Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine)

Up with us then at last, for Scripture arouses us saying: “Now is the hour for us to rise from sleep” (Rm 13:11). Let us open our eyes to the divine light, and let us hear with attentive ears the warning that the divine voice cries daily to us : “Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps 95[94]:8). And again: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rv 2:7). And what does he say? “Come, children, hear me and I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Ps 34[33]:12). “Run while you have the light of life , lest the darkness of death overtake you” (Jn 12:35). And the Lord, seeking his worker among the multitudes to whom he thus cries, says again: “Which of you desires life and would like to see prosperous days? (Ps 34[33]:13) And if hearing him you answer, “I am he,” God says to you: if you would have true and everlasting life, “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek after peace and pursue it” (Ps 34[33]:14-15). And when you have done these things, my eyes will be upon you and my ears open unto your prayers. And before you call me, I shall say to you, “Lo, here I am” (Is 58:9). What can be sweeter to us, dearest brethren, than this voice of our Lord inviting us? Behold in his loving mercy the Lord show us the way of life. Let us therefore gird our loins with faith and the performance of good deeds, and following the guidance of the gospel, walk in his paths so that we may merit to see him who has called us into his Kingdom (1Thes 2:12). For if we wish to live in the dwellings of his Kingdom, unless we run there with good deeds we shall not arrive.
Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

The Lord comes to rest in the fervent soul; he makes it his throne of glory; there he takes his seat and makes his home… This house where its master dwells is all grace, order and beauty just as the soul in which the Lord abides is nothing but order and beauty. It holds the Lord together with all his spiritual treasure. He is its occupier; he is its head. But how dreadful that house whose master is out, whose Lord far away! It becomes dilapidated, falls into ruins, is choked with dirt and disorder. In the words of one of the prophets, it becomes “an abode for serpents and demons”. The abandoned house is filled with cats and dogs and filth of all kinds and how unhappy is the soul unable to rise from its disastrous fall, that lets itself be dragged away and comes to hate its spouse, tearing its thoughts away from Jesus Christ! Yet when the Lord sees it return to itself, seeking its Lord night and day, crying out to him just as he invited it to: “Pray without ceasing”, then “God will secure its rights” (Lk 18,1.7) – he has given his word – and will purify it from all wickedness. He will make it into a bride “without spot or wrinkle” (Eph 5,27). Believe his promise: it is the truth. See whether your soul has found the light that will enlighten its paths and the true food and drink that are the Lord himself. Do you still lack them? Seek for them night and day; you will find them.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3)… Of this generous poverty the Apostles first, after the Lord, have given us example. Unhesitatingly leaving all they had at the voice of the heavenly Master, they were joyfully converted and abandoned the catching of fish to become fishers of men (Mt 4:18f.). Among the latter many became like themselves by imitating their faith; for with those first-children of the Church, “the community of believers was of one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32). Stripped of all their possessions, they were enriched with eternal goods thanks to holy poverty. Welcoming the Apostles’ preaching they rejoiced to have nothing in this world and yet possess all things in Christ. (2Cor 6:10). Hence the blessed apostle Peter, when he was going up to the temple and was asked for alms by a lame man, said, “I have neither silver nor gold but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk” (Acts 3:6)… Peter healed him with a word; and he who did not have a coin with Cæsar’s image on it, restored on the man the image of Christ. And by the riches of this treasure not only was that one person aided whose power of walking was restored but also the five thousand men who then believed the apostle’s preaching because of this miracle (Acts 4:4). And Peter, that poor man who did not have anything to give him who asked for alms, bestowed so great a gift of divine grace that, not content with setting one man upright on his feet, he healed those many thousands of believers in their hearts by giving them faith.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

Let us call to mind that widow who, in her care for the poor, forgot herself to the point of giving away everything she had to live on, thinking only of the life to come as our Lord himself attests. The others gave of their abundance but she – even poorer, perhaps, than many of the poor for her whole fortune resided in two small coins – she it was who carried in her heart more wealth than many of the wealthy. She looked only at the riches of the eternal reward. In her desire for heavenly treasure, she gave up all she possessed as being goods that come from the earth and return to the earth (Gn 3:19). She gave what she had in order to possess what she did not as yet see. She gave away perishable goods so that she might gain immortal ones. This poor little lady had not forgotten the means foreseen and arranged by our Lord for acquiring the future reward. Neither, therefore, did the Lord forget her on his part and even now the judge of the world has pronounced his sentence: he praises her whom he will crown on the day of judgment.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

The Lord said: “This is my resting place forever,” and he “chose Zion as the place where he will dwell.” (Ps 132:14) But the temple is destroyed. Where will God’s eternal throne be? Where will his resting place be forever? Where will his temple be for him to dwell there? The apostle Paul gives us an answer: “You are the temple of God, … the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Cor 3:16). That is the house and temple of God. They are filled with his teaching and his power. They are the dwelling place for the holiness of God’s heart. But it is God who builds this dwelling place. If it were built by human hands, it would not last, not even if it were founded on human teaching. Our fruitless work and our worries are not enough to protect it. The Lord goes about this in a different way: he did not found it on earth or on moving sand, but it rests on the prophets and the apostles (Eph 2:20); it is built constantly out of living stones (1 Pet 2:5). It will develop to the ultimate dimension of Christ’s body. Its construction continues constantly. Many houses go up all around it and they will resemble one another in one big and happy city (Ps 122:3).

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team