Whoever finds the Immaculata, finds Jesus

I stumbled across this over at Rorate Caeli and thought it was too good not to share here:


"We cannot take rest as long as there is in the world one soul in danger, who does not yet know the Immaculata. Our human frailty, limited resources or any other worldly difficulty must not restrain us; let us confide in the Immaculata, let us place ourselves truly in Her hands and She will continue to win the battles of God, as at Lepanto, as at Vienna. We must place our Lady in every soul so that from every soul sin be expelled and Jesus introduced. Whoever finds the Immaculata, finds Jesus.

The Immaculata is the conqueress of the devil, she is the Mother of God, always united to God, the full of grace, the masterpiece of grace with every holiness and perfection attainable by a human creature. The Immaculata is the one who in Her unbounded and respectful love wills the glory of God, fights the battles of God for overcoming evil, for the triumph of good, crushes the head of hell’s monster and destroys all heresies in the whole world. ...

May all nourish themselves on this truth so as to enter into the thought of God who willed the Incarnation to give us much more than what we had lost in Adam, and who in the Incarnation willed the Immaculata to remind us of the innocent man created by God and of the vision of an innocent world, according to the plan of God.

To God all glory, to God our respectful love and our praise, who willed thus to exalt and glorify the Immaculata, Mother of this dismembered and sinful humanity, our Hope, always."

Saint Maximilian Kolbe

Conference (Rome, 1937)

Cardinal Burke on Summorum Pontificum

I found this recently on the blog site Rorate Caeli
Cardinal Burke, as readers of this blog will no doubt already know is a personal hero of mine, and I'm always interested to hear what he says, particularly regarding my favourite topic: The liturgy, or how we worship.
Comenting on the three years that have passed since the Pope promulgated his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, the good Cardinal has some interesting observations. The emphasis added is my own, and there are a few comments at the end.

Burke on Summorum Pontificum and the post-Conciliar liturgical reform


From the interview granted by Cardinal Burke, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, to the May 2011 edition of French Catholic monthly La Nef:

La Nef – After over three years, what assessment can you make of the application of the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum ?

Cardinal Burke – In its application, I have ascertained an always increasing interest and appreciation for the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, for the faithful in general and for young Catholics in particular. Excellent initiatives have taken place in order to promote acquaintance with the motu proprio and its objective, foreseen by the Holy Father when he promulgated it. I think of numerous individual talks as well as conferences on sacred liturgy, which have granted particular attention to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite and to its relationship with the ordinary form. Additionally, several books and articles have been published, having as their aim a deep study of the motu proprio.

It is evident that the application of Summorum Pontificum has not taken place in a uniform fashion in the Church universal. In some places, its application has even faced resistence by the part of those who claim not to understand its goals and who defend that the motu proprio cannot be applied before the publication of the Instruction related to its application. I hope that the Instruction will be published shortly, so that the motu proprio may be applied in a more universal and more uniform way, according to the profound pastoral solicitude of our Holy Father for the sacred liturgy. To those who claim not to understand the intentions of Summorum Pontificum, I suggest a re-reading of the Letter to the Bishops, written by our Holy Father when it was promulgated, as well as the numerous writings of the Holy Father on sacred liturgy, published before and after his election to the Chair of Peter. I think, for instance, of his masterpiece: The Spirit of the Liturgy.

As far as I am concerned, the application of the motu proprio has allowed me to greatly develop and deepen my knowledge and love for the sacred liturgy, the highest expression of the faith and of the life of the Church. By re-reading the apostolic letter itself, as well as the accompanying Letter to Bishops of the Pope, I see how the Holy Father was inspired when grating to the universal Church this new liturgical discipline. I have myself been a personal witness to the good fruits of this new discipline.

As for the future, I am convinced that the faithful application of Summorum Pontificum will contribute to the true renewal of the sacred liturgy. That was the wish of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, but this was more or less betrayed by the way in which their teaching was put into practice after its closing. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, at the time, proposed numerous times a "reform of the reform", allowing for a full correction of the vague and erroneous interpretations of the Conciliar teaching on the sacred liturgy and the reception of the authentic magisterial teaching, for the greater glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful.

It is always so wonderful to hear the good Cardinal speak with such passion about the liturgy and the faith. He is obviously motivated by a deep love for the faith, the liturgy and for the people of God. I, for what it is worth would like to heartily agree with His Eminence Cardinal Burke in encouragiung people to read the writings of the Pope concerning the liturgy, particularly The Spirit of the Liturgy and also The Feast of Faith. These texts coupled with the 2007 Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritas give the reader a wonderful understanding of the Pope's liturgical vision. All this seems to be summarised in his very liturgical practise (which is covered here in a previous post).
It seems to me that the liturgy is somewhat of a lynchpin in understanding the entire pontificate of Benedict XVI. The worship of God is primary, and everything flows from it and towards it.
This is a thought I will be developing here in good time, whenever I can scrounge enough time to write, so until then I will leave it here.

Ave Maria!