A Glimpse into a Soon and Coming Persecution

How far down the road it will be, I am unsure, but again my second oldest son, Fr. Patrick, was home for a 5-day "work" visit. In Connecticut in just a few days he will be the spiritual director and guide for a group of Catholic men experiencing the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. He thought he could enjoy a brief visit and prepare quietly at our home.

But without faculties from my Diocese, he has been limited to only home Holy Masses. So in our living room, with a Crucifix from Medjugorje on the wall, and a nearby portrait of St. Therese gifted to us by a MOG member, an old library table from Geralyn's deceased parents is covered with altar linens; cruets, chalice, paten, and corporal/purificator from our Mass kit are placed reverently. Fr. Patrick has now offered the Holy Sacrifice ad orientem for 3 days.

I mention this because I believe the days are coming when such Masses will be increasingly needed. At that time neither of my priestly sons will be available because of their out-of-State responsibilities. So we will all need to wait for a priest to come around. Then we will come to treasure every available but infrequent opportunity to participate in Holy Mass and receive Our Lord reverently, like the suppressed English Catholics of the 16th century...

Lord have Mercy!

 

What a gift for you both. This world is getting very upsetting and requires a lot of prayers!
You are very Blessed at this time.

 

Neocatecumenal communities consist of 20-40 members and are each set up with all necessary items for Mass. Each also has members that can bake the bread to be consecrated at Mass. King David Sacramental wine is purchased and stored by each community. Small community Masses are regularly held. Despite the perception that the Neocatecumenal groups are liberal, it is quite the opposite. I have participated for over 2 years, and I find the Neocatecumenal groups hold some of the most traditional and conservative perspectives — value of life, reading and study of scripture, value of the Eucharist, deep reverence at Church, and value humility. I also attend the Latin Mass, and find many similarities amongst both groups. The Neocatecumenal groups attempt to recreate the primitive Church, just like the Latin Mass groups attempt to conserve the rich traditions of the past. Members tend to have large families, showing how they truly value life. Members tend to be very disciplined and committed to participate at Church. They value greatly the teaching of youth, and cultivating religious vocations. Both groups continued celebrating Mass during the Covid lockdowns.

 

My husband and I have been thinking about the idea of always having a Mass kit in our home, for that very reason. If persecution increases for priests . That still may be a bit away, but not a bad idea to have one on hand

My husband is a sacristan and is constantly helping shine up ciborians and chalices .

 

Wonderful. I think it's true in this description we do get a glimpse of past and future times. We have much to look forward too as we will live our Faith much more intensely. Like famished men we will relish the food we do get like the bread from Heaven it truly is.

Was it Pope Benedict who said that the future of the Church lies in small communities? That it is the only way that the Church will survive?

 

Fulton Sheen foretold all this years ago.

 

We picked one up about 10 years ago, along with some altar bread and a Missale. When covid lockdowns hit, I honestly thought it was "go time"......I guess that was just a warm up for what's possibly to come. It was a comfort though, just knowing it was in the house. Whatever else may be missing here for Mass, I leave to the Good Lord to provide when/if it becomes necessary. Strangely enough towards the end of the covid hysteria, we had to replace our altar bread, as it was needed elsewhere when supply issues hit.....

 

Yes, Benedict prophesied that the Church would become smaller. He said that before he became Pope.

 

There are many young families and teenagers in Neocatecumenal communities, which is strikingly different from most other groups at Church. In my community of about 35, there are about 20 teenagers. There are two teen boys who have professed their vocation to be priests and 2 teen girls to be nuns — Matthew, Francisco, Monserrat and Maria, please pray for them.

 

The title of this post is prophetic.

For some the persecution has already started

 

How long will hosts unconsecrated stay good I wonder?

 

Honestly, I don't know. The ones we had were in a well sealed container so......I had looked into how to make them, out of interest. It seems it was something the nuns used to do long ago, but not so much now. They made them as they were used in the local churches...Now like many other items, they are mass produced. The approved companies have to follow Vatican guidelines.......

~ So I just checked the new pkg which came from Poland. It says they are to be consumed by March 2025 and they were produced in 2023. Good to know ~

 

I used to be very involved in Opus Dei and I remember they made hosts. We had a little tour in the retreat center and saw the machine that made them. Now that would be a cool apostolate

 

https://www.vaticanum.com/en/hosts-and-particles-baking-machine-432-big

Maybe we should all invest in this

 

Lol, I remember seeing that! My heart skipped a beat

 

So beautiful Padraig.
It means so much.
Bishop Fulton Sheen says......

Its Divine to hang there!

Without consolation.
Without winning any arguments
Without even a glimmer of hope!

This is the suffering 0f Our Lord and this is what we are called to!
How beautiful!

Thank you for this wonderful talk of Bishop F Sheen.

 

A well known internet priest put it this way~

"You have to PLAN for the suffering and then plan NOT to come down from the Cross the Lord is sharing with you.
Be ready for it and it won't surprise you, bad as it is. Stay on that Cross."

After reading the articles/watching the video posted on another thread, I've finally realized how important it is to understand this. All the time spent in useless complaining over the past few years could have been spent planning and getting ready and "practicing" even.........but St. Francis, as recently pointed out to me, said it best ~

'Little brothers let us begin today!'

 

Crying out in the dust and the dirt
Full of pain and full of hurt
Jesus I trust in you

Everything falls apart
Broken mind, Broken Heart
Jesus I trust in You

The darkness around me seems a curse
All I touch makes matters worse
Jesus I trust in You

So I surrender to You, knowing you are the Way
Clearly, I cannot fight my way out of the fray
Jesus I trust in You

Taking a step back, waiting on You
Miracles arrive, none did I do
Jesus I trust in You

What is this Light? I cannot understand
Ever grateful, a Way out by your Hand
Jesus I trust in You

So I lean back, watching and waiting
Difficulties come, always abating
Jesus I trust in You

Each day a new, fresh and full of light
The Lord, my God, put my fears to flight
Jesus I trust in You

Mended Mind, Mended Heart
The journey begins to start
Jesus I trust in You

Your post inspired me LMF

 

That is beautiful, Pax.

 

Look at pictures of Fulton in the years just before he died and older pictures of when he was young.

That poor man was hung on the Cross. He said one time that no one would ever know how much he suffered. Like so many Saints it was his fellow clergy who hammered the nails in