does not permit him to enjoy life. If he has enlisted in the army and finds life disagreeable he should desert the colors for the same reason. For he is a follower of Epicurus. He seeks only his own individual pleasure. He cares not for the common weal.

Divorce is the destroyer of nations. It is a sure mark of social decay. Christianity can never recognize divorce. For fifteen centuries after Christ divorce was unknown amongst Christian peoples. During all those ages the faithful never dreamed of declaring divorce lawful. They might as easily have abrogated the sixth commandment.

The Catholic Church has taught since the days of the Apostles that marriage is indissoluble. This doctrine she must and will continue to teach unto the end of time. "To them that are married," says the Apostle, "not I, but the Lord commandeth, that the wife depart not from her husband, and if she depart, that she remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. And let not the husband put away his wife."

In another place he says: "For the woman that hath a husband whilst her husband liveth is bound to the law. But if her husband be dead she is loosed from the law of her husband. Therefore, whilst her husband liveth she shall be called an adulteress if she be with another man." (Epistle to the Corinthians vii, 10,11; Epistle to the Romans vii, 2,3.)

Christ Himself in emphatic terms declares that marriage is indissoluble: "And it hath been said: Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce. But I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting for the cause of fornication, maketh her commit adultery; and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery." (St. Matthew v, 31,32)

Here Christ grants that a separation may take place because of fornication. Yet He does not intend to intimate that the marriage bond is broken. For He adds: "He that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery." Now this could not be true unless the bond of matrimony still remained.

The Pharisees thought to ensnare Christ on the question of divorce. "And the Pharisees coming to him asked him: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. But he answering, saith to them: What did Moses command you? Who said: Moses permitted to write a bill of divorce, and to put her away. To whom Jesus answering said: Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you that precept. "But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife. And they two shall be in one flesh. Wherefore, now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder."

"In the house again his disciples asked him concerning the same thing. And he said to them: Whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if the wife shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery." (St. Mark X, 2-12)

St. Luke also records the clear words of Christ against divorce. "Everyone that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her that is put away from her husband, committeth adultery." (St. Luke XVI, 18)

The Church sometimes permits married persons to live apart. Catholics who think they have a sufficient cause for separation must submit their case to the ecclesiastical authority. Every decision in this matter must come from the bishop of the diocese in which the parties live.

They are generally permitted to live apart only for a time. They are always bound to be reconciled when it is possible. Even though they are permitted to remain apart permanently, they are still husband and wife until death.

This privilege of separation is sometimes granted to those who wish to take Holy Orders or enter Religion. In this case certain conditions are laid down for the benefit of the other party. The other party must consent to the separation. There must also be assurance that the other party will be able to lead a continent life.

Marriage that has not been consummated may be dissolved if one of the parties makes a Solemn Profession in some Religious Order. The other party is then free to contract another marriage. The parties have been properly married, but they have not become "one flesh."

Two months are granted after marriage in which to deliberate. During this time they are not bound to enter into conjugal relations. Either of them may enter Religion even though the other objects. The bond of a nonconsummated marriage is not broken when one party enters a novitiate. It is dissolved only when the Solemn Religious Profession is made. The Pope also can dissolve a nonconsummated marriage.

The marriage of unbaptized persons may be dissolved under certain conditions, when one party is converted to the Faith. This dissolution of marriage is called the "Pauline Privilege." "If any brother hath a wife that believeth not," says St. Paul, "and she consent to dwell with him, let him not put her away. And if any woman hath a husband that believeth not, and he consent to dwell with her, let her not put away her husband.....But if the unbeliever depart, let him depart. For a brother or sister is not under servitude in such cases."

Marriage can be dissolved by the Pauline Privilege. This supposes that one party has been converted to the Faith. The other refuses to grant the free exercise of the Christian religion.

The Pauline Privilege can not be used when the converted party leaves the other party. Nor can it ever be used without a "papal dispensation". The party that has been baptized must also ask the other party to live with him. This is called the interpellation. The "Pope" may dispense from this requirement when he sees fit.

The bond of marriage, however, is not dissolved when the dispensation is granted. It is dissolved only when the baptized party contracts another marriage. Should the other party be converted in the meantime they are then bound to live together. A party who has been granted the Pauline Privilege may contract marriage even with another unbaptized person. This, of course, implies the proper dispensation.

If a polygamist is converted he may retain one of his wives. Should one of the number be converted with him, she may continue as his wife. If none is converted, he may retain the one whom he first took as his wife. His marriage with this one would be considered valid. They need not renew their consent. He may, however, choose another to be his lawful wife. In this case they should renew their consent before the priest and two witnesses.

Those who procure a civil divorce and contract another marriage are excommunicated by the Church. This second marriage is not valid. In the words of Christ such persons are living in adultery.

"What is that law laid down by St. Paul?" asks St. John Chrysostom. "The woman," he says, "is bound to the law. By no means should she enter other nuptials with another. Behold, with how much care the words are chosen! For he did not say: let her live with the man as long as he lives. He said: the woman is bound to the law as long as her husband lives. Even if she gives him a "bill of divorce," even if she leaves his house, even if she goes to another man, she is bound to the law and she is an adulteress....Do not tell me of civil laws that grant divorces and separate husband and wives. For on the day of judgment God will not judge thee according to these laws, but according to the laws which He Himself made." (Sermon, m. 51, 218)

St. Jerome explains the same law: "The Apostle rejected all pretexts and declared that if a woman married another during the lifetime of her husband, she is an adulteress.....Even though her husband should be an adulterer, a Sodomist, though he be covered with crimes and abandoned by his wife because of his depravity, he is to be considered her husband and she can not be married to another." (Epistola 55 ad Amand., n.3)

Dogmatic Series, Book IV, Indissolubility of Marriage by Roderick MacEachen, Copyright, 1915; Nihil Obstat: William Hall, Censor Deputatus; Imprimatur: P.J. Donahue, D.D., Bishop of Wheeling.

Catholic Prayer for Motherhood to St. Gerard

O Good St. Gerard, powerful intercessor before the Throne of God, Wonder-Worker of our day, I call upon thee and seek thy aid. While on earth, thou didst always fulfill God's designs; help me too, always to do God's Holy Will. Beseech the Master of Life, from Whom all parenthood proceeds, to bless me with offspring that I may raise up children to God in this life and heirs to the kingdom of his glory in the life to come. Amen.

Imprimatur: John J. Mitty, Archbishop of San Francisco, August 25, 1941, Redemptorist Fathers of Oakland, Copyright, 1941

Prayer Against the Forces of Anti-Life, Against Abortion to Saint Gerard

O Great Wonder-Worker of our day, St. Gerard, powerful protector of the mother and her unborn child, beg God, we beseech thee, to crush the mounting forces of anti-life; and to enlighten those who walk in this deadly way that they may see the enormity of their sin and return to the generous observance of the Divine Law. Pray, too, for mothers that they may prize the great privilege of motherhood and that they may bring up their children in the holy love and fear of God; so saving their own immortal souls and furthering the honor and glory of their Maker; through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Pray for us, O Great St. Gerard!

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!

Let us pray:

O Almighty and Eternal Father, Who, in Thy all-wise Providence, hast deigned to raise up St. Gerard to be the glorious protector of the mother and her unborn child: grant, we beseech Thee, through the powerful intercession of this, Thy servant, that all diabolical forces of anti-life may be destroyed from the face of the earth forever; that so the Christian family may once more flourish to the praise and eternal glory of Thy Holy Name. This we ask through the merits of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Thy Son. Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Imprimatur: John J. Mitty, Archbishop of San Francisco, CA., August 25, 1941

Abortion, Catholic Theology, and the Moral Law

The Moral Law can come from God alone. If man had formed the moral law he could change its principles at will. Yet, no human legislation could ever make right out of wrong. If all the legislatures of earth should decree that it were lawful to kill babies that disturbed your nightly slumbers (perverse and selfish life styles), the deed would still be a heinous crime. The death of each innocent babe cries out for vengeance to the heart of each and every subject of that law.

Right and wrong are ideas that come from the Divine Intellect. There are things that are intrinsically right and things that are intrinsically wrong. They are so by nature. God Himself could not change them. For they are by nature immutable (unchangeable). It were absurd to think of changing right into wrong. It were like changing light into darkness. Even the Omnipotent God could not make blasphemy a virtue, nor perjury an honest act.

Our whole life is unreasonable if God has not given us a moral law. Men are impelled by a mysterious force. They are restrained by a force which does not come from their own nature. This is the "Moral Law". It is an eternal and unchangeable Law that comes from God alone. - Taken from: Dogmatic Series by Roderick MacEachen, Priest of Columbus Diocese, Catholic Library, Volume I, Catholic Book Company Publishers, Copyright, 1915.

Catholic Fiddleback Chasuble Vestment Sets

A good place to purchase a low cost and well made Traditional Roman Catholic Fiddleback Chasuble Set, which includes all fives pieces, which means: Chalice Veil, Maniple, Stole, and Burse which match the Chasuble in all liturgical colors, is "Catholic Treasure of the Lord Books" which is an Ebay Store. Just Google the name "Catholic Treasure of the Lord Books" without the quotation marks, and you'll be able to view what they have for sale in the Roman Fiddleback Selection. These are made with Damask Fabrics, beautiful Gold Embroidery and lovely Orphrey. The lower priced ones are very nice, but the higher priced ones are more ornate with more embroidery and fancier pieces which would accompany the Chasuble. These are well constructed and not too heavy, and are well received by all who have purchased them. Special orders for entire sets are accepted, and a 10% discount is offered to purchase an entire set. Contact the seller on the Web Site about that if you want to purchase an entire set of Vestments with all matching pieces. You will need a Paypal Account to purchase them, but they will accept Checks if you contact the seller from the Web Site. Paypal Offers the use of Credit Cards and echecks from their Encrypted Site. It is a safer way to Pay online than just putting in your Credit Card numbers without knowing the seller personally. Catholic Treasure of the Lord Books also sells Traditional Catholic Latin Missals, Prayerbooks, Douay Bibles, Missale Romanum, Rare Catholic Books, Traditonal Catholic Prints, Holy Cards, Catholic Key Chains, Rosaries, and are open Monday through Saturday, but closed and not available to view on Sunday or Holy Days of Obligation.  Hit this link www.http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Catholic-Treasure-of-The-Lord-Books, or copy into your browser.

Traditional Catholic Latin Mass in Walnut Creek, CA.

Many people long to go to the Traditional Catholic Latin Mass, but don't know where to go. There is a very good Priest who keeps the Commandments and knows his Moral Theology. His name is Father Gregory Foley, is an Independent Priest, and was ordained by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, but left the SSPX and is on his own. His Chapel is called "Our Lady of Lourdes", and the Church is located at 493 Geni Court, Walnut Creek, CA. 94597. He is near Sacramento, California, as well as San Francisco, California. Although the drive may be long, it is well worth it to go to this Priest to Confession and the Sacraments. He is a wonderful Priest who loves the Blessed Virgin Mary very much. Do support him with your prayers and he will offer Masses for you if you ask him.