Episode Details

It's the Feast of B.V.M. on Saturday, 4th Class, with the color of White. In this episode: the meditation: "Devotion to the Precious Blood", today's news from the Church: "No Anxiety", and today's thought from the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Have feedback or questions about the DD or our other shows? podcast@sspx.org

Sources Used Today:

• "Devotion to the Precious Blood" — From Trinity Sunday to the Assumption
  • https://angeluspress.org/products/from-trinity-sunday-to-the-assumption
  
  
• "No Anxiety" (FSSPX.news)
  • https://fsspx.news/en/news/no-anxiety-59982
  
  
• The Spiritual Life — Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
  • https://angeluspress.org/products/spiritual-life-archbishop
  
  

Please support our new project, the Archbishop Lefebvre Biography Audiobook!

• Learn more:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Wp4MQdK2o
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Saint Pius I served as pope during one of the most fascinating periods in the Church's history, a generation when Christianity was still young enough that some believers could remember hearing the Apostles preached about by people who had actually known them. It was a time when the Church had no grand cathedrals, no public processions, and no legal protection. Christians gathered quietly in homes, celebrated the Eucharist in secret, and never knew when persecution might begin again.

Pius became Bishop of Rome around the middle of the second century, probably about the year 140. Although we know relatively little about his personal life, the world he lived in tells us a great deal about the challenges he faced. The Church was growing rapidly, but so were false teachings. Various groups claimed to possess secret knowledge or offered new versions of Christianity that departed from the faith handed down by the Apostles.

One of the most influential of these teachers was Marcion, who rejected the Old Testament and taught that the God of Israel was different from the Father revealed by Christ. His ideas spread quickly and attracted many followers. During the pontificate of Pius, the Church firmly rejected these errors, preserving the unity of both the Old and New Testaments and defending the faith that Christians still profess today.

An interesting tradition connects Pius with one of the earliest Christian books outside the New Testament. His brother is believed by many ancient writers to have been Hermas, the author of The Shepherd of Hermas, a work that was widely read in the early Church and highly respected by many Christians. While it was never included in the canon of Scripture, it gives modern readers a fascinating glimpse into what Christian life looked like during Pius's lifetime.

Imagine serving as pope when the New Testament itself had not yet been formally collected into a single volume.

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