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A Pastoral Letter... |
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His Excellency, the Most Reverend Bishop + Francis Konrad Maria |
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My Dearly Beloved in Christ,
Praised be Jesus, Our Divine Infant King, and Mary, His Virgin-Mother and our Immaculate Queen!
This pastoral letter is intended to extend to all of the Catholic faithful our sincere wish for every grace and blessing of this holy season, and to thank all of you for your many cards, gifts, flowers, and spiritual bouquets during our long months of illness and also sent to us on the occasion of the glorious feast of the Nativity of Our Divine Savior. Your expressions of love and loyalty are such a great source of consolation during the long hours of pain and suffering with which Our Lady has blessed us, and especially in the face of the malicious attacks which our enemies pour forth in their unceasing efforts to malign us and to destroy our remnant Catholic community. We can only pray that Our Lady will dispel the malice and bitterness from the hearts of these pitiable souls and, above all, that their deceitful attacks will not lead further souls astray.
As we gaze upon the Nativity scene and the three Holy Kings, there is so much cause for reflection. Many of these thoughts we have shared with you before, but they merit continual repetition..... that we shall never truly know the peace and love of the Divine Babe in the manger unless we approach Him with the simple faith and humble hearts of the shepherds, His first adorers..... that we shall never have truly Christian families until they begin to pattern their family life after the Holy Family in the manger (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph)..... that we shall never truly know the joy proclaimed to mankind by the angels until we completely amend our lives, die to self, and replace our sinful hearts with Mary's Immaculate Heart.
Christmastide... the Epiphany... oh, glorious season of joy and blessedness! And yet, the world about us (just as it was nearly 2,000 years ago) is immersed in the darkness of decadence, greed, depravity, dishonesty, confusion, and pharisaical apostasy. Through the dark night of a world which "knew Him not" and wished not to know Him, three Magi of true wisdom followed a star to find the True Light in a poor stable in Bethlehem and to fall down and adore Him.
If we wish not to lose our way in the darkness which now surrounds us, we too must be truly wise (with the wisdom of the Holy Ghost) and never lose sight of the star which still leads men of humble heart and simple faith to the foot of the manger -- that Star, known well to the consecrated slaves of Stella Maris, which illumines the path to Eternal Wisdom -- that star which spells MARY. May She keep all of you under Her loving mantle and fill your hearts with that peace and loving joy which her Divine Son alone can give.
Devotedly yours in Christ, with our love and prayers,
The Most Reverend Bishop +
Francis Konrad Maria
of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Ordinary of the Ecclesiastical Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe
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