Our Mother, the Church…

The following is taken from Love One Another by Louis Colin, C.SS.R.:

Devotion to the Church, and its obligatory counterpart, devotion to the Pope, date from the beginnings of Christianity. Our Redeemer had a marked predilection for His Spouse, who was born in the gaping wound of His Heart, sanctified in His blood. He appointed her to be His faithful helper in the work of humanity's salvation. After His Father it is she whom Jesus loved most tenderly.
     During the course of centuries, this filial piety toward the Church became more explicit, deeper, and more widespread.
     First among all, "St. Paul was consumed by two great passions: for Christ and the Church, knowing that it was futile to wish to separate them. Christ meant everything to him; in his flesh he bore the marks that love of the Saviour had placed there; he knew but one name, that of Jesus, but love of the Church was in him the consequence of love of Christ ... For two thousand years the friends of Jesus have had the same attitude; their attachment to Christ measures the love of a man for Christ by his love for the Church." [1]
     Following the great Apostle, everyone--fathers, doctors, theologians--has spoken magnificently about the Church, and enthusiastically about the saints. What an abundant anthology of poetry could be gleaned from Catholic literature! The fact is, let us repeat it, that we cannot conceive love of God and Christ apart from this love of the Church, which is one of the most authentic and universal forms of charity.
     "We too," wrote St. Augustine, "receive the Holy Spirit if we love the Church, if we are united in charity, if we rejoice in our faith and our name as Catholics.
     "Believe me, my brethren, the more one loves the Church, the more he possesses the Holy Spirit within himself." [2]
     "Holy Roman Church, mother of churches and mother of all the faithful, Church chosen by God to unite His children in the same faith and charity, we shall always be united to thee by the depth of our affection. If I forget thee, Roman Church, may I forget myself! May my tongue dry up and remain immovable in my mouth ... if I do not place thee at the beginning of all my songs of joy." [3]
     Let us love her tenderly, passionately--is she not the most lovable of mothers?
     Let us love her divinely, since she is Christ Himself, the Body and the Spouse of Jesus.
    
     The Church is a Queen, not a servant nor a slave. A Queen, consecrated by God Himself, whose beloved daughter she is.  She is by nature a divine society, and this society, of which we form part, is truly our spiritual family, our soul's fatherland. We are proud of our natural fatherland--why should we not be prouder still of our supernatural fatherland, which is a thousand times more beautiful, nobler, and more glorious?
     The Church possesses to an eminent degree the two chief attributes of royalty: authority and majesty.
     It is true that authority is found in every society, of which it is the vital principle, but the Church's authority assumes a sublimity, strength, development which make her a power apart, unique. It is an authority of divine origin and nature, which is absolute in its exercise and universal in its extension.
     All authority derives from God, for there is no power but from God (Rom. 13:1), and in this sense, all authority is divine. But the Church's is divine in a higher, more outstanding way.
     In human groupings, the authority which derives from God is communicated to leaders only through the intermediary of the members of the society, whereas authority in the Church is given directly and fully, without any intermediary, to the Sovereign Pontiff. "There is no sacrament in the Church through which is transmitted this great power; because it is supreme, God reserves it to Himself to bestow. With His own hand, the Word endows the one elected with the power of the Vicar of Christ; it is a work reserved to divinity." [4]
     Again, by its very nature, the Church's authority is divine. It  pertains to a separate, transcendent order. Its nature is to be supernatural, to participate really and formally in the authority of God and of Jesus Christ.
     It is because of this divine character that she is entitled to an absolute and independent authority. This absolutism is a perfection as this independence is a right and a necessity. In her own life and government, the Church is free and omnipotent. She does not crush other societies, but she dominates them. Her sovereign authority never absorbs, destroys, nor weakens the other human authorities. She rules them, defines them and supports while respecting them. They all, up to a certain point and to a certain degree depend directly or indirectly on the Church, but she herself depends on nothing or nobody. She is answerable to God alone, whose ambassador she is. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth (Apoc. 21:1). "The renewing of all things through the Church. The relation of everything to the Church, and of the Church to everything." [5] Whence it follows that to attack the authority of the Church is both an injustice and a sacrilege.
     The Church is the world's centre, everything gravitates around her. Her influence is universal, and her dominion extends not alone over individuals but over the family, societies, and nations. From a certain angle, all human power is answerable (from a moral point of view), in its exercise, to her jurisdiction. She has a word to say everywhere. Her authority assumes every form and imposes itself in a thousand ways. It is an internal and external authority: legislative, judiciary, coercive, moral, doctrinal, maternal, an authority which penetrates to the depths of souls, to the intelligence and the conscience, an authority which enlightens, commands, forbids condemns, forgives, justifies, and anathematizes, which saves and which damns. Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven (Matt. 16:19). It is an authority to which God Himself seemed to wish to submit.
     To this divine, absolute and universal authority of the Church is added an incomparable majesty which recalls God's majesty of which it is really a reflection.
     "One must honor the Church as a reflection of the grandeur of God, a summary of His perfections, an epitome of His holiness, an expression of that which he is in Himself, and an image which permits us to know Him in its beauties." [6]
     The Church is a kind of earthly Trinity, whose maternal fruitfulness, doctrine of truth, immense love of God and souls, are like a radiance of the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit. There is no attribute, perfection or virtue of God which is not reproduced afresh, resplendent, living, acting in the Church.
     "She is a work of art to which have been consecrated the ineffable resources of the redemption. All the attributes of divinity have paid her their tributes." [7]
     "God is nowhere as He is in the Church ... She is His created manifestation ... She is the truth which announces Him, the veracity which bears Him witness, the power which He exerts, the wisdom which declares Him, the life which He diffuses, the love which He gives, the sanctity which shines from Him, the glory which manifests Him." [8]
     "Love her," wrote Msgr. Gay again, "with your whole spirit, will, heart, and strength: with your spirit, is to believe her in everything; with your will, is to obey her always; with your heart is to feel with her and like her; with your strength is to serve her ceaselessly in every way with great devotion, to help her with all your power, and to cooperate in her work." [9]
     And Cardinal Mercier: "Let us love the Church as a child loves its mother; let us sacrifice for her ourselves, our works, our tears. She is the prolongation of Christ. In loving her, we love Christ ... And Christ will love us and shed upon us the light of His Holy Spirit, with divine charity, the bond of all perfection." [10]
     But among all the saints there is perhaps no one to surpass or even equal St. Catherine of Siena. She "was one of the souls most admirably, most passionately in love with the Church." Her death possessed a tragic beauty; worn by suffering, consumed by love, she "lay on a bed, a bed that was nothing more than a few planks." Her body was so emaciated it seemed dried by the sun and her sufferings had reached such a point that she should already have been dead. The shadows of death were surrounding her.
     "You may be sure," she said to Father Bartholomew Dominic, "that if I die, the sole cause of my death is the zeal for the Church that burns and consumes me." She wrote to Pope Urban VI in the form of a prayer: "To Thee, eternal Father, I offer anew my life for Thy gentle Spouse; so that as often as it pleases Thy goodness, Thou wilt tear and rend me from my body, each time with more suffering than before; if only I may see the reform of Thy spouse, Thy holy Church."
     "The Church was her unique passion ... loving Christ, she loved the Church, because she experienced intensely the identification of Christ with His Church. "The Church is inseparable from Christ,' she wrote to Nicholas Soderini. Loving Christ alone, she loved the Church alone, because she continued on earth the divine life of Christ. 'Among all services, the most pleasing to God is service of His gentle Spouse.'" [11]
     It seems that devotion to the Church has reached its zenith, its full doctrinal and moral development in our day.
     It is always apposite to remember and meditate upon the motives for the feelings of faith, veneration, confidence, and love which every Catholic owes to her. If they are well known, our devotion cannot help but gain in profundity, zeal, and fidelity.
     Why and how ought we to love Holy Church? Let us love her humbly and proudly, for she is a Queen, a universal Queen.
     Among all these grandeurs, let us underline what theologians call her marks: the characteristic and distinctive signs of her primordial royalty: unity, holiness and duration.
     "After divinity itself," wrote Bossuet, "nothing is more beautiful that the Church, where divine unity is represented." [12]
     "All the grace of the Church, all the efficacy of the Holy Spirit, is in unity; in unity is treasure, in unity is life; apart from unity thee is certain death." [13] One God, Christ, Pope, bishop; one baptism, one truth, one morality, one life, while awaiting a single heaven--such is the unity which the Holy Spirit imprints upon the Church.
     "As one recognizes a living body in the midst of ephemeral phantoms; as one distinguishes the light of day from the vain phospherescences which twinkle on the great waters, one may distinguish, one may always recognize the Church, and her sign ... is her wholly divine unity. She is one with God in Christ, one in her source, one in her end, one in her law, one in her pronouncements, one in her faith, one in her hopes, one in her sacraments, one in her soul, one in her body, one in her invisible head and one again in her visible head. She alone has unity, she alone is able to have it ... In her, unity is an active principle." [14]
     This immutable unity of Catholicism is a marvelous spectacle when so many societies, religious and civil, are divided and eventually destroy each other. Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation (Luke 11:17).
     "Christ said that unity would be one of the visible marks of His Church; there is the life of this unity! Protestants disagree, the orthodox groups collapse, tentative international organizations are bankrupt, only the Church of Christ remains standing. She lives, she speaks, she edifies, she administers a program of social and Christian restoration of humanity." [15]
     And what should we say of her holiness? She is holy from every point of view. Holy in her vivifying principle, in her soul, which is the Holy Spirit, holy in herself, her doctrine, her morality, her cult, sacraments, sacrifice, devotions, her exterior and interior life, in her works, her zeal, and her charity; holy in her members, her children.
     And immortal! Every society will perish except the Church of Christ. She continues through the centuries, without aging: eternally young and beautiful; ever strong, ever fruitful. Her struggles and her sufferings will come to an end, but not her glory. The Church militant will pass away, the Church suffering will pass away, but the Church triumphant will never pass away.
     Such is the Church: Queen of the world. What is and what should be the attitude of every Christian toward this supreme authority and this divine Majesty?
     Firstly, an attitude of admiration and pride. To belong to such an incomparable society is more than an honor; it is a nobility for which we need not blush. Whoever hides his Catholic flag in his pocket through human respect is guilty not alone of cowardice, but of a sort of apostasy. Louis Veuillot was so proud of being Catholic that he feared, he said, he would become puffed up.
     Let us love the Church; let us love her passionately, with an enthusiastic love reinforced by submission and veneration. Our submission to her legislation, orders: doctrinal, moral, social, liturgical, disciplinary decisions, even to her sanctions which may appear severe if not unjust, must be complete, immediate, and joyous. In the case of sanctions, that is the time to have confidence in her wisdom, prudence, and maternal kindness, and to give her a heroic proof of love and faithfulness. By following the Church, no one can go astray. [16]
     We must also nourish a deep, universal veneration for everything which is nearly or remotely concerned with her holiness, teachings, cult, sacraments, ceremonies. There is nothing small, paltry, insignificant in the Church, for all is holy and therefore worthy of infinite respect. St. Thérèse would have laid down her life for the smallest rubric.
     Since we are all her members, we should each honor the holiness of the entire body by the dignity of our life.
     Love being a unifying force, vis unitiva, we should also respect (if we cherish the Church) her organic and mystical unity and remain intimately attached to her in mind, heart, and will with all the deepest and most secret fibers of our being, and by this very fact instinctively ward off everything which smacks of heresy, schism, opposition, even of coldness or indifference.
     Sentire cum Ecclesia. We must always be on the Church's side, form one bloc with her, have the Catholic sense and flair. In a word: live with a common soul, with identical aspirations and echoes.
     "We should carry our loyalty to the Church even down to the least thoughts we have of her, we should not even speak thoughtlessly of her majesty. We should have faith in her in all her relations, in all her difficulties with the world ... We should never blush for her ... We should never be malcontents when she acts against some favorite ideas that we had previously conceived." We should obey in silence. "Silence will enlarge our hearts, where judgment will make us small-spirited. We should do everything possible to become penetrated with the instincts of the Church ... A spirit which is unsubmissive to authority is necessarily impertinent." [17]

Email this page to a friend.

Our Lady of the Roses awesome Bayside Prophecies... https://www.tldm.org/../Bayside/
These prophecies came from Jesus, Mary, and the saints to Veronica Lueken at Bayside, NY, from 1968 to 1995.

ONLY  TRUE  RELIGION
"O My children, I will not go into a long discourse now with you about charity and love for your neighbor, but you must understand: you cannot judge your neighbor. You must pray for them. However, you cannot become weak and permissive. You must stand forth as bearers of the light, carriers of the truth. You have been given by your baptism entrance into the only true religion upon earth, the Roman Catholic Church under My Son, Jesus. Though man in his arrogance and pride has forgotten His role and His rule, you must carry it forward. Retain the Faith and the truth in the hearts of mankind." - Our Lady of the Roses, September 7, 1978 

YOUR  BIRTHRIGHT
"As in the past, rejection has been the start of a fallen man. Sin has become a way of life with many. You live in a delusion if you believe that you can offend the Eternal Father and then gain eternal life in the Kingdom. No, I say to you: many are called, but few are chosen.
   "Ask and you shall receive, believe and you will be given the way. But you must merit the Kingdom. Your birthright was a start, but you must make your way to the Kingdom. Others may gain these graces for you by prayer and acts of sacrifice, but you will accept or reject the key." - Jesus, May 26, 1976 

RELIGION  OF  THE  CROSS
"There is only one religion that can save your country and all of the countries of the world: the religion of the cross and My Son's sacrifice upon that cross." - Our Lady of the Roses, November 25, 1978 

SEPARATED  BRETHREN
"O My children, pray much! We do not want to see a division in My Son's House. The Roman Catholic Church must remain one! But this does not mean, as the church of man states, that you will bring all manner of heretics and separated brethren in. No, My children, that is an error, a delusion from satan. You cannot change My Son's House and bring them in and change for them! They must change and come back to the original rule given by My Son and those who were with Him in the building of the foundation.
   "I repeat, My child and My children: separated brethren must change. They have protested in the past; they have taken themselves away from the truth and the one true Church. They must reject the errors they have made in the past and come back and start again. They cannot bring their errors into My Son's House.
   "You are opening the doors now for all manner of heretics, separated brethren. They do not come to unite in good spirit and heart; they come to take over. They seek to change you, O pastors, who are being deluded. And what do I see in My Son's House but separated brethren upon His pulpit! Even from the temples, the synagogues of satan, upon His pulpit! And for what?
   "And who are My pastors now that have joined in this plan of destruction? Who ordained some of them? Not legitimate hands. They come to destroy. They come in like rats, burrowing, undermining My Son's Church! Do you think you are not watched? Are you above your Creator that you think you can deceive the world permanently? No, I say unto you! You are being given your time, for you who have given yourselves to satan are now exposing your true nature to the world." - Our Lady of the Roses, March 18, 1977 

ESTABLISHED  BY  JESUS CHRIST
"There are many deceptions taking place among you, and one being the falsification of the manner of the salvation of souls. When I was upon earth, I established the rules and I gave you My Church, My House. However, now I watch as many have gone forward with itching ears and novelty, and they are setting upon the world a new religion." - Jesus, May 20, 1978 

WILL  STAND
"Do not be deluded, My children, by the agents of satan among you in human form who preach doctrines of devils. The truth has been given to mankind through the ages. The Holy Roman Catholic Church of My Son will stand. The members shall be reduced to few. Only a remnant, My child, shall carry the banner Faithful and True. But the gates of hell shall fight a heavy battle against My Son's Church, but they shall not succeed." - Our Lady of the Roses, May 14, 1977 

ONLY  SANCTIFIED  HOUSE
"Your children are wandering into the web of satan, going farther from the House of My Son. The truth is being removed from their hearts. They are setting among themselves groups. They shall not remove from their lives vows of My Son. As the only sanctified House upon earth, their souls will be destroyed when they are not given the Bread of living life. This Bread will only be obtained in the sanctified House of My Son. Satan seeks to remove the tabernacle from among you." - Our Lady of the Roses, August 5, 1973 

Directives from Heaven... https://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm

Articles...

Christ is God
https://www.tldm.org/news7/ChristIsGod.htm

Outside the Catholic Church ... no salvation
https://www.tldm.org/News6/Church2.htm

Four marks of the True Church: One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic
https://www.tldm.org/News7/fourmarks.htm

How old is your Church?
https://www.tldm.org/news6/church.htm

Belief and obedience: the critical difference
https://www.tldm.org/news6/obedience.htm

Our Lady of the Roses message to Pope Paul VI
https://www.tldm.org/news6/PaulVI.htm

Statistical decline of the Catholic Church since Vatican II
https://www.tldm.org/news6/statistics.htm

Latin, the universal language of the Catholic Church
https://www.tldm.org/news5/latin.htm  

Heaven’s Personal Protection Packet . . .
Our Lady tells us to be protected from all evil, we must wear the following sacramentals around our necks: a rosary, a crucifix, the St. Benedict medal, Our Lady of the Roses medal, the Miraculous Medal, and the scapular. We have all of these sacramentals in a packet we call "Heaven's Personal Protection Packet." This packet is available for a donation of $5.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. Send $8.00 to TLD Ministries, P.O. Box 40, Lowell, MI 49331. Item # P5  (Order Form)

    Our Lady of the Roses, Mary Help of Mothers promises to help protect our children. On September 13, 1977, She said, "He has an army of ogres wandering now throughout your country and all of the countries of the world. They are in possession of great power; so wear your sacramentals, and protect your children and your households. Learn the use every day of holy water throughout your household. Insist even with obstructions, insist that your children always wear a sacramental. One day they will understand that they will repel the demons."
    On February 1, 1974, Our Lady said, "My children, know the value of these sacramentals. Guard your children well. You must awaken to the knowledge that you will not be protected without the sacramentals. Guard your children's souls. They must be surrounded with an aura of purity. Remove them if necessary from the sources of contamination, be it your schools or even false pastors."
    This Heaven’s Personal Protection Packet is available for a donation of $5.00 plus $3.00 shipping and handling. Send $8.00 to TLD Ministries, P.O. Box 40, Lowell, MI 49331. You may use your MasterCard, VISA, or American Express and call 1-616-698-6448.  Item # P5 (Order Form)

The Virgin Mary’s Bayside Prophesies book . . . 
The six volumes have all of Our Lady’s Bayside messages from 1970 through 1994. Some of these have never been published before.  This is a type of a survival book.  It tells what is coming and how to prepare for it spiritually and materially. It is a must book for the days ahead.  This is a great way to spread Our Lady’s messages to our family, friends and relatives. Item #001 Cost $6.95  (Order Form)

A great obligation to go forward... "It is not by accident that you are called by My Mother, for it is by merit and the prayers that have risen to Heaven for your salvation.  For those who have received the grace to hear the Message from Heaven, you have a great obligation to go forward and bring this Message to your brothers and sisters.  Do not expect a rest upon your earth, for you will have eternal rest very soon." - Jesus, June 12, 1976