Today is the commemoration of St. Athanasius, who was a doctor of the church of whom Cardinal Newman had a great devotion to. It was thanks to him that the church was saved from completely succumbing to the Arian heresy. In the Birmingham Oratory there is a side altar dedicated to him, where also lies the relics of a St. Valentine, a Roman martyr whose feast we keep on Newman's birthday.
Alas, the Arian heresy has been revived in a big way in today's church, and it is no more apparent than in modern liturgical practice. It is the main motivation for the lack of reverence towards Our Lord, for the reverence due to him clearly implies that he is the second person of the Trinity. Let us ask the intercession of St. Athanasius for the triumph of orthodoxy and the conversion of those who are in dissent against the church's magisterium.
1 comment:
A very good idea. I am of the opinion that the practice of administering holy communion in the hand has not been helpful in this respect either. It may also be ideal to ask for the intercession of St Gregory the Great. According to one story, a woman who had made the Host for a Mass which he celebrated smiled and denied the presence of Christ within the Blessed Sacrament. The distressed Pope prayed and she saw him holding the bleeding flesh of Our Lord-which persuaded her otherwise. St Gregory, pray for us!
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