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CERTIFICATE OF MEMBERSHIP The Angelic Warfare Confraternity - The cord of St. Thomas Aquinas _________________________________________________________
Promises:
PRAYER of ST THOMAS AQUINAS Dear Jesus, 1 know that every perfect gift and especially that of chastity depends on the power of Your Providence. Without You, a mere creature can do nothing. Therefore, I beg You to defend by Your grace the chastity and purity of my body and soul. And if I have ever sensed anything that con stain my chastity and purity, blot it out, Supreme Lord of my powers, that I may advance with a pure heart in Your love and service, offering myself on the most pure altar of Your divinity all the days of my life. Amen.
________________________________________ THE ANGELIC WARFARE The Angelic Warfare, or the Cord of St. Thomas, Confraternity is an apostolate for the preservation of personal chastity. St. Thomas Aquinas is its patron. Members pledge themselves to guard holy purity, to seek the truth, and to honour the Queen of the Holy Rosary. They wear the cord or medal of the Confraternity which is blessed. Members share in the Masses, prayers and good works of the Dominican Order, with which the Confraternity is affiliated. Plenary Indulgences, under the usual conditions, are granted to members: 1. - On the day of enrollment; 2. - On Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, the Feasts of the Annunciation, the Assumption, the Immaculate Conception, St. Thomas Aquinas and All Saints. A partial indulgence is granted for wearing the Confraternity cord or medal and also for saying the St. Thomas prayer in this leaflet. _______________________________________ The Angelic Warfare Confraternity was founded at the University of Louvain in 1649, inspired by an exemplary experience of St. Thomas Aquinas when he was a young Dominican novice in 1244. He was actually kidnapped by his brothers who considered a religious vocation, particularly to the insignificant Order of Preachers - the official title of the Dominican Order - of no value. They imprisoned him in a tower for more than a year. Meanwhile his mother and sisters tried to dissuade him from the religious life. Thomas remained adamant. So the brothers pub a wanton woman into his prison to tempt him. Thomas snatched a burning brand from the fire and drove her away. Angels later appeared to him and bound his waist with a cincture of chastity, a symbol of the chaste life to which he would vow himself and for which he became renowned. Since Thomas proved himself neither physically nor spiritually vulnerable, the Aquino clan relented and Thomas was reunited with his Dominican brethren. His chaste life was ever reflected with exceptional clarity in his intellectual attainments, so much so that he is considered to be one of the most eminent of Catholic theologians. Meanwhile, the Angelic Warfare Confraternity was founded and has been promoted as a Dominican apostolate for more than three centuries. In 1923, commemorating the sixth hundredth anniversary of St. Thomas’ canonization, Pope Pius XI recommended that the Angelic Warfare Confraternity be propagated everywhere, especially among young people. The Confraternity is as relevant today as it ever was, for it emphasizes personal prayer as the sure safeguard for chastity, devotion to the Blessed Mother, and the intelligent quest for truth. All these qualities were exemplified in the life of St. Thomas whose impact both as a saint and as a scholar still enriches the Church.
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