Sunday, January 3, 2010

all these [infidels and heretics] are certainly in the way to be lost

Oh, what a miserable state were all men in before the  coming of the Messias; the true God was hardly known  even in Judea, and in every other part of the world  idolatry reigned, so that our forefathers worshipped  stones, and wood, and devils; they worshipped innumerable false gods, but the true God was neither loved nor  known by them. Even now, how many countries are there  in which there are scarcely any Catholics, and all the  rest of the inhabitants are either infidels or heretics ! and  all these are certainly in the way to be lost. What obligation do we not owe to God for causing us to be born,  not only after the coming of Jesus Christ, but also in  countries where the true faith reigns !  
 - St. Alphonsus The Incarnation, Birth, and Infancy of Jesus Christ pp. 291-2

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe