The Reign of Mary, Issue No. 186, Fall 2022

 
 
Letter from the Editor
by Rev. Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI

The Beauty and Importance of the Psalms
by Rev. Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI
As creatures of God, we have the duty to give honor to our Creator. We owe Him adoration, thanksgiving and contrition for sin, and we have great need of imploring His aid. Jesus Himself urged His apostles to pray always: “Watch then, praying at all times” (Luke 21:36). The apostles fulfilled this injunction by praying in the Upper Room after the Ascension of Our Lord, as they awaited the coming of the Paraclete, whom Our Lord had promised to send them: “All these with one mind continued steadfastly in prayer with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren” (Acts 1:14)...

Discovering the Rose Garden: The Story of Our Conversion
by Sam Thomsen, Husband and Father of Five
My parents left their Christian denomination back when I was ten years old. After that, they were open relativists. “It’s all relative,” my Mom would say during philosophical or religious discussions. “Einstein discovered that even in physics it all depends on your perspective.” I was told to choose my own system of beliefs. I turned to Einstein and other modern physicists for answers. My parents, leaning more toward the supernatural, had been interested in a number of New Age ideas, including prophesies that turned out not to come true. They bashed Christian tradition a lot...

Excommunicated! The Life and Thoughts of Rev. Father Joaquin Sáenz Arriaga, SJ
by Antonio Rius Facius, Translated by Rev. Fr. Ephrem Cordova, CMRI
Ave Maria Inviolata!
I respond with good will to the kind invitation addressed to me by the disciples and friends of dear Fr. Joaquín Sáenz Arriaga. I must, on the other hand, pay a debt of recognition with respect to a forerunner clairvoyant, who was a great witness of the Holy Faith. I met Fr. Sáenz again in Rome, in the course of the years 1970-1972, in the international meetings that inspired the common and vehement desire to save the MASS, for which Fr. Sáenz wanted to share his fervor and communicate his convictions...

Respice Stellam, Voca Mariam: “She Shall Crush Thy Head”
Our Fatima Conference theme this year was a passage taken from the scriptural account of the fall of man: “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” (Gen. 3:15). Although some translations render this passage as “he shall crush thy head,” referring to Jesus Christ, in the Latin Vulgate it is rendered as “SHE,” and not “He,” and this is how it was understood by the Church Fathers: St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Irenaeus, St. Augustine, and many others. It is significant, too, that God’s words to the serpent specifically refer to the seed of the Woman, while everywhere else in the Bible references are made only to the seed of a man, the father — never that of a woman...

American Heroes of the Faith: Heroes During the Civil Wars
by Rev. Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI
The Civil War in the United States (1861-1865) was an unspeakably tragic event in the history of our country, causing the loss of about 620,000 lives. There were many causes of the war, with tensions growing for several decades before hostilities finally broke out. But while the war was disastrous for many reasons, it also was the occasion for heroic charity on the part of Catholics, especially priests and religious Sisters. While the names of many of these heroes will never be known in this world, we can at least highlight their courage and self-sacrifice...

“And His Name Was Called Jesus”
A Sermon Preached on Trinity Sunday, 2021, by Rev. Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI
My dearly beloved in Christ, today’s very brief Gospel brings out to us the importance and the significance of the Holy Name of Jesus, the name given to Our Lord, as St. Luke says, before He was conceived in the womb – namely at the Annunciation, when the archangel said to Our Blessed Mother: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He shall be king over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” This is what the Evangelist is referring to when he says it was the name given Him by the angel before He was conceived in the womb...

True Devotion to Mary: Part II
by Rev. Fr. Dominic Radecki, CMRI
There are several interior practices of true devotion to Mary: 1) To honor Our Lady as the worthy Mother of God, venerating her above all the angels and saints. To God alone we offer adoration or latria. To the Blessed Virgin Mary we offer the highest form of veneration known as hyperdulia. Our veneration to the saints is called dulia. 2) Our devotion to Mary will deepen if we meditate upon her actions, her virtues, and her privileges. Through good spiritual reading and meditation upon the mysteries of the Rosary, we can broaden our knowledge of Our Lady. As a result, we will become more Marylike...
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Spiritual Aids for Confraternity Members for the months of January, February and March

World Watch:
Scandalous “Rocking Nun” Quits Religious Life
Transgender in the Womb?
Italian Bishop Endorses Freemasonry
Francis Praises Pro-Abortion Economist
Voice Modification for “Transgenders”?
Another Conservative Religious House Closed
Surprise, Surprise!
Magazine Op-Ed claims Rosary an “Extremist Symbol”
Irish N.O. Priest in Hot Water