Traditional Catholic Daily Devotional

It's the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 2nd Class, with the color of Red. In this episode: the meditation: "The Sanctification of Sunday", today's news from the Church: "Could the SSPX still wait for Rome?", a preview of the Sermon: "Trusting Providence", and today's thought from the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Have feedback or questions about the DD or our other shows? podcast@sspx.org
Sources Used Today:

"The Sanctification of Sunday" — From the Assumption to Adventhttps://angeluspress.org/products/from-trinity-sunday-to-the-assumption




"Could the SSPX still wait for Rome?" (FSSPX.news)
https://fsspx.news/en/news/could-sspx-still-wait-rome-61047




"Trusting Providence" (SSPX Sermons)
SSPX YouTube: Sermons Playlist
Listen & Subscribe: SSPX Sermons Podcast




The Spiritual Life — Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
https://angeluspress.org/products/spiritual-life-archbishop






Please support our new project, the Archbishop Lefebvre Biography Audiobook:
Learn more:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Wp4MQdK2o
Donate:https://sspx.gifts/audiobook


The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross has one of the most interesting histories on the Catholic calendar because it celebrates not simply Christ's Crucifixion, but the strange journey of the Cross itself through history.

The story begins with Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine. Around the year 326, Helena traveled to Jerusalem looking for the places associated with the Passion of Christ. According to ancient tradition, excavations near Calvary uncovered three crosses.

That created an obvious problem.

Which one was Christ's?

Tradition says the True Cross was identified through a miraculous healing when a sick woman touched it. Other versions tell of a dead man being restored to life. Whatever the precise details, devotion to the Cross in Jerusalem developed very early.

Constantine soon ordered a magnificent church built over Calvary and Christ's tomb. The complex was dedicated in September of 335 and eventually became the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The following day, September 14, the relic of the True Cross was solemnly displayed, or "exalted," before the people so everyone could venerate it.

That's where our feast gets its name.

But the Cross wasn't finished traveling.

In 614, Persian armies captured Jerusalem, destroyed churches, and carried away the relic of the True Cross as war booty.

Imagine the shock.

One of Christianity's holiest relics was now in the hands of an invading army.

Years later, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius defeated the Persians and recovered the Cross. In 629, he solemnly returned it to Jerusalem.

Then comes one of the feast's most memorable traditions.

Heraclius supposedly approached Calvary wearing his imperial robes, jeweled crown, and all the splendor of an emperor. But when he tried to carry the Cross forward, he couldn't move.

The Patriarch of Jerusalem pointed out the obvious contrast.

Christ had carried that Cross wearing a crown of thorns.

Heraclius was carrying it dressed like a king.

So the emperor removed his crown, exchanged his rich garments for simple clothing, took up the Cross again, and this time carried it forward.

Whether every detail happened exactly that way or not, medieval Christians loved the story because it captures the entire meaning of the feast.

The Cross was once an instrument designed to humiliate criminals.

Christianity turned it into a throne.

That's why Catholics place crosses above altars, wear them around their necks, and raise them over churches. We don't honor suffering for its own sake. We honor the Cross because Christ took the thing meant to destroy Him and made it the instrument of our salvation.

We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee, because by Thy Holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the world.


Please Support this Apostolate with 1-time or Monthly Donation >>

- - - - - -
Explore more:

Subscribe to the email version of this Devotional- it's a perfect companion!
Subscribe to this Podcastto receive this and all our audio episodes
Subscribe to the SSPX YouTube channelfor video versions of our podcast series and Sermons
FSSPX News Website:https://fsspx.news
Visit the US District website:https://sspx.org/


What is the SSPX Podcast?

The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.
What is the SSPX?

The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood.

Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls.

Although the traditional Latin Mass is the most visible and public expression of the work of the Society, we are committed to defending Catholic Tradition in its entirety: all of Catholic doctrine and morals as the Church has always defended them. What people need is the Catholic Faith, without compromise, with all the truth and beauty which accompanies it.

https://sspx.org

It's the Feast of XVI Sun of Pentecost, 2nd Class, with the color of Green. In this episode: the meditation: "The Virtue of Religion", today's news from the Church: "In Salzburg, Artisans Are Building a Church "For Eternity"", and today's thought from the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Have feedback or questions about the DD or our other shows? podcast@sspx.org
Sources Used Today:

"The Virtue of Religion" — From the Assumption to Adventhttps://angeluspress.org/products/from-trinity-sunday-to-the-assumption




"In Salzburg, Artisans Are Building a Church "For Eternity"" (FSSPX.news)
https://fsspx.news/en/news/austria-salzburg-artisans-are-building-church-eternity-61040




The Spiritual Life — Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
https://angeluspress.org/products/spiritual-life-archbishop






Please support our new project, the Archbishop Lefebvre Biography Audiobook:
Learn more:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Wp4MQdK2o
Donate:https://sspx.gifts/audiobook


Saint Amatus of Remiremont is one of those early medieval saints whose story involves an unusual amount of moving farther and farther away from everyone, only to discover that people kept following him.

He was born around the year 560 in the region of Grenoble in southeastern France. As a young man, Amatus entered the famous monastery of Agaunum, today's Saint-Maurice in Switzerland. It was built near the traditional site of the martyrdom of the Theban Legion and had become one of the great monastic centers of the region.

Amatus liked monastic life.

He just wanted even more silence.

So he eventually withdrew to live as a hermit high in the mountains. Tradition places him near a rocky retreat where he spent years praying, fasting, and living largely alone.

That worked for a while.

Then Eustace of Luxeuil came looking for him.

Eustace persuaded Amatus to leave his solitude and join the great monastery of Luxeuil, founded by the Irish missionary Saint Columbanus. Amatus became a preacher there and soon attracted the attention of a wealthy nobleman named Romaric.

Romaric listened to Amatus, converted his enormous estate into a religious foundation, and eventually became a monk himself.

Together, the two men established a monastery in the Vosges Mountains around the year 620.

And this monastery was unusual.

Rather than following the arrangement that would later become standard in Western monasteries, Remiremont developed as a double monastery, with communities of men and women living separately but sharing a common spiritual life. According to early tradition, the monks maintained something called the laus perennis, or "perpetual praise," organizing themselves so that the Psalms and prayers continued through the day and night.

Imagine building an entire community around the idea that somebody should always be praying.

Amatus became its first abbot, while Romaric eventually succeeded him. The monastery became so closely associated with Romaric that the surrounding settlement eventually took his name: Remiremont, essentially "Romaric's mountain."

That town still exists in northeastern France.

Over the centuries, the monastery changed dramatically. Its community of women eventually became an influential house of noble canonesses, and Remiremont developed into an important religious and political center of medieval Lorraine.

Amatus probably would have found all that rather surprising.

He had originally gone into the mountains because he wanted to be left alone with God.

Instead, his life helped create a religious community, a town, and a tradition of prayer that survived for more than a thousand years.

Sometimes God has a funny way of using people who want obscurity.

Saint Amatus of Remiremont, hermit of the mountains and father of perpetual prayer, pray for us.


Please Support this Apostolate with 1-time or Monthly Donation >>

- - - - - -
Explore more:

Subscribe to the email version of this Devotional- it's a perfect companion!
Subscribe to this Podcastto receive this and all our audio episodes
Subscribe to the SSPX YouTube channelfor video versions of our podcast series and Sermons
FSSPX News Website:https://fsspx.news
Visit the US District website:https://sspx.org/


What is the SSPX Podcast?

The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.
What is the SSPX?

The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood.

Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls.

Although the traditional Latin Mass is the most visible and public expression of the work of the Society, we are committed to defending Catholic Tradition in its entirety: all of Catholic doctrine and morals as the Church has always defended them. What people need is the Catholic Faith, without compromise, with all the truth and beauty which accompanies it.

https://sspx.org

It's the Feast of The Most Holy Name of Mary, 3rd Class, with the color of White. In this episode: the meditation: "The Resurrection of the Body", today's news from the Church: "Freemasonry in France: Thirty days of influence in the open", and today's thought from the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Have feedback or questions about the DD or our other shows? podcast@sspx.org
Sources Used Today:

"The Resurrection of the Body" — From the Assumption to Adventhttps://angeluspress.org/products/from-trinity-sunday-to-the-assumption




"Freemasonry in France: Thirty days of influence in the open" (FSSPX.news)
https://fsspx.news/en/news/freemasonry-france-thirty-days-influence-open-61041




The Spiritual Life — Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
https://angeluspress.org/products/spiritual-life-archbishop






Please support our new project, the Archbishop Lefebvre Biography Audiobook:
Learn more:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Wp4MQdK2o
Donate:https://sspx.gifts/audiobook


The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary celebrates something wonderfully simple: the name by which Christians have called upon the Mother of God for nearly two thousand years.

The name Mary comes to us through the Hebrew Miriam, and scholars have proposed several meanings over the centuries. Christian writers have especially loved titles such as "Star of the Sea." Saint Bernard famously developed that image, telling Christians caught in the storms of temptation and suffering to look toward the star and call upon Mary.

But the feast itself has a surprisingly dramatic history.

Devotion to Mary's name existed long before there was a universal feast. By the Middle Ages, Catholics regularly invoked her name in hymns, prayers, and preaching. A formal feast developed in Spain during the sixteenth century and gradually spread elsewhere.

Then came Vienna in 1683.

The Ottoman Empire had advanced deep into Europe, and a massive army surrounded Vienna. If the city fell, the road into central Europe would be dangerously exposed. For weeks the defenders held out while relief forces gathered under the Polish king John III Sobieski.

Before the battle, Sobieski and his soldiers attended Mass and entrusted themselves to the Blessed Virgin.

On September 12, the Christian relief army attacked.

Sobieski's famous Polish Winged Hussars joined what is often described as one of the largest cavalry charges in history, sweeping down upon the Ottoman positions. By evening, the siege had been broken.

Sobieski reportedly adapted Julius Caesar's famous words afterward: "We came, we saw, God conquered."

Pope Innocent XI attributed the deliverance of Vienna to divine assistance obtained through Our Lady's intercession. In thanksgiving, he extended the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary to the universal Church, connecting it permanently with September 12.

So behind this gentle-sounding feast stands one of the most dramatic moments in European history.

The devotion itself, however, is much quieter.

Catholics have traditionally been encouraged simply to develop the habit of saying Mary's name with love and confidence, especially during temptation, fear, or suffering. Saints repeatedly recommended it as one of the simplest prayers a person can make.

You don't always need many words.

Sometimes "Mary, help me" is enough.

And perhaps that's why this feast has endured. It celebrates no complicated theological idea and requires no elaborate devotion. It simply reminds us that God has given Christians a Mother, and children naturally call for their mother by name.

Most Holy Name of Mary, consolation of Christians and terror of demons, be always on our lips and in our hearts.


Please Support this Apostolate with 1-time or Monthly Donation >>

- - - - - -
Explore more:

Subscribe to the email version of this Devotional- it's a perfect companion!
Subscribe to this Podcastto receive this and all our audio episodes
Subscribe to the SSPX YouTube channelfor video versions of our podcast series and Sermons
FSSPX News Website:https://fsspx.news
Visit the US District website:https://sspx.org/


What is the SSPX Podcast?

The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.
What is the SSPX?

The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood.

Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls.

Although the traditional Latin Mass is the most visible and public expression of the work of the Society, we are committed to defending Catholic Tradition in its entirety: all of Catholic doctrine and morals as the Church has always defended them. What people need is the Catholic Faith, without compromise, with all the truth and beauty which accompanies it.

https://sspx.org

It's a Feria, 4th Class, with the color of Green. In this episode: the meditation: "Christian Hope", today's news from the Church: "700 Traditional Pilgrims at the Feet of Our Lady of Częstochowa", a preview of this week's episode of The SSPX Podcast: "What Is the Difference Between a Priest and a Bishop?", and today's thought from the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Have feedback or questions about the DD or our other shows? podcast@sspx.org
Sources Used Today:

"Christian Hope" — From the Assumption to Adventhttps://angeluspress.org/products/from-trinity-sunday-to-the-assumption




"700 Traditional Pilgrims at the Feet of Our Lady of Częstochowa" (FSSPX.news)
https://fsspx.news/en/news/poland-700-traditional-pilgrims-feet-our-lady-czestochowa-60973




The SSPX Podcast: "What Is the Difference Between a Priest and a Bishop?" (SSPX Podcast)
View on YouTube
Listen & Subscribe on SSPXpodcast.com




The Spiritual Life — Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
https://angeluspress.org/products/spiritual-life-archbishop






Please support our new project, the Archbishop Lefebvre Biography Audiobook:
Learn more:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Wp4MQdK2o
Donate:https://sspx.gifts/audiobook


Saint John Gabriel Perboyre spent years dreaming about the missions in China before he ever imagined he would actually go there.

He was born in 1802 in a small farming village in southern France, one of eight children. As a boy, John Gabriel wasn't originally planning to become a priest. He accompanied his younger brother to a school run by the Vincentians and intended to stay only long enough to help him settle in.

Instead, John Gabriel discovered his own vocation.

He entered the Congregation of the Mission, founded by Vincent de Paul, and was ordained in 1826. His great desire was to become a missionary in China, partly inspired by his younger brother Louis, who had volunteered for the Chinese missions but died during the voyage.

John Gabriel asked to take his place.

His superiors initially refused because his health seemed too fragile.

Eventually, they changed their minds.

In 1835, he sailed for China. After months at sea, John Gabriel entered the country disguised in Chinese clothing, learned the language, and began traveling between scattered Catholic communities. Missionary life meant long journeys, unfamiliar food, hiding from authorities, hearing confessions, celebrating Mass secretly, and teaching Catholics who might see a priest only occasionally.

Then, in 1839, persecution intensified.

John Gabriel was betrayed for money, arrested, and dragged from prison to prison. Authorities repeatedly demanded that he renounce Christianity. When he refused, he was beaten and tortured.

One detail of his imprisonment is particularly striking.

His captors tried to force him to trample on a crucifix.

He wouldn't do it.

Eventually John Gabriel was condemned to death. On September 11, 1840, he was taken to an execution ground near Wuchang and strangled on a wooden cross-like structure.

The resemblance to the Passion of Christ was not lost on later Catholics.

His body was eventually recovered by Christians and buried in China. Years later, his remains were returned to France and placed in the Vincentian motherhouse in Paris, where they can still be venerated today.

There's also a fascinating family detail. John Gabriel wasn't the only Perboyre drawn toward religious life. Several of his siblings entered religious communities, and the brother whose death opened the way for John's mission to China had wanted exactly the same vocation.

John Gabriel finally reached the country he had prayed to serve, but he spent only a few years there.

It was enough.

In 1996, he became the first canonized saint among the missionaries martyred in China.

Saint John Gabriel Perboyre, missionary of China and courageous imitator of the Crucified Christ, pray for us.


Please Support this Apostolate with 1-time or Monthly Donation >>

- - - - - -
Explore more:

Subscribe to the email version of this Devotional- it's a perfect companion!
Subscribe to this Podcastto receive this and all our audio episodes
Subscribe to the SSPX YouTube channelfor video versions of our podcast series and Sermons
FSSPX News Website:https://fsspx.news
Visit the US District website:https://sspx.org/


What is the SSPX Podcast?

The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.
What is the SSPX?

The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood.

Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls.

Although the traditional Latin Mass is the most visible and public expression of the work of the Society, we are committed to defending Catholic Tradition in its entirety: all of Catholic doctrine and morals as the Church has always defended them. What people need is the Catholic Faith, without compromise, with all the truth and beauty which accompanies it.

https://sspx.org

It's the Feast of St. Nicholas Tolentino, 3rd Class, with the color of White. In this episode: the meditation: "The Particular Judgement", today's news from the Church: "Pilgrimage to Bourguillon Under the Theme "Francis, Repair My Church"", a preview of the Sermon: "Without Me You Can Do Nothing", and today's thought from the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Have feedback or questions about the DD or our other shows? podcast@sspx.org
Sources Used Today:

"The Particular Judgement" — From the Assumption to Adventhttps://angeluspress.org/products/from-trinity-sunday-to-the-assumption




"Pilgrimage to Bourguillon Under the Theme "Francis, Repair My Church"" (FSSPX.news)
https://fsspx.news/en/news/switzerland-pilgrimage-bourguillon-under-theme-francis-repair-my-church-60927




"Without Me You Can Do Nothing" (SSPX Sermons)
SSPX YouTube: Sermons Playlist
Listen & Subscribe: SSPX Sermons Podcast




The Spiritual Life — Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
https://angeluspress.org/products/spiritual-life-archbishop






Please support our new project, the Archbishop Lefebvre Biography Audiobook:
Learn more:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Wp4MQdK2o
Donate:https://sspx.gifts/audiobook


Saint Nicholas of Tolentino became one of the most beloved Augustinian saints of the Middle Ages, and his story has a little bit of everything: miraculous bread, visions, souls in Purgatory, and a lifetime spent quietly helping ordinary people.

He was born around 1245 in central Italy. His parents had struggled for years to have a child, so they made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Nicholas of Myra in Bari and prayed for a son.

When that son finally arrived, there wasn't much debate about the name.

Nicholas eventually joined the Augustinians and was ordained a priest. After several assignments, he was sent to the town of Tolentino, where he would spend roughly thirty years.

And apparently, he became the priest everybody came looking for.

Nicholas preached, heard confessions, visited prisoners, settled arguments, cared for the poor, and spent long hours in prayer. He was especially known for seeking out people who had drifted away from the Church rather than simply waiting for them to return.

One of the most unusual traditions about Nicholas concerns blessed bread.

During a serious illness, Nicholas was reportedly told in a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary to eat a small piece of bread dipped in water. He recovered, and afterward he began blessing pieces of bread and giving them to the sick.

The custom never really went away.

Even today, Augustinians bless what are called the Breads of Saint Nicholas, which are distributed to the faithful and used as a sacramental, especially in prayers for healing and protection.

But Nicholas is probably best known for his connection with Purgatory.

According to tradition, a deceased friar appeared to him and begged for Masses because he and many other souls were suffering in Purgatory. Nicholas spent the following days offering Mass and prayers for them. The friar later appeared again, this time surrounded by souls who had been released through those prayers.

That story spread everywhere.

Nicholas became one of the great patrons of the souls in Purgatory, and medieval paintings frequently show him celebrating Mass while souls rise from the flames toward heaven.

His relics are still venerated at the Basilica of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino. The basilica's extraordinary medieval frescoes make it one of the most interesting Augustinian shrines in Italy.

Nicholas never founded an order or became a bishop.

He simply stayed in one town for thirty years, said Mass, heard confessions, fed people, prayed for the dead, and helped whoever showed up.

Sometimes that's more than enough for a lifetime.

Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, friend of the poor and tireless intercessor for the souls in Purgatory, pray for us.


Please Support this Apostolate with 1-time or Monthly Donation >>

- - - - - -
Explore more:

Subscribe to the email version of this Devotional- it's a perfect companion!
Subscribe to this Podcastto receive this and all our audio episodes
Subscribe to the SSPX YouTube channelfor video versions of our podcast series and Sermons
FSSPX News Website:https://fsspx.news
Visit the US District website:https://sspx.org/


What is the SSPX Podcast?

The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.
What is the SSPX?

The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood.

Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls.

Although the traditional Latin Mass is the most visible and public expression of the work of the Society, we are committed to defending Catholic Tradition in its entirety: all of Catholic doctrine and morals as the Church has always defended them. What people need is the Catholic Faith, without compromise, with all the truth and beauty which accompanies it.

https://sspx.org