The Mystical Body of Christ in the End Times, Pt. 1

by T. Stanfill Benns | Dec 11, 2022 | Blog

ROME, ITALY – AUGUST 28, 2021: The detail of fresco of Holy Trinity in the church San Francesco Saverio by Sebastiano Conca (1680 – 1764).

+Third Sunday in Advent+

In the series on marriage, the fact was stressed that those who violate Canon Law and are married outside the Church are no longer members of the Mystical Body of Christ because they have become at least material heretics. This is true because one cannot belong to a Church which pretends to be Catholic but has no pope and cannot legitimately procure one. The definition of a schismatic fits Traditionalists to a “T.” A schismatic is defined by Rev. Ignatius Szal as: “…one who, having received baptism and still retaining the name of Christian nevertheless refuses obedience to the Supreme Pontiff,” (while yet recognizing him as the head of the Church) “or refuses to communicate with those members of the Church subject to him.” In the strict sense, Szal noted, the following elements also are essential for schism to exist:

“One must withdraw directly (expressly) or indirectly (by one’s actions) from obedience to the Roman Pontiff and separate oneself from ecclesiastical communion with the rest of the faithful; one’s withdrawal must be made with obstinacy and rebellion; in relation to those things by which the unity of the Church is constituted; yet despite this formal disobedience the schismatic must recognize the Roman Pontiff as the true pastor of the Church” (Communication of Catholics with non-Catholics, Catholic University of America Canon Law dissertation, 1948).

Traditionalists are individuals who are baptized and retain the name Catholic. They recognize the pope as the head of the Church and pay him lip service. They will not acknowledge that those who pray at home legitimately object to their position and they dismiss them as cranks. They deny the necessity of the papacy by recognizing men as bishops who are not even validly consecrated according to the laws and infallible teachings of the Church, which Traditionalists stubbornly and consistently refuse to acknowledge as binding. They have denied the necessity of the papacy for the Church’s existence, indirectly withdrawing themselves from such obedience by refusing to honor the Church’s teaching that doubts regarding the validity of the Sacraments require them to remove themselves from these bishops. More to the point, Canon Law actually requires that they denounce them.

Those now members of Traditionalist sects could study and arrive at certitude regarding their actual position and convert, but this doesn’t often happen. All of us at one time were material heretics if we ever attended the Novus Ordo or a Traditionalist chapel. And yet, thankfully, even though they must consider themselves as such, there has been no formal decision made in their case, giving time at least for repentance. As explained in the marriage blogs, there are ways to mitigate this censure and prepare ourselves for absolution as best we can, as detailed in Canon Law. It requires public penance and a three-year probationary period as a pray-at-home Catholic, but it is the best we can do to return to the Church without valid bishops or the pope to receive us. We must humble ourselves and rely entirely on God’s mercy. Without the hierarchy we are in much the same position as those who have no one to baptize them, or who are truly invincibly ignorant and love God according to their best lights, but remain in other non-Catholic sects. We must become members of Christ’s Mystical Body by desire, praying He always will count us as such if we obey His laws, the teachings of His Vicars, do penance for our sins and do our best to help others find Him.

That Catholics do not go to greater lengths to make certain they are at least members of this Body by desire can be attributed to the fact that they refuse to adopt the pray-at-home position and know so little about the beauty and the living reality of this Body, representing Christ’s continued existence and operation on this earth among men. Some of this material has been covered already in our site articles HERE and HERE. But more needs to be said about the living reality of this Body that binds Catholics to Christ and to one another. This is the union that will exist unto the consummation, for as Pope Pius XII infallibly defined in Mystici Corporis Christi: “If we would define and describe this true Church of Jesus Christ — which is the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church — we shall find nothing more noble, more sublime, or more divine than the expression ‘the Mystical Body of Christ’ — an expression which springs from and is, as it were, the fair flowering of the repeated teaching of the Sacred Scriptures and the Holy Fathers.” Christ and His Vicar are the invisible and visible heads of this Body, but when there is no visible Head, Christ alone rules His Church. Below we will read more about the workings of this wondrous Body from approved theologians.

The Theology of the Mystical Body by Emile Mersch S.J., 1951

“…Christ ‘s humanity was both an empirical thing and a mysterious reality… The Church will likewise be an empirical thing and a mysterious reality.

“First it will be an empirical, concrete, visible, tangible thing like all human realities that prolong themselves in some form of continuation, for it is a human institution, a human society. And it is a society quite visibly and tangibly. Its sociology and Canon Law can be written down, it has its clearly defined members and its definite seat. It is the Church of Rome as Jesus Christ was Jesus of Nazareth. As a society it is perfect in its kind with a firm and well-delineated structure as befits a thing that is the perpetuation of the God-man. Secondly the Church will be an invisible reality; a life of thought, love and grace that is infused into souls; a divinization and an adoptive sonship which in the unity of the only-begotten Incarnate Son is diffused throughout all mankind so deeply as to be inaccessible to natural consciousness; and which in the depths thus reached unifies mankind in itself and attaches it to God.

“The two aspects of the Church — the visible and the invisible — are often called the soul and the body of the Church. This manner of speaking may have disadvantages and they are brought out in our day, but it greatly facilitates certain explanations. Hence we may profitably devote some consideration to it. The body of the Church as we see at once is the external aspect — the empirical society which is the Church of Rome. The word body does not have here the precise sense it has in the term mystical body. FOR THE EXPRESSION ‘MYSTICAL BODY’ DESIGNATES THE MYSTERIOUS AND INTERIOR ELEMENT OF THE CHURCH. Even for those who identify the Church Militant with the Mystical Body, it does not designate the external aspect of body except so far as it is the outward manifestation of the interior soul which consists in such a mystery.

“The soul of the Church must clearly be the factor that makes this society a living Organism. It is the first general principle of a collective and unified life in all the members. This factor can be nothing else than the grace which causes all these members to be living members of Christ —the divinizing grace that is infused into all by one and the same Christ. Or else we may say that it is Christ, the Son of the Father regarded as the principle of life and the whole supernatural Organism. Because of this confusion, a certain universal principle and a genus of such as have grace as Saint Thomas says a universal principle for bestowing grace on human nature” (end of Mersch quotes). 

The Mystical Christ, (Rev. John C. Gruden, S.T.L., 1938)

“Bishop Myers clarifies this difference between the Church and moral bodies in the words: ‘What makes Christ’s Mystical Body so very different from any moral body of men is the character of the union existing between Christ and the members. It is not a mere external union; it is not a mere moral union, it is a union which, as realized in Christ’s Church, is at once external and moral, but also in that primarily internal and supernatural. It is the supernatural union of the sanctified soul with Christ and with all other sanctified souls in Christ. The term Mystical Body is used to convey the idea that the Church is not merely a social organization, but an organism, a communion, a body: the living spiritual or supernatural body of Christ.

“The term mystical or mystic calls attention to the fact that in mere natural or moral bodies the relationship between the members and their head and the relationship between the members one to another is moral only or juridical, whereas the relationship between Christ and the members of the Church, members of His body, is quasi-physical and organic. The bonds that unite Christians to Christ and to one another are organic, physical, sacramental, although supernatural and invisible. The Church is not only ‘a complicated but smoothly functioning administrative machine’ it is more than that; Christians and Christ form a body of a special kind, neither physical nor moral, which lives and grows by a vital force descending from the head, Jesus Christ, to the members. ‘Christ the head, in His members’ says Bishop Myers ‘constitute a unique entity which is designed by a unique name: the Mystical Body of Christ’” (p. 64-65).

“The following are the leading ideas necessary for a correct grasp of the relation which obtains between the Mystical Body of Christ and the communion of saints:

“A. The Mystical Body (p. 160-161)

1. The Mystical Body of Christ is the Church militant, the “Church” or “ecclesia” in the strict sense, a visible society, both human and divine, with a visible hierarchical organization established by Christ, and with a visible, juridical, or moral head, the pope, the vicar of Christ and successor of St. Peter in the see of Rome.
2. Its invisible, principal, juridical and sole mystical head is Jesus Christ, the God-man, gloriously reigning in heaven. The Incarnate Word is also its exemplary cause, that is, the union of the visible with the invisible elements, of the natural with the supernatural, of the human and divine, in the supernatural organism of the Mystical Body is patterned after the model of the hypostatic union between the human and the divine nature in the person of the incarnate Word.
3. The formal internal cause, the Soul of this unique organism, is the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity who proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit dwells in this body as its informing principle consolidating all the members of the visible society into a unified organism, joining them by mystical, quasi-physical, or sacramental bonds to their mystical head, Jesus Christ.
4. The members of this body are all baptized earthly pilgrims (viatores) who have not separated themselves from it either by the loss of faith or excommunication.
5. The immediate end or purpose of the Mystical Body is to be the medium of salvation for men of all nations and of all times, to be the means whereby the merits of Christ’s redemption are applied to them, to be the sacrament or the mystery through which divine life is imparted to them that they may secure for themselves the life of glory in the world to come. The remote or final end is the same as that of all creation, that is, to manifest the glory of the only begotten Son who is the substantial image of the Father. Jesus Christ is glorified in his brothers, members of his Mystical Body, and God the Father is glorified “in his beloved Son.”

“B. The Communion of Saints

1. The communion of saints is an invisible society, a “Church” or “ecclesia” in the broad sense, a moral body.
2. Its invisible, moral, or juridical head is the glorified or exalted Christ.
3. The formal cause of the communion of saints is grace, the work of the Holy Spirit to whom sanctification of creatures is ascribed by appropriation. The Holy Spirit also personally dwells in individual souls belonging to the communion. He is present in the communion of saints as a spirit, but not as its soul, for he is not its informing principle. The Holy Spirit may, indeed, be spoken of as the soul of the communion of saints, if the term “soul” be used in the broad sense, as equivalent to “spirit.”
4. The members of this communion are the saints in heaven (saints in the strict sense, comprehensores), and the souls in purgatory, in other words, the Church triumphant and the Church suffering. Members of this communion are also the saints in the broad sense, that is, all the faithful, even though they be sinners who actually belong to the Church militant. There are, however, others who are outside the pale of the Catholic Church, who have not been baptized or who, even though baptized, profess a false religion through invincible ignorance. Pagans and Protestants may belong to this class. They, too, may be in the state of sanctifying grace, hence there seems to be no reason for excluding them from the “communion of saints.”
5. The object of the “communion of saints,” its proximate purpose, is not to be the medium of salvation, but rather a means of participation by all the members in the spiritual treasures held in common. This participation imports the distribution, interchange, and application of the spiritual gifts, graces, and fruits of meritorious works to all the members in need of the same. The remote or final end is the praise and glory of the Father through the Son.
6. At the end of time the Mystical Body will have achieved its fullest development, it will have attained “to the full measure of the stature of Christ,” and in the glory of heaven the pleroma of Christ will be fully realized. Then the Mystical Body of Christ, the kingdom of God upon earth, the Church militant, will be transformed into the kingdom of God in heaven, or the Church triumphant, namely, that communion of saints in which not only the souls of men, but their bodies also, will, “through Christ our Lord,” share in the glory of the Triune God (Eph. 4:13).

“The Church is a living organism, a body; the mystic body of Christ; hence, if the analogy of the human body as applied to the Church is to be regarded as more than a mere figure of speech, the Church must be informed by an animating principle, a soul. Besides the many or multiple external visible elements, clergy and laity, hierarchical structure, sacraments, sacramentals, etc., the Church must possess an inner element which, intimately united to the visible elements, must be the formal cause of the unity and identity of the organism, formal cause, too, of its own peculiar life which is supernatural and divine. In the Church must dwell a spirit which is not only “spirit” but “soul” in its restricted meaning, which, intimately or quasi-substantially, united with the visible and invisible elements of the Church, “elevates” them to a higher level of being and makes of them the Church; a spirit which through intimate union with the visible and invisible elements be- comes the formal cause of the union between the head and the members and ultimately the source of the manifold life and activity of the “organs,” as well as of the ordinary “members” of Christ’s Mystical Body.

“The theory of two Churches, however, is not exclusively Protestant. Svetlov, a modern Russian “orthodox” theologian, defends it. From the comparison of the Church with the human body he concludes that the invisible Church can exist independently of the visible Church. The human soul, he argues, can live without the body and independently of it. Similarly the soul of the Church, that is, the invisible Church, can exist independently of the body or the visible Church. Here we have an instance of the wrong use of the analogy of the human body. Analogies have their value, but they also have their danger. The value of analogies is that they clarify concepts; their danger is that they may be pushed too far. The Church may not be compared to the human soul existing independently after its separation from the body, but rather to the living human body informed and vivified by the soul.

“The true picture of the Church presented in Sacred Scripture and tradition is that of a unique visible organism, with a human and a divine side, visible and invisible aspect, comprising natural and supernatural elements. The invisible elements which, figuratively speaking, we call the soul of the Church, form together with the visible elements, its body, one undivided and indivisible whole, informed and vivified by the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit.This living visible organism, of which the Holy Spirit is the soul in the real but mystical sense, is the Mystical Body of Christ, or the mystical Christ (p. 167).

“Henry Cardinal Manning…writes: ‘The Church is a mystical person, and all its endowments are derived from the Divine Person of its head, and the Divine Person who is its Life. As in the Incarnation there is a communication of the divine perfections to the humanity, so in the Church the perfections of the Holy Spirit become the endowments of the body. It is imperishable, because he is God; indivisibly one, because he is numerically one; holy, because he is the foundation of holiness; infallible both in believing and in teaching, because his illumination and his voice are immutable, and therefore, being not an individual depending upon the fidelity of the human will, but a body depending only on the divine will, it is not on trial or probation but is itself the instrument of probation to mankind. It cannot be affected by the frailty or sins of the human will, any more than the brightness of the firmament by the dimness or the loss of human sight. It can no more be tainted by human sin than the holy sacraments, which are always immutably pure and divine, though all who come to them be impure and faithless. What the Church was in the beginning it is now, and ever shall be in all plenitude of its divine endowments, because the union between the body and the Spirit is indissoluble, and all the operations of the Spirit in the body are perpetual and absolute.’

“This function of the Holy Spirit in the Mystical Body of Christ, a function so important and so vital, should not be overlooked in any adequate definition of the Church. We suggest as the briefest definition: “The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ animated by the Holy Spirit,” or “The Church is a living, supernatural organism whose Mystical head is Christ, gloriously reigning in heaven (the exalted Christ) and whose soul is the Holy Spirit.” (End of Gruden quotes)

And this from Mystici Corporis: “To this Spirit of Christ, also, as to an invisible principle is to be ascribed the fact that all the parts of the Body are joined one with the other and with their exalted Head; for He is entire in the Head, entire in the Body, and entire in each of the members. To the members He is present and assists them in proportion to their various duties and offices, and the greater or less degree of spiritual health which they enjoy. It is He who, through His heavenly grace, is the principle of every supernatural act in all parts of the Body. It is He who, while He is personally present and divinely active in all the members, nevertheless in the inferior members acts also through the ministry of the higher members. Finally, while by His grace He provides for the continual growth of the Church, He yet refuses to dwell through sanctifying grace in those members that are wholly severed from the Body. This presence and activity of the Spirit of Jesus Christ is tersely and vigorously described by Our predecessor of immortal memory Leo XIII in his Encyclical Letter Divinum Illud in these words: ‘Let it suffice to say that, as Christ is the Head of the Church, so is the Holy Spirit her soul.’“

If we are making amends and doing penance as Canon Law prescribes — praying and studying our faith to be forgiven for the sins of schism and material heresy — we can hope to qualify as those not wholly severed from the Body. We can yet be counted as members of Christ’s Body and the continuation of His Church on earth. In the next part of this study, the intended continuation of Christ’s Mystical Body will be explained and readers will see that what has happened to the Church in these times, the loss of the papacy, Mass and Sacraments, will actually assist the faithful in seamlessly transitioning to the New Jerusalem in Heaven.

What does the Church really teach about: Almsgiving

by T. Stanfill Benns | Oct 15, 2022 | Blog

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+St. Teresa of Avila+ 

The next few blogs will be dedicated to dispelling some misunderstandings that have arisen around certain Catholic moral topics as they apply to the world we live in today. The first subject to be addressed will be almsgiving.

In a day and age when the true sense of Catholic almsgiving has been almost obliterated, it is important to keep in mind the longstanding teaching of the Church in these matters, which along with so many other moral and dogmatic teachings has been lost in the neo-pagan shuffle. Great discretion in almsgiving is required today owing to the many scams and con artist operations run in this world, by both cunning individuals and fraudulent organizations. Many of the younger set especially believe it is perfectly acceptable to aid the anonymous “homeless” person, or beggar with a sign stopping traffic on the street, but those who read what is below will understand that this is neither wise nor does it constitute true charity.

Discretion in Almsgiving

Proverbs 6 — vs. 6-11

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom:

7 Which, although she hath no guide, nor master, nor captain,

8 Provideth her meat for herself in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou rise out of thy sleep?

10 Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to sleep:

11 And want shall come upon thee, as a traveler, and poverty as a man armed. But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain, and want shall flee far from thee.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins, Matthew 25

1. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like to ten virgins, who taking their lamps went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride.
2. And five of them were foolish, and five wise.
3. But the five foolish, having taken their lamps, did not take oil with them:
4. But the wise took oil in their vessels with the lamps.
5. And the bridegroom tarrying, they all slumbered and slept.
6. And at midnight there was a cry made: Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him.
7. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
8. And the foolish said to the wise: Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.
9. The wise answered, saying: Lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you, go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10. Now whilst they went to buy, the bridegroom came: and they that were ready, went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut.
11. But at last come also the other virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us.
12. But he, answering, said: Amen I say to you, I know you not.
13. Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour.

“Charity begins at home.” — St. Augustine

The above verses remind us that we are not obligated to support those who are willfully lazy and do not provide for themselves, even in times of great need. As one author writing about hospital care sponsored by the Church wrote: “Hospital care was so good that precautions had to be taken not to permit sturdy beggars to take advantage of it… by pretended ailments and thus secure for themselves a nice easy life or at least a refuge during the colder months until they could take to the road again” (The World’s Debt to the Catholic Church, James J. Walsh, 1924). With the many homeless now populating metro areas, this would seem to be a good bit of advice. Better that such funds be used to benefit some family one knows personally to be truly worthy and in need, and St. Cyprian says such people do not need to be Catholic. The risk of the homeless or random beggars using these funds for sinful purposes is simply too great, and this would amount to cooperation in sin. More on this is explained below.

Rules for almsgiving

(The following is from the article on Almsgiving, Catholic Encyclopedia.)

Discretion in almsgiving is counseled in the Apostolic Constitutions: “Alms must not be given to the malicious, the intemperate, or the lazy; lest a premium should be set on vice” (Const. Apost., ii, 1-63; iii, 4-6).

And this from the Didache, or non-canonical book, The Teaching of the 12 Apostles: “In addition to its innate characteristics, almsgiving should be vested with qualities tending to garner fruitfulness for giver and receiver. Hence, almsgiving should be discreet, so as to reach deserving individuals or families (2 Thessalonians 3:10; Sirach 12:4); prompt, so as to warrant opportuneness (Proverbs 3:28); secret and humble (Matthew 6:2); cheerful (2 Corinthians 9:7); abundant (Tobit 4:9; St. Thomas, Summa Theol., II-II, Q. xxxii, art. 10). The harvest of blessings to be reaped by almsgiving amply suffices to inspire noble-minded Christians “to make unto themselves friends of the Mammon of iniquity.”

First of all, almsgiving renders the donor like unto God Himself (Luke 6:30, 36); nay more, it renders God Himself debtor to those giving alms (Matthew 25:40 sqq.). Moreover, almsgiving adds special efficacy to prayer (Tobit 4:7), tends to appease divine wrath (Hebrews 13:16); liberates from sin and its punishment (Sirach 29), and thus paves the way to the gift of faith (Acts 10:31). Daily experience proves that those lending a helping hand to stay the miseries of the poor frequently prepare the way for the moral reformation of many whose temporal misery pales before their spiritual wretchedness. Finally, almsgiving tends to guard society against turbulent passions whose fury is often checked by almsgiving.

“Give to everyone that asks thee, and do not refuse, for the Father’s will is that we give to all from the gifts we have received. Blessed is he that gives according to the mandate; for he is innocent; but he who receives it without need shall be tried as to why he took and for what, and being in prison he shall be examined as to his deeds, and “he shall not come out thence until he pay the last farthing.”

“But concerning this it was also said, “Let thine alms sweat into thine hands until thou knowest to whom thou art giving.” (The Didache)

Moral Theology on almsgiving, McHugh and Callan

1249. (b) As to the need of the receiver, a person should give his share towards providing for the case before him. Thus, if there is no one else who can or will give, and a neighbor is in grave necessity, a charitable person will bear the whole expense, as was done by the good Samaritan. But if the necessity is ordinary (as in the case of street beggars), or there are others who will help, a smaller alms suffices. Steady employment is a better charity than temporary doles, inasmuch as it gives permanent assistance.
1250. (a) Those in apparent need are such as pretend poverty, sickness, or misfortune, in order to get sympathy and financial aid (e.g., professional beggars). Alms should not be given persons of this kind, since they take what would be given to the really poor and needy. Rather they should be exposed and punished.

(b) Those in real need through choice should not be helped, if they take to begging because they are too lazy to work, or find it profitable to live off others; for they have no right to beg, being able to help themselves, and it would be wrong to encourage them in idleness and an imposition on others (II Thess., iii. 10). But those who are voluntarily poor for Christ’s sake, whether they belong to a religious order or not, are worthy of respect and it is meritorious to assist them.

(c) Those who are in real need against their will, should be assisted; for, even though they became destitute through their own fault, they are in fact unable to help themselves now.

1256. The Manner of Giving Alms

(a) One gives alms directly when one ministers relief personally to the needy, giving food to the starving and medicine to the sick, helping to put out a fire, etc.

(b) One gives alms indirectly when one pays taxes for the support of alms-houses, public hospitals, orphan asylums, homes for the aged, the insane, etc.; …

1257. Public charity done by the State is useful and necessary under the conditions of modern life, but it does not and cannot take the place of charity done by the Church or by private individuals.

(a) State-administered charity does not reach all, or even the most deserving, cases of need. Hence, those who pay their taxes for the support of state charities are not thereby exempted from the obligation of contributing to cases they may meet, especially of extreme or grave necessity.

Charity can demand a condemnation

Canon 1935 tells Catholics they have an obligation to publicly denounce those posing a danger to the faith, as does Can. 1325. Catholics often fall into the trap today of urging charity for those disseminating errors since they are in invincible ignorance (although we cannot always be certain of this), but this is not Catholic practice. Rather it is the practice of liberal charity, as Rev. Felix Sarda Salvany explains in his book, What Is Liberalism,  a book personally commended by the Holy Office.

“It is often necessary to displease or offend one person, not for his own good but to deliver another from the evil he is inflicting. It is then an obligation of charity to repel the unjust violence of the aggressor; one may inflict as much injury on the aggressor as is necessary for the defense… The love due to a man inasmuch as he is our neighbor ought always to be subordinated to that which is due to our common Lord. For His love and in His service we must not hesitate to offend men… Therefore, to offend our neighbor for the love of God is a true act of charity. Not to offend our neighbor for the love of God is a sin. If the propagation of good and the necessity of combating evil require the employment of terms somewhat harsh against error and its supporters, this usage certainly is not against charity…

“The authors of heretical doctrines are soldiers with poisoned weapons in their hands… Is it sufficient to dodge their blows? Not at all; the first thing necessary is to demolish the combatant himself… It is thus lawful, in certain cases, to expose the infamy of [an] opponent, to bring his habits into contempt and to drag his name in the mire…The only restriction is not to employ a lie in the service of justice. This never. Under no pretext may we sully the truth, even to the dotting of an ‘i.’ As a French writer says: ‘Truth is the only charity allowed in history,’ and, we may add, in the defense of religion and society…When it strikes, let the sword of the Catholic polemicist wound, and wound mortally…This is the only real and efficacious means of waging war.”

Spiritual almsgiving

The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us further that alms also can be given in a spiritual manner: “As, however, the spiritual works of mercy deal with a distress whose relief is even more imperative as well as more effective for the grand purpose of man’s creation, the injunction must be supposed to extend to them also. Besides there are the plain references of Christ to such works as fraternal correction (Matthew 18:15) as well as the forgiveness of injuries (Matthew 6:14). It has to be remembered however that the precept is an affirmative one, that is, it is of the sort which is always binding but not always operative, for lack of matter or occasion or fitting circumstances. …Thus in general it may be said that the determination of its actual obligatory force in a given case depends largely on the degree of distress to be aided, and the capacity or condition of the one whose duty in the matter is in question.

“The law imposing spiritual works of mercy is subject in individual instances to important reservations. For example, it may easily happen that an altogether special measure of tact and prudence, or, at any rate, some definite superiority is required for the discharge of the oftentimes difficult task of fraternal correction. Similarly to instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, and console the sorrowing is not always within the competency of everyone. To bear wrongs patiently, to forgive offences willingly, and to pray for the living and the dead are things from which on due occasion no one may dispense himself on the pleas that he has not some special array of gifts required for their observance. They are evidently within the reach of all. It must not be forgotten that the works of mercy demand more than a humanitarian basis if they are to serve as instruments in bringing about our eternal salvation. The proper motive is indispensable, and this must be one drawn from the supernatural order.”

Duty to dispel ignorance

Ignorance in our times is legion. Much confusion has arisen as the result of deliberate mis-instruction in the faith owing to Modernism, ecumenism and the proliferation of non-Catholic sects. Many desire to know the truth but are lost in a welter of conflicting opinions and half-truths. To help readers better understand the true nature of ignorance and their obligations as Catholics, we return to the moral theologians McHugh and Callan for a reliable assay regarding ignorance.

“27. With reference to the responsibility of the person who is ignorant, there are two kinds of ignorance:

(a) Ignorance is invincible when it cannot be removed, even by the use of all the care that ordinarily prudent and conscientious persons would use in the circumstances. Thus, a person who has no suspicions of his ignorance, or who has tried in vain to acquire instruction about his duties, is invincibly ignorant.

(b) Ignorance is vincible when it can be removed by the exercise of ordinary care. There are various degrees of this species of ignorance: first, it is merely vincible, when some diligence has been exercised, but not enough; secondly, it is crass or supine, when hardly any diligence has been used; thirdly, it is affected, when a person deliberately aims to continue in ignorance.

“30. (b) Vincible ignorance does not make an act involuntary, since the ignorance itself is voluntary; hence, it does not excuse from sin. It does not even make an act less voluntary and less sinful, if the ignorance is affected in order that one may have an excuse; for such a state of mind shows that the person would act the same way, even though he had knowledge.

“31. Vincible ignorance makes an act less voluntary and less sinful:

(a) when the ignorance is not affected, for the voluntariness is measured by the knowledge, and knowledge here is lacking;

(b) when the ignorance, though affected, was fostered only through fear that knowledge might compel a stricter way of life; for such a state of mind seems to show that one would not act the same way if one had knowledge.

“The Commandment of Knowledge:

The first of the foregoing commandments includes three things:

(a) The doctrines of faith must be taught and must be listened to — “These words thou shalt tell to thy children” (Deut., vi. 6), “Teach ye all nations” (Matt, xxviii. 19), “He that heareth you heareth Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth Me” (Luke, x. 16).

(b) One must apply oneself to understand what one hears — “Thou shalt meditate on these words, sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping and rising” (Deut., vi. 7), “Meditate upon these things, be wholly in these things. Take heed to thyself and doctrine” (I Tim., iv, 15, 16).

(c) One must retain what one has learned — “Thou shalt bind the words of the law as a sign on thy hand, and they shall be and shall move between thy eyes. And thou shalt write them in the entry and on the doors of thy house” (Deut., vi. 8, 9); “Have in mind in what manner thou hast received and heard” (Apoc., iii. 3).

There has been some confusion about the true nature of affected ignorance and the authors above do not sufficiently address this matter. Innocent Robert Swoboda, O.F.M., J.C.L., in his Ignorance in Relation to the Imputability of Delicts (1941) writes: “Affected ignorance is real ignorance and not merely simulated or pretended ignorance. A man who pretends ignorance or pleads ignorance in court contrary to fact is not ignorant at all; he is merely trying to deceive others… Affected ignorance can therefore be defined as a directly voluntary lack of obligatory knowledge which is procured by positive effort …” The gravity of affected ignorance depends upon the gravity of the motive on account of which the ignorance is directly sought. We have seen many who know they should investigate the claims of their Traditionalist sects further, yet fail to do so. The same could be said of some claiming to be pray-at-home Catholics. Their motives, which cannot be certainly known, determine the seriousness of their sin. This is something that can be positively determined only by a confessor.

It requires courage to face the truth, and many simply lack the intestinal fortitude to move from their comfy Traditional couches. On the other hand, those who at least try to inform themselves should be careful that theirs is not a selective process when it comes to a better understanding of the true nature of faith or morals, since all of us are easily capable of deceiving ourselves. The best precaution to take against such deceit is to read Fr. Frederick Faber’s chapters on this subject in his Spiritual Conferences, available at https://archive.org/details/spiritualconfer00fabe.  If we wish to save our souls, if Heaven is truly our goal, we will leave no stone unturned in the quest for truth. May the Holy Ghost enlighten you all and guide you in that quest.

Join Our New Prayer Society Dedicated to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary!

by T. Stanfill Benns | Mar 15, 2022 | Blog

Society for Reparation to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary

(Content compiled from various sources)

Introduction

At this present time in the history of mankind, nothing is more necessary than to discover the means to turn the world back to the God they have forsaken and the Church they have all but forgotten as it once existed on this earth. Renewed calls for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary brought the following comment from one young woman: “Russia must be converted? But no, we ALL must convert!” And no truer words were ever spoken. The time for the prayer and penance needed to convert Russia has long since passed. Had the conditions Our Lady laid down for that consecration been met, Russia would not now be a threat and the Church would not lie in ruins. Catholics long ago failed in their duty and it is left to those of us who remain to at least try to do what we can to comply with what our Lord Himself told one victim soul over 100 years ago would be “…the last help I shall give before the end of time.” That help was universal consecration to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The name of the victim soul was Berthe Petit, a Belgian Franciscan tertiary born in 1870. She began receiving messages from Our Lord and Our Lady even as a young child and in 1911 one of these messages, received on September 12, 1912, foretold the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. This took place on June 28, 1914, igniting World War I. Already in February of 1910, before the war began, Berthe was told by our Lord that her mission would be the consecration of the world to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. As early as 1911, Cardinal Mercier, impressed with Mlle. Petit, contacted Pope St. Pius X regarding her revelations. The Pope approved Cardinal Mercier’s initial 100 days indulgence to the ejaculation “O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us who have recourse to thee,” telling him that Mlle. Petit would have to content herself with that for the present. In 1951, Cardinal Van Rooey increased the indulgence to 200 days. After Abbe Decorsant, a priest Mlle. Petit met at Lourdes sent her revelation from our Lord requesting the recitation of the ejaculation to Pope Benedict XV, “O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us,” the pope granted it an indulgence of 100 days. (The indulgence was later increased to 300 days by Cardinal Griffin in 1947.)

Through Cardinal Vanutelli, Pope Benedict XV issued the following recommendation to bishops worldwide: “Let us raise our prayers now more ardently and frequently than ever towards Him who holds in His hands the fate of the nations; and let us all confidently implore the Sorrowful and Immaculate heart of Mary, sweet mother of Jesus and our Mother, that by her powerful intercession she may obtain from her divine Son the rapid cessation of the war and the return of peace and tranquility.” During World War I, Cardinal Bourne took up the devotion in earnest and consecrated England to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1916. “Each time these public devotions were performed in England, the British armies swept forward to unexpected victories” (all from Fr. Duffner’s biography of Berthe Petit).

Later during the war, the prayer written by Mlle. Petit (see below) would be recommended by Cardinal Bourne for public recitation to bring about the end of the war. But as the children learned at Fatima, that war would not bring peace. The second Fatima secret predicting World War II remained unknown to the world until 1941, when Sr. Lucia’s bishop permitted her to release it. Berthe was told in 1919 that the peace of 1918 would not last and another war would occur because her requests were not heard. Attempts to make the Vatican aware of her revelations so they might be examined were met by silence according to Fr. Duffner. As we know today, the heavily politicized coverage of the Fatima apparitions as a weapon against Communism, detracting from the spiritual content of Our Lady’s message, was widespread. Sr. Lucia’s unreported death in 1949 resulting in the substitution of an imposter Sr. Lucia speaks of a conspiracy to forever bury the third secret of Fatima. But we know it today, if we read between the lines of the two secrets already revealed; and we definitely know that it was meant to be revealed before 1960.

During World War II, following the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope Pius XII in 1942, the Allies experienced several successes that would mark the turning point of the war. Victories in Great Britain, the Solomon Islands in the Pacific, and the fall of Stalingrad followed. But was Pope Pius XII’s consecration the only one that prompted these victories? Fr. Duffner reports that already in 1940, Great Britain saw a totally unexpected aerial victory that saved the country from invasion by sea, Hitler’s proposed Operation Sea Lion. The battle took place on Sunday September 15, 1940, feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. According to one report, a total of 1,100 Luftwaffe and 600 British warplanes battled in the skies over London, in the German attempt to ultimately destroy the Royal Air Force. This date is still celebrated in Britain as the Battle of Britain Day. While Britain suffered from night raids during the war after this battle, her mainland was never breached. Clearly Our Lady manifested her power that day, since already that country had been consecrated to her Sorrowful Heart.

There have been other consecrations since Pope Pius XII’s consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart that mention Our Lady’s Sorrowful Heart — of the United States, and different countries, as late as 2006 — but this cannot and does not constitute a universal consecration. And in these consecrations, at least as reported online, no mention is made of our Lord’s apparitions to Berthe Petit. Where the Fatima consecration focused specifically on the pope consecrating Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Lord specified to Mme. Petit in 1922 that it would not be time yet for the consecration of the world to her Sorrowful Heart, telling her: “My apostle will arise at the appointed hour when the horrible cataclysm which is coming will have overthrown the machinations of men and their deplorable statecraft. It is not at the present time that my wish concerning the glory of My Mother will be accomplished. A period of waiting is still necessary for the work to grow in greatness.”

Our Lord made other references to the political forces who believe they alone control world events, telling her at different times: “I curse the arrogant people who slight me and who persecute the true faith using the while My name and authority. Any nation that prepares its military forces in advance to hurl them unjustly upon the choicest portion of God’s flock… I shall break and chastise…” (1914).

“Time will prove that peace established without Me and without [the Holy Father] who speaks in my name has no stability. The nation which is considered to be vanquished [Germany] but whose forces are only momentarily diminished will remain a menace for your country and likewise for France. Confusion and terror will steadily spread through every nation. Because this peace is not Mine, wars will be rekindled on every side, civil war and racial war. What would have been so noble, so true, so beautiful, so lasting in its fulfillment is consequently delayed… Humanity is advancing towards a frightful scourge which will divide the nations more and more. It will reduce human schemes to nothingness; it will break the pride of the powers that be; it will show that nothing subsists without Me and that I remain the only master of the destinies of nations” (1919). “The spirit of evil does not cease to incite and to goad the pride of any nation which lives only on the thought of revenge and domination” (1934).

All can see the truth of everything Christ confided to his chosen soul Berthe Petit. It has all culminated today in everything we see around us and will continue to escalate until men finally turn to God once more. Or, if this is not His plan, then that at least certain souls prepare themselves for what may well be His Second Coming.

Our Lord Asks for Universal Consecration

Both before and after the beginning of the two wars, Our Lord left no doubt what he wished Berthe Petit to accomplish for His mother in His name. Our Lord told Mlle. Petit in 1910: “The world must be consecrated to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of my Mother as it is to Mine. Fear nothing, no matter what obstacle or suffering you may encounter. Your only object must be the accomplishment of my will.”

And on September 8, 1911: “The heart of my Mother has the right to be called sorrowful and I wish this title placed before that of Immaculate because she has won it herself. The Church has defined in the case of My Mother what I Myself had ordained — her Immaculate Conception. This right which my mother has to a title of justice is now according to My express wish to be known and universally accepted. She has earned it by her identification with My sorrows, by her sufferings, by her sacrifices and her immolation on Calvary endured in perfect correspondence with my grace for the salvation of mankind. In her co-redemption lies the nobility of My mother, and for this reason I asked that the invocation which I’ve demanded be approved and spread throughout the whole Church.”

“This devotion to the Sorrowful and Immaculate heart of My Mother will restore faith and hope to broken hearts and to ruined families: it will help to repair the destruction: it will sweeten sorrow. It will be a new strength for My Church bringing souls not only to confidence in My heart but also to abandonment to the sorrowful heart of My Mother…”

“To adopt this devotion and to spread it is to accomplish My will and to respond to the wishes of My Heart because by prayer and by the consecration made to this Heart graces of light will be obtained. They will gradually bring souls to the full knowledge of our united Hearts which have been wounded by the same wound, the inexhaustible source of all good for humanity and the glory of which is now and ever will be the happiness of the elect for eternity… Let this prayer be uttered by every soul: Sorrowful and Immaculate heart of Mary, pray for us… May [it] spread as a refreshing and purifying balm of reparation that will appease My anger.”

Our Lady’s Messages to Mlle. Petit

The majority of the messages received by Mlle. Petit came from our Lord, but she also received several messages from Our Lady. The most significant of these are recorded below.

“I have called myself the Immaculate Conception. To you I call myself Mother of the Sorrowful Heart. This title willed by my Son is dear to me above all others. According as it is spread everywhere, there will be granted graces of mercy, spiritual renewal and salvation” (1912).

“It is with an unshakable resolve that my Son wills souls to have recourse to my sorrowful heart. With my heart overflowing with tenderness, I am awaiting this gesture on the part of souls, that I may reiterate to the heart of my Son whatever shall be confided to my own heart and thus obtain graces of salvation for all” (1914).

“My daughter, let your soul bless my Son for the choice He has made of you in the accomplishment of His express wish. Events have occurred, preparations are made which are the assailable foundations for the cause which you serve. The work will attain its end and this with the amplitude willed by God. The way which leads to this result is arid, devoid of repose, at times even painful as you labor to comply with my requests. But have confidence; strife will come to an end and my Son will triumph. See how humanity is crushed by sorrow while evil is diabolically making progress. There have been catastrophes; there will be more. But what are they? Merely a beginning — a feeble image of the dreadful calamities predicted to you by my Son” (1922).

The Final Hour

“My wishes for the heart of My mother will be accomplished… It will come to pass when the hour of despair will strike; an hour towards which everything is moving in response to the supplication which will ascend to the Sorrowful and Immaculate heart of My Mother. I will manifest My power by a miraculous intervention which will impress everyone. The whole of Christendom will bow before this triumph which I, as Son, have determined for My Mother” (1924). “It is hearts that must be changed. This will be accomplished only by the devotion proclaimed, explained, preached and recommended everywhere.
Recourse to my Mother under this tile I wish for her universally is the last help I shall give before the end of time.”

Finally, Our Lord told Mlle. Petit in 1941: “By confident consecration to My mother the devotion to My heart will be strengthened and, as it were, completed. This devotion, this consecration will be, according to My promise, a renovation for my Church; a renewed strength for Christianity which is too often wavering; a source of signal graces for souls who thereby will be more deeply penetrated with love and confidence. The clear light to be granted through recourse to My mother will bring about above all the conversion of a multitude of straying and simple souls. The pity of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of My mother will implore mercy from them from My heart.” His last message to His chosen soul is thought to have been given the year of her death, 1943: “In the hour of triumph it will be seen that I alone have inspired in My chosen instruments a devotion similar to that with which My Heart is honored. It is as a Son that I have conceived this devotion in honor of My Mother. IT IS AS GOD THAT I IMPOSE IT.”

The Need to Comply with Our Lord’s Command

We see in the messages above to Berthe Petit several recurring themes that need to be expanded upon here. While this is said to be the last devotion given to the world before the end of time, today it is a devotion that has no society dedicated it to it that can be readily discovered and few advocating on its behalf. Once Fatima dominated the world’s imagination with its miracle and secrets — its many controversies, political and otherwise — Mlle. Petit’s revelations seemed to sink into the background, there to be forgotten. True, her messages were never approved by Rome. But a thorough examination of the many wartime related events foretold to Berthe by our Lord is striking enough to prove their authenticity. As Rev. R. Gerald Culleton notes in his The Prophets and Our Times, “All true prophecy is from God, for His glory and the sake of the ‘elect.’ As it becomes fulfilled it establishes its own divine origin and the reliability of the documents which convey it.”

And it seems this can be said of those revelations received by Berthe Petit.

It is pointless to contest anything conveyed to this victim soul because everything that is said above has either taken place or can be seen as looming in the very near future. The one thing missing is the universal consecration to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. Yet how is it now possible that this could happen? Our Lord mentions an apostle who “will rise at the appointed hour.” The apostle Jesus mentions cannot be Cardinal Bourne, for it is used in future tense in 1922 and Cardinal Bourne had already fulfilled his role as apostle in Great Britain during World War I. Our Lord never makes reference in His messages that this consecration will be made by His Vicar, something that is very telling. He and His Mother refer to certain “souls” and “chosen instruments.” Our Lord makes it very clear that this devotion, if carried out by these certain souls will bring about the desired result and promises to allow a miraculous intervention on behalf of His Mother. The victory will be hers.

We have seen that not enough souls fulfilled the Fatima requests and that not all the bishops of the world could be bothered to join Pope Pius XII in consecrating Russia to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart as she requested. We also see the tragic results. It is time, then, to make reparation to Our Lady’s Sorrowful Heart by doing all we can to participate in this Society and promote this devotion, begging her to intercede for us and avert the world cataclysm that surely is approaching. And we also must beg our Lord to send us the apostle who will finally accomplish the universal consecration, announcing it ourselves as a group in the meantime, on behalf of this sin-laden world. For if we do not do this, we must ask ourselves at this late date, who will? This is the command of Christ, as He indicates more than once in these messages. Even if there were doubts about the messages received by Mlle. Petit, would it not be better to fulfill this request than to ignore it? Haven’t our Lord and His Blessed Mother been neglected and ignored enough?

It should be mentioned here that there are other messages attributed to Our Lord and Our Lady, also not approved by Rome, that seem to convey the same message, and both of them were received either shortly before or after Berthe Petit passed away. They are considered here only because as with Mlle. Petit’s messages, they seem to speak to us in a way that was not appreciated before. However, they should be taken with caution and need not be credited as worthy of belief.

Twentieth Century Marian Prophecies

Heede, November 1937-1945
“Men do not listen to My voice. They harden their hearts; they resist My grace. They do not wish to have anything to do with My Mercy, My Love, My merits. Mankind is worse than before the deluge. Mankind is suffocating in sin. Hatred and greed rule their hearts. This is the work of the devil. They live in great darkness. Through the wounds that bled, Mercy will again gain victory over justice. My faithful souls should not be asleep now like the disciples on Mt. Olivet. They should pray without ceasing and gain all they can for themselves and for others.

“This generation deserves to be annihilated but I desire to show myself as merciful. Tremendous things are in preparation; it will be terrible as never before since the foundation of the world. All those, who in these grave times have suffered so much, are martyrs and form the seed for the renovation of the Church. They were privileged to participate in My captivity, in My scourging, in My crown of thorns, and My Way of the Cross.

“With a few faithful I will build up My kingdom. As a flash of lightning this Kingdom will come … much faster than mankind will realize. I will give them a special light. For some this light will be a blessing; for others, darkness. The light will come like the Star that showed the way to the wise men. Mankind will experience My love and My power. My beloved, the hour comes closer. Pray without ceasing!

(Another version of this last paragraph):
“I am coming! I am at the door! My love has planned this action before the creation of the world… The world lies in dense darkness. This generation would deserve to be wiped out; but I wish to show Myself merciful… I am coming Myself and I will manifest My will… The things that will come shall surpass by far what happened. The Mother of God, My mother, and the Angels will take part in it. Hell by now believes itself certain of victory, but I will take it away… I am coming, and with Me, peace shall come. I will build My Kingdom with a small number of elect. This Kingdom will come suddenly, sooner than what one thinks. I will make My light shine, which to some will be blessing and to others darkness. Humanity will recognize My love and My power.”

Marienfried, Germany, 1946
“I am the powerful Mediatrix of Graces. As the world can find mercy only through the sacrifice of the Son with the Father, so can you only find favor with the Son through my intercession. Christ is so unknown because I am not known. Because the nations rejected His Son, the Father poured out His cup of wrath upon them. It is true that the world was consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, but this consecration has become a fearful responsibility for many men. I demand that the world live this consecration.

“I am the sign of the Living God. I place my Sign on the foreheads of my children (those who consecrate themselves to my Immaculate Heart). The star (Lucifer) will persecute the Sign. But my Sign will conquer the star. Have unreserved confidence in my Immaculate Heart! Believe that I am able to do everything with my Son. Substitute my Immaculate Heart in place of your sinful hearts. Then it will be I who will draw the power of God, and the love of the Father will renew the fullness of Christ in you. Fulfill my request so that Christ may reign as the King of Peace.

“The world will have to drain the cup of wrath to the dregs because of the countless sins through which His Heart is offended. The Star of the infernal regions will rage more violently than ever and will cause frightful destruction, because he knows that his time is short, and because he sees that already many have gathered around my sign. Over these he has no spiritual power, although he will kill the bodies of many; but through these sacrifices, my power to lead the remnant host to victory will increase.

“Pray, make sacrifices for sinners. Offer yourselves and your works to the Father through me, and put yourselves at my disposal without reserve. Pray the Rosary. Pray not so much for external things — weightier things are at stake in these times. EXPECT NO SIGNS OR WONDERS; I shall be active as the powerful Mediatrix in secret. … The devil has power over all people who do not trust in my Heart. Wherever people substitute my Immaculate Heart for their sinful hearts, the devil has no power. But he will persecute my children. They will be despised, but he can do them no harm.

“I have already given many signs and spoken often to the world, but people have not taken them seriously… I urge my people to fulfill my wishes quickly, because today more than ever such fulfillment of my will is necessary for God’s greater honor and glory. The Father pronounces a dreadful woe upon all who refuse to obey His Will.”

Our Lady of Syracuse

There were no messages involved in this 1953 event, where an image of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary shed tears for three days in Syracuse, Italy. The tears were determined by a commission of scientists to be genuine human tears. Miracles were later attributed to the intercession of the Weeping Madonna. Was this not a manifestation of Our Lady’s power and the compassion of her Sorrowful Heart? Pope Pius XII commented during a radio address in 1954, on learning the tears were human: “We acknowledge the unanimous declaration of the Episcopal Conference held in Sicily on the reality of that event. Will men understand the mysterious language of those tears?” Characteristic of the Church’s practice to treat private revelations with reticence, the popes were slow to fully endorse our Lord’s urgent request to consecrate the world to His Mother’s Sorrowful Heart. However, Pope Benedict XV did make mention of it to the bishops. And as will be seen below, Pope Pius XII at least does include her in his prayer of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart.

Will You Watch One Hour?

These messages all indicate that the powers of darkness will be at their highest point and that therefore the recourse to Our Lady, particularly under the title of her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, will be of the utmost importance. It also warns us that disobedience to the will of God will be severely punished but obedience will be rewarded with the triumph of His Mother. It is impossible to deny that as stated above, things are worse today than they were at the time of the Flood in Noe’s day. By sheer numbers, given the world’s population, this can be seen to be true. Will you watch one hour with our Lord and His Mother each day? Will you join in this last attempt to appease the Divine wrath, already so much inflamed against man? We ask only three commitments from members:

1) Reparation to the Sacred Heart and to Mary’s Sorrowful Heart for our sins;
2) The daily intention to promote this devotion and accomplish the universal consecration; and
3) Prayers for the sending of the special apostle to lead us, mentioned by our Lord.

Below, the purpose and goals of Our Sorrowful Mother’s Society will be explained.

Purpose of this Society

(Adapted from the Manual of the Apostleship of Prayer, 1864)

The Society for Reparation to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary is founded on this fundamental truth — but one that is too often forgotten by Christians — that, besides the apostleship of preaching which formed the occupation of our Divine Lord the last three years of his public life, which his ministers later exercised in His name, there is another apostleship far more meritorious in itself, and from which the apostleship of the Word draws all its efficacy. Our Divine Savior consecrated the first thirty years of His mortal life exclusively to this apostleship of prayer. He continues it in his glorified life in Heaven, and in his life of sacrifice in the heavenly Tabernacle. This was the apostleship of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, and all that innumerable multitude of souls hidden indeed from the eyes of men, but powerful with God, who have not done less for the defense of the Church or the salvation of souls, than all the doctors have by their writings, or all preachers by their eloquence.

The work of the Society for Reparation to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, therefore, calls on all Christians to unite together in this hidden life, in this Divine apostleship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. It invites them to appropriate to themselves the intentions of these two hearts, transfixed in sorrow, and to pray with them for all the objects of their prayers; for the greater glory of God, for the conversion of sinners, for the advancement of the just, and the triumph of the Church. It invites them to lift themselves above those material interests, those passing events, which absorb and consume all the activity of their immortal souls, to take an active part in the struggles of the Church, in the labors of Her ministers, and in the great work of our Lord, the salvation of souls. It will induce them to devote themselves, from other motives than those of mere politicians to the regeneration of the entire world, which has fallen into utter ruin since the death of Pope Pius XII. Finally, it will direct their thoughts to far-off lands, and will show them that it depends upon them for light and grace to fall on many nations now sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death.

For it is impossible for us to doubt but that the promises of Jesus Christ Himself to prayers offered in His name to God the Father, will be fully realized when and where we ask for what he Himself commands us to ask; that is, the sanctification of his Father’s name, the consecration of the world to His Sorrowful Mother, the entire spread of his reign on Earth, the perfect fulfilment of His will, the bread of truth and of grace for so many souls who are expiring of hunger, and the deliverance from evil of all our brethren as well as of ourselves. Though we cannot be certain of obtaining what we ask, when we forget ourselves in order to plead
for others, since we cannot compel them to receive the proffered grace, yet we may be sure the grace will be offered to them in proportion to the fervor, confidence, and perseverance of our prayers, This consoling certainty is still greater when we unite our prayers with those of our brethren. Then we have in some sort a right to call on our Divine Lord to fulfil his promise of listening to two or three gathered together in his name. We will point out below the conditions, the accomplishment of which insures to us the advantages offered by this Society. These conditions are very simple, and that there is no state of life in which they may not be practiced without difficulty.

But if the Society of Reparation does not of itself impose any particular practice, there is no practice whatever that it does not seek to animate with its spirit, and which in that way will not greatly increase in merit. If it does not impose any obligation, it proposes a great perfection, and renders the means of acquiring it easier. There is no good work, whether of piety or of mortification, nor of charity, either spiritual or corporal; there is no duty of our state of life, or even lawful recreation, which, animated by the intentions of the Society, is not of the Sacred Heart itself and the Sorrowful Heart of Mary, and does not become in itself an apostolic work, and thus acquire the power of saving souls; no exercise of piety performed, thus will not increase in merit and in efficacy, if it is united with the noble and touching motives that this Society offers to us.

To glorify God, to render the precious blood of Jesus Christ and the sorrows of His Blessed Mother fruitful, to assuage the Agony of his Heart, and crown His most ardent desires; to defend the Church, our Mother, against Her enemies; to save souls, to close Hell, and open Heaven and most especially, to fulfill the requests of Our Lord that His Sorrowful Mother be universally recognized. There is no fault that we shall not avoid more easily, and no defect that we may not sooner overcome, if we allow this Society to remind us habitually that we are depriving ourselves of great merit, and that these faults and defects are the cause of many unhappy souls losing those graces which perhaps may save them, and without which they may be lost.

If, then, we would gather to their full extent the advantages of this Society of Reparation to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, we must make it the work of our whole lives, we must clothe ourselves in it as in a garment which we shall never change, we must make it our daily bread, and we must inhale and respire it as we do the air itself. Since the intentions of the Society are no other than those of the Sacred Heart and the Sorrowful Heart of His Mother, to practice them in this way would be to fulfil in its perfection the great precept of the apostle — “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” — and the Mother of Sorrows.

Prayers to be Practiced in Common

The first devotion is the recitation of the spiritual Mass in union with all of the Sacrifices of the Mass ever offered throughout the world, preceded by the Perfect Act of Contrition and followed by Spiritual Communion. We thereby offer ourselves as a living sacrifice in union with and commemoration of Christ’s sufferings and death on the Cross as shared by His Blessed Mother at the foot of the Cross.

The second devotion which we earnestly recommend to the Society for Reparation is devotion to the Agonizing Heart of Jesus, in favor of the many thousands of persons who die every day. Of all the souls to whose salvation this Society devotes itself, none certainly ought to interest us more dearly than those whose eternal destiny will be fixed irrevocably in a few moments. By adopting this devotion to the agonizing Heart and the Sorrowful Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are only exercising our apostleship in the most efficacious way. A wonderful help to prayer and understanding state of the dying and their need for our prayers, Mother Mary Potter’s Devotion to the Dying, is available online.

A third devotion that ought to be equally dear to us is devotion to the souls in Purgatory. It is true that these souls, being no longer in danger of losing Heaven, cannot be, strictly speaking, the object of this Society. But how can we be indifferent to their sufferings? Besides, if they no longer afford employment for our zeal, they may become our most powerful assistants. Already in Purgatory, they can unite their prayers to ours, and such prayers cannot fail to be pleasing to God. But it is especially after they have entered heaven by our suffrages, that they feel themselves, as it were, obliged by gratitude to use all their influence in favor of our society of reparation. The associates will, therefore, apply to the souls in Purgatory all the indulgences they are able to gain; but they must make it a condition with those souls whose torments they thus abridge, that they will hereafter unite with them to obtain the conversion of sinners and the triumph of the Church.

1. For each day, Society members are to: a) make their Morning Offering beginning with: “O Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary…” including in their intentions reparation to the Sacred Heart and Mary’s Sorrowful Heart for our sins, the intent to accomplish the universal consecration, and the sending of the apostle mentioned by our Lord; b) recite the Consecration formula provided below by Pope Pius XII; c) make any devotion of choice to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary from the Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother booklet; d) pray the Rosary.

2. For each week. They will offer their spiritual Mass on Friday especially for the intentions of the Society mentioned in (1) and may impose on themselves this day some mortification with the same intention. On Saturday, they also are encouraged to recite Berthe Petit’s Consecration to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary.

3. For each month. They will observe the First Friday Devotions in a particular manner to renew in themselves the spirit of the Society, to examine and correct in themselves all that may place any obstacle in the way of the union of their heart with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. On this day they will fix on the works that they intend to do in the course of the month for the different intentions of the Society, unless they prefer giving all their works to the Heart of our Lord, leaving to Him the application of them as He pleases. The same applies to the First Saturday Devotions in honor of Our Lady.

4. For each year. They will celebrate with special devotion the Feasts of the Sacred Heart, and the two feasts of Our Lady’s Dolors (on the Friday in Passion Week and September 15). On these days they may renew either in private or in common their consecrations of this Divine Heart, and of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin, with an earnest resolution to labor as much as possible to promote their interests and intentions. (End of Apostleship of Prayer Manual adaptation)

Acts of Consecration

Solemn Act of Consecration to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary

(Written at the request of Francis Cardinal Bourne by Berthe Petit)

O Lord Jesus, Who on Calvary and in the Holy Eucharist has shown Thyself to us as the God of Love and Mercy; kneeling humbly at Thy feet we adore Thee and beg once more for Thy forgiveness and Thy divine pity.

And remembering that by Thine own act on Calvary, the human race, represented by Thy beloved disciple John, gained a Mother in the Virgin of Sorrows, we desire to honor the sufferings and woes of our Mother’s Heart by devoting ourselves to it in solemn Consecration.

It is but just O Mary, that our souls should strive henceforth to venerate thee with special homage under the title of thy Sorrowful Heart, a title won by sharing in the whole Passion of thy Son and thus co-operating in the work of our redemption – a title due to thee in justice, and dear, we believe, to Jesus and to thine own Heart, torn by the wound in His.

We consecrate therefore, O Mary, to thy Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart ourselves, our families, our country and those who are fighting for its honor. Have pity on us; see our tribulations, and the anguish of our hearts in the midst of the mourning and calamities that lay waste the world. Deign, O Mother of God, to obtain mercy for us that, being converted and purified by sorrow, and made strong in faith, we may henceforth be devoted servants of Jesus Christ and His Church, for whose triumph we pray.

O Mary Immaculate, we promise to be faithful clients of thy Sorrowful Heart. Intercede for us, we beseech thee, with thy Son that, at the cry of thy Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, His divine Power may speedily bring to pass the triumph of right and justice. Amen.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have pity on us.
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us and save us.

Pope Pius XII’s Solemn Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Most Holy Virgin Mary, tender Mother of men, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the request of the Vicar of thy Son on earth, we consecrate ourselves and our families to thy Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and we recommend to thee, all the people of our country and all the world.

Please accept our consecration, dearest Mother, and use us as thou dost wish to accomplish thy designs in the world.

O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the Rosary more faithfully.

We come with confidence to thee, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed thine own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Make our hearts and homes thy shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with thy rule, triumph in every heart and home. Amen.

Various Prayers for These Times

To Avert the Anger of God
O Mother of Sorrows, who from thy very infancy didst most ardently wish that the time of the redemption of mankind might be hastened, and who, when become the Mother of God, didst with admirable heroism offer for death thine only Son and thyself with Him, that the reign of sin might be destroyed; look down, we entreat thee, on this miserable world, and see how prevalent iniquity is everywhere, and how many unfortunate souls are bound with the chains of sin. The flood of infidelity, blasphemy, and immorality is rising daily, and seems as if it would submerge the whole world. How dreadful are the chastisements we may fear! How terrible the divine vengeance will be! How awful to bear the wrath with which thy Jesus will be moved against those who insult and reject Him!

O most blessed Virgin, have compassion on us, intercede for us; do not forsake thy mission of reconciliation, but show that thou art still most anxious to save sinners. Stand in the sight of thy divine Son to speak good for them, and to turn away His indignation from them. Remind Him that for them He Himself shed His most precious Blood to the last drop, and ended His life in the most excruciating torments; remind Him of the anguish, the desolation, the agony of thine Immaculate Heart.

Will He resist thy prayers, thy supplications, thy sighs? No! He will be moved to mercy, and in the excess of His love will pour down the abundance of His graces to soften the hearts of hardened sinners. Then, filled with sorrow, will thy shed tears of compunction and return to their Lord; then iniquity will cease, faith, and religion, and purity will flourish again, and a canticle of praise to the God of mercies, and of gratitude to thee, our most loving Mother, will be raised from all parts of the earth. Amen.

For the Conversion of Sinners
O most afflicted Mother, how much thou didst suffer at the foot of the cross, what burning tears thou didst shed for the salvation of mankind and the conversion of sinners! For them thou didst offer thyself to torments and to death in union with our loving Redeemer. We then, with unbounded confidence, call upon thee in behalf of poor sinners. By the most precious Blood of Jesus shed to the last drop, by thine own bitter tears, by the sword which pierced thy soul, implore for them grace that may touch their hearts and bring them to true repentance.

Remember, O sorrowful Virgin, that the first words of Jesus on the cross were to implore forgiveness for His executioners – that is, all sinners – and to promise Paradise to the penitent Thief. Pray, then, the Eternal father to forgive them, and to move their hearts to compunction. Remember that with His dying voice Jesus gave us to thee to be thy sons, and thee to us to be our Mother; and that he cried out, “I thirst,” to manifest how much He was consumed with the thirst of souls. Listen, O sorrowful Mother, listen to the voice of thy dying Son: show thyself a mother to poor sinners though they have been ungrateful sons: do not permit them to perish forever, but quench the thirst of Jesus, by bringing them back to Him.

Pray for sinners, O Mary, offer for them thy tears and sorrows, and lead them all to the loving Heart of thy dying Son. Amen.

Prayers for the Dying
I. O most holy Virgin, by the sorrow which transfixed thy heart, when holy Simeon foretold the affliction thou wast to endure at the death of thy Divine Son, intercede for this person, now at the point of death, that his (her) heart may be pierced with true contrition.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.
II. O most gracious Virgin, by the sorrow thou didst endure, when, to save thy Son Jesus from the persecution of Herod, thou wast forced to fly with Him into Egypt, deliver this soul from the snares of the infernal foe.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.
III. O most afflicted Virgin, by the sorrow thou didst feel at losing thy son Jesus, beg that this soul may not be lost, but may dwell forever with Him in heaven.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.
IV. O most distressed Virgin, by the sorrow thou didst feel at seeing thy Son Jesus carrying on His bruised shoulders His heavy cross, obtain for this departing soul grace to bear patiently, for the love of thy dear Son, the cross of his (her) sufferings.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.
V. O inconsolable Virgin, by the unspeakable sorrow thou didst experience at seeing thy Son Jesus crucified between two thieves, pray for this soul, that sorrow for his (her) sins may pierce his (her) heart, as the nails pierced the hands and feet of our divine Lord, and the spear His sacred side.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.
VI. O most desolate Virgin, by the sorrow thou didst feel in receiving into thine arms the dead body of thy Son Jesus, pray that this departing soul may be received into eternal glory of heaven.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.
VII. O Virgin most sorrowful, by the desolation thou didst feel, when, having accompanied thy son to the sepulchre, thou hadst to part with Him, have pity of this soul, and accompany it in the great journey to eternity.
Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.
V. Pray for him (her), most sorrowful Virgin.
R. That he (she) may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray
Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that the most blessed Virgin Mary thy Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced with the sword of sorrow in the hour of Thy Passion, may intercede before the throne of Thy mercy for this Thy servant, now and at the hour of his(her) death. Who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.
V. May the sorrowful Virgin Mary.
R. Bless us with her loving Child.

For the Faithful in their Last Agony
O most holy Mary, by that fear and trembling which overwhelmed thine heart, when thou didst hear that thy beloved Son and our Lord Jesus Christ had been taken by His enemies, abandoned by His disciples, and led to Caiphas and Pilate, help, we implore thee, the soul of this person in its last struggle, that he (she) may have a true sorrow and contrition for his (her) past sins. Comfort and strengthen him (her), that he (she) may not fear at the coming of the common enemy, nor tremble at the sight of his (her) severe Judge, angry for his (her) sins, but may rather see Him, appeased
by thy powerful prayers, show him(her) a merciful countenance. Amen. Hail Mary.

For the Faithful Departed
O most Blessed Virgin Mary, my Mother, I turn to thee in supplication, and by the sword which pierced thy sorrowful heart, when thou didst behold thy beloved Son Jesus Christ bow down His head and give up the ghost, I pray and beseech thee to succor the holy souls in Purgatory, and particularly those for whom I now pray, N. N. Mother of Sorrows, Queen of Martyrs, for the love of thy divine Son, whose precious Blood was shed for us, help us with thy powerful intercession, who are danger not only of falling into Purgatory, but of losing our souls forever in hell. O Mary, Mother of grace, Mother of mercy, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Eternal Father, through the most precious Blood of Jesus and the Sorrows of Mary, have pity upon the holy souls in Purgatory. Amen.

Dear Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

We beseech Thee, therefore, assist the souls still suffering in purgatory, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Precious Blood.

(These various prayers were taken from Behold Thy Mother, the manual of the Servite Order. The full set of these prayers and a history of the Servites is available at the following link: http://www.staugustinechapel.org/Library/books_pdf/Behold_Thy_Mother_Servite_Manual.pdf)

About the Origins of this Society

On September 15, 2006, a chapel constructed by Larry and Teresa Benns and their family members in La Garita, Colorado was dedicated to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary using the consecration formula written by Berthe Petit above. The Benns family used this for their private devotions for the next 14 years. Larry Benns constructed the altar and canopy for the chapel, also the lighted frames for the pictures on the left below.

In September of 2020 the Benns family relocated to South Dakota and reconstructed the chapel in their new residence. It was once again consecrated to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary on September 15, 2021 using Berthe Petit’s consecration prayer.

Larry Benns passed away on March 1, 2021. Please pray for the repose of his soul.

May all of us become true apostles in these trying times!

Society for Reparation to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary

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