Hail, King of the World! Hail, King of My Heart!

Dear Family and Friends,

Today the Church celebrates with great joy the Solemnity of Christ The King. This feast is meaningful in a special way for the Knights of the Holy Eucharist. After all, what is a knight without his King? Our knighthood exists by and for His Kingship. He is Our Eucharistic King.

Sacred Scripture, the prayers for Mass, and popular devotions are rich with references to God's Kingship. He is the King of Kings (1 Tim 6:15), the King of Ages (1 Tim 1:17), the King of the Universe (Opening prayer for today's Mass) and the King and center of all hearts (Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus).

Let us worship and love Him as Our King. Let us love Him totally holding nothing back.

"Hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves so that He who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally." -St. Francis

Here is a beautiful hymn honoring Christ The King. I think it is very appropriate for our times. Thy Kingdom Come! I hope and pray that it inspires our loving devotion.




"Thou art my King and my God..." -Psalm 44:4

In Our Eucharistic King and His Queen Mother,
Br. Francesco Maria

"OUT OF THE DEPTHS..."

Greetings, Family! Here at Holy Apostles we are beginning the stretch run. Papers are crying to be written, tests to be taken, and deadlines to be met. The spiritual, human, intellectual, and pastoral formation here is great, it really helps one to become a disciplined and balanced human being-If one is willing to be such. In all of us there is the need to be chiseled and formed, to become a new man in Christ, the Eternal Formater. For every way in which we are not conformed to Christ in this life, we will be made entirely like Him in the next life in Purgatory.

The month of November is the time Holy Mother Church has appointed for an increased offering of prayers and remembrances for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. If you consider that to love someone means to desire what is best for them, then how can we not want the Beatific Vision for these Poor Souls, especially our deceased loved ones. This practice is more than a pious devotion, it is an indispensable act of mercy. The fact of the matter is, most saved souls first go to Purgatory. Unfortunately, many fall into the trap that says everyone is in heaven and they don't need our help. However, not only do they need, long and pine for our prayers, but they also long for us to call upon the help of their most powerful prayers.

Some ways of praying for the Holy Souls are: 1) Reverently make the Sign of the Cross, 2) The sprinkling of Holy Water brings them relief, 3) Alms-giving, 4) Masses offered for the repose of their souls, especially Gregorian Masses (Masses said for 30 days), 5) Pray at a cemetery, 6) Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, 7) Make Holy Hours for them, 8) Offer acts of self-denial, 9) Gain plenary indulgences for the Poor Souls, 10) The Holy Rosary, 11) Pray in a special way for the souls of deceased bishops and priests, including those who dispensed the Sacraments to us during their lives. These souls will be eternally grateful for our merciful acts. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." (Mt. 5:7)

Let us, during this Month of the Holy Souls, generously offer prayers on their behalf and not to forget to ask for their intercession and help as well.

St. Gertrude's Prayer for Poor Souls in Purgatory

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen


All ye Holy Souls in Purgatory, pray for us!



- Br. Laurence Mary, KHE

Let Us Thank God for All the Saints

Let us thank God for all of the Holy Saints, who believed with St. Paul that “by grace you have been saved through faith: and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2: 8), and who “work(ed) out [their] salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12), and “who endure(d) to the end,” as Jesus Christ taught. (Mt 10:22) I petition all of my Patron Saints a few of whom are Sts. Philomena, Fidelis, Stephen, Paul and Paul of the Cross to intercede before the throne of the Lord for all who read this blog and their intentions.

Today, I wish to focus on one important Theme which was brought to my attention while reading Peter J. Kreeft’s Because God Is Real: Sixteen Questions, One Answer for Apologetics class. The first, being peace in the world. I believe that Thomas Merton states it well, “We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.” America... In order to solve the issues of today we must turn to God, and how better than to turn to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ; the Church which was given its authority to teach in His name (Lk 10:16), (See Kreeft p. 100) Particularly, through the Sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, THE HOLY EUCHARIST, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Marriage, and the Anointing of the Sick.

To be continued…

Br. Fidelis Maria of the Sacred Host, KHE

Construction of a new Church for the Seminary

Dear Family and friends, It has been very exciting over the past few months here at Holy Apostles Seminary. We are currently under construction of our new chapel: Our Lady Queen of the Holy Apostles. We had a ground-breaking ceremony for the new chapel last spring before we left for the summer vacation. The Seminary has been anticipating building the new church for a few years in honor of the Seminary's 50th year anniversary. Since the seminary is at "full capacity" with almost of of the dorm rooms filled, the old chapel was very cramped and not very "acoustically friendly". the old chapel was originally a long tool and paint shed that was converted into a chapel when Holy Apostles Seminary was founded. Over the years the chapel came to a point of disrepair. They demolished the old, smaller chapel over the 2009 Summer vacation months, and immediately began construction for the new church. All of the seminarians returned in the latter part of August and saw much of the ground excavated and concrete footer walls poured for the basement. Over the past week or so, there have been large cranes hoisting the large timbers used for the supporting wall structure. The new church will be octagonal in shape like the 8 sided Baptisteries in Europe. The new church will face the East (unlike the old chapel) so that the Holy Mass could be celebrated "ad orientum" with greater ease. I believe the new church will seat about 150-175 rather than the 80 that the old chapel sat. We pray like the Psalmist says: "If the Lord does not build the House, in vain do its builders labor." We pray that the Lord will continue to bless the construction of our new church and keep all of His laborers safe. Please continue to pray for us so that one day, we may offer in our new church the perfect prayer of worship to God; The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Mother Angelica and Dcn. Bill Receive Award from the Pope

Dear Family,

It is with tremendous joy that the Knights of the Holy Eucharist watched last Sunday evening's Benediction on EWTN, on the feast of St. Francis. Our local bishop, Bishop Robert Baker of Birmingham was the celebrant. It was wonderful to see the Shrine's pews filled and overflowing; not only were our sisters, the Knights, and the MFVA friars there, but members of the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word, the Benedictine monks from Cullman, and Dominican sisters were present for the great occasion. At the end of a beautiful homily, Bishop Baker announced that Pope Benedict XVI bestowed the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award ("for the Church and the Pope") on our own Reverend Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, PCPA, foundress of EWTN, and Deacon Bill Steltemeier, Chairman of EWTNs Board of Governors. This is the highest award that the Pope can give to a lay person or a religious.

We are very proud and grateful to see our foundress as well as our very close friend and spiritual father be so honored by the Vicar of Christ. It is an honor they have well deserved. They are both wonderful examples of being docile to the Holy Spirit, trusting in God despite tremendous trials, heroically relying on Divine Providence, and persevering in following God's will.

What makes this occasion more special for the Knights of the Holy Eucharist (a branch of the Heralds of the Gospel) is that the President and Founder of the Heralds of the Gospel, Monsignor John Cla, received the same Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award from Pope Benedict on the feast of the Assumption, August 15th, 2009. It is an amazing blessing that our community's foundress (Mother Angelica) as well as our community's ultimate superior (Monsignor John Cla) have been honored by the Holy Father in this way. We are very proud to be spiritual children of two great apostles of our times. Praised be Jesus Christ!

Congratulations again to Mother Angelica, Deacon Bill, and the whole EWTN family!

Feast of St. Francis!

Happy Feast of Our Holy Father Francis!

Pax et Bonum!

What an awesome saint we have!
As you probably know, St. Francis is the special patron of the Knights of the Holy Eucharist. Our Franciscan roots come from our foundress, Mother Angelica. In particular, the Knights look to St. Francis as a model of total dedication to Christ. Even after his conversion, he retained a spirit of knighthood, but it was now a knighthood for the King of Heaven. St. Francis also had profound love for the Blessed Sacrament, and tremendous reverence for the holy priesthood.


What has struck me recently is how childlike he was. Over the last few days we have been hearing in the readings for Holy Mass how the kingdom of Heaven requires childlike-ness. Our Lord tells us, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven." (Matt 18:3) Our Lord shows us here that being childlike is essential. But how do we do this? "Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven." (Matt 18:4)Humility is the key. As Fr. John Corapi says, "No humility--no holiness; no holiness--no heaven."





The spiritual masters speak of this spiritual childhood. St. Therese, the little flower, whom we celebrated a couple days ago, particularly comes to my mind. One of the many things that strikes me the most about her is her purity and innocence.

Living spiritual childhood (and we were made children of God at Baptism) entails humility, purity, innocence, simplicity, meekness, gentleness, joy, trust in divine providence, and docility to the will of God; in a word, spiritual childhood is about radiating love. These are all the attributes of a young child. These are the ways a child approaches life and especially the way a child relates to his parents.

By cooperation with the grace of God, St. Francis possessed all these beautiful virtues. By uniting himself to Our Lord, sacrificed on the cross, the only sacrifice that perfectly pleases the Eternal Father, St. Francis could become more and more like Christ, the love of His life. And he did. The offering of his own life became a pleasing fragrance to almighty God. Holiness of life is so beautiful. It has an incredible ripple effect. It's contagious. We see somebody who has it (or read about them), and we desire that same joy and love, that same degree of spiritual perfection. It is for this reason that we can celebrate this year the 800 years of the existence of the Franciscan order. What a blessing for the Church! And this all happened, because a man surrendered the entirety of his life to God.

And God never leaves us empty-handed. "He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life." (Pope Benedict XVI, Homily at Inaguration of his Pontificate) Our Lord Himself speaks of the radical embrace of the evangelical counsels. "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life." (Mark 10:29-30)

May God bless you all with His Peace!

Br. Francesco Maria

Check out the Sister's cool little slideshow on St. Francis:
http://www.olamshrine.com/francis.html

SOLDIERS OF CHRIST

Hi, Family! Life at seminary continues to get busier and busier, but is going very well. The first month has been an awesome learning experience. Now, more than ever, I realize what a great gift time is, and what a tragedy time wasted is. Every moment demands the trust of a child and the courage of a soldier.

This week, Holy Mother Church celebrates the feasts of St. Michael (Sept. 29) and St. Therese (Oct. 1), two valiant soldiers of Christ. The Knights extend their feast day wishes to our own Br. Michael Mary, KHE on his name-day! St. Paul tells us, "Labor as a good soldier of Christ." (2 Tim. 2:3) As we, the Church militant, labor here on earth for God's glory and the salvation of souls, our eyes look to Sts. Michael and Therese. Michael, the Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, and Therese, the little and valiant flower of God's garden, show us what it means to be "a good soldier of Christ."

It is easy to see Michael as the epitome of militant action, casting down the devil and his minions from their self-erected thrones, but St. Therese? Therese's militant spirit is truly what defined her sanctity. Her courageous love for God and unwavering, yet childlike, spirit were made manifest by her great and persevering desire for martyrdom. This "flower", roots and all, completely surrendered herself to the merciful love of her Spouse and King. Not counting the cost to "die" for Him, Therese took the model of her fellow french-woman, St. Joan of Arc, and allowed the flames of Christ's love to consume her "little" holocaust. In our time, when women seek to be equal to or exceed men, St. Therese was a manly woman in a truly ordered and vir-tuous way. May Sts. Michael and Therese help us to be good soldiers of Jesus.

A word of thanks to Tom and Sonja for allowing us use of their home while we were in New York City this past weekend, which was a free weekend here at Holy Apostles. The Knights enjoyed spending time with Tom and his brother, Bob, as they showed us around the "Big Apple." We also appreciated Dr. Alphonso's hospitality and his guided tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. All of us enjoyed spending Saturday evening visiting with Ted and Gloria, as well-Thanks guys, the view was awesome! Thank you, Family, for your continued support and prayers!

- Br. Laurence Mary, KHE