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166: The Six Commandments of the Church, part 1 · The Uncensored Catholic

0:51
Speaker 1: A, Hey, y'all, welcome to today's show. We're going to pick
1:03
up where we left off with discussing the ten Commandments.
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And this is an interesting I guess I was saying,
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an interesting topic. I don't think it's much taught, or
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at least much as much taught now as it was
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in followers Sparago's time. You know, we're working through his
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exhaustive Catechism of the Catholic Church. Explanation of the Catechism,
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I should say, and stemming from the third Commandment come
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the six commandments or precepts of the Church. Very important
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to know, and I think you can find that very interesting.
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We're gonna have to take several days with it. It's
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not gonna be a one day thing. But before we
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get into that, we'll turn back to radio replies and
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the questioner is asking of the priests in regard to
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pay one fallibility, and the person says, it is intelligible
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that the whole church would be preserved from error. But
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you go further and claim that the pope is personally
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is personally in fact, and they answer, it is Catholic
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doctrine that he is infallible when he speaks for the
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whole church. In defining a question of faith or morals,
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a person says, do you mean that he is the
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mouthpiece of a general counsel or that he is infallible? Independently?
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The answer the Pope is not merely the mouthpiece of
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a council. He may and usually does, consult with other
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bishops before giving an infallible decision, but he need not
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do so, and in the ultimate analysis, the infallibility of
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the pope is due to his own personal authority. The
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infallibility of the pope simply means that in his official
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teachings or definitions, provided he speaks as is a supreme
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head of the church in questions of faith or morals
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and with the intention of binding all the faithful, God
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would not allow him to define erroneous doctrine. The pope
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as the successor of Saint Peter's Vicar of Christ and
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the final court of appeal of the church. But all
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the conditions I have enumerated must be present. The Pope's
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word is not infallible when he speaks, though his decisions
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are always to be received with respect. But if he
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speaks merely as a private theologian expression expressing his own views,
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his opinions could be mistaken. Infallibility attaches to his decisions
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only when he speaks in his supreme and official capacity
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as the supreme teacher of the faithful. And this next
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is a really common charge of anti Catholics who say,
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was not this doctrine invented in eighteen seventy? And they
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answered no, Papal infallibility was promulgated as dogma in eighteen seventy,
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but the doctrine was not invented. Then the vatical Vatican
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Council under Pope Pious the Ninth merely said, definitely, this
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is the Christian doctrine contained at least implicitly in the Revelation,
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originally given to mankind by Christ. This prerogative of infallibility
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was conferred upon Saint Peter upon his successors in virtue
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of Christ's choice of Saint Peter as the rock foundation
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of the Church. His prayer for Saint Peter that his
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faith may not fail his commission to him to confirm
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his brethren to feed the whole flock lambs and sheep.
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The Church does not say in her decisions, I now
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reveal this doctrine, but I definitely declare this doctrine revealed
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by Christ. If she never taught with such authority, men
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would say, what is the good of the church. If
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she does teach with authority, they say she is inventing
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new doctrines. After all, the Catholic Church define the phi
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philique philikey I guess in fourteen thirty night. That's what
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the Orthodox always get all worked up about. And you
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accept that without complaining that she invented new doctrine. Why complain?
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Except that without complaining, why complain when she exercises the
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same function in eighteen seventy She would find other doctrines
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more explicitly in the future, as the need arise doctrines
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We already believe in believing all that has been revealed
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by Christ, though we do not avert to the fact
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that these particular doctrines are certainly included, for although the
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definition will be new, they will not involve new truth
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of religion. Now that the personal infallibility the pope has
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been defined, we know that it belongs essentially to the
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original teachings of Christ. First, in answers, there is only
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one who is infallible, and that's God. Satan tried to
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be equal to God and the pope makes himself a
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similar claim and will meet with a similar fate. Yes,
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she will certainly hear that from seven day Adventists and such.
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And they answer, God alone is infallible in his very nature.
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But God can certainly safeguard a particular man so that
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he will also also be infallible in certain matters on
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certain occasions. Christ guaranteed that Peter would not fail in
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his teachings of the faith. And if an infallible God
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says that he will make a certain man infallible, then
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that man will infallibly be infallible. Again, the claim of
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the pope is nothing like the claim of Satan. Satan
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claimed to be independent of God. The pope claims to
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be dependent very much upon God. Nor does the pope
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make himself equal to God. An infallible pope is capable
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of sinning and losing his soul, and should a pope
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do so, he would meet with a faith similar to
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that of Satan because of his unrepentant sins. But he
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would not meet with the faith because of his claim
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of infallibility, which God insisted upon giving him for the
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good of the church, whether he likes it or not.
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And they say, do you say that man that Do
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you say that God makes a man infallible who has
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to be voted for, just like a politician, And they answer,
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God says he does. But the pope is not infallible
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because he is voted for. He is elected by votes,
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and when elected, he receives infallibility from God. The pope
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does not derive his infallibility from those who elect him. Oh,
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I guess we can leave that one there. We'll pick
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up on the same topic next time. There's quite a
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bit more back and forth about papal infallibility. It is
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a doctrine very much misunderstood by Protestants and unfortunately, very
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much misunderstood by Catholics. Many not all, certainly not all,
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Probably not am the vast majority, but there are large
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groups of Catholics who do not have not been properly catechized.
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Let's just say catechism has really fallen down over the
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past few decades. It's always somewhat amazing to me that I,
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as a convert, seem to be better catechized than most
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people of the baby boomer generation who are cradle Catholics.
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I meet with them and they're like, why did you
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become Catholic and I start explaining it and they're like,
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I was never taught this, you know. And it's a
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lot of times they actually get offended that, you know,
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a convert may know more on a certain subject than
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a cradle Catholic. And unfortunately, you know, there were the
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balls are really dropped along the way a big time.
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And you know, this is part of my entire podcast.
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It's not saying I know more than you. It's saying,
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let's go back to the foundations, the traditions, the roots.
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I mean, we've got this wonderful modern Catechism, but it's
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just an updated version of the traditional Catechism of the
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Baltimore or earlier ones, and meant to be more understandable
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to modern people. Well, honestly, I think Father Sparraga's exhaustive
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explanation of the Catechism is absolutely essential in understanding any
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version of the Catechism. I mean short of well, actually,
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you know, Saint Thomas Aquinas his catechetical writings had to
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be later defined and explained, and even as simply and
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eloquently as he wrote. So really, it's not really the
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point of my show. As I've said many times, yes,
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as a convert, I hope and pray Protestants will listen
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to it and be moved to study, not take my
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word for on any subject, On any topic, Disagree with
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me all you like, get in touch with me and
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debate me, argue with me. But you know, let's do
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try to be a little If we're going to represent Christ,
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let's not be as nasty as some of you have been.
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To put it mildly, but really, it is also for
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Catholics to become more confident and informed about our doctrine
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and our faith, and our theology, and our traditions and
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our history, so that we can better defend the Church.
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We're the church militant. We're the Church on earth who
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has a responsibility and duty to spread the truth and
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defend the faith. We can't do that with, you know,
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our eyes closed or partially armed. You know, we have
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to be fully armed. We should. A Catholic should know
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the Bible better than any Protestant. A Catholic should also
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know the Catechism and be able to explain it to
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any Protestant using the Bible, and that seems to be
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like foreign language to many older Catholics. I think maybe
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in the John Paul Pope, Saint John Paul's second generation.
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Things did change a little bit, and there are a
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lot of younger Catholics my age, a little older, a
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lot younger, who are very well instructed. But you know,
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I'm just trying to do my part to help. So
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now let's go ahead and get into Father Spiago, he says.
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The six Commandments of the Church. The six precepts of
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the Church are an amplification or the third commandment of
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the Decalogue. The first precept of the Church joins upon
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the faithful to rest for work on certain days besides Sunday,
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to give thanks to God for special graces. The second
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precept of the Church ordains the manner in which Sunday
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and other holy days of obligation are to be observed.
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The third and fourth precept of the Church obliges us
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to confess and communicate at least once a year. That
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means go to confession and receive the Eucharist. The fifth
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precept bids us to support our pastors, and the sixth
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forbids us to marry non Catholics, or to so solemnize
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marriage at forbidden times. Now at the time eighteen nineties, Yes,
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Catholics were forbidden to marry non Catholics. That is one
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thing that has changed since Now Catholics are allowed by
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the Church to marry non Catholics. It still must be
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a Catholic marriage. Both partners will have to go through
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Catholic premarital counseling. The non Catholic spouse will have to
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agree to do nothing to undermine the other spouse's Catholic
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faith and essentially to observe the morals of the Catholic Church,
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and that the children must be raised Catholic. Obviously, this
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is very difficult. I would say that the Church would
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still likely discourage in her denominational marriage because it's so difficult,
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but the Church does not forbid it. I can think
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of many examples of Catholics who married non Catholics, and well,
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Glenn Beck comes to mind, Actually, Michael Savage comes to mind.
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They somehow really never end up staying with the church,
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do they. Yeah, I know, Glenn Beck's very tragic figure
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as mother committed suicide and he's manic depressive, and he
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ended up blaming the church for her suicide. I mean,
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you know, it's not good. I think Michael Savage's father
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was Jewish, I believe, and his mother was Catholic. Now
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I may be wrong. I could be totally wrong about this.
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I'm just remembering, and I could be even thinking about
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a different person. But he was essentially raised to be
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a communist atheist, you know, and then he came to
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his senses later on. You know, he used to hang
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out with Allen Ginsburg and such. It's really not the
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best idea for a Catholic Amarian non Catholic. That said,
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it is permissible, and the duty of the Catholic spouse
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is to convince the Protestant or other religion spouse to
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become Catholic, and that has happened several times throughout history.
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We can think of many great saints who had a
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Catholic mother and a pagan father or whatever, and she
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convinced him to convert to Catholicism. In fact, without such,
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it would not be have been the Holy Roman Empire.
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You know, that's a pretty big deal right there. But
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it is difficult, and it puts many barriers in someone's way.
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And I think the biggest issue in our time, which
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would have been far less of a problem in Fall
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of Sparago's time, is divorce. This. Gosh, A lot of
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people don't understand this, and a lot of people get
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really upset when you explain it to them, both Catholics
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and Protestant. The Catholic Church does not recognize civil divorce.
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If a person has been married and divorced but not
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annulled by the Catholic Church, a Catholic cannot date that person.
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You know, you could say, well, you could spend time
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with them and it could be you know, and maybe
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you can convince him to get annoyed. Yeah, go for it.
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I mean absolutely, in my own experience, whenever I've tried
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to explain that to a woman, she's gotten extremely offended
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and acted like I was saying she wasn't good enough
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and all that, and I'm saying, no, no, you have
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to understand Jesus forbade divorce and the Catholic Church does
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not accept divorce. Just because your denomination violates the teachings
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of Jesus Christ does not mean that my denomination does. Now,
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here's all you have to do. And I always tell
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I say, here's all you have to do. I'll go
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with you, we'll go down, we'll talk to the priest,
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you'll fill out a little paperwork, you'll put down your
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reason for an annulment. I'll pay the fees. It's only
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like a paperwork processing fee, I think all totally. It
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may be seventy bucks or something, you know, and it's
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just the paperwork going from the diocese to the the
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bishop and everything going back and forth, and official documents
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being as signed. I pay for it. That's usually the
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end of the conversation. I've never had a single one.
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And there have been three or four five Protestant divorced
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women who have been quite interested in me, and I've
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explained that, and I was interested in them. But I said, look,
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we can spend time together. We can take a hike together,
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we can watch a movie, we can eat dinner. But
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the minute I start having feelings toward you, I'm violating
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the words of Jesus, saying that you can't lust after
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a married woman because you're still married in the eyes
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of Jesus and his church. We can't kiss, we can't
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do anything that you might want to do. So if
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you'll just do this for me, then we'll be free
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to date. They get angry, they scream a lot, or
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just shut down and leave, and I never hear from
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him again. On the other hand, Catholics don't always understand this,
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and they think, well, you know, it's just dating and
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we're not going to get into things that would be
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forbidden by the Church. But just remember what Jesus said,
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what I just explained. The minute you start being physically
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attracted to this person and letting your mind go there,
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and it's going to go there whether you like it
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or not, you are committing adultery, adultery, and she is
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committing adultery. You are actually leading her into sin, and
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she's leading you into sin, and you're leading yourself into sin.
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It's not permissible. And unfortunately I don't know that I
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have actually met a single woman over the age of
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thirty in the past twenty years that wasn't divorced. Makes
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it real hard, real hard for a Catholic to get
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married after college. You know, I didn't convert to I
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was twenty four. Little did I know that that was
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pretty much going to end my dating life. You know,
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I've dated only one. Only one girl have dated in
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the past twenty years has been Catholic. It was a
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distance relationship. It didn't work out. You know, several Protestants
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who were younger than me and unmarried, like in their twenties.
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And again, even though they hadn't been divorced, when they
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learn about the Catholic teaching on marriage that it is permanent,
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that it divorce is not allowed, they usually don't want
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anything to do with it. Divorce is just such a
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part of Protestant culture. Many Protestants have been divorced and
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remarried three, four or five times. My neighbors have, both
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of them, I think, both sets and neighbors on either
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side of me. One I think is Episcopalian and the
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others I guess Baptist, and I think one's been divorced
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married three times and the other four or five four
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and then their marriage to send a divorce because he
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was cheating on her. Okay, it's such a part of
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Protestant culture. And say that, you know, they get so
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offended when you just say, you know, this is what
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Jesus said about the subject of divorce, and they get livid.
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They just I mean, you're just insulted them. And then
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you know, one just really beautiful girl, I was crazy
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about her. Her Ah. Her profession is in I guess
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sociologies and psychology and such and she will not accept
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Catholic teaching on homosexuality. And I said, look, you know,
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you know, if you convert to Catholicism, I'd love to
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marry you. We'll have a bunch of kids. I mean,
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she's just a little Barbie doll and we get along
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great for the most part. And she said, absolutely not.
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I'm not going to have my children raised to believe
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that it's sinful to be homosexual. And I'm like, but
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the Bible says it. And you're a Methodist, don't you
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believe the words of the Bible. Well people used to
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think that then, but we know better now. Well you
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think you know better than God, I guess, I mean,
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and you know, they're just it's really hard, really really
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hard for a Catholic to marry a non Catholic. I
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trust me. I wish it were not. I sincerely wish
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it were not. But feminism and the homosexual and transgendered movement.
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But like I said, it all starts with the original
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sin of divorce. When Protestants said divorce was okay under
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King Henry the Eighth. You know, even Martin Luther wouldn't
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go that far. He just said it was fine to
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have all the extra menorial affairs you wanted. He really
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encouraged adultery and even accused Jesus of committing adultery. That's
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your founder of Protestantism. But he did not say divorce
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was okay because the clear plain words of the Bible,
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in all for Gospels, Jesus Christ himself says it's not allowed.
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So when all Protestant churches allow divorce, and when that happened,
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when I think even more than their founding doctrines of
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sola fide and sola scriptura, because that said, well, we
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believe everything we believe is based on the Bible, but
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we know this isn't true, and we're still going to
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pretend it is. I mean, the whole thing just falls
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apart like a house of cards, and eventually it will.
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It will all fall apart like a house of cards.
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So let me get back to this. We are under
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a rigorous obligation to keep the commandments of the Church,
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for disobedience to the Church is disobedience to Christ. Christ
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has conferred upon the Church the same powers which he
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received from his father. He said to his apostles, as
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the Father sent me, I also send you John twenty
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twenty one. When the Church enjoins anything upon us, it
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is the same as if Christ enjoyed upon us enjoined
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it upon us. For he said, whatever you shall bind
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on earth shall be also bound in heaven, bound also
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in heaven Matthew twenty eight eighteen. In disobeying the Church,
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we disobey Christ, as he told the apostles, he that
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despiseth you, despiseth me Luke ten sixteen. Our Lord speaks
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of the Church as a kingdom. He also compares it
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to a fold to teach us that the children of
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the Church must obey their ecclesiastical superiors. Every society is
22:35
authorized to make laws which the members must observe. Thus
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the Church does by her mouth. God makes his will
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known to us. He therefore, who wantonly violates one of
22:46
the Church's laws commits a grievous sin. Our Lord expressly
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says that he who will not hear the Church is
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to be regarded as the heathen in Matthew eighteen seventeen.
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Under the old dispensation, death was the punishment of one who,
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through pride, should refuse to obey the commandment of the
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high priests Deuteronomy seventeen twelve. Thus we see that from
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the first rebellion against the spiritual authority was a heinous sin.
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The rulers of the Church are empowered to dispense the
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faithful from the observation of any of the commandments of
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the Church for weighty reasons. Christ said of the apostles,
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what you loose upon earth shall be loosed in heaven.
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That's why they can grant annoyments, but they have to fit.
23:30
There has to be a valid reason Matthew eighteen eighteen.
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Some bishops permit that meat beaten on Friday when a
23:38
festival falls on that day. The Pope has sanctioned the
23:41
transference of certain holy days to the following Sunday in
23:44
some countries. And of course, since Father Sparago's time, when
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many people, especially in the Americas, have less access to
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seafood at an affordable price, at least being inland peoples
23:55
as opposed to coastal peoples where people typically settled in
23:59
Europe and Asian and such, they've lifted the churches lifted
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the commandment, so to speak, the precept that all Catholics
24:09
must abstained from eating meat on Friday still a very
24:12
good thing to do if you can do it. It's
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I think it should be the exception, not the rule
24:21
that Catholics eat meat on Fridays. Fish on Friday causes
24:26
us to remember that we're Catholic, to be culturally Catholic,
24:30
and to do a bit of penance, and it's good.
24:34
It's you know, how hard is it in our day
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and age just to at least get a fish file
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at from McDonald's, right. I mean, if that's your only choice,
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and that would be my last choice, trust me. But
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we've had very few excuses for eating meat on Friday
24:52
if we can help it. Now. That said, if you
24:56
live in an area where it's hard to get her,
24:57
it's expensive, don't worry about it. You know. The Church
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which understands the first commandment of the Church is the
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observance of Sundays and Holy Days, and the first commandment
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of the Church, the solemn observance of Holy Days is
25:10
enjoyed in Naupundas. There are seven festivals of Our Lord,
25:13
five of Our Lady, and three of the Saints. The
25:16
early Christians cap a great number of festivals in order
25:19
to keep alive the memory of certain events or benefits
25:22
received from God. As the anniversaries came round. These feasts
25:26
were instituted that the events they commemorate might be remembered
25:30
to all time by the faithful, and praise and thanksgiving
25:33
be rendered to God for them. Unhappily, some persons only
25:36
mark those festivals by providing a more liberal table, as
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if Saint Jerome remarks by eating and drinking, one could
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honor those who sought to please God by fastening a mortification.
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The seventh feasts of Our Lord are one Christmas December
25:49
twenty five to the Circumcision January first, three, the Epiphany
25:54
January sixth, four, Easter five, the Ascension, six Pentecosts, seven
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cores is Christie the last name is not a holy
26:02
day for the United States. I think it is now.
26:07
I mean we observe it as the holy day in
26:09
my diocese. It's all I can tell you. As the
26:11
Nativity and Resurrection of Our Lord and the coming of
26:14
the Holy Ghost are events of primary importance, they are
26:17
celebrated with a particular solemnity in European countries. The twenty
26:21
sixth of December, the Feast of Saint Stephen, and the
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two days immediately following Easter Day and Pentecosts are feasts
26:28
of devotion, the Five Feasts of the Mother of God
26:30
or the Immaculate Conception December eighth, the Nativity of Our
26:33
Lady September eighth, the Annunciation March twenty fifth, the Purification
26:38
February second, and the Assumption August fifteen. Of these festivals,
26:43
the Immaculate Consumption and the Assumption Mechlic Conception and the
26:47
Assumption are the only ones now observed as holy days
26:50
of obligation. The life of the Mother of God is
26:52
so intimately connected with that of her divine son that
26:55
the Church commemorates its principal events. Unlike the other saints,
26:58
who are commemorated on the day of their death because
27:01
it was their birth to a better life, the day
27:03
of Mary's birth is solemnonized, solemnized because she was born
27:07
without sin. The Three Festivals of the Saints or the
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Feast of Saint Stephen December twenty sixth no longer a
27:13
holy day of obligation, The Feasts of Saint Peter and
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Paul June twenty eighth and not a Holy day of
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the United States, and the Feasts of All Saints November
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first in some lands, The feasts of the Patron Saint
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of the country is also kept as a general holiday.
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These festivals are either fixed or movable. The former are
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kept yearly on the same day. The latter varies to
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the date of the celebration. The fixed festivals are the
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Amact of Conception, Christmas and the Circumcision, the Epiphany, the
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Annunciation Saint Peter and Paul, the Assumption and the Nativity
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of Our Lady, the Feasts of All Saints. The movable
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feasts or Easter, which is kept on the first Sunday
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following the first new moon after the spring equinox, consequently
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in the interval between the twenty second of March and
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the two twenty fifth of April, the Ascension forty days
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after Easter Pentecost fifty days after Easter Corpus Christie the
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Thursday of the second week after wit Sunday. The Church
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has instituted some of her festivals as substitutes for festivals
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of the Old Testament, which were foreshadowing of the Christian festivals.
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Others take place of heathen festivals. The Birth of Our
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Lord is commemorating the season when Pagans consecrated the long
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winter nights to worship the sun. The procession in different
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countries on Candlemass Day is a Christianized form of the
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torchlit processions held in the first day of February when
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these days begin perceptibly, When the days begin to perceptibly,
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Lincoln lengthened in honor of the divinities of the ancients.
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This the Church did in order to render the Evan
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evangelization of the Heathen more easy. By changing instead of
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abrogating their ceremonies. A lot of prizes get really upset.
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They'll say, you know, Catholic celebrate pagan holidays, and no,
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we what's the word abrogated? We took them over. It
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was a easier way to spread the Church. People like
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their festivals and traditions, and we christianize them. Nothing wrong
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with that, Nothing wrong with that whatsoever. Same way that
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Christians christianize the Hebrew, the Jewish Passover into Easter and
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Hanukkah as part of our Christmas, same thing. The Holy
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Days of Obligation ought to be kept in the same
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manner as the Sundays. We must abstain from servile work
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and assist at Holy mess The number of Holy Days
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of Obligation varies in different countries. In some certain festivals
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have been transferred to the Sunday following, as it was
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found that Holy days recurring too frequently produced the opposite
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effect to that for which they were instituted. The ecclesiastical year.
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The Jews of old used to observe a number of
30:00
feasts besides the Sabbath, and commemoration of important events in
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their history e g. The feasts the Festival of Easter
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and memory of the exit from Egypt, Pentecost and memory
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of the giving of the Laws on Sinai, the feasts
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of the Tabernacles in memory of their journey through the
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devasert the desert. The Church does much the same. She
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annually recalls events in Our Lord's life on earth and
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representing them as vividly as is possible for so long
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a lapse of time. This is especially the case in
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the ceremonies of Holy Week. The Ecclesiastical years an annual
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commemoration and representation of the life of Christ and the
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time before and after his birth. The Church places these
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events before us in order that we may meditate upon
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them and imitate Our Lord's life. In advent, we are
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called upon to anticipate with the patriarchs of the Old
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Testament the coming of the long expected Redeemer. At Christmas,
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we rejoice with the shepherds. At his birth. In Lent,
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we faster forty days with Christ. At Easter we rise
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again with him. At Pentecost, we join with the disciples
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in praying for the coming of the Holy Ghost. On
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almost every day of the year, the Church commemorates one
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or more of the Saints. They are like the planets
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revolving around the Sun of Justice. She bids us consider
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their lives and how they imitated Christ and thus became
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patterns of the Christian perfection, and she desires to encourage
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us to imitate Him too. It is besides the attention
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of the Church that we should implore the intercession of
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the Saints, that we may more surely be made partakers
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in the merits of Christ. Finally, by weaving these Saints
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days into the cycle of the ecclesiastical year, she would
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teach us, amid all our earthly occupations, to keep our
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thoughts fixed upon God, doing all as the apostles exhort
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us to his glory First Corinthians ten thirty one. The
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ecclesiastical year begins upon the first Sunday and Advent. Its
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three principal phase feasts are Christmas, the birth of Christ
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is celebrated, day of his resurrection, and Pentecost, when the
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coming of the Holy Spirit Spirit is commemorated. Thus, the
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Ecclesiastical year sets forth the glory of the Holy Trinity.
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It displays the charity of the Father who sent his
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son into the world, the charity of the Son who
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died for our sakes, and the charity of the Holy
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Spirit who descends to abide with us. Therefore, the first
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Sunday after Pentecost is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. This
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feast links all the other three together. Each of these
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three great feasts but has a season of preparation preceding it,
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as well as a subsequent commemoration. Advent is the season
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of preparation before Christmas. In the subsequent period we have
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the feasts of the Circumcision, the Epiphany, the Purification, the
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Sunday after the Epiphany. The four weeks of the Advent
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represent the four thousand years during which the coming of
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the Messiah was expected. The Immaculate Conception occurs most suitably
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in Advent in the eighth of December, at the birth
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of Christ, the son of justice rose upon the world,
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dispelling the darkness of sin and ignorance. Mary was like
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the Aurora mechanicals six nine, heralding the coming day. The
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period after Christmas is symbolized of the symbolical of the
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youth of our Lord and of the time which intervened
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before his entry upon his public ministry, his hidden life,
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that is at Nazareth. The forty days of Lent, or
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preparation for Easter, and the pastial time lasts during the
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subsequent forty days before the ascension. The preparation for Lent
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includes three Sundays, called respectively, step to Oh, I have
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this trouble, this one, you know, I would stept to
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a jesseima sexa jesseima and quin to qua jessema. I
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know I mispronounced this. If you don't grow up hearing
33:50
these things spoken, you don't know how to say them, okay.
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And I certainly did not grow up in a Baptism,
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Methodism Presbyterian churches hearing such words. They were so named
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because in the early days of Christianity, many community These
34:06
many communities began the fast sixty fifty, sixty or seventy
34:11
days before Easter in order not to have to fast
34:14
every day of the forty The Wednesday after quin Qua
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Guessima is called ash Wednesday because of the ceremonies sprinkling
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ashes upon the foreheads of the faithful. On ash Wednesday,
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the season of Lent commences. It is forty six days
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before Easter, the number of days completed without the six
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Sundays on which we do not fast during Lent, the
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public life of our Lord has set before us his
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previous fastest, passion and death. The forty days which intervene
34:45
before the ascension represent the forty days he spent on
34:47
earth after his resurrection. The three days before the ascension
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or the rogation days on these processions are held. The
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ten days after the ascension, or a period of preparation
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for Pentecost. Subsequent commemoration lasts for twenty four weeks, sometimes
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even longer. The ten days before Pentecost represent the ten
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days during which the apostles awaited the coming of the
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Holy Spirit. The weeks that follow represent the time that
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show elapse before the last Judgment. Consequently, on the last
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Sunday after Pentecost, the gospel read in church is that
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which foretails our Lord's coming as judge. The feast of
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all Saints and all Souls close the Ecclesiastical year. This
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is to signify that we are in an unbroken communion
35:30
with the blessed in heaven and the holy souls in purgatory,
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and that our separation from them is but temporary. All
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Souls Day occurs suitably when the face of nature presents
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some image of death. In other words, in late fall.
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The aspect of nature corresponds to the three principal festivals
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in Advent. At least for us who inhabit the northern hemisphere,
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the nights are longer than the days, and the life
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of vegetations at a standstill. So it was the spiritual
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order before the coming of Christ. After Christmas, the day
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begins to lengthen. Just so the birth of Christ brought
36:05
light into the world. As Easter, nature awakens to new
36:09
life and decks yourself with verdure greenness. Christ rises glorious
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from the dead. At Pentecost, trees and meadows are in
36:17
their full bounty of leaf and blossom. With the coming
36:20
of the Holy Spirit, a fresh era commences from mankind,
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and fair flowers of holiness are brought forth. Wonderful traditions
36:27
collected with this, especially in Pole and beautiful traditions that
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we really need to bring back. The epistles and Gospels,
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as well as the hymns and sequences of Mass, are
36:36
suited to the festivals and seasons of the ecclesiastical year.
36:40
The gospels are portions taken from the Four Gospels, and
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the epistles from other parts of Holy Scripture. They original clique,
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originally compiled by Saint Jerome. All right, I'm going to
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wrap this one up here. That's the first Commandment of
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the Church, and all of these six are part of
36:58
essentially the third of the Ten Ams. So we'll spend
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probably six days on these. You know, they're very interesting
37:06
and like I said, little known these days. I mean,
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how often do you hear about rogation days anymore or
37:11
anything like that. You know, there's so much rich tradition, ceremony,
37:18
history of the Catholic Church that I love learning about
37:23
as a convert, and so many Catholics have forgotten them too.
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We need if we can bring so much more of
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this back into our lives and our family traditions. Yeah,
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it may make it maybe make a standout stick out
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a little bit more in the secular world, but it
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makes living as a Catholic a whole lot easier, and
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that's far more important. So I like this kind of
37:50
stuff and i'm gonna spend some time on it. So
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y'all remember the words of Saint Padre Pio, pray, hope
37:55
and don't worry, and I'll talk to you next time.