The Pope - The Chair of Peter the Apostle

The following is from "The Pope" [pages 73-76]– Source: “The Fountain of Catholic Knowledge: A Comprehensive Statement of All the Truths of Holy Religion” copyright by Office of Catholic Publications, 1900. 

As I stated yesterday, one of the things I am doing for Lent is re-reading from my collection of 100+ year old Catholic books and my plan to share these writings on my blog. Today being "The Chair of St. Peter the Apostle" I thought this was appropriate. 

I really love this writing, and in particular the part about Peter answering Our Lord three times that he loves Him (this is one of my favorite Bible verses). So reading this and reflecting on it in light of our current situation with Pope Francis, a few things really stood out to me, I have underlined them in the text below. 

I'd really like to hear what your thoughts are on this book passage about the pope and our current situation. 

"The first Pope, the first Vicar of Jesus Christ, was the Apostle St. Peter.

   Who cannot recall the memorable passages of the Gospel in which Jesus Christ first promised and afterward conferred upon him the sovereignty of the universe? Our Lord was in Judea, in the country bordering upon the town of Cesarea. To try the faith of His disciples, He asked what men thought concerning Him. They answered, “Some believe that Thou art John the Baptist, other Elias, and other Jeremias, or one of the prophets risen from the dead.” Jesus said to them, “But whom do you say that I am?” And immediately St. Peter, falling on his knees, exclaimed, “Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.” Then it was that the Saviour allowed too fall from His lips the words which have travelled down the centuries with such marvellous fertility, and which still shine resplendently at Rome, graven in gigantic characters above the tomb of the Apostle-“Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”

   You have doubtless often heard this passage of the Gospel read, but have you ever fully fathomed the depth and the strength of its meaning?

First of all, we see that it was God Himself who had inspired St. Peter, and had made known to him the truth of the faith.

“Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father who is in heaven.” St. Peter was already the elect of God the Father, and for this reason he became the elect of God the Son. “And I”- the Son of God made man, the Christ, the Messiah, to whom thou hast just rendered witness-“I say to thee.” Jesus Christ to St. Pete! the Master to His disciple! God to His Pontiff! the Head of the Church, who has reigned in heaven since His ascension, to him whom He had chosen to be, in His name, and by His authority, the visible head of the Church upon earth. I say to thee, “That thou art Peter.” I change they natural name of Simon into a new and symbolic name. “Upon this rock,” this living rock, as upon an immovable foundation. “I will build My Church,” and the very strength and firmness of the foundation shall give to it so perfect a stability, and so mighty a power, that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Thou shalt teach the truth to My Church, and for this reason it shall be infallible in faith: thou shalt guide it in the path which leads to a glorious eternity, and for this reason it shall be holy. I intrust My Church to thee; I have but one true Church, as a husband has but one lawful wife. And by what clear and evident sigh shall men recognize this one true Church, among the innumerable religious societies which lay claim to her glorious title? By one certain and distinctive mark; if she rest on and centre of unity-her father, pastor, doctor, and pontiff. “Upon this rock I will build My Church.” My kingdom shall be that in which thou shalt reign. My law shall be that which thou shalt teach. Whoever shall be with thee, shall be, for that reason alone, with Me, and whoever shall separate himself from thee, shall separate himself from Me, and from life eternal.

The powers of hell shall not be able to prevail against the Church, since they shall be powerless against thee. Persecutions shall come, heresies, and revolutions. Fear not, I am with thee, and upon thee ever rests My Church, which shall endure unto the end of the world. Those who desire to break thee shall be broken against thee, since thou art the corner of attraction to the whole moral world.

And the power that I will give thee shall be proportioned to the glory conferred upon thee, and to the vast requirements of thy ministry: “Whatsoever thou shalt bind or loose upon earth, shall be found or loosed in heaven;” and thus thy voice shall be as the voice of heaven, and thy infallible dictums shall precede the dictums of the eternal truth. That which though shalt bless, I will bless; that which thou shalt curse, I will curse… Blessed is the man who is obedient to the voice of Peter!

Such is the true meaning of those scriptural words which have ever confounded, and shall eternally confound, the irrational rebellion of Protestants against the Catholic Apostolic Roman Church, which is governed by the Pope, the legitimate successor of St. Peter.

Before ascending into heaven the Son of God solemnly confirmed His promise, of which some might have imagined that St. Peter by his sin had forfeited the fulfillment. “Simon, lovest thou Me?” Jesus asked three times of his Apostle. “Yea, Lord,” St. Peter three times answered; “yea, Thou knowest that I love Thee!” thus effacing by a triple protestation of love and devotion the triple denial of which he had been guilty. Then said Our Lord to him, “Feed My lambs-feed My sheep!” The lambs of Jesus Christ are Christians who are obedient to the voice of this good Shepherd; His sheep are the bishops and priests by whose God-given power and spiritual fatherhood all Christians must be born again-born to the life eternal, by means of baptism, the sacraments, and the teaching of the one true faith.

And thus St. Peter was solemnly appointed pastor of the universal Church by Jesus Christ before His ascension into heaven.

The Pope, Bishop of the city of Rome, of which St. Peter was the first bishop, is the successor of this great and holy Apostle.

Leo XIII., the present Bishop of Rome, descends by an uninterrupted line of pontiffs from the prince of the Apostles. St. Peter commands, teaches, and governs the Christian world by means of Leo XIII., or rather it is Jesus Christ; it is Jesus Christ Himself who dwells within him, in order to be in Him and by Him,  the divine Head of his own Church. It is not the man whom Catholics revere in Leo XIII.; it is the Vicar of Jesus Christ; it is Jesus Christ Himself who covers him with His shadow, and endows him with a royal supremacy over His disciples.

The man in the Pope should be, and generally is, by the providence of God, worthy of esteem, by reason of his virtues; but even were he an utterly bad man, the divine majesty of his authority would remain uninjured; just as a father, who has a claim upon the honor and obedience of his children because he is their father, although they may know that, as a man, he has been guilty of many blamable actions. There are two persons in the Pope: the Pope and the man-as a man, he is more or less estimable, according to the virtues that he possesses; as a Pope, he is always worthy of all our reverence, and has a right to our entire and unquestioning obedience. It is not the man, it is the Pope who is always guided by the Holy Ghost.

There have been two hundred and fifty-nine popes, from St. Peter to the time of our Holy Father Leo XIII. now reigning. Of this number more than eighty have either borne the palm of martyrdom, or have led lives of such eminent holiness that they are numbered among the saints. Scarcely two or three have soiled the chair of St. Peter by notorious vice. The greater part have been men eminent either for their capacity, their piety, or their benevolence. But it may safely be affirmed that not one among them has possessed more charm of virtue than our present Pontiff, Leo XIII.

The peace of God shines from his face. The well known characteristics of his calm and equable nature are goodness and benevolence-a clear intellect, and a constant cheerfulness. His regular features, his eyes of an undefinable expression, and the calm dignity of his manner, are in him the visible signs and outward revelations of the beauty of holiness. He is at once the sovereign Pontiff and the good Father. It is a great happiness to receive the blessing of the Pope, and especially of such a Pope. It is a great happiness to be able to make a pilgrimage to Rome, and to see the successor of St. Peter celebrating the Holy Sacrifice upon the very tomb of the Apostle, and offering to the adoration of the faithful the hidden God of whom he is the Pontiff and the Vicar." 

Thoughts? 

In Christ, 

Julie

Source: The Fountain of Catholic Knowledge, A Comprehensive Statement of All the Truths of the Holy Religion Together With Notable Presentations of the Glorious Truth Triumphant – Office of Catholic Publications, 1900.  

#Flashback Friday: The Catholic Church Then and Now

This week’s topic: The Daily Life of the Pope

Then:

A day in the life of Pope Leo XIII (and popes before him): 

Pope Leo XIII

[Quote] As a rule, the higher the dignity to which a man is raised the more weighty and difficult are the duties which his position involves. I know that this is not generally believed or understood, but it is none the less true. Life is often a weary burden to those of high estate, and there is less liberty in the palaces of princes than in the humble dwellings of the poor.

The greatest dignitary in the world is undoubtedly the Pope, the supreme head of religion upon earth, the High Priest of God, the bishop and pastor of all the faithful, the spiritual father of monarchs as well as their subjects. There is also no man in the world who leads a more trying, arduous, difficult, and laborious life. From the morning till the evening, from the first day of the year till the last, he is, to the very letter, the Servant of the servants of God, as the Sovereign Pontiffs so justly entitle themselves in the Papal bulls and decrees.

Let us consider in what manner the Pope passes the day.

Our Holy Father lives at Rome, in an immense palace called the Vatican, adjoining the Church of St. Peter’s. The vast halls of the Vatican are adorned with grandeur and simplicity; the walls are uniformly covered with red hangings, and with the exception of the pontifical throne the only seats are wooden stools. After a long suite of rooms occupied by the servants and guards, according to their rank, then by the prelates composing the Papal household, we reach the special apartments of His Holiness.

These rooms are small and still more simple than the others. And first comes the study of the Holy Father. It is here that he gives, during the day, his numerous audiences, of which we shall speak presently. The Pope is seated in an armchair of crimson velvet; before him is a large square table covered with red silk, similar to the hangings on the walls, and above the chair there is a canopy of the same color, the insignia of royal and pontifical majesty. Seats for the cardinals and princes, and two or three wooden seats, constitute the furniture of this apartment. This first room communicates with a second of the same size, and exactly similar, excepting that at the end there is a bed hung with crimson silk. This is the Pope’s bed-chamber. Then comes a third room furnished in the same manner; this is the dining room. The Holy Father has every meal alone, on a table covered with red silk like that of the study. Lastly comes the library, which is a large and beautiful room with four or five windows, and where the Pope is accustomed to hold councils with his ministers.

The Pope is always dressed in white. He wears on his head a small cap of white silk; his cassock is of white cloth during the winter, and of thin white woolen or white silk during the summer. His wide band is also of white silk, with gold tassels. 
His shoes, or slippers, are red, with a gold cross embroidered on the instep. It is this cross which is kissed by everyone who approaches the sacred person of the Vicar of Jesus Christ.

When he leaves his apartments the Pope wears over his cassock a rochet of lace, a scarlet mantle trimmed with white fur, and, lastly, a stole embroidered in gold. He covers his head with a large red silk hat a little raised on each side, and timed, with a gold tassel. The former custom of the Pontifical Court did not permit him to go out in the streets of Rome excepting in a carriage; beyond the gates of the city, he often took long walks on foot, stopping willingly to speak to the poor and to children, and giving his holy benediction to those whom he met.* All who meet the Pope uncover their heads and kneel down as a mark of the reverence due to his character of Supreme Pontiff.

The Holy Father rises early. After his prayers he goes into his chapel to celebrate the Holy Mass. This chapel is small, and adjoining the Pope’s apartment. The Blessed Sacrament is always preserved there, and the Holy Father, in his devotion to the Divine Eucharist, attends himself to the two lamps which burn perpetually before the tabernacle. His Holiness says Mass, slowly and with deep devotion; his august face is often bathed with tears while he holds in his sacred hands the hidden God of whom he is the Vicar.

Usually he says Mass at half-past seven, and assists, as an act of thanksgiving, at a second Mass celebrated by one of his chaplains. 

Afterward he recites a part of the breviary on his knees with one of the prelates of his household, and then returns to his apartments. The Pope’s breakfast consists of a cup of black coffee. The sobriety of the Italians is well known, and this is the first repast of almost all Romans. Until about ten o’clock the Holy Father works every day with his first minister, who is a Cardinal, and is called the Secretary of State.

At ten o’clock commence the audiences, a laborious task, which would be trying and wearisome if the most important questions and gravest interests of religion and society were not there discussed. Cardinals, bishops, princes, ambassadors, missionaries, priests, and great numbers of the faithful come from all parts of the world to lay down at the feet of the Head of the Church their homage, their requests, and their necessities. The Pope remains seated during these audiences. All kneel in his presence, or stand with his permission. Cardinals and princes have the privilege of sitting down. 

On entering the Pope’s study three genuflections are made; the first at the threshold, the second half way, and the third at the Pope’s feet. Then his foot or his hand is kissed, and the audience commences. As soon as it is ended, the Holy Father rings a bell, and someone else is announced and immediately introduced by one of the resident prelates. Only men are admitted in this manner into the apartments of the Pope; this is an invariable rule. Ladies are received for an audience once or twice a week, in a large hall forming part of the public museums of the Vatican.

The audiences of the morning usually last more than four hours. When they are ended, at about half-past two, the Pope passes into his dining-room and takes a frugal repast. Then he recites, on his knees, the continuation of his breviary, and, after a few minute’s repose, goes out to take a little exercise. When it is bad weather the Holy Father contents himself with walking for a little time up and down the library or in one of the covered galleries of the Vatican. 

At the decline of the day, indicated in Italy by the sound of the Angelus, and for this reason called the Ave Maria, the Pope returns to the Vatican, recites with his suite the Angelical Salutation, adding the De Profundis for all the faithful who have died during the course of the day. Then the audiences recommence. Different papers are also submitted to the Pope for his signature; the decrees of different Roman congregations which preside over the religious affairs of the whole Catholic world are submitted for his sovereign approbation and final decision. These audiences last until ten or eleven in the evening, after which the Holy Father takes a light collation, composed of fruits or vegetables; he then terminates the recitation of his breviary and goes to take some hours of that repose which he has so devoutly and laboriously earned.

Such, with rare exceptions, is the daily life of the Pope, and such a life, notwithstanding the honors with which it is surrounded, and even because of these honors, is a continual subjection, an hourly self-renunciation; also when the Sovereign Pontiff enters into the designs of God, as is so perfectly done by our Holy Father the present Pope [Pope Leo XIII], his life is complete in the sight of God, and the merits more than any other life the great and blessed recompense promised to the faithful servant. [End quote]

      *Owing to the Italian spoliation of the temporal power, the Pope never leaves the Vatican grounds.

[Source:  The Fountain of Catholic Knowledge, copyrighted by the Office of Catholic Publications, 1900;  pages 413-416]

~~~~~

Now:

A day in the life of Pope Francis: 

[Quote] DAILY ROUTINE: Francis rises on his own at around 4:30 a.m. and spends the next two hours praying, meditating on the Scripture readings for the day and preparing his morning homily. He delivers it off-the-cuff at the 7 a.m. Mass in the chapel of the Vatican's Santa Marta hotel where he lives. After Mass, Francis greets the faithful in the atrium outside the chapel, then walks a few meters into the hotel dining room for breakfast. He often will have fresh-squeezed orange juice (a papal indulgence since other diners are served only packaged OJ) and membrillo, a gelatinous paste made from quince that is popular in Argentina.  

After breakfast, Francis takes Elevator A up to the second floor to his home: Santa Marta's Room 201, though he has actually converted the entire second floor of the hotel wing into a home office. He then gets to work, either staying in the hotel or heading to the Apostolic Palace if he has formal audiences. Occasionally he takes a break to recite the rosary. After a 1 p.m. lunch in the dining room, Francis takes a siesta of about 40 minutes to an hour and resumes working into the evening, often taking care of correspondence. He tries to get in an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament before dinner, though he confesses to sometimes falling asleep while praying. 

Dinner in the dining room is self-service, cafeteria-style at 8 p.m. and Francis has been known to microwave his own food if it's not warm enough. Before taking the elevator back upstairs, he will be sure to thank the Swiss Guard, Vatican gendarme and reception desk clerk on duty in the hotel lobby, and say good-night. He's in bed by 9 p.m., reads for an hour and is asleep — "like a log" — for the next six hours or so. [End quote]

In Christ,

Julie @ Connecticut Catholic Corner

Sources:

Photo: http://www.necn.com/news/national-international/Pope-Francis-What-Makes-Him-Different-From-His-Predecessors-324146331.html

Now: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/09/19/glance-pope-francis-likes-dislikes-motto-daily-routine-and-favorite-foods.html

Pope Leo XII private Mass photo: https://catholicpictures.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/leo-xiii-private-mass/

Pope Leo XII photos: https://catholicpictures.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/pope-leo-xiii-3/

and https://catholicpictures.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/pope-leo-xiii-2/

http://list25.com/25-interesting-facts-about-pope-francis-you-probably-didnt-know/

beach ball: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/51170251/ns/us_news-pope_francis_i?q=Pope%20Francis%20I

red shoes: http://theratzingerforum.yuku.com/topic/2211/Pope-Leo-XIII#.V6Qo97grKUk