Reflections on the Litany of Loreto: QUEEN OF VIRGINS

Since the earliest centuries, the Church has celebrated the virtue of virginity. Though unswerving in its defence of the sacrament of marriage, priests and religious orders have shunned this physical bond in pursuit of a singular service to Jesus Christ. Like St Paul and the Early Fathers, these men and women consider sexual abstinence to be no great sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel message.

Such a consecration of the whole body to God is so rarely appreciated within our contemporary culture. Modern society scorns even the sanctity of the marital state as the necessary framework for human intimacy, so the concept of virginity or celibacy makes no sense whatsoever. Not since the days of classical Greece and Rome has an age gloried more in its excesses. Liberty is confused with liberalism, and lewdness is practised under the auspices of civil rights, with little or no mention of the need for individual responsibility. The results are physical disease, and a moral and social decay which affects the young barely before they have reached the threshold of adulthood. Indeed, it is a sad indictment of our society when our teenagers are made to feel inferior by their peers if they do not rid themselves of their innocence at the earliest possible opportunity. What have we come to when virginity and abstinence are so despised?

But for all those who choose to follow this path, the Queen of Virgins will walk with them always. The same grace of God that preserved the chastity of Our Lady shall be dispensed with bountiful measure to that soul which sees no shame in abstinence outside of wedlock, or which gladly shuns the marital covenant entirely for the sake of a covenant with Christ. Christ will be the sole satisfier of their hunger, the sole quencher of their thirst, and all that will occupy the mind is the pursuit of deeper prayer, and the glorious mysteries of the most holy faith. Such souls lose nothing. And what they gain is beyond human reckoning.

“You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. For people will be…lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.”

1 Timothy 3:1,4

When Your Head’s in the Sand, You Can’t See the Stars

There’s an old accusation that used to be levelled at Christians, declaring believers to be ‘too heavenly-minded to be of any earthly good.’

I have always disagreed with that statement. After all, who has ever been more heavenly-minded than Jesus Christ? Was he of  no use to the world?

Meanwhile, the pendulum has swung in completely the opposite direction. Now churches are filled with those who seem to be ’too earthly-minded to be of any heavenly good.’  Post service announcements invite congregations to fund-raising events, tea dances, social clubs, Mothers Union and Women’s Institute gatherings. And whilst all of these things may be lawful, are they expedient? Do they contribute to the growth of the spiritual life? Are they challenging both church members and those who are not with the life-changing power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

If we cannot answer a categorical yes to all these questions, then we are not giving the glory due to God as we should. And the next question we should be asking is ‘Should we not dare to change?’ To take the radical step of returning to the faith  of our forefathers and proclaim the unadulterated Good News of Jesus Christ to a hell-bound world lost in sin.

 

 

Reflections on the Litany of Loreto: QUEEN OF CONFESSORS

In the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, Satan’s war against the fledgling Church of Jesus Christ is played out in graphic imagery. The diabolical provenance of the persecution initiated by the Imperial Caesars is confirmed by their representation as a fearful serpent seeking the destruction of the Marian apparition seen by John in the heavens. But just as the Edenic prophecy anticipated, the war extends beyond conflict between the Woman and the Serpent. Thwarted in his fury against Mary, Satan turns his attention to the saints on earth, described by John as ‘her children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus’ (Revelation 12:17).

Of all those who confess the name of Christ, who profess Jesus to be their Lord and Redeemer, Mary is the Queen. The rite of acquiring citizenship of most countries of the world requires the applicant to swear an oath of allegiance to the sovereign or governing power of their would-be nationality. And similarly, the name of Jesus Christ is our own oath of allegiance to the Queen of Heaven, conferring upon all who utter it in faith the right to call themselves a citizen of the New Jerusalem.

The Oxford dictionary defines the word confessor as one who ‘avows religious faith in the face of opposition.’ And so we are brought back to the arena of Revelation 12, where Mary’s queenship is linked especially to those saints suffering persecution and oppression. Be assured — Mary is Queen of all who open their hearts to Christ and embrace him as their Saviour. But there remains a special place in the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady for all who face hostility simply for owning Jesus. Since the beginning, the rulers of the world have sought the destruction of the sons and daughters of the heavenly kingdom. From Ancient Rome to Rwanda; from heathen Saxons who slew monks in their coastal monasteries of Dark Age Britain, to the killing fields of Modern-day Sudan. In such times and places, a profession of faith earns not just a scornful look or words of derision. It is quite literally a matter of life and death. Yet there have remained those so in love with Christ that they count this life as nothing beside eternity, prepared to offer even their own blood as the sign and seal of their faith in him.

Stoke-on-Trent Society of the Holy Rosary

Stoke-on-Trent Society of the Holy Rosary

Having felt led to promote the Rosary among Christians of all denominations as a secret to effective and frutiful prayer, I have set up this local group within my home city with a view to fulfilling that vision. Prayers are appreciated, that God will bless this new venture in the spirit of the New Evangelisation.

Quote for the Day

“If we contemplate Mary at the foot of her Son’s cross we will learn to offer our pain and suffering to him and to have great sympathy for those who suffer. Let us ask her now to teach us to sanctify pain, uniting it to that of her Son Jesus. Let us ask the Holy Innocents to help us…to offer up our pain and to have great compassion for all who suffer.”

Francis Fernandez

Anglican Collect Prayer for the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ

Almighty God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the law for man: grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit; that, our hearts, and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

A Scripture for the Feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’

Matthew 1:20-21