It's the Feast of
BVM On Saturdays,
4th Class, with the color of
White. In this episode: the meditation: "Deep Contrition", today's news from the Church: "Ecône 2026: The Story of a Polish Pilgrim", and today's thought from the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
Have feedback or questions about the DD or our other shows?
[email protected]
Sources Used Today:
- "Deep Contrition" — From Trinity Sunday to the Assumption
- "Ecône 2026: The Story of a Polish Pilgrim" (FSSPX.news)
- The Spiritual Life — Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (Angelus Press)
Please support our new project, the Archbishop Lefebvre Biography Audiobook!
The Holy Maccabees are unique among the saints honored by the Church because they lived before the birth of Christ. They were faithful Jews of the Old Covenant, yet the Church has venerated them from the earliest centuries as martyrs whose courage pointed forward to the coming of the Savior.
Their story takes place about 170 years before Christ, when the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes attempted to erase the Jewish faith. He outlawed the worship of the true God, desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem, and ordered the Jewish people to abandon the Law of Moses. It was one of the darkest moments in Israel's history.
Among those brought before the king was an elderly man named Eleazar, whose story is remembered just before that of the Maccabees. Rather than pretend to obey the king in order to save his life, Eleazar refused, saying he would not leave a bad example for the young.
Then came the family the Church remembers today.
A mother and her seven sons were arrested and ordered to violate God's law by eating meat that had been sacrificed contrary to the Law of Moses. One after another, each son refused. One after another, each was tortured and killed before the eyes of his mother.
It's difficult even to imagine.
The king hoped that watching her children die would finally break the mother's resolve.
Instead, she encouraged them.
The Book of Second Maccabees records some of the most moving words in all of the Old Testament. She reminded her sons that God had given them life and that He was able to restore it again. Long before Christ's Resurrection, this remarkable woman expressed a profound hope in the resurrection of the dead, trusting that fidelity to God was worth more than earthly life itself.
Finally, she too accepted death rather than betray the Lord.
The Church has always seen the Holy Maccabees as foreshadowing the Christian martyrs who would later die for Christ. They did not know the name of Jesus, yet they gave everything for the God who would one day send His Son into the world. Their witness became so respected that churches were dedicated to them in the early centuries of Christianity, including shrines in Antioch, Constantinople, and Rome.
Their story also reminds us that the belief in the resurrection did not suddenly appear in the New Testament. It was already burning brightly in the hearts of faithful Jews who trusted that God would not abandon those who remained loyal to Him.
More than two thousand years later, the courage of the Holy Maccabees still speaks to every generation. They remind us that faith is most convincing when it costs us something.
Holy Maccabees, steadfast witnesses to the living God, pray for us.
- - - - - -
Explore more:
What is the SSPX Podcast?
The SSPX Podcast is produced by Angelus Press, which has as its mission the fortification of traditional Catholics so that they can defend the Faith, and reaching out to those who have not yet found Tradition.
What is the SSPX?
The main goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, to teach its truths, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood.
Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means of bringing this life of grace to souls.
Although the traditional Latin Mass is the most visible and public expression of the work of the Society, we are committed to defending Catholic Tradition in its entirety: all of Catholic doctrine and morals as the Church has always defended them. What people need is the Catholic Faith, without compromise, with all the truth and beauty which accompanies it.
https://sspx.org
