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Lots
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J.M.J. A.M.D.G.
F.V.T.
What Is Cordi-Marian Fathers?
Missionariis Congregationis Filiorum Immaculati Cordis Beatae Mariae Virginis
Our official title in Latin is: Missionariis Congregationis Filiorum Immaculati Cordis Beatae Mariae Virginis (Missionary Congregation of Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary) which is sometimes shortened to simply Cordis Mariae Filius (Sons of the Heart of Mary). Since the Congregation was originally established ONLY for Priests, it should be self-evident why our title in English is "Cordi-Marian Fathers" (Heart of Mary Fathers) and thus each professed Religious of our Congregation is entitled to use the initials C.M.F. after his name which refers to Cordis Mariae Filius (Sons of the Heart of Mary) and to Cordi-Marian Fathers (Heart of Mary Fathers).In general, it was on Monday, July 16, 1849 in Vich, Spain, that Archbishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret, along with Fathers Stephen Sala, Joseph Xifre, Dominic Fabregas, Manuel Vilaro and Jaime Clotet formed a Religious Congregation of Priests called Missionariis Congregationis Filiorum Immaculati Cordis Beatae Mariae Virginis (Missionary Congregation of Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary) at the local seminary in Vich.
At that time they also began the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. "Because July 16 is the Feast of the Holy Cross and of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, I based my first sermon on those words of the twenty-second Psalm: ‘Thy rod and Thy staff, they have comforted me' [Psalm 22:4] alluding to the devotion and confidence we should place in the Holy Cross and the Blessed Virgin Mary and applying it also to the project we were beginning" (Archbishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, # 490).
During that summer they remained at the seminary of Vich as they waited for the Bishop of Vich, Dr. Luciano Casadevall, to rehabilitate the Monastery of Our Lady of Mercy for the new Congregation. After the government had evicted the Mercedarians from their monastery, it had been converted into a barracks. Shortly before 1849 it had been used as the city jail but the government had left it at the disposal of Bishop Casadevall of Vich.
In 1818 he made his First Holy Communion.
He was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on Saturday, June 13, 1835 at the age of 28.The Saint, along with 5 co-founders, established the Religious Congregation they called Missionariis Congregationis Filiorum Immaculati Cordis Beatae Mariae Virginis (Missionary Congregation of Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary) on Monday, July 16, 1849 in Vich, Spain. On Saturday, August 4, 1849, the Saint was elected Archbishop.
He accepted his election on Thursday, October 4, 1849.
Sunday, October 6, 1850, he received the Sacrament of the Episcopacy from his Consecrator Don Luciano Casadevall, the local Ordinary of Vich, and his Co-Consecrators, Bishop Dominic Costa y Borras of Barcelona and Bishop Fulgencio Lorente of Gerona.
Saturday, December 28, 1850, he left Barcelona, Spain for Cuba.
He arrived in Cuba on Sunday, February 16, 1850.
One of but many assassination attempts was made against him at Holguin on Friday, February 1, 1856 when he was severely wounded.
He left Havana, Cuba, on Sunday, April 12, 1857.
He was appointed Confessor to the then 27 year old Queen of Spain, Isabella II, on Friday, June 5, 1857 and was later able to reunite the Queen and her husband.
In 1859 he was named the president of the Escorial.
In 1860 the Saint was made the Archbishop of Trajanopolis.
On Monday, August 26, 1861 at 7:00 p.m. Christ granted the Saint the extremely rare privilege and great grace of retaining the sacramental species within him. This lasted until his death.
Probably in October or November of 1861 the Saint began to write his AUTOBIOGRAPHY at the command of Father Joseph Xifre, his spiritual director and the then Superior General of his Missionary Congregation. (Father Joseph Xifre was the third Superior General of the Congregation and held this office from Saturday, May 1, 1858 to his death in 1899.)
He completed the AUTOBIOGRAPHY around the end of May, 1862.
Our Blessed Mother appeared to him in a vision with the Infant Jesus on Christmas night, Sunday, December 25, 1864 and granted him the privilege of holding the Christ Child in his arms, just as she had done centuries before to his name-sake, Saint Anthony of Padua.
The Saint wrote a CONTINUATION of his AUTOBIOGRAPHY which he completed sometime before October 25, 1865, the day he left for Rome.
While he was in Rome, he was stricken by a stoke, from which he never recovered. The Superior General, Father Xifre, brought the Saint from Rome to their religious house in Prades which is located in French Catalonia in the Eastern Pyrenees of France. It was hoped that there, surrounded by his spiritual sons, he would regain his health.
In 1870, at the instigation of his many enemies, the Spanish consul in nearby Perpignan began to prepare a petition to France for his extradition back to Spain so that he could be put into prison.
When this plot became known to the Bishop of Perpignan and some of the Saint's other friends, on the feast day of the Transfiguration, Saturday, August 6, 1870, the feast of the Transfiguration, they arranged to move him to a remote mountain monastery of the French Cistercians at Fontfroide.
He later expired in a saintly death at 8:45 A.M. on Monday, October 24, 1870, the feast of Saint Raphael the Archangel, one of the two patron saints of travelers (so fitting for a missionary who had spent so much time traveling on foot as had the Apostles). Saint Raphael the Archangel is also the patron saint of those in search of a holy spouse for a holy and happy marriage.
Leo XIII declared Archbishop Anthony Mary Claret "Venerable" in 1899.
Pius XI beatified Archbishop "Blessed" Anthony Mary Claret on Wednesday, February 28, 1934.
Pius XII canonized Archbishop "Saint" Anthony Mary Claret on Sunday, May 7, 1950. His feast day is October 23. The reason why his official feast day is not the day of his death, which is customary, is that the pre-existing feast day of Saint Raphael the Archangel of October 24 takes precedence.
Pius XII's Bull of canonization of Archbishop "Saint" Anthony Mary Claret, entitled BULLA CANONIZATIONIS SANCTI ANTONII MARIAE CLARET, is found in ACTA APOSTOLICAE SEDIS (1950 edition), p. 480.
The Holy Constitutions
Archbishop-Elect, Saint Anthony Mary Claret wrote the CONSTITUTIONS for this Religious Congregation between 1849 and 1850. But it was not until 1857 that they were printed along with some additions.
The First Page of the Holy Constitutions
The Code of Added Law
Today the additions are to be found in book form under the title: CODEX IRUIS ADDITICII (Code of Added Law) Pro Missionariis Congregationis Filiorum Immaculati Cordis B.M.V., Capitulorum et Superiorum Generalium Auctoritate Vigentis. The edition before me was printed by Editorial Coculsa, Paseo de Rosales, 48 dpdo., Matriti, in 1953 and contains 382 pages, bound, with a light gray paper cover, about 4 1/4 inches wide and about 6 1/4" long, the front cover of which is shown above.
The First Page of the Code of Added Law
The ends of this Religious Congregation were identified by the Saint in the second article of the Constitutions: "Its object will be to seek in all things the glory of God, the sanctification of its own members and the salvation of all the inhabitants of the world, subject to the following regulations."
Within this context, it is instructive to consider how, in a letter of August, 1845 to Gregory XVI, the future Saint wrote in part: "...that, considering the injuries suffered by the Catholic Religion, he [the Saint writing of himself in the third person singular] resolved to oppose them effectively...His endeavors were blessed by God and quite soon he saw a great number of scattered sheep return to the bosom of the Father Who, in His Divine mercy, has now deigned to call other truly zealous evangelical workers, ready and resolved to follow the same tenor of life and apostolic labors as that of the petitioner..."
Quoting the Saint in part from one of his shorter writings: "Through the special care and providence which God our Lord shows towards the Church militant, in all times He has sent and still sends men according to His own heart, full of grace and teaching, to confront the errors which the evil one [Satan] has invented and suggested to his impious followers...I shall cite but a few of them...At the same time that Pelagius was born, so was Augustine, the great Doctor of the Church...Sometime later, the proud and restless Satan once again reared his head, using Luther, Calvin and their followers to disturb the peace of the Church, and immediately the merciful God awakened and called St. Ignatius Loyola and the Company of Jesus, who claimed the fullest of victories. Notwithstanding the triumphs of the Company of Jesus over demons and wicked men, it has been necessary, in order to stem the tide of impiety, for God to send others. This He has done through the many Congregations of Clerks Regular which have since been founded: the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, the Piarists of St. Joseph of Calasanz, the Priests of the Mission of St. Vincent DePaul, the Redemptorists of St. Alphonsus Liguori, the Passionists of St. Paul of the Cross, and finally, the Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, founded on [Monday] July 16, 1849 and approved on [Friday] December 22, 1865" (St. Anthony Mary Claret, Archbishop of Trajanopolis, SELFISHNESS OVERCOME, Chapter Seven; published in Italian in Rome, 1870).
Pen-Picture
"A Son of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a man who burns with love and spreads that love wherever he goes. He effectively desires and strives by all possible means to enkindle in all men the fire of God's love. Nothing discourages him; he rejoices in privations, eagerly seeks out work, welcomes hardships, is happy even amid misunderstandings, and is delighted even in the face of suffering. He concerns himself only with imitating Jesus Christ in prayer, work and suffering; he seeks always and above all the greater glory of God and the salvation of souls" (Archbishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret, AUTOBIOGRAPHY # 494).
THE GREAT PROMISE
Our Holy Father Founder, Archbishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret, asserted on various occasions to our first confreres that all of those who die as members of this Congregation shall be saved. Of course, this presupposes that such members also retain their membership in the Catholic Church as well, which understanding is implicit and pre-supposed in this promise.
There are various testimonies which can be considered reliable regarding this wonderful promise which came directly from our Holy Father Founder. Perhaps the most trustworthy of all is that of our third Superior General, Father Joseph Xifre, who was the Spiritual Director of our Holy Father Founder, Archbishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret, for more than twelve years and Superior General for forty one years.
In his circular letter addressed to all of the members of our Congregation, dated Saturday, October 23, 1897, the future Feast Day of our Holy Father Founder, Archbishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Superior General, Father Joseph Xifre put into writing this magnificent promise of our Saint-Founder:
"If we keep the oath of perseverance we have taken, we have a great token of predestination in the revelation made by God to our Holy Father Founder, which we heard from his lips:
GOD, said he, HAS REVEALED TO ME THAT
THOSE WHO PERSEVERE IN THE CONGREGATION
UNTIL DEATH SHALL BE SAVED."
Hence, how happy all should be who have the privilege to enter into our Congregation which is this most special ark of salvation! How happy they should consider themselves and how very grateful they should be to Almighty God and our Blessed Mother who have been so favored by God and our Lady as Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary with such a wonderful heavenly gift in the form of such a great promise!
They should always keep this Great Promise in their minds and in their hearts and live by it so that they may be found worthy of becoming and then remaining a member of the Congregation and enjoy this heavenly blessing and most consoling promise.
Apostolates
Just as our Holy Father Founder, Archbishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret, did much writing (writing about 144 books and booklets), conducted parish missions, etc., so also does Cordi-Marian Fathers try to remain faithful to his genuine spirit. This explains why we are on the Internet and why one is writing several books and why one is putting together a program to teach seminarians on the Internet! Teaching, preaching and writing were all considered very important apostolates for Missionariis Congregationis Filiorum Immaculati Cordis Beatae Mariae Virginis (Missionary Congregation of Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary) by our Holy Father Founder, Archbishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for Cordi-Marian Fathers and all of our Apostolates. Amen.
Holy Father Founder, Archbishop Saint Anthony Mary Claret, pray for Cordi-Marian Fathers and all of our Apostolates. Amen.
Holy Apostle and Martyr for the Catholic Faith, Saint Jude Thaddeus, pray for Cordi-Marian Fathers and all of our Apostolates. Amen.
Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for Cordi-Marian Fathers and all of our Apostolates. Amen.
Cordi-Marian Fathers is a Religious Congregation according to the legal prescriptions of that Canon Law, a.k.a., Church Law, which is used by the Catholic Church.
An historical legal explanation of Religious Congregation in general as applied by the Jurisdictions of dioceses and Uniate eparchies can be found in various places including the Codex Iuris Canonici,, e.g., ¶ # 488, 2.·; Codex Iuris Canonici Orientalis, e.g., ¶ # 314, # 2; ¶ # 314, # 3; etc.
Activities include a number of areas of Catholic ministry and apostolate such as, among others, the Shrine of Saint Jude, and now, the Internet.
Since one picture is worth a thousand words, here are thousands of words condensed in living color including a brief description with each photograph taken over the years.
A Meeting with Arcardio Cardinal Larraonna
Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Rites
Pre-Vatican 2 Seminary Classmates,
Instructors, and Religious Superiors
Pre-Vatican 2 Seminary Classmates
Posing with Clergy after Religious Profession
Patriarch Cardinal Slipyj
Defender of the Catholic Traditional Faith
| “...Catholic Ukrainians, who have sacrificed mountains
of bodies and shed rivers of their blood for the Catholic Faith...even
now are undergoing a very terrible persecution, but what is worse, they
are defended by no one...our Catholic faithful, prohibited from celebrating
the Liturgy [Mass] and receiving the Sacraments, must descend into the
Catacombs. Thousands and thousands of the Faithful, of Priests
and Bishops have been thrown into prison and deported to the polar regions
of Siberia. Now, however, because of negotiations and diplomacy,
Ukrainian Catholics, who as martyrs and confessors suffered so much, are
being thrown aside as inconvenient witnesses of past evils.”
(Patriarch Kyr Josyf Cardinal Slipyj [b. Zazdrist, Wednesday, February 17, 1892 - d. Rome, Friday, September 7, 1984], VISTI Y RYMU, Rik 9, nos. 16-17, Rome, December 1971.) |
Mass in Catacombs III
East in the West
Public Clergy Conferences with Laity
First Communion Class
Annointing of Head of Bishop-Elect with Holy Oils
During Episcopal Consecration
Consecrator with the 2 Co-Consecrators
Sacrament of the Episcopacy
Administration/Reception of
the Sacrament of the Episcopacy
After Episcopal Consecration
Another Meeting of Bishops
Another Episcopal Consecration
Administering Holy Communion during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass |
Administering Holy Communion
during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
to Communicants on the tongue, kneeling
Preaching on Good Friday |
Holy Saturday
New Fire
Holy Saturday
Liturgy
Holy Saturday
Blessing Easter Water
Holy Saturday Chanting the Twelve Prophecies |
Preaching on Easter Sunday in Catacombs III
Ordaining a Priest
First Mass of Newly Ordained Priest
Moment of Actual Episcopal Consecration of the First
of Two Bishops
Another View of Consecrating Two Bishops
Archbishops, Bishops, and Priests Dining
Beginning new School Year
Catholic Traditional Chapel
Christmas
Pontifical Low Mass
Palm Sunday
Solemn Blessing of the Palms
Pontifical Low Mass
Palm Sunday
Distributing the Blessed Palms
Pontifical Low Mass
Palm Sunday
Procession after the Mass
Pontifical Low Mass
Holy Thursday - Mass of Chrism
Pontifical Low Mass
Holy Thursday - Mass of Chrism
Pontifical Low Mass
Holy Thursday - Mass of Chrism
Adding Balsam to the Oil to Make the Sacred Chrism
Pontifical Low Mass
Holy Thursday - Mass of Chrism
Washing the hands after the making of the Holy Oils
and Sacred Chrism
Good Friday
Photo of the Metropolitan Archbishop with his Assistant
Priest
and two of the Knights of the Altar (Mass Servers)
taken after the Good Friday Liturgy was completed
After Solemn Pontifical High Mass
Easter Sunday
Pontifical Low Mass
Easter Sunday
Pontifical Low Mass
Easter Sunday
Reading the Last Gospel
Pontifical Low Mass
Easter Sunday
Conclusion of the Last Gospel
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