Christmas Season and Sunday Shopping

Christmas Season and Sunday Shopping
By John Vennari ~ http://www.cfnews.org/Sundays.htm

<“The Jews crucified Me on Friday, but Christians crucify Me on Sunday” - words of Our Lord to Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre, December 2, 1847

The time in which most Christmas shopping takes place is not really the Christmas Season, but the Advent Season. Christmas Season begins on the first Vespers of Christmas and continues to Epiphany; otherwise known as the Twelve Days of Christmas. This deformation of terminology brought about by modern commercialism reflects more of the pagan spirit rather than the true Catholic spirit as communicated by the Liturgical Year.

As we now enter a period of increased buying and selling, it is opportune to remind ourselves to be wary of another pagan practice rampant in the modern world: Sunday shopping.

This common profanation of Sunday, which only increases during the Christmas shopping season, should not be taken lightly. In the 19th Century, Heaven sent two dire warnings against this offense, making clear that Our Lord regards this as a serious sin deserving of severe chastisement.


The first warning came through Sister Marie de Sainte-Pierre, whom Our Lord revealed the Devotion to His Holy Face. The second came through Our Lady of La Salette. Both of these revelations from Heaven enjoy the full approval of the Catholic Church.

“The Holy Day of the Lord Profaned”



On Nov. 24, 1843, Our Lord said the following to Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre, a French Carmelite nun:



“The earth is covered with crimes. The violation of the first three Commandments of God has irritated My Father. The Holy Name of God blasphemed, and the Holy Day of the Lord profaned, fills up the measure of iniquities. These sins have risen unto the Throne of God and provoked His wrath which will soon burst forth if His justice be not appeased. At no time have these crimes reached such a pitch.”



Elsewhere, Our Lord complained to Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre of the massive amount of blasphemy taking place on earth. He said, “My Name is everywhere blasphemed. Even children blaspheme.”



Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre went on to explain, “Blasphemy is a poisoned arrow ever wounding His Divine Heart. He told me that He wishes to give me a Golden Arrow wherewith to wound His Heart delightfully and heal these wounds inflicted by the sinners’ malice.”

This is the origin of the popular prayer, The Golden Arrow, that Heaven wished Catholics to recite often:

“May the Most Holy, Most Sacred, Most Adorable, Most Mysterious and Unutterable Name of God be praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified, in Heaven, on earth, and in the hells, by all God’s creatures, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.”



Sister de Saint-Pierre said, “Our Lord having given me this Golden Arrow said, ‘avail yourself of this, for I shall demand an account from you.’.’ At that moment I beheld issuing from the Sacred Heart of Jesus pierced by this arrow a torrent of grace of sinners.”
Communion of Reparation for Profanation of Sunday



Along with this prayer in reparation for blasphemy, Our Lord told Sister de Saint-Pierre about the need to appease the Divine Justice aroused by reason of the desecration of Sunday. The heart of the message can be summarized in the following words of Sister de Saint-Pierre:



“... Our Lord commanded me to receive Holy Communion every Sunday for these three particular intentions:

1) In a spirit of atoning for all forbidden works done on Sunday, which as holy days are to be sanctified.


2) To appease Divine Justice which was on the very verge of striking on account of the profanation of holy days.


3) To implore the conversion of those sinners who desecrate Sundays,
- and to succeed in obtaining the cessation of forbidden Sunday Labor.

Our Lord asked for the establishment of a special Archconfraternity in reparation for blasphemy and profanation of work on Sunday. Our Lord Himself called this “the most beautiful work under the sun.” This Archconfraternity of the Holy Face was later approved by Pope Leo XIII in 1885.

Second and Third Commandments


For a quick review of the do’s and don’ts regarding the Second and Third Commandments, here is a quick summary of what we find in pre-Vatican II catechisms.

The Second Commandment is “Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of the Lord Thy God in Vain”.

It commands: reverence in speaking about God and holy things and the keeping of oaths and vows.
It forbids: blasphemy, the irreverent use of God’s name, speaking disrespectfully about holy things, false oaths and the breaking of vows.

The Third Commandment is: “Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath Day”.

It commands: going to church on Sundays and Holy Days.
It forbids: missing church through one’s own fault, unnecessary servile work; public buying and selling; court trials.

La Salette

Around the same time Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre received the Divine communications from Our Lord, Heaven sent another warning regarding sins against the Second and Third Commandments through Our Lady of La Salette.

On September 19, 1846, Our Lady appeared to the shepherd children Maximin and Melanie in La Salette; it was a confirmation of the messages Our Lord gave to Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre. Our Lady of La Salette warned of “the utter contempt (of man) for God’s Commandments, especially, She said, in the profanation of the Lord’s Day and the crime of blasphemy.” (That is, for sins against the Second and Third Commandments.)

Our Lady said, “If my people do not return to God by penance, I shall be forced to let fall the Hand of my Son, it now presses so heavily that I can scarce hold it any longer.”

Keep Sunday Holy

We see that Heaven does not take these sins lightly. Yet blasphemy is commonplace, particularly through the machinations of Hollywood. The profanation of Sunday is a way of life in modern United States, Canada and a great part of the once-Christian West.

Recently, I heard a sermon from a traditional priest against Sunday shopping in which he gave some helpful guidelines.

He said we should try to avoid all shopping on Sunday. Certainly, we should not make Sunday our day for grocery shopping. If we find that perhaps we are inadvertently caught on Sunday without something we absolutely need (including, as another priest said, unplanned visits from guests), then maybe we can go to the store for that item alone. He said we are not to use it as an opportunity to shop for other items we may need throughout the week.

Even this activity should be strictly curbed, he cautioned, because of the danger of scandal. People who know we are Catholic and who see us in a store on Sunday will conclude “well, he’s Catholic, and he shops on Sunday, so Sunday shopping is probably legitimate.”

In conclusion, let us remember the stern warnings from Our Lord to Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre and from Our Lady of La Salette, and let us avoid all Sunday shopping. Perhaps we could often recite the Golden Arrow, and begin the practice of the Communion of Reparation for Profanation of Sundays, given by Our Lord to Sister de Saint-Pierre, in reparation for the widespread desecration of Sunday that is the shame of our age.



- All quotes from Sister Marie de Sainte-Pierre come from The Life of Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre, an 1885 book written by Father Janvier, a great promoter of the Work of Reparation (English translation). It carries the 1881 Imprimatur of the Archbishop of Tours, France, Msgr. Colet. The book is out of print and extremely rare.

Click here for more on the Holy Face and the Revelations to Sister Marie de Sant Pierre

Reprinted from the December 2007 edition of

Catholic Family News

MPO Box 743 * Niagara Falls, NY 14302

905-871-6292 * http://www.cfnews.org/

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Sister Josefa Menendez Journeys to Hell

Sister Josefa Menendez Journeys to Hell
Compiled by CFN

(Catholic Family News/ http://www.cfnews.com/ )

Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared often during the years 1921 through 1923 to Sister Josefa Menendez (1890-1923), a coadjutor sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Spain.

The story of Christ’s visits to Sister Josefa is gripping and inspiring, unique in the annals of Church history. It is published in the The Way of Divine Love, a book sponsored by the nun’s own religious order, with instructions from Our Lord that its message be broadcast widely. It contains over 500 pages, all of which are devoted to telling mankind Our Lord’s love for us, and His pleading for our love in return. The book also caries the endorsement of Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII.

As we are now in the season of Lent, the life and words of Sister Josefa Menendez cannot but help spur us on to be courageous in our Lenten penances in reparation for our own sins and the sins of others.

Sister Josefa was a victim soul who willingly endured untold sufferings for the salvation of souls. Our Lord sent Sister Josefa into hell so she, too, could testify to the torments of the damned to prepare men for Heaven through the fear of God if “the love of God is not strong enough to gain us salvation.” the following is from Sister Josefa Menendez’ own writing after her return from descents into hell.

Sister Josefa wrote with great reticence on this subject. She did it only to conform to Our Blessed Lord’s wishes, Our Lady having told her on October 25, 1922: “Everything that Jesus allows you to see and to suffer of the torments of hell, is … that you may make it known. So forget yourself entirely, and think only of the glory of the … salvation of souls“.

She repeatedly dwelt on the greatest torment of hell, namely:

“One of these damned souls cried out: ‘This is my torture … that I want to love and cannot; there is nothing left me but hatred and despair. If one of us could so much as make a single act of love … This would no longer be hell … but we cannot, we live on hatred and malevolence’ …” (March 23, 1922)

Another of these unfortunates said: “The greatest of our torments here is that we are not able to love Him. While we hunger for love, we are consumed with desire of it, but it is too late.”

“Some yell because of the burning of their hands. Perhaps they were thieves, for they say: ‘Where is our loot now? … Cursed hands … Why did I want to possess what did not belong to me … and what in any case I could keep only for a few days?’ “

“Others curse their tongues, their eyes … whatever was the occasion of their sin … ‘Now, O body, you are paying the price of the delights you granted yourself … And you did it of your own free will …’ “ (April 2, 1922)

“I saw many worldly people fall into hell, and now words can render their horrible and terrifying cries: ‘Damned for ever … I deceived myself; I am lost … I am here forever’. “

“Today, I saw a vast number of people fall into the fiery pit … they seemed to be worldlings and a demon cried vociferously: ‘The world is ripe for me … I know that the best way to get hold of souls is to rouse their desire for enjoyment … Put me first … Me before the rest … no humility for me! But let me enjoy myself … This sort of thing assures victory to me … and they tumble headlong into hell’.” (October 4, 1922)

“Tonight,” wrote Josefa, “I did not go down into hell, but was transported to a place where all was obscure, but in the center was a red smoldering fire. They had laid me flat and so bound me that I could not make the slightest movement. Around me were seven or eight people; their black bodies were unclothed, and I could see them only by the reflections of the fire. They were seated and were talking together.

“One devil to another said: ‘We’ll have to be very careful not to be found out, for we might easily be discovered’

Another devil answered; ‘Insinuate yourselves by including carelessness in them … but keep in the background, so that you are not found out … by degrees they will become callous, and you will be able to incline them to evil. Tempt these others to ambition, to self-interest, to acquiring wealth without working … Excite some to sensuality and love of pleasure’.”

“Sounds of confusion and blasphemy cease not for an instant. A sickening stench asphyxiates and corrupts everything; it is like the burning of putrefied flesh, mingled with tar and sulfur…a mixture to which nothing on earth can be compared.”

“In the night of 16th March towards ten o’clock”, wrote Josefa, “I became aware, as on the preceding days, of a confusing noise of cries and chains. I rose quickly and dressed, and trembling with fright, knelt down near my bed. The uproar was approaching, and not knowing what to do, I left the dormitory, and went to our Holy Mother’s cell; then I went back to the dormitory. The same terrifying sounds were all round me; then all of a sudden I saw in front of me the devil himself.

“ ‘Tie her feet and bind her hands,’ he cried. Instantly I lost sight of where I was, and felt myself tightly bound and being dragged away. Other voices screamed: ‘No good to bind her feet; it is her heart that you must bind’. ‘It does not belong to me’ came the answer from the devil. Then I was dragged along a very dark and lengthy passage, and on all sides resounded terrible cries.

“On opposite sides of the walls of the narrow corridor were niches out of which poured smoke, though with very little flame, and which emitted an intolerable stench. From these niches came blaspheming voices, uttering impure words. Some cursed their bodies, others their parents … It was a medley of confused screams of rage and despair.

“I was dragged through that kind of corridor which seemed endless. Then I received a punch in the stomach, which doubled me in two, and forced me into one of the niches. I felt as if I were being pressed between two burning planks and pierced through and through with scorching needlepoints. Opposite and beside me souls were blaspheming and cursing me. What caused me most suffering … and to which no torture can be compared, was the anguish of my soul to find myself separated from God …

“It seemed to me that I spent long years in that hell, yet it only lasted six or seven hours …

“I see clearly that all the sufferings on earth are nothing in comparison with the horror of no longer being able to love, for in that place all breathes hatred and thirst to damn other souls.”

Let us thank Our Lord Jesus Christ for giving us these sober warnings, and avail ourselves of sin that could send us to Hell. Our Lord established this great sacrament as a font of mercy for us. Let us also receive often Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist to grow in the life of grace.