Iesu, tibi sit gloria, Qui sceptra mundi temperas,
Cum Patre et almo Spiritu, In sempiterna saecula. Amen.
V. Multiplicabitur eius imperium.
R. Et pacis non erit finis.
Thou, Prince of all ages, Thou, O Christ, the King of the nations,
we acknowledge Thee the one Judge of all hearts and minds.
The wicked mob screams out. “We don’t want Christ as king,”
While we, with shouts of joy, hail Thee as the world’s supreme King.
O Christ, peace-bringing Prince, subjugate the rebellious minds:
And in Thy love, bring together in one flock those going astray.
For this, with arms outstretched, Thou hung, bleeding, on the Cross,
and the cruel spear that pierced Thee, showed man a Heart burning with love.
For this, Thou art hidden on our altars under the form of bread and wine,
and pour out on Thy children from Thy pierced side the grace of salvation.
May the rulers of the world publicly honor and extol Thee; May teachers and judges reverence Thee;
May the laws express Thine order and the arts reflect Thy beauty.
May kings find renown in their submission and dedication to Thee.
Bring under Thy gentle rule our country and our homes.
Glory be to Thee, O Jesus, supreme over all secular authorities;
And glory be to the Father and the loving Spirit through endless ages.
V. His empire shall be multiplied.
R. And there shall be no end of peace.
-The remains of St. John Neumann (1811-1860) enclosed within the glass altar of the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann, which is located in the lower church of the Parish of St. Peter the Apostle (1842-1847), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On December, 27, 2007, the body of St. John Neumann was put into a new set of traditional vestments, substantially affecting the appearance of the saint’s body. Fire broke out in the lower church on May 13, 2009. The pulpit, located near the body, was reduced to ashes, but the body of the saint was left intact. The plaster covering over the face did not show any signs of heat. The pastor, Fr. Kevin Moley, C.Ss.R., of the same order as St John Neumann, the Redemptorists, called it miraculous. When Bishop Neumann died suddenly in 1860 he was buried, as requested, at St. Peter’s Church beneath the undercroft floor directly below the high altar.
Pope Paul VI beatified Neumann during the Second Vatican Council and declared him a saint in 1977. The undercroft at St. Peter the Apostle Church underwent several renovations after Neumann’s initial interment. The space served for years as the lower church of St. Peter the Apostle parish and eventually became the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann after his canonization. The body of the saint lies in a glass-enclosed reliquary under the main altar. It is dressed in the episcopal vestments with a mask covering the face.
The saint’s body has undergone multiple vestment changes since it was first displayed at the time of his beatification. In 1989, during the course of a major renovation of the shrine, the body of the saint was clothed in a set of modern vestments cut in the Gothic style. On December 27, 2007, the body received a new mask and was clad with a set of high-quality traditional Roman vestments, including a laced alb, stole, maniple, episcopal gloves, and traditional Roman fiddleback chasuble. The Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia, Justin Francis Rigali, was present to assist with the vesting. Please click on the image for greater detail.
“Early Christians under persecution in Rome would bury their dead in the catacombs. No surprise. However, they also needed to celebrate Mass in secret, for obvious reasons. The catacombs were perfect. And what better place to celebrate Mass than on the tomb of one who gave the ultimate witness to the faith.
Each Catholic Church has within it an altar stone. Before the Second Vatican Council, Latin-Rite priests could lawfully celebrate Mass only on a properly consecrated altar. This consecration was carried out by a bishop, and involved specially blessed “Gregorian Water” (water to which wine, salt, and ashes are added), anointings (LOTS of consecrated oil), singing, and ceremonies. The First class relics of at least two saints, at least one of which had to be a martyr, were inserted in a cavity in the altar which was then sealed, a practice that was meant to recall the use of martyrs’ tombs as places of Eucharistic celebration during the persecutions of the Church in the first through fourth centuries. Also in the cavity were sealed documents relating to the altar’s consecration. The tabletop of the altar, the “mensa”, had to be of a single piece of natural stone (almost always marble). Its supports had to be attached to the mensa. If contact was later broken even only momentarily (for instance, if the top was lifted off for some reason), the altar lost its consecration. Every altar had to have a “title” or “titulus” in Latin. This could be The Holy Trinity or one of its Persons; a title or mystery of Christ’s life (Christ the Good Shepherd; the Holy Cross); Mary in one of her titles (Mother of Christ; Our Lady of Good Counsel); or a canonized saint. The main altar of a church had to have the same title as the church itself, for instance, there are many “side altars” in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, but the “high altar” in the center is dedicated to St. Patrick. This reflected the idea that the altar was the key element, and the church was built to house it, as opposed to the church being built and simply supplied with an altar as part of its furniture.
Obviously, these regulations would have made it impossible to celebrate Mass anywhere but inside of a Roman Catholic church. To provide for other circumstances—for chaplains of everything from military to Boy Scout units, for priests traveling alone, for missionaries, or for large outdoor celebrations of Mass on pilgrimages—portable altars, popularly called “altar stones,” were used. These were usually blocks of marble, often about 6 inches by 9 inches and an inch thick, consecrated as described above. A priest with a field kit could simply place this stone on any available surface (a tailgate, or a stump or log) to celebrate Mass, or it could be inserted in a flat frame built into the surface of a wooden altar. Many Roman Catholic schools had a full-sized, decoratively carved wooden altar (which, being wood, could not be consecrated) in their gym or auditorium that could be taken out and prepared for Mass, with an altar stone placed in the “mensa” space.
The privilege of using a portable altar was not automatically conferred on any priest. Cardinals and bishops normally had such rights under canon law, but other priests had to be given specific permission— this was, however, easily and widely obtained.
Consecrated altar stones are no longer required in parish altars, but they are part of a tradition dating back to the second century, when the early Christians celebrated Mass on top of the tombs of the martyrs. Before Vatican II, the altar stone was really the altar.
When you had a wooden table or a wooden altar against the wall, the altar stone was always consecrated. The priest would kiss the altar stone and place the gifts on it. Most people didn’t think about it that way, but fundamentally that’s what it was.
Fifty years after the Second Vatican Council’s liturgical reforms included lifting the requirement that the Eucharist be celebrated on stone and relics, parishes may wonder about the meaning of these stones and what to do with them.
An altar stone is a solid, flat piece of natural stone which contains relics of at least two saints — one a martyr — as well as incense grains representing an offering to God. The stones had to be large enough to hold a chalice and sacred host, and on average are nine inches square. Five crosses engraved on the top signify the five wounds of Christ.
Before Vatican II, only stone altars could be consecrated. Many parishes had wood altars, so they placed consecrated altar stones in their altars to meet the requirement. If a priest wanted to celebrate Mass in a park for a parish picnic or on the battlefield for soldiers, for example, he had to bring the piece of stone with the embedded relic.
The practice of placing martyrs’ relics beneath an altar is found in Revelation 6:9: “When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God.”
Around 150 A.D., Christians expressed belief in Jesus’ resurrection by offering Mass on the tomb of a martyr, often on the anniversary of his or her death, when a saint’s feast is typically celebrated marking their real birthday into eternal life. In 517 AD, a Church council in France first decreed that, to be consecrated, an altar should be made of stone. Parishes obtained relics for their altar stones from a central Vatican office.
Before Vatican II, a bishop usually consecrated altar stones in a ceremony that was similar to, but less formal than, an altar consecration. The bishop used blessed oil, incense and a type of holy water reserved for anointings and ceremonies that contained salt, wine and ashes.
During Vatican II, the Council fathers changed the requirement that altars contain relics or altar stones as they sought to preserve, improve and reform the Sacred Liturgy. They advocated for the altar to be viewed as a table in addition to a place of sacrifice.
The Council retained the custom of placing relics under altars if their authenticity was verified. The preference is for a recognizable part of the body, rather than dust gathered from a crypt.
Today, altars are dedicated in a revised rite, and relics are optional. But according to the Rite of Dedication of a Church and an Altar, they still play a role: “For it is altogether proper to erect altars over the burial place of martyrs and other saints or to deposit their relics beneath altars as a mark of respect and as a symbol of the truth that the sacrifice of the members has its source in the sacrifice of the Head [Jesus]. Thus ‘the triumphant victims come to their rest in the place where Christ is victim: He, however, Who suffered for all is on the altar; they who have been redeemed by His sufferings are beneath the altar.’”
People realize that something strange is going on with Catholic altars when they visit a church that has the full body of a saint in a glass case beneath the stone slab. Saint John Neumann’s shrine in Philadelphia (pictured above) is a good example of this. It’s like an open-casket wake that never ends. Not only does this practice reveal something about the Catholic understanding of the body, it makes clear the somewhat shocking truths about all Catholic altars: every altar is a place of death.
Our altars have their roots in the Jewish altar in the Temple. The altar in the Temple, according to the laws of Torah, was a place marked by sacrifice and blood and fire. There the priests made the different offerings that God had instituted as constitutive of the covenant with his people. It must have often been a messy, smelly place, but it is where God chose to have his people worship and make atonement for their sins.
In the Last Supper, Jesus institutes a new sacrificial system. He offers himself, once for all, in the unbloody sacrifice of the Eucharist. He ties together the full meaning of the history of the chosen people—the Exodus, the sojourn in the desert, the promise of fruitful land—into one great sacrament that makes present the fulfillment of all these realities. And he does this in the context of a meal among friends.
The Catholic altar follows upon both mysteries: place of sacrifice and place of meal. As the Catechism puts it, “The altar, around which the Church is gathered in the celebration of the Eucharist, represents the two aspects of the same mystery: the altar of the sacrifice and the table of the Lord” (CCC 1383). Furthermore, as a place of encountering the Lord in the celebration of the Eucharist, the altar itself becomes a representative of Christ: “What is the altar of Christ if not the image of the Body of Christ?” asks St. Ambrose.
Why, then, does the Church have the practice of placing relics of saints, whether small pieces or full bodies, beneath altars? On the symbolic level, there is a profound unity between the saint and the altar. The altar, an image of Christ, holds the physical remains of those who took on the form of Christ in their earthly life—suffering, dying, and now, thanks to God’s generosity, living again with Him. We can look on the body of the dead saint without fear because they faced death and triumphed by being united with Christ’s victory over death. By our reverence and faithfulness to the altar and the perfect Sacrifice that adorns it every day, may we do the same.”
We hear in Scripture, “The Lord listens to the needy and does not spurn his servants in their chains” (Ps 69:33), and again, “He led them forth from darkness and gloom and broke their chains to pieces” (Ps 107:14). The Lord is the breaker of chains!
What, then, do we make of the Gerasene demoniac? The devil had come to possess this man, and his fellow townspeople had tried to bind him in chains in an attempt to control the devil. But, “no one was strong enough to subdue him” (Mk 5:4)—the devil easily made him destroy these bonds.
Does the devil offer the same freedom from bondage as the Lord? Assuredly not: it is a mirage that still leaves him bound. This false freedom is called license, and such a “freedom” only leads to “bruising” (Mk 5:5) of the soul.
Alone we can do nothing to bind the devil and come to true freedom. “No one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property,” Jesus tells us, “unless he first ties up the strong man” (Mk 3:27). The Gerasene demoniac was possessed: he had become the house for the strong man, the devil. He needed someone stronger than the strong man.
‘Thus says the Lord: Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.’ (Is 49:24-25)
Jesus looked on the possessed man with compassion, and then, as the Lord promised, He entered the strong man’s house. With His mighty word, He bound the devil and cast him out into a herd of swine. He then plundered the house—rather, He claimed the man for God and restored him to his right mind and right place at the feet of Jesus (Lk 8:35).
We, too, need Christ to break into our souls when we are bound by sin, when the strong man in his cunning has ensnared us in his chains. We seek in hope those effective words—“I absolve you from your sins”—that bind up the strong man and transform the soul.
Such transformation propels us into the great mystery of love. Those things that the devil attempts to use against us are recast in love for the salvation of our souls. Thus, we have saints who—in the face of the devil—freely choose to wear chains about their bodies. These are not chains of sin. They are “chains of love in which they allow themselves to be entrapped, so that they will love [God],” St. Alphonsus Ligouri writes (Office of Readings, Aug 1).
These chains of love come in various forms. For St. Dominic an actual iron chain adorned his waist as an act of penance. Acts of penance only come from intense love for souls. Desiring the salvation of every soul, like his savior Jesus Christ, St. Dominic lovingly chose to undergo significant pain as an offering for the forgiveness of sins.
You and I will most likely not don chains in such a way, but we can still consider other, lighter, chains of love. This is why we take on penances, or mortifications, during Lent. We love Jesus, and inspired by this love we seek to offer something alongside His offering on the cross for the salvation of our own soul and the souls of all sinners.
The devil uses chains to bind, but Christ breaks them. We use chains to love, and these Christ helps us carry.”
“If it’s just a symbol, then to hell with it.” -Flannery O’Connor
If you entered a vacant Catholic Church at night, you would not be in total darkness. A single burning light would guide your way.
An oil lamp or wax candle, known as the sanctuary lamp, would be continuously aglow above or near the tabernacle. It is a symbol that Christ is present.
The General Instruction to the Roman Missal (GIRM, for you acronym addicts), a guide for how to celebrate Mass, states, “In accordance with traditional custom, near the tabernacle a special lamp, fueled by oil or wax, should be kept alight to indicate and honor the presence of Christ.”
Catholics have always shown their respect for the reservation of the Eucharist in the tabernacle. The church’s guidelines for art and architecture states: The tabernacle “should be worthy of the Blessed Sacrament – beautifully designed and in harmony with the overall decor of the rest of the church. To provide for the security of the Blessed Sacrament the tabernacle should be ‘solid,’ ‘immovable,’ ‘opaque’ and ‘locked.’ The tabernacle may be situated on a fixed pillar or stand, or it may be attached to or embedded in one of the walls. A special oil lamp or a lamp with a wax candle burns continuously near the tabernacle as an indication of Christ’s presence.”
Although sanctuary lamps have been red in many traditions, church documents do not specify a color.
The Blessed Sacrament reserved in the tabernacle was originally intended for the Communion of the sick and dying and for those unable to attend the Sunday celebration. “But as the appreciation of Christ’s presence in the Eucharistic species became more developed, Christians desired through prayer to show reverence for Christ’s continuing presence in their midst,” states “Built of Living Stones: Art, Architecture and Worship,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s guide for worship spaces.
“In reverent prayer before the reserved Eucharist, the faithful give praise and thanksgiving to Christ for the priceless gift of redemption and for the spiritual food that sustains them in their daily lives. Here they learn to appreciate their right and responsibility to join the offering of their own lives to the perfect sacrifice of Christ during the Mass and are led to a greater recognition of Christ in themselves and in others, especially in the poor and needy. Providing a suitable place for the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament is a serious consideration in any building or renovation project,” the book continues.
The sanctuary lamp is extinguished on Good Friday when the body of Christ is removed from the main church and relit at Easter.
I see the terrifying spaces of the universe that enclose me, and I find myself attached to a corner of this vast expanse, without knowing why I am more in this place than in another, nor why this little time that is given me to live is assigned me at this point more than another out of all the eternity that has preceded me and out of all that will follow me.
—Pensees, Blaise Pascal
“A common argument against Christianity is often put like this: “The Christian way of looking at God and the universe doesn’t make any sense. Why all the wasted space? If mankind is the spiritual center of the universe, it certainly doesn’t look like it. By all observation, we seem to be the secretion of a mossy rock, flying around the backwater of an impossibly large and empty space.” This is less of a formal argument and more of a sentiment, but, all the same, it needs accounting for.
One of the great things about being Catholic, and about being human, is seeing the power that symbols have in explaining fundamental parts of our experience to us. God does not disdain to use imperfect, material things to convey transcendent truths to help us understand our place in the whole mess of things we call life this side of paradise. Thankfully, the Church in her wisdom understands this, and employs such signs all over the place. One such sign is the sanctuary lamp, or altar lamp; a little light that is often surrounded by colored glass and other ornamentation, which is always placed near the tabernacle in a Catholic Church. Why? On a very basic level, the light is on when the Master of the house is home. It’s a sign of hospitality that most people can understand easily. On another level, I think this gives us an answer to the problem we started with.
Anyone who has had the pleasure to pray in a church at night will understand what I mean. After a while, and as your eyes adjust to the darkness, you realize that the only light in the whole place comes from the altar lamp. From the sanctuary to the back of the nave, a vague semblance of shapes appear, depending on the style and architecture of the building; the high vaults of the ceiling, an organ, perhaps some stained glass, or a reredos crowned with a cross. The impression one gets, as a whole, is of an order that is shrouded in mystery. At the same time, all this is only visible by a light that signifies the presence of something, or someone, of much greater import than an ordered, but otherwise dark and mostly empty space.
In short, I don’t think that the medievals were too far off the mark when they likened the cosmos to a church. Why is the universe so full of empty space? Why are Catholic churches so full of empty space? The end of all creation is the end of all worship: to manifest the glory of God. When God spoke to Job out of the whirlwind, he said as much:
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? (Jb 38:4-7)
If the empty space of the church is where the faithful sing the praises of God, what is the expanse of the universe but a church for the angels to sing? And what, then, is Earth, and the Church upon it, but an altar lamp announcing the presence of God in his creation?”
“Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. . . . They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ. . . . They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes.” –St Ignatius of Antioch (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2-7:1 [A.D. 110]).
“We call this food Eucharist. . . . For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus.” –St Justin Maryr (First Apology 66 [A.D. 151]).
(These phrases date from pre-Christian times celebrating the Emperor of Rome, were adapted to Christian use, and the addition of exclamations naming saints date to the eighth century. Laudes Regiae = Royal Praises/Acclamations)
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
Exaudi, Christe
Exaudi, Christe
Ecclesiae santae Dei salus perpetua
Redemptor mundi, tu illam adiuva
Sancta Maria, tu illam adiuva
Sancta Mater Ecclesiae, tu illam adiuva
Regina Apostolorum, tu illam adiuva
Sancte Michael, Gabriel et Raphael tu illam adiuva
Sancte Ioannes Baptista, tu illam adiuva
Sancte Ioseph, tu illam adiuva
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
Exaudi, Christe.
N., Summo Pontifici et universali Pape, vita!
Salvator mundi, tu illum adiuva
Sancte Petre, tu illum adiuva
Sancte Paule, tu illum adiuva
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
Exaudi, Christe.
Exaudi, Christe
Episcopis catholicae et apostolicae fidei cultoribus,
eorumque curis fidelibus, vita!
Salvator mundi, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Andrea, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Iacobe, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Ioannes, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Thoma, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Iacobe, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Philippe, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Bartholomaee, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Matthaee, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Simon, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Thaddaee, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Matthia, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Barnaba, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Luca, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Marce, tu illos adiuva
Sancti Timothee et Tite, vos illos adiuvate
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
Exaudi, Christe.
Exaudi, Christe
Sancti Protomartyres Romani, vos illos adiuvate
Sancte Ignati, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Polycarpe, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Cypriane, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Bonifati, tu illos adiuva’
Sancte Stanislae, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Thoma, tu illos adiuva
Sancti Ioannes et Thoma vos illos adiuvate
Sancte Iosaphat, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Paule, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Ioannes et Isaac, vos illos adiuvate
Sancte Petre, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Carole, tu illos adiuva
Sancta Agnes, tu illos adiuva
Sancta Caecilia, tu illos adiuva
Omnes sancti martyres, vos illos adiuvate
Sancte Clemens tu illos adiuva
Sancte Athanasi, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Leo Magne, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Gregorio Magne, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Ambrosi, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Augustine, tu illos adiuva
Sancti Basili et Gregori, vos illos adiuvate
Sancte Ioannes, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Martine, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Patrici, tu illos adiuva
Sancti Cyrille et Methodi, vos illos adiuvate
Sancte Carole, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Roberte, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Francisce, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Ioannes Nepomucene, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Pie, tu illos adiuva
Omnes sancti potifices et doctores, vos illos adiuvate
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
Exaudi, Christe.
Exaudi, Christe
Populis cunctis et omnibus hominibus bonae voluntatis:
pax a Deo, rerum ubertas morumque civilium rectitudo.
Sancte Antoni, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Benedicte, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Bernarde, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Francisce, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Dominice, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Philippe, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Vincenti, tu illos adiuva
Sancte Ioannes Maria, tu illos adiuva
Sancta Catharina, tu illos adiuva
Sancta Teresia a Iesu, tu illos adiuva
Sancta Rosa, tu illos adiuva
Omnes sancti presbyteri et religiosi, vos illos adiuvate
Omnes sancti laici, vos illos adiuvate
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
Ipsi soli imperium,
laus et iubilatio
per saecula saeculorum.
Amen
Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!
Tempora bona habeant! Tempora bona habeant!
Redempti sanguine Christi.
Feliciter! Feliciter! Feliciter!
Pax Christi veniat!
Regnum Christi veniat!
Deo Gratias!
Amen.
Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands
Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands
Hear, O Christ
Hear, O Christ
Perpetual safety and welfare to the Church of God
Redeemer, Savior, Come to her aid
O Mary blessed Mother. Come to her aid
The Holy Mother of the Church, Come to her aid
Queen of Apostles, Come to her aid
Saint Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Come to her aid
Saint John the Baptist, Come to her aid
Saint Joseph, Come to her aid
Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands
Hear, O Christ
Life and health and blessings to Pope [Name of Pope], our Holy Father, Come to his aid
Saviour of the world, Come to his aid
Saint Peter, Come to his aid
Saint Paul, Come to his aid
Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands
Hear, O Christ
The bishops of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith,
faithful to their worries, life!
Saviour of the world, Assist and strengthen them
Saint Andrew, Come to their aid
Saint James, Come to their aid
Saint John, Come to their aid
Saint Thomas, Come to their aid
Saint James, Come to their aid
Saint Philip, Come to their aid
Saint Bartholomew, Come to their aid
Saint Matthew, Come to their aid
Saint Simon, Come to their aid
Saint Jude, Come to their aid
Saint Matthias, Come to their aid
Saint Barnabas, Come to their aid
Saint Luke, Come to their aid
Saint Mark, Come to their aid
Saint Timothy and Titus, Come to their aid
Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands
Hear, O Christ
Saint Ignatius, Come to their aid
First Martyrs of the Church of Rome, Come to their aid
Saint Polycarp, Come to their aid
Saint Cyprian, Come to their aid
Saint Boniface, Come to their aid
St. Stanislas, Come to their aid
Saint Thomas, Come to their aid
Saints John and Thomas, Come to their aid
Saint Josaphat, Come to their aid
Saint Paul, Come to their aid
Saint John and Isaac, Come to their aid
Saint Peter, Come to their aid
Saint Charles, Come to their aid
Saint Agnes, Come to their aid
All ye holy martyrs, Come to their aid
Saint Clement, Come to their aid
Saint Athanasius, Come to their aid
Saint Leo the Great, Come to their aid
Saint Gregory the Great, Come to their aid
Saint Ambrose, Come to their aid
Saint Augustine, Come to their aid
Saints Basil and Gregory, Come to their aid
Saint John, Come to their aid
Saint Martin, Come to their aid
Saint Patrick, Come to their aid
Saints Cyril and Methodius, Come to their aid
Saint Charles, Come to their aid
Saint Robert, Come to their aid
Saint Francis, Come to their aid
Saint John of Nepomuk, Come to their aid
Saint Pius X, Come to their aid
Church fathers and doctors, Come to their aid
Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands
Hear, O Christ
And to all men of good will to all peoples:
Saint Anthony, Come to their aid
Saint Benedict, Come to their aid
Saint Bernard, Come to their aid
Saint Francis, Come to their aid
Saint Dominic, Come to their aid
Saint Philip, Come to their aid
Saint Vincent, Come to their aid
Saint John Mary,, Come to their aid
Saint Catherine, Come to their aid
Saint Teresa of Jesus, Come to their aid
Saint Rose, Come to their aid
All ye holy priests and religious, Come to their aid
All ye holy lay people, Come to their aid
Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands
To Him alone be authority,
praise and rejoicing,
endless ages of ages.
Amen
Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands
May they have favorable times!
May those redeemed by the Blood of Christ have favorable times
Happily! Happily! Happily!
May the peace of Christ come!
May the reign of Christ come!
Thanks be to God’
Amen.
Christus vincit, regnat, imperat: ab omni malo plemem suam defendat. (Christ conquers, He reigns, He commands; may He defend His people from all evil.)
Pope Sixtus V had these words engraved on the ancient Egyptian obelisk which stands in the centre of Saint Peter’s Square at Rome. These magnificent words are in the present tense, and not in the past, to indicate that Christ’s triumph is always actual, and that it is brought about in the Eucharist and by the Eucharist.
Our Lord has fought; He has won control of the field of battle, on which He has planted His flag and pitched His tent: the Sacred Host and the Eucharistic tabernacle. He conquered the Jew and his temple, and He has a tabernacle on Calvary where all the nations come to adore Him beneath the sacramental Species. He conquered paganism and has chosen Rome, the city of the Caesars, for His capital.
He conquered the false wisdom of the sages; the divine Eucharist rose on the world and shed its: rays over the whole earth, darkness withdrew like the shades of night at the coming of day. The idols have been knocked down and the sacrifices abolished. Jesus Eucharistic is a conqueror Who never halts but ever marches onward; He wants to subject the universe to His gentle sway.
Every time He takes possession of a country, He pitches therein His Eucharistic royal tent. The erection of a tabernacle is His official occupation of a country. In our own day He still goes out to uncivilised nations; and wherever the Eucharist is brought, the people are converted to Christianity. That is the secret of the triumph of our Catholic missionaries and of the failure of the Protestant preachers. In the latter case, man is battling alone, in the former, Jesus is battling, and He is sure to triumph.
CHRISTUS regnat. Christ reigns.
Jesus does not rule over earthly territories but over souls, and He does so through the Eucharist. A king must rule through his laws and through the love of his subjects for Him. The Eucharist is the law of the Christian: a law of charity and of love, which was promulgated in the Cenacle in the admirable discourse after the Supper: “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
This law is revealed in Communion; the eyes of the Christian are opened in Holy Communion as were those of the disciples of Emmaus, and he understands the fullness of the law. The “breaking of bread” is what made the first Christians so brave in the face of persecution and so faithful in practicing the law of Jesus Christ.
Christ’s law is one, holy, universal, and eternal. . It will never change or be impaired in any way; Jesus Christ Himself, its divine Author, is defending it. He engraves it on our hearts through His love; the Legislator Himself promulgates His divine law to each of our souls. His is a law of love. How many kings rule by love? Jesus is about the only one Whose yoke is not imposed by force; His rule is gentleness itself. His true subjects are devoted to Him in life and death; they would rather die than be disloyal to Him.
CHRISTUS imperat. Christ commands.
No king has command over the whole universe; there are other kings equal to him in power. But God the Father has said to Jesus Christ: “I will give Thee all the nations for Thy inheritance.” And our Lord told His lieutenants when He sent them; throughout the world: “All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Go and teach ye all nations, teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you.”
He issued His commands from the Cenacle. The Eucharistic tabernacle, which is a prolongation or replica of the Cenacle, is the headquarters of the King of kings. All those who fight the good fight receive their orders from there. In the presence of Jesus Eucharistic all men are subjects, all must obey, from the Pope, the Vicar of Jesus Christ, down to the least of the faithful.
CHRISTUS ab omni malo plebem suam defendat.
May Christ defend His people from all evil.
The Eucharist is the divine lightning-rod that wards off the thunderbolts of divine justice. As a tender and devoted mother presses her child to her bosom, puts her arms around it, and shields it with her body to save it from the wrath of an angry father, so Jesus multiplies His presence everywhere, covers the world and envelops it with His merciful presence. Divine Justice does not know then where to strike; it dares not.
And what a protection against the devil! The blood of Jesus which purples our lips makes us a terror to Satan; we are sprinkled with the blood of the true Lamb, and the exterminating angel will not enter. The Eucharist protects the sinner until time for repentance is given him. Ah! Were it not for the Eucharist, for this perpetual Calvary, how often would not the wrath of God have come down upon us!
And how unhappy are the nations that no longer possess the Eucharist! What darkness! What a confusion in the minds! What a chill in the hearts! Satan alone rules supreme, and with him all the evil passions. As for us, the Eucharist delivers us from all evil. Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Chris us imperat; ab omni malo plebem suam defendat!”
“There is a story about how St. John of the Cross celebrated Christmas: “On Christmas day . . . St. John of the Cross, while at ease with his brethren at recreation, took the image of the Holy Infant from the Crib and danced round the room, singing all the while: “Mi dulce y tierno Jesús/‘My sweet and tender Jesus,/ If Thy dear love can slay,/ It is today’”. The austere Carmelite mystic of the sixteenth century, known for his spiritual writings and his reform of the Carmelite Order, burst out in song and dance like Davidbefore the Ark of the Covenant. God’s presence sometimes makes great men childlike, even giddy.
Saint John of the Cross, however, as his name suggests, knew something of the brutality of life as well. Some of his Carmelite brethren went so far as to imprison him and publicly punish him out of opposition to his reforms. And through the sufferings, St. John held fast to Christ. As he exclaims in Counsels of Light and Love, “Thou wilt not take from me, my God, that which once thou gavest me in Thine only Son Jesus Christ, in Whom Thou gavest me all that I desire; wherefore I shall rejoice that Thou wilt not tarry if I wait for Thee” (71–2). The Incarnation fulfills all our desires—if only we will ponder the manger in wonder. The baby Jesus is God’s perfect gift to us—if only we will wait patiently for His greatness to be manifest in our lives.
In watching and waiting in Advent, we wonder at how small the beginnings of our redemption seem. Even now redemption can seem far from our world: “O sweetest love of God that art so little known” (Counsels, 68). The reign of God burst into the world in the meekest of ways: “How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given.” Now we prepare to see the babe in the manger, the silent work of God. We know that the Incarnation happened, that our “redemption is drawing near” -Lk 21:28
In the sure promise of redemption, the austerity and the name of St. John of the Cross begins to make sense. In the quiet of Bethlehem, God prepares for the crowds of Jerusalem. We begin with Him at the manger in Bethlehem and follow Him to the hill of Golgotha. God purifies our worldly desires as we take up the cross and follow Him. What begins in love, remains in love, and ends in love: ‘My sweet and tender Jesus,/ If Thy dear love can slay,/ It is today.'”
Literally, this means: “Not from man’s seed / But by the mystic spirit / The Word of God was made man / And the fruit of the womb sprung forth.” Spiramine, “spirit” also means “breath.” The breath of life once breathed into Adam is now breathed upon Mary. The Holy Spirit creates (On the Mysteries, 2.5). Unlike everyone else, Jesus is conceived by an act of God without bodily contact (On Virginity, II.2.7), just as the world was created without pre-existing matter.The incarnation is a sort of re-creation in the world, so that fallen nature may be redeemed. In the original creation, God made man in His own image. In the fullness of time, He created a body for Himself. This meeting of heaven and earth, God’s complete gift of Himself, happens in the womb of Mary.
The Holy Spirit is also the revealer. Ambrose tells us that the same cloud which led the Hebrews out of Egypt came to rest finally upon the Virgin Mary, in whom He conceived His Son. (On the Mysteries, 3.13) This cloud that led the Hebrews over the Red Sea brought them to rest at Mount Sinai, where the law was revealed to Moses. This law was the fullest revelation of God up to that point in history. This is fulfilled in the Word of God, Who is the New Law, conceived in Mary’s womb. The Holy Spirit reveals God to us in history through Mary.
Mary participates in a very special way in both creation and revelation by agreeing to bear the Son of God. Before Mary conceived the God-man in her womb, however, she beheld Him in prayer. In his work, On Virginity, Ambrose presents her as a model for consecrated virgins:
“She was a virgin not only in body but also in mind…humble in heart, grave in speech, prudent in mind, sparing of words, studious in reading, resting her hope not on uncertain riches, but on the prayer of the poor, intent on work, modest in discourse; wont to seek not man but God as the judge of her thoughts, to injure no one, to have goodwill towards all, to rise up before her elders, not to envy her equals, to avoid boastfulness, to follow reason, to love virtue.” (On Virginity, II.2.7)
Her soul was given entirely to prayer. When the Angel Gabriel came to announce to her the birth of Jesus, he found her alone, with nothing distracting her from her contemplation (On Virginity, II.2.10). Her contemplation continues after she gives birth. As Luke tells us, “Mary kept all these things in her heart.” (Lk 2:19, On Virginity, II.2.13)
We can learn from Mary’s habit of contemplation. We, too, are called to ponder in our hearts the mysteries revealed to us. During this season of Advent, as we prepare to commemorate the coming of the Redeemer of nations, it is opportune to take on small penances and remove distractions from our lives so that we can give ourselves especially over to prayer. But our contemplation must not only look backward. It prepares us for death, and our entry into our heavenly homeland, where together with Mary and Ambrose and all the angels and saints, we will contemplate the Holy Trinity for eternity.”
-by Rev Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, OCD, Divine Intimacy, Baronius Press, (c) 1964
Presence of God – Grant, O Lord, eternal rest to the souls of the departed; and may the thought of death spur me on to greater generosity.
MEDITATION
“Holy Church, our good Mother, after having exalted with fitting praise all her children who now rejoice in heaven, strives also to help all those who still suffer in purgatory, and to this end intercedes with all her power before Christ, her Lord and Spouse, in order that as speedily as possible they may join the society of the elect in heaven.” These are the words of the Roman Martyrology.
Yesterday we contemplated the glory of the Church triumphant and implored her intercession. Today we consider the expiatory pains of the Church suffering and solicit for these souls the divine assistance: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.” This is the dogma of the Communion of Saints put into practice. The Church triumphant intercedes for us, the Church militant; and we, in our turn, hasten to the help of the Church suffering. Death has taken from us those we love; yet, there can be no real separation from those who have died in the kiss of the Lord. The bond of charity continues to unite us, enfolding in one embrace earth, heaven, and purgatory, so that there circulates from one region to another the fraternal assistance which springs from love, which has as its end the triumph of love in the common glory of Paradise.
The liturgy of the day is pervaded with sadness, but it is not the grief of those “who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:12), for it is resplendent with faith in a blessed resurrection, in the eternal felicity which awaits us. The passages chosen for the Gospels of the three Masses for the faithful departed speak to us explicitly of all these consoling truths, and in a most authoritative way, since they repeat to us the very words of Jesus: “This is the will of the Father Who sent Me; that of all that He hath given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again in the last day” (Gospel for the 2nd Mass: John 6:37-40). Could there be a more consoling assurance?
Jesus presents Himself to us today as the Good Shepherd who does not want to lose even one of His sheep, nor does He spare any pains to lead them all to salvation. As if in response to the sweet promises of Jesus, Holy Mother Church, full of gratitude and enthusiasm, cries out: “For with regard to Thy faithful, O Lord, life is changed, not taken away; and the abode of this earthly sojourn being dissolved, an eternal dwelling is prepared in heaven” (Preface). Rather than an inexorable end, death is, for the Christian, a door opening into eternity, a door which admits the soul into eternal life.
COLLOQUY
“Grant, O Lord, that I may experience a reasonable sorrow at the death of those who are dear to me, shedding tears of resignation over our mortal condition, yet soon restraining them by this consoling thought of the faith: that in dying, the faithful have only withdrawn a little from us to go into a better world.
May I not weep as do the pagans who are without hope. I may have reason to be sad, but in my affliction hope will comfort me. With hope so great, it is not fitting, O my God, that Your temple should be in mourning. You dwell there, You who are our Consoler; and You cannot fail in Your promises” (-St. Augustine).
“O Master and Creator of the universe, Lord of life and death, You give our souls being and fill them with blessings: You carry out and transform everything by the work of Your Word, at the time foreordained and according to the plan of Your Wisdom; receive, today, our deceased brethren and give them eternal rest.
May You welcome us, in our turn, at the moment pleasing to You, after having guided us and left us in the body for as long as You think useful and salutary.
“Made ready in Your fear, without trouble, and without delay, may You receive us on the last day. Grant that we may not leave the things of this world with regret, like those who are too much attached to earth and the flesh; grant that we may advance resolutely and happily toward that blessed and unending life which is in Christ Jesus Our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (–St. Gregory Nazianzen).
The length of time souls are detained in Purgatory depends on:
1. the number of their faults;
2. the malice and deliberation with which these have been committed;
3. the penance done, or not done, the satisfaction made, or not made for sins during life;
4. Much, too, depends on the suffrages offered for them after death
“The prayer most pleasing to God is that made for others and particularly for the poor souls. Pray for them, if you want your prayers to bring high interest.” – Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
“Every pious desire, every good thought, every charitable work inspired by the love of Jesus, contributes to the perfection of the whole body of the faithful. A person who does nothing more than lovingly pray to God for his brethren, participates in the great work of saving souls.” — Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich
“Jesus trembled and shuddered as He stood before the pillar, and took off His garments as quickly as He could, but His hands were bloody and swollen. The only return He made when His brutal executioners struck and abused Him was to pray for them in the most touching manner: He turned His face once toward His Mother, who was standing overcome with grief; this look quite unnerved her: she fainted, and would have fallen, had not the holy women who were there supported her. Jesus put His arms around the pillar, and when His hands were thus raised, the archers fastened them to the iron ring which was at the top of the pillar; they then dragged His arms to such a height that His feet, which were tightly bound to the base of the pillar, scarcely touched the ground. Thus was the Holy of Holies violently stretched, without a particle of clothing, on a pillar used for the punishment of criminals; and then did two furious ruffians who were thirsting for His blood begin in the most barbarous manner to scourge His sacred body from head to foot.” —Bl. Anne Cathrine Emmerich, The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 218-219
“The practice of recommending to God the souls in Purgatory, that He may mitigate the great pains which they suffer, and that He may soon bring them to His glory, is most pleasing to the Lord and most profitable to us. For these blessed souls are His eternal spouses, and most grateful are they to those who obtain their deliverance from prison, or even a mitigation of their torments. When, therefore, they arrive in Heaven, they will be sure to remember all who have prayed for them.” – St Alphonsus Ligouri
“I am the Mother of all the Poor Souls, for my prayers serve to mitigate their sufferings every single hour that they remain there.” -Our Lady to St Bridget
“The belief that love can reach into the afterlife, that reciprocal giving and receiving is possible, in which our affection for one another continues beyond the limits of death—this has been a fundamental conviction of Christianity throughout the ages and it remains a source of comfort today. Who would not feel the need to convey to their departed loved ones a sign of kindness, a gesture of gratitude or even a request for pardon? Now a further question arises: if “Purgatory” is simply purification through fire in the encounter with the Lord, Judge and Savior, how can a third person intervene, even if he or she is particularly close to the other? When we ask such a question, we should recall that no man is an island, entire of itself. Our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. So my prayer for another is not something extraneous to that person, something external, not even after death. In the interconnectedness of Being, my gratitude to the other—my prayer for him—can play a small part in his purification. And for that there is no need to convert earthly time into God’s time: in the communion of souls simple terrestrial time is superseded. It is never too late to touch the heart of another, nor is it ever in vain. In this way we further clarify an important element of the Christian concept of hope. Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me, too. As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself? We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them, too, the star of hope may rise? Then I will have done my utmost for my own personal salvation as well.” –Spe Salvi, by Pope Benedict XVI
“Today we pray for the holy souls in purgatory. This idea of the holy souls in purgatory seems an odd notion to contemporary ears. One tends to think of heaven as the place where the holy souls go. Purgatory, one would think, is for unholy souls, an unpleasant place where it would be unfortunate to end up. As with most ideas, this has some truth and some error. Purgatory is not meant to be a pleasant place, but it is not a place for unholy souls. Rather, purgatory is for those souls who are holy, but not quite holy enough.
The souls in purgatory are holy souls. They loved God in this life, and sought to do his will. They did this, however, somewhat imperfectly. These souls in purgatory strove for God during their earthly life, but hit some stumbling blocks along the way. This striving, this desire for God, is what kept them from the perils of hell, but the stumbling blocks they tripped on have kept them from attaining the fullness of joy which awaits them in heaven.
Whereas yesterday’s solemnity of All Saints was a celebration of all the men and women who have gone before us and attained this fullness of joy, today’s commemoration is a day of prayer to keep the purgatorial conveyor belt moving, as it were. The holy souls in purgatory have a desire for God, but because their earthly life has ended, they are no longer capable of performing the deeds which, by God’s grace, merit heaven. Now that their earthly pilgrimage has run its course, they are entirely dependent upon God and the prayers of those who remain on earth.
This is where you and I come in. We pray for these souls, these souls who have no one else to pray for them. We can do penance for them, we can pray for them, and in the process we can grow in holiness ourselves. In doing so, we build bonds of charity with those for whom we pray, nameless though they are. And once they attain the joys of heaven, which they certainly will after their purgation is completed, we can be assured of their intercession for us, as we celebrate them on All Saints Day.
Today we pray for the holy souls in purgatory, that they may attain the joys of heaven and be enrolled among the saints, and, in doing so, may we gain new intercessors in heaven, helping us to grow in holiness ourselves.”
Love,
Matthew
Summa Catechetica, "Neque enim quaero intelligere ut credam, sed credo ut intelligam." – St Anselm, "“Si comprehendus, non est Deus.” -St Augustine, "Let your religion be less of a theory, and more of a love affair." -G.K. Chesterton, “When we pray we speak to God; but when we read, God speaks to us.” -St Jerome, "As the reading of bad books fills the mind with worldly and poisonous sentiments; so, on the other hand, the reading of pious works fills the soul with holy thoughts and good desires." -St. Alphonsus Liguori, "And above all, be on your guard not to want to get anything done by force, because God has given free will to everyone and wants to force no one, but only proposes, invites and counsels." –St. Angela Merici, “Yet such are the pity and compassion of this Lord of ours, so desirous is He that we should seek Him and enjoy His company, that in one way or another He never ceases calling us to Him . . . God here speaks to souls through words uttered by pious people, by sermons or good books, and in many other such ways.” —St. Teresa of Avila, "I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men and women who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, and who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it. I want an intelligent, well-instructed laity… I wish you to enlarge your knowledge, to cultivate your reason, to get an insight into the relation of truth to truth, to learn to view things as they are, to understand how faith and reason stand to each other, what are the bases and principles of Catholicism, and where lie the main inconsistencies and absurdities of the Protestant theory.” -St. John Henry Newman, “Duties of Catholics Towards the Protestant View,” Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England, "We cannot always have access to a spiritual Father for counsel in our actions and in our doubts, but reading will abundantly supply his place by giving us directions to escape the illusions of the devil and of our own self-love, and at the same time to submit to the divine will.” —St. Alphonsus Ligouri, "The harm that comes to souls from the lack of reading holy books makes me shudder . . . What power spiritual reading has to lead to a change of course, and to make even worldly people enter into the way of perfection." –St. Padre Pio, "Screens may grab our attention, but books change our lives!" – Word on Fire, "Don't neglect your spiritual reading. Reading has made many saints!" -St Josemaría Escrivá, "Do you pray? You speak to the Bridegroom. Do you read? He speaks to you." —St. Jerome, from his Letter 22 to Eustochium, "Encounter, not confrontation; attraction, not promotion; dialogue, not debate." -cf Pope Francis, "God here speaks to souls through…good books“ – St Teresa of Avila, Interior Castle, "You will not see anyone who is really striving after his advancement who is not given to spiritual reading. And as to him who neglects it, the fact will soon be observed by his progress.” -St Athanasius, "To convert someone, go and take them by the hand and guide them." -St Thomas Aquinas, OP. 1 saint ruins ALL the cynicism in Hell & on Earth. “When we pray we talk to God; when we read God talks to us…All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection.” -St Isidore of Seville, “Also in some meditations today I earnestly asked our Lord to watch over my compositions that they might do me no harm through the enmity or imprudence of any man or my own; that He would have them as His own and employ or not employ them as He should see fit. And this I believe is heard.” -GM Hopkins, SJ, "Only God knows the good that can come about by reading one good Catholic book." — St. John Bosco, "Why don't you try explaining it to them?" – cf St Peter Canisius, SJ, Doctor of the Church, Doctor of the Catechism, "Already I was coming to appreciate that often apologetics consists of offering theological eye glasses of varying prescriptions to an inquirer. Only one prescription will give him clear sight; all the others will give him at best indistinct sight. What you want him to see—some particular truth of the Faith—will remain fuzzy to him until you come across theological eye glasses that precisely compensate for his particular defect of vision." -Karl Keating, "The more perfectly we know God, the more perfectly we love Him." -St Thomas Aquinas, OP, ST, I-II,67,6 ad 3, “But always when I was without a book, my soul would at once become disturbed, and my thoughts wandered." —St. Teresa of Avila, "Let those who think I have said too little and those who think I have said too much, forgive me; and let those who think I have said just enough thank God with me." –St. Augustine, "Without good books and spiritual reading, it will be morally impossible to save our souls." —St. Alphonsus Liguori "Never read books you aren't sure about. . . even supposing that these bad books are very well written from a literary point of view. Let me ask you this: Would you drink something you knew was poisoned just because it was offered to you in a golden cup?" -St. John Bosco " To teach in order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher and of each believer." —St. Thomas Aquinas, OP. "Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. Both are good when both are possible. Otherwise, prayer is better than reading." –St. Isidore of Seville “The aid of spiritual books is for you a necessity.… You, who are in the midst of battle, must protect yourself with the buckler of holy thoughts drawn from good books.” -St. John Chrysostom
