Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Woodstock
1969-Anti Fatima Event[1]
On August 15–17, 1969, the Woodstock Music and
Art Fair was held on a 600-acre dairy farm near Bethel, New York. It helped
usher in a period of moral devastation. The event enshrined free love as
acceptable in the national psyche. It created the idea that life should be
dominated by the maxim, “if
it feels good, do it.”
However, the worst part of
Woodstock was its role in creating the spiritual desolation of imagining a
utopian society without religion or the Catholic Faith. Woodstock presented
itself as a mystical experience with its own dark spiritual message. It was
almost a liturgical act of an anti-religion of the unbridled passions that
denied a moral law.
Reflection About Another
Field
Reflecting upon Woodstock,
it is hard not to recall another event held on a large field that gathered
together a huge crowd. This gathering also changed history. The two events
could not be more contrary to each other, and yet the parallels and contrasts
are striking. They both happened amid a terrible crisis inside society. However,
each proposed a radically different solution. The second event took place in a
tiny village in the backwater of Portugal called Fatima. The date was October
13, 1917. What attracted people there was no less than the Queen of Heaven. Our
Lady had appeared to three young shepherd children and promised to perform a
great miracle so that people might have faith and change their lives.
Contrast on the Two Fields
At both events, everything
that could have gone wrong did go wrong. At Woodstock, nearly 400,000 people
appeared at the farm where they crashed the gates and entered the field. The
organizers were overwhelmed by the crowds. The highways were clogged with cars
trying to get to the event. At Fatima, some 80,000 faithful came from all over
Portugal. They had heard about the apparitions by word of mouth. There were no
organizers since it was a spontaneous movement of grace that called people to
the site. Nevertheless, they clogged the highways and byways of the small
nation to get to the event. Both events prompted government action. When order
broke down in Woodstock, the government stepped in by sending nearby Air Force
personnel to the concert to prevent chaos and fly in stranded performers. At
Fatima, the secular anti-Catholic government played an opposite role. It sent
soldiers with fixed bayonets to prevent pilgrims from entering the huge field.
When the masses of pilgrims overwhelmed the small number of soldiers, people
then managed to join the orderly crowd that patiently waited with great
expectation, prayer and faith. Heavy rains came down in torrents at both events
creating seas of mud. At Woodstock, the mud mixed with the nudity, promiscuity
and drugs to the point that the crowd became one with the quagmire of
immorality and muck. Singer John Fogerty described an early morning scene as “sort of like a painting of a Dante
scene, just bodies from hell, all intertwined and asleep, covered with mud.”
At Fatima, the rains
also lashed out against the crowds and turned the field into a great muddy
mess. However, the crowds accepted the rain and mire as part of the suffering
and penance that would mark the Fatima Message. Many knelt in the mud in
prayer.
Historical Contexts
While the circumstances of
the open fields at Fatima and Woodstock are important, the context of these
gathering must also be considered. The historical context of Fatima was a world
in the process of abandoning the Church and Christian civilization. Europe was
engaged in the bloody World War I, which would soon end. The people still had faith
but were in danger of losing it. Our Lady came to deliver a message of tragedy
and hope, inviting humanity to conversion and amendment of life. Woodstock took
place 52 years later in the context of a Sexual Revolution that would devastate
what remained of Christian morals in society. America was divided, engaged in a
brutal war against communism in Vietnam. The Church was also in a state of
turmoil. Woodstock was an event that would celebrate a world without restraint
that would soon become mainstream.
What Happened in Fatima
The events that took place
in these two fields are what made them so important. At Fatima, the crowd
gathered in an ordered fashion as they awaited the appearance of the Mother of
God. They were to behold a marvelous yet terrifying scene, which was the most
witnessed miracle in modern history. Some 80,000 pilgrims of every age,
educational level and social class were there. Believers and non-believers vied
for places to see the promised miracle. Our Lady provided it. The clouds opened
up and the sun appeared as an immense silver disk. It shone with great
intensity yet was not blinding. The enormous ball then started to “dance” across the sky, spinning rapidly
scattering red flames. The bright light reflected on the ground, trees, bushes,
clothing and faces. After going three times across sky, the globe of fire then
appeared to tremble, shake and plunge toward the terrified crowd who thought
the world was coming to an end. However, the sun soon zigzagged back to its
place and shone benevolently upon the crowd. Many converted and believed. The
people noticed that their sodden clothes were both dry and clean.
What Happened at Woodstock
The events at Woodstock
stand in stark contraposition. There were no miracles there, but there was an
aura that produced an eerie feeling around the event. The bad weather, food
shortages and poor sanitation created a climate of generalized chaos. Witnesses
reported an atmosphere of free love and nudity that shocked many unaccustomed
to seeing such things in public. Drug use was also rampant, especially the use
of marijuana and LSD. Thus, many were out of their minds as the music blared
from the stage throughout the night. Carlos Santana later recalled how he hallucinated throughout his
performance because he was high on the mescaline he obtained from Jerry Garcia.
Meanwhile, backstage, The Who singer Roger Daltrey reported that “Woodstock wasn’t peace and love. There was an
awful lot of shouting and screaming going on. By the time it all ended, the
worst sides of our nature had come out.” The
scenes of partying, chaos and sin created a surreal and bizarre spectacle. It
was a whimsical space without rules or law where you could “do your own thing” without consequence or risk. Some
thought a new age was dawning, both inebriating and terrifying, where the
unbridled passions driven by psychedelic drugs would liberate everyone from the
staid constraints of the establishment. On the trash-littered fields of
Woodstock, a self-centered generation embraced an anything-goes culture of sex,
drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. America would leave the
Woodstock mud fest with sullied innocence.
Two Messages in Conflict
Both fields also produced
messages that are still in conflict today. The Fatima message was very clear
and precise. Our Lady said: “Let
them offend Our Lord no more, for He is already much offended.” Thus, Fatima called upon the world
to repent by having recourse to prayer, sacrifice and amendment of life. If
humanity did not repent, Our Lady spoke of a great chastisement, symbolized by
the Miracle of the Sun. The Fatima message denounced the decadence of the
modern world, the sins of the flesh and the abandonment of God and the Church. Woodstock
proclaimed an anti-Fatima message. It was an invitation to sin, indulge and
offend God. In the name of peace and love, it called upon youth to “imagine” a perfect world where they might
live together in harmony without property, Christian morals or God. Woodstock
projected an empty world without meaning and purpose that seeks only extreme
gratification and pleasures. The clash between Fatima and Woodstock continues.
Many Catholics have remained faithful to the Fatima message despite the great
pressure to conform to the culture. Others have been mugged by the terrible
reality that the Woodstock dream of sexual freedom was an appalling nightmare
that left behind a trail of dead, unborn babies, broken relationships and
shattered communities. It is therefore not fitting to celebrate the concert’s anniversary but rather to reject
all that it symbolizes and represents. Instead, let us embrace Fatima’s saving message of prayer,
repentance and amendment of life as the essential solution to a world gone
awry.
[1]https://www.crisismagazine.com/2019/woodstock-at-50-the-anti-fatima-event-that-should-not-be-celebrated
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Tuesday Holy Day of Obligation
FEAST
OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY
1 Chronicles, Chapter 14, Verse 17
Thus, David’s fame was spread
abroad through every land, and the LORD put the FEAR of him on all the nations.
Great
leaders are great followers of the Lord.
You're Going Down, Philistines[1]
·
Back in Jerusalem, David is sitting pretty. He
takes on a few more wives and they start producing princes and princesses.
·
Obviously, the Philistines are worried. They
just got rid of Saul and now some other more powerful, more holy, more awesome
king has risen up in his place.
·
So they set out to attack David.
·
But David (who's pretty smart) asks God what he
should do. God tells David it's okay to go out and crush the Philistine army.
·
And that's just what David does. Well, he
actually beats them into surrendering and then burns them alive, but still.
·
When Philistine soldiers attack again, David
consults God. This time, Yahweh gives him some specific battle directions and
David's victorious. God's pretty good at war games.
·
David's victories against the Philistines make
him famous and all the other nations start to fear Israel. That's just how
David and God like it.
FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY[2]
AUGUST
15.
This
feast is so called because on this day, according to a very old and pious
belief, the Blessed Virgin was, in body and soul, taken up into heaven. This
feast is of very great antiquity; it was fixed on the 15th of August at the
request of the Emperor Maurice, and afterwards, by Pope Leo IV, was extended to
the whole Church.
In
the Introit of the Mass the Church invites us to universal joy by singing, “Let
us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating this festival in honor of the most
blessed Virgin Mary, on whose assumption into heaven the angels rejoice and
give praise to the Son of God. My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my works
to the King.
Pardon, we beseech
Thee, O Lord, the sins of Thy servants, that we, who are not able to please
Thee by our deeds, may be saved by the intercession of the Mother of Thy Son. Amen
EPISTLE.
Ecclus. xxiv. 11-20.
In
all things I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord.
Then the Creator of all things commanded, and said to me: and He that made me
rested in my tabernacle. And He said to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and
thy in heritance in Israel, and take root in My elect. From the beginning, and
before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease
to be, and in the holy dwelling-place I have ministered before Him. And so was
I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was
in Jerusalem. And I took root in an honorable people, and in the portion of my
God His inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints. I was
exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress-tree on Mount Sion. I was
exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose-plant in Jericho: as a fair
olive-tree in the plains, and as a plane-tree by the water in the streets, was
I exalted. I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon, and aromatical balm: I yielded a
sweet odor like the best myrrh.
GOSPEL.
Luke x. 38-42.
At that time Jesus entered
into a certain town: and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her
house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sitting also at the Lord’s feet, heard
His word. But Martha was busy about much serving. Who stood and said: Lord,
hast Thou no care that my sister hath left me alone to serve? speak to her
therefore, that she help me. And the Lord answering, said to her: Martha, Martha,
thou art careful, and art troubled about many things. But one thing is
necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from
her.
Why does the Church
read this gospel to-day?
Because
it readily admits of being applied to Mary, the Mother of God, since she, far
more worthily and lovingly than Martha, chose the best part, and thereby
obtained the most glorious reward, which no one shall ever take from her.
What is the one thing
necessary?
The
glory of God and the salvation of the soul. Let a man, therefore, fulfil the
duties which are binding upon him; but in so doing let him look only to God,
avoid all uneasiness and distraction, all extravagance and excess, all that is
unjust, and sooner sacrifice everything than suffer injury to his soul.
Assumption
of Mary[3] The day that the mother of God was assumed body and soul into heaven and
crowned Queen.
Traditionally Roman
Catholics believe Mary, the Virgin mother of Jesus, never physically died and
instead ascended into heaven. Mary, as the mother of God, is believed by some
Christian faiths to have lived a life without sin. Some early-church
theologians believed that since she and Christ were both without sin that Mary
must have raised bodily to heaven just as Christ was. This belief began
the feast of the Assumption of Mary.
Assumption
of Mary Facts
·
The
Assumption of Mary isn't in the Bible. The theology it is based upon is
from several early church documents and sermons. The Orthodox Church
continued the tradition, but it didn't become doctrine in the Roman Catholic
Church until 1950 when Pope Pius XII declared the belief infallible.
·
Thomas
was the only disciple who purportedly saw Mary's ascension into heaven.
In a reversal of his story in scripture, the other disciples didn't
believe him at first. Mary dropped her girdle when she reached heaven,
and Thomas caught it.
·
The
Feast of the Assumption of Mary is a high feast Day in the Roman Catholic
Church and the Orthodox Church. The day venerates the assumption into
heaven of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is held on August 15. In
the Orthodox tradition, the feast, called the Dormition of the Theotokos, is
held the same date, although the day may be later for churches that follow the
Gregorian calendar.
Assumption
of Mary Top Events and Things to Do
·
Attend
an Orthodox Church during the Feast of the Assumption to see the blessing of
flowers.
·
Start
an herb garden or plant some bulbs to bloom in spring in honor of Mary.
·
The
Assumption of Mary is a popular subject in Christian art. One of the most
famous is The Assumption of the Virgin, by El Greco and available for viewing
in the Art Institute of Chicago. See if your local art museum has
paintings of the Assumption.
·
Sing
or Listen to a rendition of "Ave Maria". One of the more
popular renditions is by Luciano Pavarotti.
·
Many
faithful in the Orthodox Church will also be breaking a two-week fast after the
service honoring the Assumption of Mary. If you are fasting attend a
community meal offered by many Orthodox Churches.
·
The Directory on Popular Piety talks about the deep significance
of this feast day. It also refers to the custom of blessing herbs:
o
In
the Germanic countries, the custom of blessing herbs is associated with 15
August. This custom, received into the Rituale Romanum, represents a clear
example of the genuine evangelization of pre-Christian rites and beliefs: one
must turn to God, through whose word "the earth produced vegetation:
plants bearing seeds in their several kinds, and trees bearing fruit with their
seed inside in their several kinds" (Gen 1, 12) in order to obtain what
was formerly obtained by magic rites; to stem the damages deriving from
poisonous herbs, and benefit from the efficacy of curative herbs.
o
This
ancient use came to be associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, in part because
of the biblical images applied to her such as vine, lavender, cypress and lily,
partly from seeing her in terms of a sweet-smelling flower because of her
virtue, and most of all because of Isaiah 11, 1, and his reference to the "shoot
springing from the side of Jesse", which would bear the blessed fruit of
Jesus.
·
In
an age of sensuality and materialism the Assumption points out the dignity and
destiny of our human body, extols the dignity of womanhood, and turns our eyes
to the true life beyond the grave. At Mass today ask Mary for the grace to keep
your mind fixed on things above and to aspire continually to be united with her
and to be brought to the glory of the Resurrection.
Processions[4]
Most
likely the oldest and certainly the highest annual feast day of Mary, the Feast
of the Assumption is held in both east and west as a day of great solemnity. Processions would wind their way
either through cities and towns in order to publicly honor Mary or through
fields in order to pray for God's blessing upon the harvest. Marian hymns would
be sung, and statues of the Blessed Virgin carried. In some places there would
even be a dramatic representation
of the mystery of the assumption. The statue of Mary would be carried through
town to an elaborate arch of flowers symbolizing the gate of Heaven. From here
another statue, a statue of Christ, would greet "her" and conduct her
to the church as a symbol of her entrance into eternal glory. The procession
would then conclude with Benediction.
Our Lady’s 30 Days[5]
In
pre-Christian times the season from the middle of August to the middle of
September was observed as a period of rejoicing and thanksgiving for the
successful harvest of grains. Many symbolic rites were aimed toward assuring
man of prosperous weather for the reaping of the fall fruits and for winter
planting. Some elements of these ancient cults are now connected with the feast
and season of the Assumption. All through the Middle Ages the days from August
15 to September 15 were called "Our
Lady's Thirty Days" (Frauendreissiger)
in the German-speaking sections of Europe. Many Assumption shrines even today
show Mary clothed in a robe covered with ears of grain. These images (Maria
im Gerteidekleid, Our Lady of Grains) are favored goals of pilgrimages
during August. Popular legends ascribe a character of blessing and goodness to
Our Lady's Thirty Days. Both animals and plants are said to lose their harmful
traits. Poisonous snakes do not strike, poison plants are harmless, wild
animals refrain from attacking humans. All food produced during this period is
especially wholesome and good and will remain fresh much longer than at other
times of the year. The fact that herbs picked in August were considered of
great power in healing occasioned the medieval practice of the "Blessing
of Herbs" on Assumption Day. The Church thus elevated a popular belief of
pre-Christian times into an observance of religious import and gave it the
character of a Christian rite of deep and appropriate meaning. In central
Europe the feast itself was called "Our Lady's Herb Day" (Kräutertag
in German, Matka Boska Zielna in Polish). In the Alpine provinces the
blessing of herbs is still bestowed before the solemn service of the
Assumption. The city of Wurzburg in Bavaria used to be a favored center of
these blessings, and from this fact it seems to have received its very name in
the twelfth century (Würz: spice herb). The Roman Ritual still
provides an official blessing of herbs on Assumption Day which, among other
prayers, contains the petition that God may bless the medicinal powers of these
herbs and make them mercifully efficient against diseases and poisons in humans
and domestic animals. The Eastern Rites have similar blessings. In fact, the
Syrians celebrate a special feast of "Our Lady of Herbs" on May 15.
Among the Armenians, the faithful bring the first grapes from their vineyards
to church on Assumption Day to have them solemnly blessed by the priest. Before
breakfast the father distributes them to his family. No one would dream of
tasting the new harvest before consuming the first blessed grapes on Our Lady's
Day.
Blessing
of Herbs and Fruits[6] for the Feast of the Assumption
'
The
Church "baptized" an old pre-Christian belief in the great healing
power of herbs picked in August by instituting a ritual for the blessing
of herbs and fruits on the Feast of the Assumption. Since that time,
Christians from both East and West have blessed herbs and fruit on the Feast of
the Assumption in the belief that these sacramentals provide protection against
harm and danger. But this custom also hearkens back to the Hebrew observance of
the harvest, and more importantly, it
teaches us something about our Lady's role in the economy of salvation. Eve
foolishly used herbs (fig leaves) to hide and aggravate her sin, thereby
bringing about a disorder of body and soul (Gen. 3.7). By contrast, Mary, the
new Eve whose soul and body are untouched by sin or the decay of death (as we
celebrate on this day), foreshadows a healing of our corporeal frailties, a
healing represented by herbs.
Likewise, fruits are an appropriate
symbol for the new Eve because she never ate of the forbidden fruit but brought
forth only the fruit of good works and, most importantly, the Fruit of her womb, Jesus Christ. The blessed fruit
thus betokens the fruit of a holy and generous life which we are called to
enjoy from our Lord through the patronage of His mother. In any case the solemn
blessing of herbs and fruits on this day became so popular that in central
Europe August 15 was simply called Our Lady's Herb Day. Usually,
these blessings would take place before Mass and would involve whatever was
brought by the congregation to the church. Afterwards the herbs would be kept
for medicinal use while the fruit would be served at dinner. The following is
one of the special blessings from the Roman ritual that is used for herbs and
fruits on Assumption Day:
O God, who by Moses Thy servant didst command
the children of Israel to carry their sheaves of new fruits to the priests for
a blessing, to take the finest fruits of the orchards, and to make merry before
Thee, the Lord their God: Kindly hear our supplications, and pour forth the
abundance of Thy blessing upon us and upon these sheaves of new grain, new
herbs, and assortment of fruits, which we gratefully present to Thee and which
we bless on this feast in Thy name. And grant that men, cattle, sheep, and
beasts of burden may find in them a remedy against sickness, pestilence, sores,
injuries, spells, the poison of snakes, and the bites of other venomous and
nonvenomous creatures. And may they bring protection against diabolical
illusions, machinations, and deceptions wherever they are kept or carried, or
with whatever arrangement is made of them: that with sheaves of good works and
through the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary whose Feast of the Assumption we
celebrate, we may deserve to be lifted up to heaven. Through our Lord Jesus
Christ, Thy son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, God unto endless ages. Amen.
The
blessing of herbs and fruits has also led to the lovely custom of giving and
receiving baskets of fruit on the Feast of the Assumption, a custom
which was especially popular in Sicily.
Blessing of Nature[7]
August 15th is the Feast
of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and just as Mary's assumption into
heaven signifies her purity of body and soul, so too does it remind us of her
freedom from the curses of the Fall, such as having to live by the sweat of
one's brow on a land that yields only thorns and thistles (Gen. 3.18,19). It is
perhaps for this reason that the Feast or the Octave of the Assumption was a
favorite time for blessing the scene of man's labors, especially those related
to the production of food. In Western Europe, for example, fields would often
be blessed by the parish priest, while in America and Latin countries
Assumption Day is traditionally the occasion for blessing the fishing fleets of
coastal towns. Also tying into this theme of nature is the German and Austrian
time Mary is invoked for assistance or thanked for the autumn harvest of
grains. This period lasts from Assumption Day until September 15, the Feast of
the Seven custom of Our Lady's Thirty Days (Frauendreissiger),
during which Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin. Legend states that nature is
particularly benign during this time: snakes do not bite, wild animals do not
attack, and food picked within the thirty days is especially wholesome.
Finally, parts of England and Ireland observe Our Lady's Health Bathing,
where bathing in rivers, lakes, the ocean, or any natural body of water is
considered particularly good for one's health.
MEDICINAL
PLANTS Day 1-Revealed by Heaven to Luz De María
Boiled Water-Humanity
has comfortable feeding habits, but which are totally harmful for the human
organism, and continually destroys and makes sick. In this instant man’s
organism is saturated by bad eating habits, making it a weakening organism and
the new diseases causes man a lot of harm. Luz de Maria asks our Mother what we
must do to make the organism more resistant against the plagues that are
coming. The Blessed Mother responds: My beloved, utilize water that has been
previously boiled and start now the detox of the organism drinking as much
water as possible, so the organism will start to purify.” Blessed Virgin Mary,
10.13.2014 B
Catechism of the
Catholic Church
PART ONE: THE
PROFESSION OF FAITH
SECTION TWO-I. THE CREEDS
CHAPTER THREE-I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
Article 11-"I
BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY"
IN BRIEF
1015 "The flesh is the hinge of salvation"
(Tertullian, De res. 8, 2: PL 2, 852). We believe in God who is creator of the
flesh; we believe in the Word made flesh in order to redeem the flesh; we
believe in the resurrection of the flesh, the fulfillment of both the creation
and the redemption of the flesh.
1016 By death the soul is separated from the body, but in
the resurrection God will give incorruptible life to our body, transformed by
reunion with our soul. Just as Christ is risen and lives for ever, so all of us
will rise at the last day.
1017 "We believe in the true resurrection of this
flesh that we now possess" (Council of Lyons II: DS 854). We sow a
corruptible body in the tomb, but he raises up an incorruptible body, a
"spiritual body" (cf 1 Cor 15:42-44).
1018 As a consequence of original sin, man must suffer
"bodily death, from which man would have been immune had he not
sinned" (GS # 18).
1019 Jesus, the Son of God, freely suffered death for us in
complete and free submission to the will of God, his Father. By his death he
has conquered death, and so opened the possibility of salvation to all men.
Daily Devotions
· Unite
in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: The Families of St. Joseph Porters
·
30 Days of Women and Herbs – Frauendreissiger –
Nr. 1 Scarlet
Pimpernel
· Make
reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday Devotion
· Pray Day 6 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops
·
Tuesday:
Litany
of St. Michael the Archangel
·
Religion in the Home for Preschool: August
·
Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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