Secret Harbour - Portus Secretioris: Help Of Christians

20 May 2009

Help Of Christians

Our Help Against Temptation

Sinners as we are, we are exposed to violent and repeated temptations. The more we have sinned, the more power Satan has over us; and as the implacable enemy of our souls, he has no greater wish than to see us one day share in his torments. To that end , he exercises all his infernal malice in order to encompass our ruin. How can we escape from his wiles without powerful aid? Ever since Mary crushed the proud head of the accursed serpent beneath her feet, she has, it is certain, a command over him in virtue of which she is able to free her children from danger. This is why she has been given the consoling title of Auxilium Christianorum – Help of Christians. But can we expect her to use her power on our behalf if we do not call

on her? How profitable, then, it is for us to invoke this great Queen frequently, in order to triumph over the temptations of the devil. ~ Dom Louis Rouvier: Novena for Festivals of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The powers of darkness melt away like wax in the warmth of the fire, when they meet anyone who keeps Mary in remembrance and is in the habit of calling on her, and is zealous in imitating her. ~ Saint Bonaventure

A Carthusian Nun’s Encounter

Blessed Beatrix d’Ornacieux was once seized with a feeling of terror after a violent assault of the devil, which prudence, however, enabled her to turn to good account. For, turning to her divine Spouse, she cried: “It is for love of You, my Lord, that I am suffering and continually on the point of being slaughtered like a sheep. Deign, I beg You, to bestow a glance upon Your servant; do not cast me off forever from Your Presence.” Hardly had she ended her prayer when she saw a young woman of about fifteen years of age, surrounded by a brilliant light, wonderfully beautiful and majestic in bearing, who said to her: “My daughter, fear nothing, I am Mary. By the power of the Most High I keep you under my protection and hold you close to my side, far beyond the reach of evil.” And she disappeared. ~ Le Mois de Marie

(Latin)
Credo firmiter in Patrem et Filium et Spiritum Sanctum: Patrem ingenitum, Filium unigenitum, Spiritum Sanctum ex utroque procedentem; et has tres Personas unum Deum.

Credo quod idem Dei Filius conceptus sit de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine. Credo quod Virgo castissima fuerat ante partum, virgo in partu, et post partum virgo in æternum permansit. Credo quod idem Dei Filius conceptus sit inter homines ut verus homo sine peccato. Credo quod idem Dei Filius invidiose captus est a Iudæis, injuriose tractatus, injuste ligatus, consputus, flagellatus, mortuus, sepultus. Descendit ad inferos, ut captivos suos inde liberaret. Descendit propter redemptio nem nostram, et resurrexit, ascendit ad cœlos, inde venturus judicare vivos et mortuos.

Credo Sacramenta quæ catholica credit et veneratur Ecclesia, et nominatim quod consecratur in altari verum Corpus esse, veram Carnem et verum Sanguinem Domini nostri Iesu Christi, quem et nos accipimus in remissionem peccatorum nostrorum, in spem salutis æternæ. Credo carnis resurrectionem, vitam æternam.

Confiteor et credo sanctam atque ineffabilem Trinitatem, Patrem et Filium et Spiritum Sanctum, unum Deum naturalem, unius substantiæ, unius naturæ, unius maiestatis atque virtutis. Et Patrem quidem non genitum, non creatum, sed ingenitum profitemur. Ipse Pater a nullo originem ducit, ex quo et Filius nativitatem, et Spiritus Sanctus processionem accepit. Fons ipse igitur et origo est totius Divinitatis. Ipse quoque Pater, essentia quidem ineffabilis, substantia sua Filium genuit ineffabiliter, nec tamen aliud quam quod ipse est genuit, Deus Deum, lux lucem. Ab Ipso ergo est omnis paternitas in cœlo et in terra. Amen.

(English)
I firmly believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: the Father unbegotten, the only begotten Son, the Holy Spirit proceeding from them both; and I believe that these three Persons are but one God.

I believe that the same Son of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. I believe that the Virgin was chaste before she bore her Child, that she remained a Virgin while she bore her Child, and continued a Virgin ever after. I believe that the same Son of God was conceived among men, a true Man with no sin. I believe the same Son of God was captured by the hatred of some of the Jews who did not believe, was bound unjustly, covered with spittle, and scourged. I believe that He died, was buried, and descended into hell to free those of His who were held there. He descended for our redemption, He rose again, He ascended into heaven, and from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe also in the sacraments that the Church believes and holds in reverence, and especially that what has been consecrated on the altar is the true Flesh and the true Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we receive for the forgiveness of our sins and in the hope of eternal salvation. I believe in the resurrection of the flesh and everlasting life.

I acknowledge and believe the holy and ineffable Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to be but only one God, of only one substance, of only one nature, of only one majesty and power. We profess that the Father was neither begotten nor created but that He has begotten. The Father takes His origin from no one; of Him the Son is born and the Holy Spirit proceeds. He is the Source and Origin of all Divinity. And the Father, ineffable by His very nature, from His own substance has begotten the Son ineffably; but He has begotten nothing except what He is Himself: God has begotten God, Light has begotten Light, and it is from Him that all Fatherhood in heaven and on earth proceeds. Amen.