Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine)

Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has “granted a place of repentance” (Sir 17,24) to all who would be converted to him. Noah preached repentance, and as many as listened to him were saved. Jonah proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites; but they, repenting of their sins, propitiated God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were aliens to God. The ministers of the grace of God have, by the Holy Spirit, spoken of repentance; and the Lord of all things has himself declared with an oath regarding it, “As I live, says the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance” (Ez 18,23) adding, moreover, this gracious declaration: “Repent O house of Israel, of your iniquity. Say to the children of my people, Though your sins reach from earth to heaven, and though they be redder than scarlet, and blacker than sackcloth, if you turn to me with your whole heart, and say: Father! I will listen to you, as to a holy people.” (cf. Is 1,16-20; Neh 9,1)… Desiring, therefore, that all his beloved should be partakers of repentance, he has, by his almighty will, established [these declarations]. So let us yield obedience to his excellent and glorious will; and imploring his mercy and loving-kindness, while we forsake all fruitless labours, and strife, and envy, which leads to death, let us turn and have recourse to His compassion.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

“He who is mocked by his neighbour, as I am, will call upon God and he will answer him” (Jb 12:4 Vg)… But sometimes the soul perseveres in good works with a constant heart, and yet is pushed hard by the scoffing of men; it does admirable deeds, and gets only abuse; and he who might have been encouraged to come out of himself by commendation, is repulsed by insults and returns back again into himself. He establishes himself the more firmly in God, as he finds no place else where he may rest in peace: for all his hope is fixed in his creator. Amidst ridicule and abuse, he implores only the interior witness. His soul in distress becomes God’s neighbor, in proportion as he is a stranger to the favor of man’s esteem. So he pours himself out in prayer and, hard-pressed from without, is refined with a more perfect purity to enter more deeply into all that is interior. Therefore, it is well said at this time, “He who is mocked by his neighbor as I am, will call upon God and he will answer him…” And while the soul of the good strengthens itself, with compunction, in prayer, it is united within itself in the hearing of the most High, in the very act that severs it from the approval of men outside itself… “For the upright man’s simplicity is laughed to scorn” (Jb 12:4) It is the wisdom of this world to conceal one’s feelings with pretence, to veil the sense with words; to show things that are false as true, and to make out as fallacious what is true. But on the other hand it is the wisdom of the righteous, to pretend nothing in show, to discover the meaning by words; to love the truth as it is, to avoid falsehood; to set forth good deeds freely, to bear evil more gladly than to do it; to seek no revenge of a wrong, to count ill repute as a gain for the truth’s sake. But this simplicity of the righteous is laughed to scorn, because the goodness of purity is taken for folly by the wise men of this world. For doubtless everything that is done from innocence is counted foolish by them, and whatever truth sanctions in practice sounds weak to carnal wisdom.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

The faith which the Church hands down to you has all the authority of the scriptures behind it. This is the faith, and none other, which you must learn to proclaim and in which you must persevere. Our spiritual life must not be put at risk through ignorance, and since there are some who do not read the bible, either because they are too busy or because they are illiterate, the essence and core of our faith has been captured, and can be memorized, in the few short lines of the Creed… To begin with, simply take the words as they stand at their face value, put your faith in them and commit them to memory. Later, as opportunity offers, you can take the propositions one by one and study them as truths of the sacred scriptures. This summary of our faith is not a merely human composition but the more striking sayings of the scriptures have been assembled together to form one comprehensive statement. And as a small mustard seed carries within itself the potential of large branches (Mt 13:32), so the words of our creed are pregnant with the whole content of our religion as it is expressed both in the Old and the New Testament. Pay attention, then, brethren, to the truths of the faith now being handed down to you and “write them on the tablets of your hearts” (2Cor 3:3)… As the apostle Paul says: “In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate bore witness to that great claim; I charge you to keep the faith unstained until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Tim 6: 13f.).

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

Since to reign in heaven is nothing other than to cleave to God and all the saints through love with single-minded will, such that all together express one and the same power: love God more than yourself and you will already begin to lay hold of what you desire to possess perfectly in heaven. Make your peace with both God and with others – at least, unless these latter separate themselves from God – and already you will begin to reign together with God and the saints. Because, to the extent that you bring yourself into harmony with the will of both God and men, God and the saints will be in harmony with your will. And so, if you wish to become a king in heaven, love God and love others as you ought and you will be worthy of becoming what you desire. However, you won’t be able to possess this love perfectly until you empty your heart of every other love… Indeed, that is why those who fill their hearts with love for God and neighbor have no other will but that of God – or of some other person provided it is not contrary to God. That is why they are faithful to prayer and to conversing about and keeping heaven in mind. For it is their happiness to desire God and to speak of him whom they love, to hear him spoken about and to bear him in mind. That too, is why they rejoice with those who are joyful and weep with those who weep (Rom 12:15), they have compassion for the unfortunate and give to the poor, for they love others as themselves… Yes indeed, this is how “the whole Law and the prophets” depend on these two commandments of love.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team

The nearer the king approaches, the more we should pray. The nearer the moment arrives for bestowing the trophy on the combatant, the harder we should struggle. This is what they do at the races: as the end of the course nears and they are reaching the goal, they stir up the horses’ enthusiasm even more. In the same way Saint Paul says: “Now is salvation nearer to us than when first we believed. The night is far gone, the day is at hand” (Rm 13:11-12). Since night is disappearing and day is coming to view, let us carry out the works of day and leave behind the works of darkness. This is what we do in the course of life: when we see night giving way to dawn and hear the swallows singing, then we rouse one another even though it is still dark… We hurry to our daily tasks; we get dressed after being snatched from sleep so that the sun will find us ready. What we do then, let us do now. Let us shake off our dreams, rouse ourselves from thoughts of this present life, leave our heavy slumber and put on the garment of virtue. This is what the apostle clearly says to us: “Cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (v.12). For day is calling us to the battle, to the fight. But don’t be afraid when you hear these words about fighting and combat! For if it is uncomfortable to put on heavy material armor, it is pleasant, on the other hand, to put on spiritual armor, for this is an armor of light. In this way you will shine more brightly than the sun and, even as you sparkle brightly, you will be safe because these are weapons…, weapons of light. So then? Are we excused from fighting? Not at all! We are to fight but without being overcome by fatigue and without pain. For it is not so much a war to which we are being summoned as a feast and celebration.

Roman Extraordinary (Tridentine) Daily Readings – rosary,team