Praise God, Sun and Moon

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTzktTBSXrpG872Xsfr66QPsdufTJDLBmj2Mw5R-Ik7PtHctw2gCA

http://www.space.com/12581-stunning-photos-solar-storms-flares-sun-weather.html

Pray for Libya

As you all know by now, the opposition leader was killed. The Government is dissolved and the prime minister wants to put in "technocrats", unelected officials, in the government, which will, of course, cause more demonstrations.

http://www.france24.com/en/20130207-tunisia-ennahda-belaid-jebali-elections

Freedom of the Soul and Purification

One can only achieve real freedom from sin and imperfections by allowing God to work in one's life.

This means doing what we do not want to do and going where we do not want to go. It also means giving up trying to pray in ways which "worked" before, such as meditation. Giving into grace sometimes means giving up on past tried and true methods of prayer. Freedom means not hanging onto to either the need for consolations or even the forms of meditation.

In the third place, as St. John of the Cross points out here,(3) when persons can no longer meditate discursively: "All they have to do is to keep their soul free, . . . contenting themselves simply with directing their attention lovingly and calmly toward God." To wish to return at any cost to discursive meditation, would be to wish to run counter to the current of grace instead of following it, and to give ourselves great trouble without profit. It would be like running toward the spring of living water when we have already reached its brim; continuing to run, we withdraw from it. It would be like continuing to spell when we already know how to read several words at a glance. It would be to fall back instead of allowing ourselves to be drawn, to be lifted up by God. However, if the difficulty in meditating does not increase and makes itself felt only from time to time, it is well to return to simplified, affective meditation whenever possible: for example, to the very slow meditation of the Our Father.

St. John gives a fourth rule of direction for those who, having reached this state of prolonged aridity, wish, not to return to reasoned meditation, but to feel some consolation. St. John of the Cross says on this subject: "All they have to do is to keep their soul free, . . . and all this without anxiety or effort, or immoderate desire to feel and taste His presence. For all such efforts disquiet the soul, and distract it from the peaceful quiet and sweet tranquillity of contemplation to which they are now admitted.(4) . . . If they were now to exert their interior faculties, they would simply hinder and ruin the good which, in that repose, God is working in the soul; for if a man while sitting for his portrait cannot be still, but moves about, the painter will never depict his face, and even the work already done will be spoiled. . . . The more it strives to find help in affections and knowledge, the more will it feel the deficiency which cannot now be supplied in that way." 

(5) In other words, natural activity exercising itself counter to the gifts of the Holy Ghost, through self-seeking opposes an obstacle to their most delicate inspirations. In prayer, we should not seek to feel the gift of God, but should receive it with docility and disinterestedness in the obscurity of faith. Spiritual joy will be added later on to the act of contemplation and love of God; but it is not joy that should be sought, it is God Himself, who is greatly superior to His gifts.

If the soul that has reached this period of transition is faithful to what has been said, then will be realized what St. John of the Cross affirms: "By not hindering the operation of infused contemplation, to which God is now admitting it, the soul is refreshed in peaceful abundance, and set on fire with the spirit of love, which this con­templation, dim and secret, induces and establishes within it. (6)

One knows one is in this state by the experience of love. To be continued

Passive Purification and Purgatory

Here is where most people, after active purification, and some consoling moments, go into the illuminative stage.

If we are purified on earth, we shall not have to be purified in purgatory.

Purification which is active we can all do, such as fasting and abstinence.

We must also conform our minds to Christ and accept suffering.

That is all part of active purification. Do not fight suffering. I did for years, as I was thinking like a Protestant, either that all suffering was evil and had to be overcome, instead of endured.

Once I gave in to suffering, I understood the value and could experience joy and peace in the midst of it.

Abandonment, cancer, poverty, it does not matter.

Be open to renewal, in God's time...

Here is Garrigou-Lagrange on the beginning of the illuminative stage:

We are here at the aurora of the illuminative life; it richly deserves that we show generosity in our passage through the dark night which precedes it. Here it is a question of being purified from the remains of the seven capital sins that stain the spiritual life; if one is not purified from them on earth while meriting, one must be cleansed in purgatory without meriting.

The passive purification which we are speaking of is in the normal way of sanctity, which may be defined as union with God and sufficient purity to enter heaven immediately. This degree of purity is certainly in the normal way of heaven, whether a person obtains it on earth, or only at the end of his purgatory. Purgatory, which is a penalty, presupposes sins that could have been avoided. Therefore the soul should trust in God while this painful work of purification is being accomplished.

Read that last sentence again.

How can Catholics support this man?

http://www.lifenews.com/2013/02/06/obama-tells-group-we-celebrate-roe-55-million-abortions/

Perfection series starting up again...the arid stage two

If you frightened, ask God for an insight into trusting Him. Keep seeking purity of heart

The mystical doctor points out first of all in regard to those who are in this period of transition: "If they meet with no one who understands the matter, these persons fall away and abandon the right road; or they become weak, or at least put hindrances in the way of their further advancement, because of the great efforts they make to proceed in their former way of meditation, fatiguing their natural powers beyond measure." At this time, it is advisable for them to seek counsel from an enlightened director because of the difficulties which arise in the interior life by reason of the subtraction of sensible graces, the growing difficulty in meditating, and also by reason of the concomitant temptations against chastity and patience which the devil then awakens rather frequently in order to turn the soul away from prayer.

In the second place, says St. John of the Cross: "It behooves those who find themselves in this condition to take courage and persevere in patience. Let them not afflict themselves but put their confidence in God, who never forsakes those who seek Him with a pure and upright heart. Neither will He withhold from them all that is necessary for them on this road until He brings them to the clear and pure light of love, which He will show them in that other dark night of the spirit, if they shall merit an entrance into it." Consequently, in this aridity and powerlessness one must not become discouraged or abandon prayer as if it were useless. On the contrary, it becomes much more fruitful if the soul perseveres in humility, abnegation, and trust in God. Prolonged sensible aridity and growing inability to meditate are the sign of a new, higher life. Instead of grieving over this condition, a learned and experienced director rejoices; it is the generous entrance into "the narrow way" which ascends as it broadens, and which will become increasingly wide, immense as God Himself to whom it leads. At this stage the soul is under the happy necessity of not being content with weak acts of faith, hope, and love. Imperfect acts (actus remissi) of these virtues no longer suffice here; more lofty and more meritorious acts are necessary. According to St. Thomas, it is characteristic of these acts to obtain immediately the increase of grace and charity which they merit.(2)

The spiritual man who has reached this stage is like a man who in climbing a mountain comes to a difficult spot where, to make progress, he must have a keener desire for the goal to be attained.

From last summer, but interesting none the less

Blogging.org

Sniff, cough, sputter

Well, for five days I have been sneezing, coughing, enduring an ear ache and sore throat, and having the first cold I have had in about ten years.

I am taking hot lemon stuff, called Lemsip.

I would much rather be having this.

2 ounces whiskey (we use Jack Daniels)
1 tablespoon honey
4 ounces water (hot from the tap)
1 teaspoon lemon juice (we use the stuff in the plastic lemon)
1 slice fresh lemon (if we don't have this we don't use it) (optional)
Directions:

1
Place the whisky in a large microwave safe mug.
2
Add the honey.
3
Pour the hot water into the mug over the spoon you used for the honey to get off the last little drops.
4
Add the lemon juice and stir well.
5
Place the mug in the microwave for 1 minute or until it is piping hot, but not boiling.
6
Add the lemon slice and serve.
Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/dr-pats-hot-toddy-cold-remedy-234344?oc=linkback

On yesterday's vote--a great morass of confusion and false definitions

Here is the link and a snippet from an excellent article on the mess yesterday's vote has created for lawmakers. We say, "Duh, of course."

http://cvcomment.org/2013/02/06/why-parliaments-vote-leaves-gay-marriage-stranded-up-the-aisle/

But what was clear was that most MPs have an extremely poor idea of what constitutes freedom of religion, which, in speech after speech, the Bill’s proponents equated with freedom of worship, as if the only issue was whether the Church of England would end up being forced into offering same-sex weddings. The question was posed, only to be answered by referring to the Church of England’s briefing to MPs, which accepted this was unlikely. Yet the same MPs ignored that the Church of England (as the Catholic bishops had done earlier) went on to spell out the ways in which a challenge to freedom of conscience and religion was likely — in the case of teachers, registrars, charities, and so on.

Read more.

1. Marriages for opposite-sex couples requiring a) vows and b) a supposition of sexual activity & fidelity: hence both non-consummation and adultery invalidate the union. This traditional kind of marriage is reserved, in the absence of a clear definition of same-sex consummation, to heterosexual couples.

2. Marriages for same-sex couples requiring vows but not requiring sexual activity or fidelity (no clauses on consummation or adultery). This de-gendered and de-sexualised union requires no sexual difference and therefore looks only superficially like the first. Because it is only open to same-sex couples, on the other hand, it looks a lot like the remaining two.

3. Marriages for same-sex couples requiring neither vows nor sexual activity/fidelity. In this case, the Bill, following the government’s response to the recent ‘consultation’, envisages that civil-partnered same-sex couples can upgrade their status by filling in a form and paying a fee. In this case, they become legally married, but in a way very different from the first two.

4. Civil Partnerships, distinct from category 3 marriages only in name. Previously a separate category, functionally equivalent but clearly distinct from marriage by virtue of being exclusively available to same-sex couples, civil partnership has now been reduced to a kind of second-class entry-level sub-marriage for those unwilling to ‘upgrade’.

On Bratwurst

Someone from America did ask me about bratwurst today and I waxed eloquent.

I am from the Midwest, where beer and brats are staples.

The beer has to be real ales, hopefully from Wisconsin. 

From La Stampa

Vatican backs British bishops in fight against same-sex marriage

Mgr. Paglia says the Catholic doctrine is very clear on this subject but there is also a cross-cultural legal tradition that comes into it

VATICAN INSIDER STAFFROME

“I fully support Britain’s bishops in their decision to oppose this legislative proposal, just as I supported French bishops who were also unanimous in their opposition to same-sex marriage, as were many others, including Jews, Muslims and humanists. Catholic doctrine is very clear on this subject.”

The President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Mgr. Vincenzo Paglia said this in a statement to Vatican Radio today. The statement was in response to London’s first “yes” to same-sex marriage after the British House of Commons approved PM David Cameron’s bill yesterday.

Mgr. Paglia also mentioned the existence of “a century-old cross-culture legal tradition that is very clear on this issue: marriage is contracted between a man and a woman to form a family partly because of the essential need to procreate. This is why I believe that deviating from this means going down paths without knowing where they lead to, or rather we know for certain they do not lead to stability, but to instability and to the breakdown of human society.”  MORE

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/world-news/detail/articolo/matrimonio-gay-gay-marriage-matrimonio-gay-22017/

It is a mockery

Yesterday, Father at Mass said that the bill in Parliament would make all our children into commodities.

Two elderly ladies in front of me listened and one said, "I just do not understand this bill."

The other one said, clearly "It is a mockery (ie. God's plan)".

Good, clear thinking.......

Do not compromise..learn

People are still having trouble believing that we are in stages of persecution. We are in stage four and rapidly moving to stage five.

I cannot stress how important it is to face the situation and work on your private personal souls.

The perfection series which I started a year ago was an effort to share what I know about the stages and to help you to see how we must be in the illuminative stage at least to face persecution without crumpling.

Of course, God gives great graces to people in prison to endure suffering.

But, imagine, as I have written before, waking up and turning on your computer and finding no EWTN, no Father Z, no Catholic or Evangelical blogs..

Imagine being fined for not cooperating with the evils of obamacare, and perhaps being put in jail for civil disobedience.

Know that the target for most of the laws against life and religious freedoms are targeted at Catholic institutions.

The only permanent institution which directly challenges any government in the world is the Catholic Church.

In order to withstand the coming wash, living the life of virtue is difficult.

For eight years, since I lived in Illinois, I have been trying to help people see the dangers of big government.

Without rights and normal ways to get information, how will you make decisions which are good?

Simple, by being so close to God that you always see what is right. God gives discernment and strength to those who pray.

Sanctifying grace gives truth to the mind. Think like a Catholic.

Do not have false gods in your life, like money or status.

More on perfection later today....

Because the government will use drones against citizens

Charlottesville, Va., has become the first city in the United States to formally pass an anti-drone resolution.

The resolution, passed Monday, "calls on the United States Congress and the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia to adopt legislation prohibiting information obtained from the domestic use of drones from being introduced into a Federal or State court," and "pledges to abstain from similar uses with city-owned, leased, or borrowed drones."

[PHOTOS: The Rise of the Drone]

The resolution passed by a 3-2 vote and was brought to the city council by activist David Swanson and the Rutherford Institute, a civil liberties group based in the city. The measure also endorses a proposed two-year moratorium on drones in Virginia.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/02/05/city-in-virginia-becomes-first-to-pass-anti-drone-legislation-

A bit late, but a good explanation

From the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton....

St. Mel

Another great saint for the day is St. Mel. His Cathedral in Longford was destroyed in 2009 by a fire. In that fire, his crosier, which is photographed here, was also destroyed.

An article on Wiki claims that St. Mel is the patron for single people. If any readers know more about this, please comment. Here is the article.

Saint Mel or Moel died in 488. He is said to have been a Briton who came to Ireland with Saint Patrick, his uncle, with whom he worked until he was ordained in Ardagh. He helped evangelize Ireland while supporting himself through manual labor. He is one of the earliest Irish saints and gave the religious veil to Saint Brigid. He is the patron saint of the Roman Catholic diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois...

Mel lived with his aunt, Lupait, on her farm during a portion of his ministry, and rumor spread that their relationship was of a scandalous nature. St. Patrick went to investigate. Mel and Lupait both produced miracles to testify to their innocence: Mel plowed up a live fish in the middle of his field, and Lupait carried hot coals without being burned.

St. Mel's feast day, February 6, has begun to be observed as a holiday for single people. "St. Mel's Day" is a chance for singles to celebrate the good things about being single. Traditions include sending yourself a St. Mel's Day card and hosting parties for singles.

St. Mun

St. Mun seems to have two feast days. Today is one of them. He is interesting in that he is honored as the nephew of St. Patrick and was the most austere of all the great monastic saints of Scotland and Eire.

Here is a brief history of St. Mun. He is also known at Fintan.

http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/

    
A Contemporary of St Columba, though much younger, St Mun come over from Ireland intending to join the Monastery at Iona. But it is said that St Columba, before he died, predicted that the young man was to become a great Abbot in Ireland. He lived for a time on the Island on Loch Leven, which still bears his name. He founded a monastic community at Kilmun near Dunoon. He later returned to his native land and founded a monastery Teach-Mun (TAGMON), in Wexford, which became famous under his rule. He has the reputation of being the most austere of all the Celtic Saints. He died in the year 635. His name appears in the Scottish records as Mund, Mundas, or Munda. In Ireland he is known as St Fintan........Munnu. 

Chaput article in LifeSiteNews

LifeSiteNews, one of the best sources for many subjects, has this article which should help some who are still confused about the health mandate.

Click here.

In a letter (PDF) inserted in church bulletins last June, the bishops wrote, “Some unjust laws impose such injustices on individuals and organizations that disobeying the laws may be justified. When fundamental human goods, such as the right of conscience, are at stake, we may need to witness to the truth by resisting the law and incurring its penalties.”

Archbishop Chaput expanded on those sentiments Friday, writing, “One of the issues America’s bishops now face is how best to respond to an HHS mandate that [even after the ‘compromise’] remains unnecessary, coercive and gravely flawed.  In the weeks ahead the bishops of our country, myself included, will need both prudence and courage – the kind of courage that gives prudence spine and results in right action, whatever the cost.”

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865564132/Nine-states-launch-religious-freedom-caucuses.html?pg=all

Quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the archbishop wrote, “prudence should never be used as an alibi for ‘timidity or fear, duplicity or dissimulation.’  Real prudence has a spine called fortitude, the virtue we more commonly know as courage.”

The archbishop quoted scholar Yuval Levin, stating that the new HHS mandate proposal, “like the versions that have preceded it, betrays a complete lack of understanding of both religious liberty and religious conscience,” and that “the government has forced a needless and completely avoidable confrontation and has knowingly put many religious believers in an impossible situation.”

Another interesting article is on this link. Not the same subject...

Tree in Surrey

Once in a while, one finds family.

Like branches of a tree, from the same sturdy centre

Reaching up and out in new life,

So is this family to me.

My Catholic soul-mates.........

A small tribute to Ralph Vaughan Williams

There is a great website on Ralph Vaughan Williams. I copy the timeline link below. He is one of my favourite composers and one understands his work more after walking in Surrey.

http://www.rvwsociety.com/timeline.html

And enjoy perhaps my most favourite RVW's composition.

The Lark Ascending.................very poignant to me and lovely.