On Father Ripperger and The Society of the Most Sorrowful Mother

Fr. Ripperger holds Master’s degrees in Philosophy and Theology and completed his Doctorate in Philosophy at the University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He attended seminary at Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, CT. Upon ordination, Fr. Chad Ripperger became a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.  He has served as a parish priest and has taught at St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Nebraska and Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Nebraska.  As his work drew him into the direction of deliverance and exorcism ministry he was called to begin a new order of priests trained to perform that work. He began the work of founding the Society of the Most Sorrowful Mother, a semi-hermetical community of priests dedicated to exorcism work. On March 27th, 2015, the Commemoration of the Seven Sorrows, Bishop Edward Slattery celebrated a Solemn Pontifical Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Tulsa as a celebration of the official founding of The Society of the Sorrowful Mother as a society of Apostolic Life of Diocesan Right.

"The priests of the nascent Society of the Most Sorrowful Mother, the "Doloran Fathers," work in cooperation with our local bishop to provide the assistance of the rites and prayers of our Holy Mother, the Church to some of the most spiritually afflicted suffering souls, many unable to find relief or deliverance from their affliction for years. Because a good deal of prayer is required of the Doloran priests each day to support their challenging mission, their life is semi-contemplative."  Quote from dolorans.com

Asking Our Angels for Help

Fr. Ripperger tells us in one of his talks on our guardian angels, as a friend reminded me yesterday, that we can and should ask our angels for help in growing more perfect.

Specifically, one can ask one's angel to humble one and make one see one's predominant fault.

I am praying this prayer-Dear Angel, humble me interiorly and show me my predominant fault. Then, show me how to destroy this fault, for the glory of God and His Church.

I made up this prayer, but it works for me. Your angel wants you to become perfect. I am asking mine more directly to help me on the way to illumination and union with God.

Some clarity on oppressions, obsessions and possessions

Most of what I know is from Father Chad Ripperger. But, for those of you who have not listened to his talks or read his books, I can give a small synopsis and clarification on some points. Also, you can go back and look at the notes from Father Xavier's retreat in early March.

First of all, Fr. Ripperger rightly teaches that most of those who are baptized, in sanctifying grace, have the power they need to deal with most oppressions and obsessions. This was repeated by the priest, Father Xavier, at the retreat I attended in March.

A few bullet points:

• Oppressions are demonic influences from years of sin and from families handing down such demonic influences through sinful lives. These can be dealt with by a person in sanctifying grace with the aid of a priest who is trained in such. Fr. Ripperger taught that one can identify these oppressions through prayer and turn against them. But, one must also repent of the sins connected to the oppressions.
• Obsessions are similar but much more serious. For example, a person may be oppressed with a demonic influence towards lust, and can repent and pray against the oppression. But, an obsession is incessant, leading to greater temptations and "obsessive thoughts", and in this example. porn for example. One can also pray these away, as noted by the known exorcist, but only with great persistence in prayer. 
• Catholics can be released and healed by daily Mass, weekly Confession and during Adoration.
• There are few possessions, but these are becoming more and more common because of the growing involvement with the occult.
• At the retreat I went on in March, Father Xavier noted many of the points above. Just follow the label for that retreat.
• Both prayers against the demonic influences and repentance are needed in these cases of oppression and obsession. Please, please avoid the charismatics.
• Without working on these, one cannot get through much purification and freedom from mortal and venial sin.

Hoarding Revisited

Last year, I wrote about the sin and evil of hoarding. Since then, I have discovered through a holy priest I met where I am, that this sin is a subset sin of Avarice, one of the capital sins. The capital sins are those which lead to other sins. Hoarding is not necessarily "merely" a personality disorder, like obsessive-compulsive disorder, but connected to spiritual evil.

The root could be fear and a lack of belief in Divine Providence, or the feeling of abandonment, which can also be healed by prayer and deliverance.

What Father Ripperger notes in some of his talks is that psychologists ignore the soul, and, therefore, cannot really treat or heal their patients in the majority of cases.

A friend of mine in another state brought up this sin today as she wanted to know the root cause of this after a situation which came up in her life. She wanted to know the spiritual background of certain personality disorders. I referred her to Father Ripperger's book, which I have already recommended on this blog last year. Here is the link to buy his book. But, a person cannot make decisions about another person without consulting a Catholic Thomist psychologist. One can deal with one's own problems through prayer, reading, counseling, study, and reflection.

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Science-Mental-Health-Ripperger/dp/0615815391

The modern mind cannot comprehend that the seven deadly sins lead even to gross mental illness in some cases. Are there illnesses which can cause hoarding? Yes, but most problems come from the soul and the neglect of the intellect, rather than a mental problem.

Here is a list of symptoms from a mental health website. If you have family members who are hoarders, be patient, but work through the problems as much as you can from the aspect of the soul. Pray for them first of all, and then, study what Father Ripperger has to say about such things.

The great news is that people are delivered and healed through the proper means, (not charismatic,) of such sins. Praise God! Sin can be repented of and healed. So, this view should be good news.

Someone who hoards may exhibit the following:

• Inability to throw away possessions
• Severe anxiety when attempting to discard items
• Great difficulty categorizing or organizing possessions
• Indecision about what to keep or where to put things
• Distress, such as feeling overwhelmed or embarrassed by possessions
• Suspicion of other people touching items
• Obsessive thoughts and actions: fear of running out of an item or of needing it in the future; checking the trash for accidentally discarded objects
• Functional impairments, including loss of living space, social isolation, family or marital discord, financial difficulties, health hazards

Repost

Monday, 8 December 2014

The Virtue of Studiosity

Posted by Supertradmum

Father Chad Ripperger has been one of the most influential priests in my life via his amazing set of talks and some personal input. He is the reason I am in the third order which he started. His intellect and spiritual insights are gifts from God.

One of the things he has pointed out is something I have written on this blog-the sin of curiosity.

This sin causes people to run after approved and unapproved apparitions. We do not need to concern ourselves with visions, but we do need to study our faith.

Recently, Father noted that curiosity is a vice, even when it is connected to wanting to know the latest about certain apparitions, even approved ones.

The virtue which is the opposite of this vice is studiosity, the virtue connected to temperance, which is a search for the truth which is disciplined and ordered. 

We are responsible for knowing the Faith, and we are also responsible for dulling our own intellects.

Raissa, as I noted, cried out in her diary for people to know their religion, the Catholic religion.

Without knowledge of the Faith, one easily falls into many other vices, and we are responsible for that type of falling away.

Studiosity is a virtue. If one is an adult and never studies the Faith in the Catechism or the encyclicals, or other excellent books, one is committing two sins at least. One is sloth and the other is neglect of conscience.

Ask yourselves honestly in your examination of conscience whether you are studying. If one merely chooses one author, such as St. Alphonsus, or the Pope Emeritus, or St. Augustine, or St. Therese of Lisieux, one is doing one's duty.

But the virtue demands that we study not only spirituality and prayer, but doctrine and dogma.

Studiosity is connected to the great virtue of temperance, the virtue which strengthens our reason. Temperance prepares us to combat temptation. Studiosity allows us to know the Faith so that we can avoid temptations and prepare for holiness.

Are you studying anything solid with regard to the Faith?

For those caught up with seers and visions, even approved ones, I challenge you to set those books aside and begin to study your Faith.

We are required to do this, and the fact that there is a virtue which helps us do so should be comforting.

Thomas Aquinas makes this distinction between curiosity, which actually is connected to lust and greed, and studying.  Curiosity connects us with the senses, not the intellect. Whereas studying increases our knowledge in order to help us know God and ourselves.

To be constantly distracted by trivia may be an indication that one has fallen into the vice of curiosity.



to be continued...

Disorders and Demons

In the past several years, because of the shortage of exorcists, many lay people have "come forward" to pray over people regarding demons.

Now, I have written many times on this blog that most of those people, who are usually charismatics, should not be in this type of ministry. One of the problems is that they are not under any authority of a bishop, they have not been trained by professional exorcist priests, they are not necessarily living the strict type of life necessary for a person who does pray for "deliverance" and they are not necessarily the persons who should be out on the front lines.

After many years, almost 40, of observing, studying and learning about these ministries myself, (and the Catholic Church does not want us to use that term as lay people, btw), I have come to the conclusions that the vast majority of people in so-called deliverance "ministries" should be not be involved at all.

One of the primary problems is the lack of orthodoxy among many of these people. I know, personally, women who regularly pray over others without a priest present, who believe in women priests and civil unions for gays.

Just one example of the inappropriateness of some groups' members.

Without training and discipline, these people, mostly women, cause more harm than good.

So, I have a few bullet points concerning this problem, which is out-of-control in the West, in the States, in Canada, and in Europe.

• Never let anyone touch you or pray over you unless an bishop appointed exorcist is present.
• Never let another person pressure you about falling down or speaking in tongues. Many, if not, most, tongues are false, even demonic.
• Never tell people you do not know you innermost secrets.
• If a person is known to have unorthodox opinions contrary to Catholic teaching, not only avoid them but report them to the bishop or chancery office as someone representing the Church falsely.
• Be aware that much of the language in these "ministries" is from either Protestant or New Age sources and do not apply to Catholic theology. There is much confusion about the "baptism of the Spirit, Confirmation, Confession, and sin.
• Ask questions about a group. Ask many questions as to orthodoxy, authority, training.
• Realize that the devil appears as an angel of light and some people who seem wonderful and have great "witnesses" are not what they seem to be.
• Read Catholic books, not Protestant ones, on healing and deliverance. Listen to the many talks by Fr. Chad Ripperger.
• Never go to a Protestant service for healing or deliverance. Satan laughs at Protestants, as he knows that only the authority given in the Catholic Church is the true authority.
• Beware of groups which charge money for healing or deliverance. These are truly false "ministries".
• If a so-called "minister" has a life or family life which is "not in order", avoid them. For example, a so-called minister was working in deliverance and having an extra-marital affair. That woman would not be working with or in God's grace.

I have written about some of these things before and I thought the wild healing and deliverance groups of the seventies and eighties were fading away. Not so....

Demons can use anyone to bring people out of the one, true, holy, apostolic Catholic Church, even those who seem to be doing good deeds. I have known people become more ill and more oppressed by being prayed over by those who are "out of order".

Irish Scandal

Brain dead is not dead. See my other posts and listen to Fr. Chad Ripperger on this point.

So, Ireland has killed two people.

Sad days.

http://news.yahoo.com/irish-court-end-life-support-pregnant-woman-141015383.html

For the best in teaching online regarding modern Catholics....go here!

http://sentrad.org/multimedia/

Follow Up Commentary on Garrigou-Lagrange

St.Catherine with Demons

There is much confusion on demonic possession and obsession, which is why I put the two long excerpts from Garrigou-Lagrange on the blog on Saturday.

One must make distinctions, which, sadly, Catholics who are not working in order with the Church confuse. I have cautioned about so called charismatic deliverance teams before on this blog many times.

Obsession can occur for several reasons: family history of sin; personal sin; or God allowing a holy person to be tested for further growth in holiness. Many saints were subjected to horrible obsessions in order to become perfect.

One can discern the difference easily. But, if one feels "tormented", the beginning of freedom is in the confessional.

Possession is either brought about by years of serious sin, or by the giving of an innocent person over to evil. God allows possession for His great glory, but some people choose it by following witchcraft, satanism, years of drug abuse and so on.

As Fr. Ripperger notes in his talks, the hardest possessions to break are those when a child has been given over for satanic use. Sadly, this is a real thing which happens, as some of you know.

The reason I am posting and discussing this topic is that many Catholics are encountering difficulties in proceeding on the path of perfection. They seem to get so far and then hit blockages which seem out of their control.

All freedom from obsessions begins with repentance of certain sins. Once a person is in sanctifying grace, that person can speak with a priest about the persistence of spiritual and physical obsessions.

Sometimes, all it takes it weekly Adoration and frequent even daily Mass, if possible. Adoration is essential to freedom.

But, one cannot expect to be free of obsessions unless one repents of serious sins.

Of course, real possession, which is rare, but increasing, takes a Catholic priest exorcist to deal with the demonic presence.

I think Garrigou-Lagrange and Fr Ripperger's talks, as well as his book, are the best sources for discerning obsessions or possession.

As Father Ripperger notes several times, the devil is not under every rock, just every other rock.

to be continued...

Fr. Chad Ripperger's Texts Online

One may use paypal for a donation to his order and his work. These could be incorporated into a high school home schooling curriculum.

The Spirituality of the Ancient Rite of Mass

A conference given to Keep the Faith on certain aspects of the ancient liturgy. This conference was also published as an article in two parts in The Latin Mass Summer and Fall editions of 2001. It is online under the title of The Spirituality of the Ancient Rite of Mass: Part I and Part II.

Modern Philosophy and the Liturgical Development

This article addresses the issue of how modern philosophical thought has influenced the the modern liturgical ritual. It was published in Christian Order in August of 2000.

Operative Points of View

This article addresses the historical intellectual causes of the psychology of neo-conservatives. It was originally published in Christian Order in March of 2001. A shorter version of this article appeared in the Spring 2001 edition of The Latin Mass Magazine under the title Conservative vs. Traditional Catholicism: Distinctions with Philosophical Differences.

Examination of Conscience – Long

This is an examination of conscience which contains specific sins pertaining to the 6th and 9th commandments.

Examination of Conscience – Short

This is an examination of conscience which does not contain specific sins against the 6th and 9th commandments and may be suitable for use with those under 14.

The Unity of Holy Orders

This article addresses the issue of the non-ordination of women to the deaconnessate.

Parentis aut in Loco Parentis: The Natural Law Basis of Home Schooling

Addresses the question whether one has a moral obligation to send one’s child to a Catholic school as well as discusses certain aspects of the natural law regarding children.

“Fetal” Tissue Research

This article addresses certain issues pertaining to fetal tissue research. This may be a good article to pass out in areas where legislation is being discussed or in institutions where the issue has arisen.

Pastoral Theology and the Philosophy of Man

This article addresses how various views of man affect one’s approach toward pastoral theology.

Christian Art and Culture

Discusses the impact of Christian art on culture.

Parental Roles and Leadership

This article discusses the relationship between parental roles and leadership within the family.

Modern Man’s Superiority Complex

An analysis of the genesis of the complex and why it is unfounded.

The Role of the Theological Virtue of Faith in Scriptural Interpretation

Summer 2006 (Vol. XXXI, no. 2) edition of Faith and Reason (Christendom Press). This article addresses the necessity to have Faith in order to scientifically interpret Scripture.

Conferences:

The Relationship of Philosophy to Theology 11/24/98

This was a conference given at a priest study day in the Diocese of Lincoln on the necessity of a sound philosophical formation prior to seminarians studying theology.

Day of Recollection given 12/8/98 at Lincoln

Topics include Our Lady’s most intimate relationship to the Blessed Trinity, Our Lady’s Service to God and our devotion to the B.V.M.

Day of Recollection given 12/4/99 at Lincoln

Topics include detachment, self-knowledge and charity.

From Fr. Chad Ripperger's Site

 Say a rosary decade for each talk you hear...and, if you can, support this ministry by writing to Fr. Ripperger.

Bioethics:

• The Nature of Man and the Natural Law – this conference discusses human nature, the natural law and natural inclinations.
• Basic Moral Principles – this conference provides basic moral principles necessary to make proper judgments about when an action is right or wrong.
• Bioethics – This conference applies the principles from conferences 1 and 2 to the areas of medical morals so that the viewer understands why the Church and orthodox moral theologians teach that certain kinds of actions are right or wrong in the area of life issues.
• Section 1
• Section 2
• Section 3
• Section 4
• Section 5
• Section 6
• Section 7
• Section 8
• Section 9

Repost of Reposts on Predominant Fault

Wednesday, 13 August 2014

Thoughts from The Dark Night-Reviewing the Predominant Fault Posts

Posted by Supertradmum

Everyone has a predominant fault. Some have more than one. I have been thinking of how some vices come in pairs or even triplets.

The knowledge of self and one's sins is one of the reasons for purification. If one is attempting to cooperate with grace regarding the destruction of the predominant faults, one may find that the fault is connected to another and another.

For example, pride can morph into vainglory and presumption. Sloth may be easily attached to Gluttony and Greed. Envy, Anger and Lust sometimes "work together". One sees a pattern.

Now, because of concupiscence, we shall be tempted all our lived until the moment of death. Even the greatest of saints experienced trials in the last months of their lives. St. Therese the Little Flower is only one example.

One must learn to avoid temptations as these occur immediately. Here is a reminder from Garrigou-Lagrange on the predominant fault. I have already written on the predominant fault, but this truth bears repeating. My highlights....

DEFINITION OF THE PREDOMINANT FAULT
The predominant fault is the defect in us that tends to prevail over the others, and thereby over our manner of feeling, judging, sympathizing, willing, and acting. It is a defect that has in each of us an intimate relation to our individual temperament.(1) There are temperaments inclined to effeminacy, indolence, sloth, gluttony, and sensuality. Others are inclined especially to anger and pride. We do not all climb the same slope toward the summit of perfection: those who are effeminate by temperament must by prayer, grace, and virtue become strong; and those who are naturally strong, to the point of easily becoming severe, must, by working at themselves and by grace, become gentle.
Before this progressive transformation of our temperament, the predominant defect in the soul often makes itself felt. It is our domestic enemy, dwelling in our interior; for, if it develops, it may succeed in completely ruining the work of grace or the interior life. At times it is like a crack in a wall that seems to be solid but is not so; like a crevice, imperceptible at times but deep, in the beautiful facade of a building, which a vigorous jolt may shake to the foundations. For example, an antipathy, an instinctive aversion to someone, may, if it is not watched over and corrected by right reason, the spirit of faith, and charity, produce disasters in the soul and lead it to grave injustice. By yielding to such an antipathy, it does itself far more harm than it does its neighbor, for it is much more harmful to commit injustice than to be the object of it.
The predominant fault is so much the more dangerous as it often compromises our principal good point, which is a happy inclination of our nature that ought to develop and to be increased by grace. For example, a man is naturally inclined to gentleness; but if by reason of his predominant fault, which may be effeminacy, his gentleness degenerates into weakness, into excessive indulgence, he may even reach the complete loss of energy. Another, on the contrary, is naturally inclined to fortitude, but if he gives free rein to his irascible temperament, fortitude in him degenerates into unreasonable violence, the cause of every type of disorder.
In every man there is a mixture of good and bad inclinations; there is a predominant fault and also a natural quality. If we are in the state of grace, we have a special attraction of grace, which generally perfects first of all what is best in our nature, and then radiates over that which is less good. Some are thus more inclined toward contemplation, others toward action. Particular care must be taken that the predominant fault does not snuff out our principal natural quality or our special attraction of grace. Otherwise our soul would resemble a field of wheat invaded by tares or cockle, of which the Gospel speaks. And we have an adversary, the devil, who seeks to foster the growth of our predominant fault that he may place us in conflict with those who work with us in the Lord's field. Christ Himself tells us: "The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field. But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way." (2)
Christ explains that the enemy is the devil,(3) who seeks to destroy the work of God by creating disunion among those who, in a holy manner, ought to collaborate in the same work for eternity. He is skillful in exaggerating in our eyes the defects of our neighbor, in transforming a grain of sand into a mountain, in setting up, as it were, a magnifying glass in our imagination, that we may become irritated at our brethren instead of working with them. Considering all this, we can see what evil may spring up in each of us from our principal fault if we are not most attentive to it. At times it is like a devouring worm in a beautiful fruit.

When one is attempting to live in community, the devil attacks by putting the predominant faults of others "in one's face" constantly. If one is aware of what is happening, one can avoid this deception and turn to prayer and compassion for the other.


to be continued...

Etheldredasplace: Predominant Fault Series Continued

08 Apr 2014

Firstly, St. Alphonsus reveals that anyone who gets upset with sin in one's own life is not humble, but proud, and may be exhibiting the predominant fault of anger. Anger is not merely focused on other or events, but one can ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Predominant Fault Posts

07 Apr 2014

Use the tags and labels to read the posts on one's predominant fault, if you have not done so already. Hard stuff, but necessary for the road to perfection. There are 45 posts dealing with that topic directly. And, speaking of ...

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Etheldredasplace: More on the predominant fault

27 Nov 2013

But later the predominant fault is less apparent, for it tries to hide itself and to put on the appearances of a virtue: pride clothes itself in the outward appearances of magnanimity, and pusillanimity seeks to cover itself with those ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Why People Follow False Seers-Their Predominant Fault ...

18 Sep 2013

The predominant fault is the defect in us that tends to prevail over the others, and thereby over our manner of feeling, judging, sympathizing, willing, and acting. It is a defect that has in each of us an intimate relation to our ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com

Perfection Series: Our Predominant Fault Two

21 Jul 2012

Garrigou-Lagrange states that "it is of primary importance that we recognize our predominant fault and have no illusions about it. This is is so much the more necessary as our adversary, the enemy of our soul, knows it quite ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Perfection Series continued-the predominant fault--four

23 Jul 2012

Perfection Series continued-the predominant fault--four. Posted by Supertradmum. St. Augustine tells us, using Garrigou-Lagrange, that God never asks us to do the impossible. If God desires us to be one with Him and He ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: A Predominant Fault in Some Men

25 Sep 2013

Youth can spot a hypocrite a mile away and the bad priests and neglectful husbands and fathers will have to face God as to why they did not work on their predominant fault. Being a Catholic man, like being a Catholic woman, ...

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Etheldredasplace: Last Summer - Blogger

20 May 2014

In Chapter 22, the great Dominican writes of "The Predominant Fault".The holy priest lists most of the obvious sins, but I want to highlight one, but in a different manner. We know that Pride is most likely the worst of all sins and .

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Part Three-Tackling The Predominant Fault and False ...

18 Sep 2013

The greatest fault is pride. Thinking that one knows better than a bishop or that one can judge a liberal bishop as unauthorized to make a statement on a visionary is pride. Period. But, those with a predominant fault of sloth or ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Part five-predominant fault and false ...

18 Sep 2013

Garrigou-Lagrange helps us on our way. The graph at the very end of this post indicates how to break the sins of the predominant fault. This is hard work. This takes time and reflection. One must be ruthless with one's self to a ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Following False Visions And The Predominant Fault part two

18 Sep 2013

For without dealing with our predominant fault, there is no moving on into the Dark Night, Illumnative and Unitive states. Later on, I can show how the predominant fault, unless dealt with in this life, is the reason we go to ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: The Predominant Fault of Some Women

26 Sep 2013

The Predominant Fault of Some Women. Posted by Supertradmum. Just to be fair, I have been talking with lovely, good Catholic women who want to become saints. They would be in the category of the really beautiful women ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

The Predominant Fault of Some Women Two

26 Sep 2013

The second most common predominant fault of women could be pride. This is the primordial sin and one easy to fall into. But, if this is the main, underlining fault of all faults, it must be rooted out through serious attention, ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Predominant Fault Three-perfection series

21 Jul 2012

Predominant Fault Three-perfection series. Posted by Supertradmum. Promptness of will and intolerance of our faults are part of the battle against our predominant faults. This is a battle from which we cannot escape if we ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

More on The Predominant Fault AND Many Links

05 Dec 2013

For those interested in most of the postings on the predominant fault, I have tried to find most of the links on this subject, which is a Catholic idea, btw, and not a protestant one. As one who is being dragged into looking at my ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

St. Francis de Sales on His Predominant Faults-Two

08 Apr 2014

St. Francis de Sales on His Predominant Faults-Two. Posted by Supertradmum. After being greatly insulted by a Knight of Malta for not giving a benefice to one of his servants, “the bishop‟s brother …asked him how it was he ...

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The Dominant Passion Part Three on The Emotions

03 Aug 2014

As we have already spoken of the predominant fault, we here insist on precipitation to be avoided or, as the expression goes, on impulsiveness, which inclines one to act without sufficient reflection. With rash haste many ...

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Etheldredasplace: Important Addition to Perfection Series

13 Jul 2014

It is very good to find a devotion which specifically leads to the removal of our predominant fault. We all need to crack the deep sin, deep weakness which keeps us from God, stops virtue, hinders grace. I now belong to a third ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Suffering Again

28 Jul 2014

However, some physical and mental pain is given by God for our purification, for the removal of the predominant fault. Too often I hear people say, "Oh, she is a suffering soul, or a victim soul" when in reality, the person is ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: I hate to break this to you all, but

29 Sep 2013

one can have more than one predominant fault. A good priest and I were discussing this today. He said that if the faults are close in nature, it is easy to have two. This makes it much harder to cooperate with grace and burn the ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Parents Giving in to Peer Pressure ...

27 Sep 2013

Obviously, a mother may have the same predominant fault as her girls or girls. When the Bible states that a woman is saved by child-bearing, one of the meanings of that pregnant (pun intended) phrase is that one sees one's ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Prayers in the Dark Night

06 Feb 2014

The Dark Night is the time of purgation of the predominant fault or faults. I have written about these here and one can follow the tags. The call is to cooperate with grace so that one can move into the Illuminative State, which is ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Repost on prayer

05 Nov 2013

Unless one has had spiritual director for years, one who can tell one the predominant fault, one needs to do this on one's own. A sign of the movement towards the Dark Night is the movement into regular meditation, ...

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Etheldredasplace: Thank you, Jesus Christ and Michael ...

30 Jan 2013

More than fear as a great evil, the state of living in a hidden sin, allowing one to keep on sinning and not dealing with the predominant fault, keeps people from the Truth, Who is a Person. Garrigou-Lagrange makes it clear in ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Review of Thomas Aquinas Series and More on Sloth

31 Jan 2014

But, sloth is the great sin which is hidden in our society. It is "too ok" to have a lot of down time these days. . For my friend who is working to get rid of this predominant fault, God bless you. Remember, a lukewarm Catholic is ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: The Dark Night Part 49

02 Sep 2013

Want to overcome the predominant fault and be brutally honest with one's self. Want to become love for the sake of Love, not for one's own sake, but for God's alone, Want all who one meets to experience not the "me" but the ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Perfection Series Again-Pride

20 Jul 2012

In Chapter 22, the great Dominican writes of "The Predominant Fault".The holy priest lists most of the obvious sins, but I want to highlight one, but in a different manner. We know that Pride is most likely the worst of all sins and ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: On Temptations

17 Sep 2013

Subtle temptations are connected to our predominant fault, about which I have written many times. If we know what are main fault is, we can catch the temptations and stop the process which leads to sin. Satan, as St. Ignatius ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Again on Egoism Ruining The Church

25 May 2014

This could be a predominant fault for some. The old phrase, "Let go and let God" applies to the egoist, if he wants to attain heaven. Egoism is like a cancer of the will, which ravages it more and more, whereas sanctifying grace ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: Dealing with suffering

12 Apr 2014

beg God to reveal your predominant fault beg God to take the suffering for repararton of your sins offer the suffering for the sins of others, especially family members be patient be calm be resigned read the lives of the saints

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Etheldredasplace: What is Purgatory?

10 Feb 2014

The predominant fault is discussed at length on my blog, when I did an unpacking of Garrigou-Lagrange and other writers on perfection and in the Doctors of the Church series on perfection. Over 600, more than 10% of my ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Signs of The Illuminative State: Perfection Series II: lxi

21 Mar 2014

Eight, the predominant fault has been utterly destroyed. Nine, the person walks in light, and is no longer affected by the dark, but transcends the darkness with the awareness that God is always with him. Ten, good works, great ...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/

Aquinas on The Abolition of Natural Law Two

Now, I want to move into Fr. Chad Ripperger's book which I have been reading and sharing bits on for this post. Fr. Ripperger's use of Aquinas is beyond the scope of this blog, but I want to write two posts connected to Aquinas and the abolition of natural law, directing attention to insanity as a result of sin, and finishing up with a post on the natural law and one's predominant fault.


"We can say that every vice has the ability to take one out of contract with reality. Every vice, therefore, is accompanied by a concomitant defect in the cognitative power. It appears that when the vice wanes, so does the habituation of the cognitative power. Hence, with each  vice in the sensitive appetites, there is a concomitant per accidens mental illness in the passive intellect.  But, that does not mean that the person has a concomitant per se mental illness since judgment and volition, if not completely compromised, are able to overrule the operations of the cogitative power and reformulate the image properly."

In other words, repeated sin denies natural law in the person and if one goes against nature over and over, one can lose the sense of reality.

Regarding a mentally ill person, Ripperger notes that, "The more he overcomes the vice, the more the bad habits of the cogitative power will be corrupted and the more he will see reality clearly."

One can see this in those who are narcissists. These people have chosen over and over to put themselves at the center of their worlds, a mindset which is completely out of touch with reality. No human being can be the selfish center of an ego-centric world and be sane, as that is not natural to man, who is made to love and serve God.

I do not want to get into the discussion of the unconscious and consciousness of human being, but Ripperger does, referring to Aquinas regarding actions done by men without the attention of the intellect. Unconscious acts do exist in the Thomistic perspective, states Ripperger, but not in the same way Freud and others define or describe these.

Grace can also give unconscious inclinations and activities. But, for the person who refuses to think, reflect upon and use grace, and consistently choose evil, reality begins to slip away, as the person's end, the person's being are being violated by sin.

The faculties of the soul as defined in Aquinas help one understand human actions on the subconscious and conscious levels more than modern psychology, which denies the soul.

Natural law, therefore, can be abolished by habits which are repeated choices of evil. As a person goes against himself, he becomes warped in his sense of reality. Indeed, gross sin causes insanity.

Without grace, anyone can fall into repeated sin, and with grace one can break the habits of sin. Suffering brings sin to the fore and allows a person time and reasons for examination of lifestyles.

Sadly, we now live in a world where sin is so prevalent that insanity reigns.

to be continued....

Yet Another Great Talk from Fr. Ripperger

http://www.sensustraditionis.org/webaudio/Impediments/Horror.mp3

Timely concerning all the news...

Say a decade of the rosary for him after listening, please.

Especially for Traddies, A Great Talk

http://www.sensustraditionis.org/webaudio/Impediments/Self.mp3

Another decade, please after you listen to this. Another great talk from Father Ripperger!

One of the great points on this talk is immanentism. Here is another source on this sin.


Father John Hardon, in writing on the subject of immanentist apologetics, refers to it as “A method of establishing the credibility of the Christian faith by appealing to the subjective satisfaction that the faith gives to the believer.” Coupled with this emphasis on the subjective, there is a downplaying of the objective criteria of our faith, even to the point of rejecting miracles and prophecies. Purely personal motives for faith, motives that have mainly to do with feelings, are given primary of place. “Religion, therefore, would consist,” Father Bouyer remarks, “entirely in the religious feeling itself.” Reason is marginalized, and the idea of belief, as being essentially the assent of the intellect, loses its currency.

Immanentism may be summed up by saying that it represents a stance of reckless subjectivism with regard to the faith. It cavalierly dismisses, as being of only secondary importance, the objective foundations of religion, as revealed to us by God Himself and as incorporated in the deposit of faith.
In 1907 Pope St. Pius X published his encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, whose purpose was to sound the alarm against Modernism, which the Holy Father had defined as “the synthesis of all heresies.” And he described the Modernists themselves as “the most pernicious of all the adversaries of the Church.” 

In his analysis of the phenomenon, St. Pius X identified two major parts of Modernism; one was agnosticism, the other was immanentism. By agnosticism Modernism denies that man is capable of gaining a reasoned knowledge of God. Thus, with a stroke, it effectively does away with natural theology, that philosophic discipline whose principal task is to show that we can arrive at a knowledge of the existence of God through natural reason. Now, that such is possible is actually a matter of faith for Catholics, as was taught by the First Vatican Council.

More here--

http://fssp.com/press/2011/04/immanentism-catholicism-and-religious-experience-by-d-q-mcinerny-ph-d/

This talk is one of Father Ripperger's best. 
 

As usual, a wonderful talk from Father Ripperger

http://www.sensustraditionis.org/webaudio/Impediments/Impediments.mp3

Do not forget to say a decade of the rosary for him after listening.

Father mentions in this talk an aspect of temperance, and the discipline of only knowing and finding out what one needs to know. I did not know he had included that in his talk when I began listening.

This aspect of temperance is called studiosity or studiousness. As I have noted in the posts on homeschooling, all people, even when young children, have a natural desire to learn. This gets ruined by our sin and other people's sins against us, like bad, nonspiritual teachers. or neglect. But, as adults, we have a responsibility to learn our faith, as I have written on this blog many, many times and which is why I continue the blog.

If our lives are too comfortable and if we seek pleasure more than knowledge, we create a dull intellect. I am reading Fr. Ripperger's book and he refers to dullness.

We are morally responsible for the deadening of our intellect. This can happen with the use of drugs, the abuse of alcohol or enjoying trivia too much. See my posts on entertainment.

It is also possible for our natural desire for the truth to be dulled because of a life of comfort, a real problem in Western culture. Decadence is much more prevalent in rich societies than poor ones. This concept of studiosity is from Thomas Aquinas and noted by one of my favorite authors I have taught, Josef Pieper. There are many good commentaries on Pieper online like this one.

The book of Ripperger is not only the work of a genius, but intense reading. Listening to his talks is good preparation for the book.

Oh My Goodness-You ALL Need To Read This

http://www.realclearreligion.com/index_files/757bb466a5ca6270ded190925c7f227f-611.html

Proves my point on brain death

I have had a long discussion on some blogs and here on how brain death alone is not necessarily death. See the posts here on this and the talk by Fr. Ripperger. 

Here is an example of what the problem is-vultures hunting organs for money cause death. This girl was in a coma. http://www.breitbart.com/system/wire/upiUPI-20140122-074159-9386

People, do not carry organ donation cards. Do not kill you relatives, parents, children for this cause.


Pham was declared brain dead but was being kept alive on a ventilator until her organs could be donated, a decision her family didn't know she made until she was fatally injured, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Update from a lawyer friend

I worked on the organ transplant report in Brussels, they want our bodies and feel entitled to them.

The healing of a Vietnamese seminarian in the USA which is the miracle probably being accepted for the beatification of the holy Vietnamese Cardinal  would never have happened if his parents had not refused to allow there sons organs to be harvested. He was proclaimed dead and remained on life support. The hospital wouldn't switch it off because they were waiting for the parents to change there mind....the parents were praying and the good Cardinal appeared to the seminarian and completely and miraculously healed him. This was over many days.

There is much confusion on this and I reported a very unhappy interview on EWTN. Listen to the Fr. Chad Ripperger talk, please.

Pray for The Grace of Forgetfulness

Listen to the mp3s I listed earlier.....Fr. Ripperger notes that the way of perfection is brutal. God bless this good priest, carrying on the tradition of Garrigou-Lagrange and Aquinas.