Rain Again Forecasted (and the saint of the day)

Well, in my remaining days in Malta this time, the weather is looking dire. There should be sun tomorrow and Friday, but today it is suppose to rain again.

Thankfully, I brought a coat which is a bit water-proof, although not a slicker.

Summer has ended here and the Maltese autumn has begun.

Can you imagine wearing one of these uniforms and the armor in 77 degrees Fahrenheit and heavy, even torrential rains?

Strong men in those days....(update--no rain, yet...sunny and warm!)

And, today is the Feast of St. Leonard in Malta, who, among being patron of many others, is patron of political prisoners. St. Leonard might be a great saint to remember in days to come, dear Catholics.

http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=300

Thanks Wiki for the photo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Hospitaller

a brief note....repetition

Since this is the proper moment, we ought to point out another 
benefit resulting from this night and dryness of the sensory appetite. So 
that the prophecy -- your light will illumine the darkness [Is. 58:10] -- 
may be verified, God will give illumination by bestowing on the soul not 
only knowledge of its own misery and lowliness but also knowledge of his 
grandeur and majesty. When the sensory appetites, gratifications, and 
supports are quenched, the intellect is left clean and free to understand 
the truth, for even though these appetites and pleasures concern spiritual 
things, they blind and impede the spirit. Similarly, the anguish and 
dryness of the senses illumine and quicken the intellect, as Isaiah 
affirms: Vexation makes one understand [Is. 28:19]. But God also, by means 
of this dark and dry night of contemplation, supernaturally instructs in 
his divine wisdom the soul that is empty and unhindered (which is the 
requirement for his divine inpouring), which he did not do through the 
former satisfactions and pleasures.

On the senses being purified....from St. John of the Cross

Repost on prayer

Sunday, 29 September 2013

Clarifications on Prayer Part One-The First Four Levels

Posted by Supertradmum

There are some nuns and priests who are confusing people by using the terminology of prayer incorrectly. I have heard many times a nun who is teaching prayer tell people that they are contemplating, when this level of prayer is only achieved after the Dark Night of the Soul. What she means is meditation, which is not the same as contemplation. Sadly, some of the more liberal nuns and those who are not well taught themselves, cause confusion among the laity with regard to the levels of prayer. I shall review these now.

The prayer of meditation precedes the Dark Night. One must move into that stage of prayer before experiencing the Dark Night. Why? Because unless one is somewhat proficient in meditation, one cannot reflect to the point of understanding the purifications, which are between the person and God. 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, as meditation disappears in the Dark Night as indicated on the list of the levels of prayer. The first, the Ascetical, is the Purgative Way.  This stage includes: one, vocal prayer; two. meditation; three. affective prayer; four, acquired recollection. These all precede the Dark Night of the Soul. 

The last two may not be familiar to some readers. Affective prayer is in the will. It is the movement of the mind from meditation, which is intelletual rational discourse and the use of the imagination to prayer based on love of God. However, one must not, and I repeat strongly, must not, seek consolations in this type of prayer. One is willing to love God. If there is a feeling of love, fine, but that is not the goal. The goal is to love God for Himself.

Acquired recollection follows, and this is the attempt of the person to recollect in memory, understanding and will on the attributes of God. This is not without danger, as a person can fall into self-adoration too easily. Acquired recollection is exactly as the name states-it is not infused contemplation. 

It is active, not passive recollection.

Garrigou-Lagrange states this quotation from St. Teresa of Avila:

It is called (active) "recollection," because by its means the soul collects together all the faculties and enters within itself (25) to be with God. The divine Master thus comes more speedily than He otherwise would to teach it and to grant the prayer of quiet. For, being retired within itself, the spirit can meditate on the Passion and can there picture in its thoughts the Son, and can offer Him to the Father without tiring the mind by journeying to find Him on Mount Calvary, or in the garden, or at the column.

Those who are able thus to enclose themselves within the little heaven of their soul where dwells the Creator of both heaven and earth, and who can accustom themselves not to look at anything nor to remain in any place which would preoccupy their exterior senses, may feel sure that they are traveling by an excellent way, and that they will certainly attain to drink of the water from the fountain, for they will journey far in a short time. They resemble a man who goes by sea, and who, if the weather is favorable, gets in a few days to the end of a voyage which would have taken far longer by land. These souls may be said to have already put out to sea, and though they have not quite lost sight of land, still they do their best to get away from it by recollecting their faculties.

If this recollection is genuine it is easily discerned, for it produces a certain effect that I cannot describe, but which will be recognized by those who know it from personal experience. The soul seems to rise from play - for it sees that earthly things are but toys - and therefore mounts to higher things. Like one who retires into a strong fortress to be out of danger, it withdraws the senses from outward things, so thoroughly despising them that involuntarily the eyes close so as to veil from the sight what is visible, in order that the eyes of the soul may see more clearly. Those who practice this prayer almost always keep their eyes shut during it. 

This is an excellent custom for many reasons. . . . The soul appears to gather strength and to dominate itself at the expense of the body. . . .By persevering in the habit [of recollecting itself] for several days, and by controlling ourselves, the benefits that result will become clear. We shall find that when we begin to pray the bees (symbol of the different faculties) will return to the hive and enter it to make the honey without any effort on our part, for our Lord is pleased to reward the soul and the will by this empire over the powers in return for the time spent in restraining them. Thus the mind only requires to make them a sign that it wishes to be recollected, and the senses will immediately obey us and retire within themselves. . . . When the will recalls them they return more quickly, until after they have re-entered a number of times, our Lord is pleased that they should settle entirely in perfect contemplation.(28)

It is only after the Dark Night of the Soul that Contemplation occurs. Do not let any liberal nuns or priests confuse you on this point.

In the next post, I shall continue with Mystical Prayer, which follows the Dark Night.

Just to remind people, the rosary can be meditation, but this type of prayer usually employs the active imagination with Scripture, as taught by St. Ignatius so clearly.

Also, the Liturgy of the Hours, is verbal prayer, as is singing.

to be continued.....

A Short Note

The Ascent of Mount Carmel by John of the Cross is about the active stages of prayer.

The Dark Night is mostly about the passive. If you have not read St. John, read the Ascent first and then the Dark Night.

Also, God has His plan as to how He wants these processes to be played out in one's life.
One can see the "symptoms" of these stages simply by looking at one's state of prayer.

And, as I have stressed before, negation, nada, and darkness, that is a lack of comprehension, are marks of the Dark Night. One cannot, as I have noted many, many times, skip stages, as we are made up of human aspects of memory, understanding and will, as well as being body and soul. We cannot ignore who we are. Too many people read the great saints and imagine they are in stages which they are not. That is a danger of reading the texts without a guide.

A real sign of one's state is attachment to sensual things, like food, money, clothes, holidays and so on. It is very hard for the very rich to not be attached. I have met a few, however, who have done this...

Too many young people think they can skip to the Dark Night of the Spirit without enduring the Dark Night of the Senses. When one knows one's predominant fault, one knows one is in the Dark Night of the Senses moving into the Dark Night of the Spirit.

One can be way off....imagining things which are not real. For example, too many beginners think they are in the Dark Night when they have not mastered certain types of the lower stages of prayer. St. John of the Cross is a great psychologist, as it were, by understanding the process of holiness. So, too, is Garrigou-Lagrange.

They are very clear and easy to read in comparison to other commentators. But, of course, reading spiritual books is somewhat subjective according to taste and experience.

Just a little reminder....

Dark Night and Grace

A gentle reminder is that the Dark Night is a grace, but one offered to all. How long it takes is up to God. For some, it lasts months and for some years. Again, one is reminded of Blessed Mother Teresa's 50 years in the Dark Night. She lived by faith for a long time.

It seems as though John of the Cross endured a relatively short Dark Night-of nine months. His imprisonment and harsh treatment pushed him into the Dark Night as God allowed.  The poverty of spirit which is needed to enter the Illuminative and Unitive states is, as Kavanaugh points out, a result of a process started by God.

A person cannot initiate this process but a person can stop it, sadly. Do not stop this process by asking for relief or by being ungracious. A stingy heart does not go into the Dark Night

One of the most important aspects of this achievement of purity of spirit, is that one does not find out what one's "immense capacities", as Kavanaugh notes, for dong God's work are and for being one with God is without it. Again, as I have stated, this is the great weakness of the Church, that too many leaders, both lay and clergy, have not responded to the grace of the Dark Night and are working out of ego and selfishness, not God's grace.

There are no short cuts.

to be continued....

More on The Dark Night but Interrupted by Society

I have had an usually busy social day, so I shall be writing some posts on the Dark Night later in the day tomorrow.

Stayed tuned...it is all from the heart and the head, which is one of the points of St. John, as noted in the last post. One cannot separate heart and head knowledge.

supert

On the Rational in the Dark Night

Too many people ignore the role of the intellect in prayer and in the spiritual life. Unfortunately, this is a result of the charismatic emphasis and new age stress on emotion in religion.

If there is one thing which has ruined the spiritual life of many in the past 50 years, it has been the misunderstanding of the importance of the rational in the spiritual life.

St. John of the Cross and other mystics were not emotionally motivated, nor did he or others look for emotional cookies and cream.

In fact, the memory, understanding and will are ruled by the rational and St. John points this out.

May I remind readers what Kieran Kavanaugh reminds readers in his text, that St. John had classical training. He knew Ovid, Boethius, Dionysius, Gregory, Augustine, Francis, Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Aquinas. He knew Aristotle as well.

This is a list which would make most Catholic blush today if asked if they have studied these great minds.

Our faith is not one of mere feelings but of appropriating the Truths which God has handed down through the saints and great Catholic minds.

Why the rational is important is that the will is moved by reason and not by emotions. I am not going to enter the theological fray as to whether memory is part of the intellect or separate. Aquinas states it is part of the intellect, while John and St. Ignatius Loyola separate memory out of the intellect.

If there are two or three spiritual faculties, for the sake of argument, one can say these are memory, intellect and will, or maybe intellect including memory and will.

The point is that reason brings one to apprehend the truth of God.

Knowledge is also a gift of the Holy Spirit. Too many modern commentators split this knowledge into some type of purely charismatic knowledge, which is totally false.

Knowledge involves the intellect and the gift builds on nature and super-naturalizes nature.

To become steeped in the emotions is to seriously stray from the path which God has revealed to us in Scripture and in Tradition. To be anti-intellectual is to be anti-Catholic.

Those who remain stuck in emotional religion are spiritual pygmies and will not be purified on earth.

The will overcomes all affections and all passions. If one is stuck in the emotional pursuit of the spiritual life, one simply will not find God, nor will He allow one to find Him. Why?

Because we are made in the Image and Likeness of God, and that image includes the intellect and free will.

The likeness is grace, given back to us through baptism.

To be continued....

More on the Dark Night in November

I have many posts in the next day or two or three on the Dark Night, via Fr. Kieran Kavanaugh's commentary and translation of this event.

I shall try and simplify the ideas. The first point is that Kavanaugh points out that the ascent of the spirit is initiated by us, but the Dark Night is initiated by God.

I do know this is true. Only God can take us into the passive part of the Dark Night.

The center of the ascent and the Dark Night is the same-humility.

One must really allow God to take all away, all attachments which hold us back from His Pure Love.

When one has the center of humility, as St. John notes, nothing weighs us down, and nothing casts us up. To be in pain and defeat would be the same as being successful.

This is complete detachment. Humility is complete detachment from expectations and the tendency to sin.

Humility is detachment from even the good. This is a great mystery.

St. John writes, "To come to be what you are not you must go by the way in which you are not....and when you come to the possession of all you must possess it without wanting anything."

God takes us there in baby steps. But, these steps involve pain and letting go.

Until one stops looking for consolation and trusts completely in God, humility cannot grow in the soul.

Let humility grow.

to be continued....

My favorite political commentator does it again....

http://buchanan.org/blog/memo-merkel-tell-obama-take-hike-5978

Repeat Post on Prayer

Sunday, 29 September 2013

The Next Levels of Prayer-After the Dark Night

Posted by Supertradmum

People ask me is God can skip steps. God can, but people cannot. We are made up of body and soul, and our nature is such that we grow in steps spiritually as well as physically. The timing of the steps can vary, of course, with great young saints, such as St. Gemma Galgani reaching great heights through grace quickly.

God decides our time-table, but, we must cooperate. Too often, we choose not to cooperate, as it is too hard to face the purgation which must happen in the Dark Night. Now, some people, especially young saints, do not have much purgation. Obviously, the more sinful we are and the older we are having lived, perhaps, unreflective lives, the more intense, and, therefore, perhaps, the longer the Dark Night. We cannot imagine so wonderful a soul as Blessed Mother Teresa as being in the Dark Night for such a long time, but that was God's Will for her.

After the Dark Night, the infused prayer of the passive recollection occurs, which is the beginning of contemplation. This is a prayer of quiet and these stages are part of Mystical Prayer.



St. Teresa describes initial infused prayer, that of supernatural or passive recollection, which precedes the prayer of quiet, as follows, with Garrigou-Lagrange's comments towards the end:

This is a kind of recollection which, I believe, is supernatural (like the prayer of quiet). There is no occasion to retire nor to shut the eyes, nor does it depend on anything exterior; involuntarily the eyes suddenly close and solitude is found. Without any labor of one's own, the temple of which I spoke is reared for the soul in which to pray; the senses and exterior surroundings appear to lose their hold, while the spirit gradually regains its lost sovereignty. . . . 

But do not fancy you can gain it [this recollection] by thinking of God dwelling within you, or by imagining Him as present in your soul. . . . By the divine assistance everyone can practice it, but what I mean is quite a different thing. Sometimes, before they have begun to think of God, . . . the soul is keenly conscious of a delicious sense of recollection. . . . Here it is not in our power to retire into ourselves, unless God gives us the grace. In my opinion, His Majesty only bestows this favor on those who have renounced the world. . . . He thus specially calls them to devote themselves to spiritual things; if they allow Him power to act freely, He will bestow still greater graces on those whom He thus begins calling to a higher life.(30)

The saint adds: "Unless His Majesty has begun to suspend our faculties, I cannot understand how we are to stop thinking, without doing ourselves more harm than good," (31) for then we would remain in idleness or the somnolence of the quietists.

"The supernatural recollection" which St. Teresa describes in the preceding passages is clearly a mystical prayer, the beginning of infused contemplation, for which simplified affective meditation prepares the soul.(32)

Now, I have written on quietism on this blog before-it can be a dangerous trap. The real infused recollection, leading into infused contemplation and the prayer of quiet are the fifth and sixth states of prayer found only in the Illuminative State. This can happen according to some writers after the complete purification of the senses and before the complete purification of the soul, while some authors state that the purification of the senses and that of the soul happen together before the Illuminative State.

In other words, the Dark Night would, in either case, completely finished before the Unitive State, and before the levels of prayer in that state, the subject of the next two posts on this subject.

To be continued.....

Get The Ways of Mental Prayer which Fr. Ripperger recommends. I have not read this myself, but would love to do so.

Looking Ahead to November 22nd

I love this piece by Britten and think it is one of his mini-masterpieces. I have put in on this blog before. As you can see, I am anticipating the Feast of St. Cecilia on November 22nd. Enjoy.

A Culture of Lies

I have written on this subject before, but the events of the last several days prompt me to write again about the growing culture of deceit in Europe.

Daily, I have been in touch with various business men and women who think nothing of lying on a regular basis. Sadly, some of the lies are not only obvious, but unnecessary; that is, the truth would have sufficed.

Talking to a friend of mine who was in the real estate business in California at the height of prosperous times, I found out from him that lying was the name of the game in the business. Another friend of mine who worked in state government told me that he had to leave his high position as lying was not only the norm, but that he was expected to enter into deceitful conversations and meetings.

In the past two days, two men have lied to me about various business and personal events, which I can confer were couched in lies and false information. This happened to me before here and the businesses are the same type.

Why is this so common?

I cannot imagine being friends with someone who lies all the time, or regularly, especially in business. I know who I can trust and who I cannot trust through these habits of lying.

Business used to be built on trust between sellers, buyers, producers and so on.

Not so, not so.

I am sad, as all the people involved are Catholic. They see nothing wrong in lying.

I cannot imagine being married to one of these men. How can one trust a liar?

Here are some reasons why people lie.

One, to create a better image of themselves and their business than what is real.

Two, to live in a state of denial about the reality of the business. This is called rationalization.

Three, to create confusion on purpose for an advantage over a client or another business.

Four, to force others to have an opinion like those being put forward in order to get more support in the lies. Lying is bullying.

Five, to hide things which are illegal.

Six, to cover up real insecurities in the business, such as possible bankruptcy.

And so on...Many people are living in la-la land constructs of their own making. These will fall.

Sadly, there are now two more people on this small island I cannot trust because of out and out lies regarding both business and personal dealings.

Exaggeration is lying as well, and some people do not realize this.

Sad days...and those who are bad are getting worse and those who are good are getting better.

Lying can be a sign of narcissism and as we are living in the age of the narcissist, lying will become common. Here is an excellent and scary article on narcissism and lying.

Be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves, Christ tells us. Know who is lying and do not trust those who do this daily.

Bears Repeating; from My Post in February on The Guild Blog

A Time-Machine Back to 1581: the Death of an Enlightenment Democratic Monarchy

In this day and age of relativism, camps of opinion arise like midges on a hike in Alaska. 

One brushes away one set of  "arguments", only to find dozens flying into one's face. 

The media frenzy over the events of the past three weeks is not going to subside. 

On the contrary, we Catholics are entering into a new era of Church-bashing which will not go away.

The days of toleration for differing religious opinions, or at least, Catholic teaching, is over.

I watched two days of the Parliament hearings of witnesses regarding the civil union or 

rather same-sex-marriage act. I usually do not watch television, but I was visiting a friend 

who wanted to watch this swarm of opinions based on sola fide, sola scriptura;

each man and woman on the panel proved to be his or her own pope.

The Church of England witnesses, as they were called, had eloquent and keen questions and answers. 

So did Archbishop Peter Smith and his legal team. I was impressed by the firm and clear positions given by 

these two groups.

Not so other groups, like the Church of Wales representatives, who waffled.

What did astound me was the out and out rudeness of some of the questioners, all of them MPs, 

not to be named here. One can look at my blog for names. I merely want to point out the lack of respect towards those representatives of organized religion. At several places in the presentation of answers by 

Archbishop Peter Smith, some members laughed out loud in derision for the Catholic position on marriage, 

pre-marital sex, and our anti-contraception, anti-abortion positions.

What came to my mind was that I could have been in a time-machine, taken back to the 

interrogations of Edmund Campion, Ralph Sherwin, or Robert Southwell et al.

The entire meeting of this Parliament panel on both days was a sham. The smug hypocritical statements 

of the members of Parliament shone out like words of old transcripts in a history of Recusant trials.

Parliament determines moral and religious policy in Britain, not the churches.

Parliament in 2013 mirrors Parliament in 1581, or 1585 or 1681, this last the year of the martyrdom 

of St. Oliver Plunkett. I have seen his head in St. Peter's Church, Drogheda. His face is peaceful, but reveals pain.

We honour martyrs in the Catholic Church almost daily. We of this Guild honour Titus Brandsma, 

who was martyred and is a Blessed. But, do we really want martyrs in 2013? 

Do we feel uncomfortable watching Peter Smith being derided? Do we want our leaders to stand firm 

on the ancient teachings of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church?

I hope we stand with our real Catholic leaders.

I hope we can see clearly that the actions of Parliament will lead to the type of society created under 

Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, where those who kept the Faith were fined, suffered financial loss, ruin, 

disgrace, if not martyrdom. Catholics will not be able to be registrars or superintendents of registrars. 

Catholics may not be able to be teachers in some schools. The Catholic priests may be in a position of 

disobedience to certain laws after judicial decisions.

Parliament acts just as it has since the Protestant Revolt. Parliament was given powers over the 

private consciences of the people of Britain and it will take those powers and use those again and 

again and again. Five hundred years of practice makes this pattern of oppression all too easy. There are precedences. 

We are witnessing the death of the modern Enlightenment democracy as a philosophy of governance.

We are witnessing the sliding back to a time when religions were not allowed to stand in the marketplace 

and speak Truth.

The powers that be have not changed their philosophies. They have renewed an older pattern of intolerance 

which is wedded to the very power of Parliament.

The Catholic Church has not changed Her Truths, Revelation and Tradition.

We are, again, Non-Conformists, and as in the past, consequences will follow strongly held beliefs.

I hope those who belong to the Guild of the martyr Titus Brandsma know how to stand firm 

in the storms that will blow across Great Britain. We have an excellent example. 

Brandsma upheld the bishops' decisions and the clarity of teaching that Catholicism and Nazism clashed. 

Catholicism will always clash with falsehood.

As Catholic journalists, we of this Guild can follow our patron to whatever consequences may follow.

I, for one, will write as long as I can for Christ and His Church.

Prayers Needed

Dear Readers,

No details yet, but please pray for me. My foot is very bad and it is painful to walk at all. I have been taking paracetamol. I may have a small broken bone or something. The swelling has increased. I did twist it originally at the beginning of travelling and it has just gotten worse over the weeks.

In my next stop, I shall have to have it looked at for sure.

Also, as some of you know, I have fast growing cataracts. Please pray for that intention as well.

The third intention is much more serious. I am refraining from details, but ask your intense prayers.

I shall get back to you on details by Saturday of this week.

Pax vobiscum.

By the way, remember that St. John of the Cross was imprisoned in a tiny cell, tortured, given only bread and water, and more or less abandoned by good people for nine months. Those who imprisoned him were of his own order.

Think of him and his own Dark Night. Also, read this passage. This is not poetry, but reality. Romans 12:5-16.

On God Disciplining His People

St Oliver Plunkett

A reader wrote this and it deserves a post.

I am deep into reading Pascendi right now and am astounded. That encyclical plus this post of yours calls to mind a question. I wonder if you could instruct a little on God's punishing/chastising His children. I seem to be having difficulty understanding how this works. There is certainly every indication that this is now happening (and will be increasing). I'm having trouble understanding how this works if the majority of Catholics do not even recognize the punishment and even enjoy and encourage the circumstances they're in. How will they learn or benefit from this? How will this be a curative?

We only have to look both at Old Testament history and even recent history to see how God allows evil to chastise those who have become mediocre.

The entire history of the Old Testament, including that of the Maccabees, some of which is on this blog, reveals an awareness by the prophets and some of the leaders, that when very hard times occurred, such as the desecration of the Temple, that God was permitting evil for a reason.

The Hebrews, being easily influenced by the neighboring countries and nations regarding idolatry, were disciplined by God over and over.

One only has to read the eloquent speech of the first martyr, St. Stephen, to see how aware some Hebrews were of their own discipline. Obviously, the forty years in the Wilderness provided ample proof that God needed to purified His People so that they could take over the Promised Land, which was full of child-murder and other horrible sins.

In recent times, Our Lady of Fatima warned us and asked us to pray for Russia. She meant, of course, the great lies of communism and atheism. Sadly, the warnings went unheeded by the majority of Catholics and Russia's errors spread over the Europe, so that, to this day, Marxism is alive and well in the continent.

The tremendous sufferings of the Ukrainians for their faith is only one example of persecution in modern times.

That God gives humans free will indicates that evil will be chosen by some and good by others.

When the real persecutions begin, and I believe we are on the edge of the last stage, (see persecution posts), Catholics will have lost many civil rights. This is already happening regarding those Catholics who do not want to sell bridal dresses for ssm, or cakes, or takes photos of such.

That some Catholics have always gone along with the powers that be will happen again and some of our persecutors will be Catholics. This happened in England under Henry VIII and Elizabeth and even later, up to the killing of St. Oliver Plunkett in 1681.

Catholics were outlawed from certain things in England up until the 19th century. Sadly, the younger generations in the States have not been made to study history in school and so have no clue as to these once commonly known facts, at least among Catholics.

Hard times should cause people to stop and pray and ponder their own sins.

When one is being disciplined, one takes a hard look at one's life and repents. This is the purpose of discipline.

If one does not reflect, one cannot move forward into being purified, which is all explained in the Dark Night series.

So, when God allows evil, Catholics can make heroic choices against such evil. This is happening. Real Catholics do not dispense aboritifacients as pharmacists and lose their jobs. Real Catholics do not teach that ssm is ok, and move out of teaching grade school in some states. Real Catholics do not sing for ssms and, therefore, may get sued or taken to court and so on.

St. John Houghton, thanks to Wiki

That the governments of most nations, if not all, now follow laws against God's natural law, one can expect hard times. 

There are other laws now in place which keep Catholics from living what was the old way of moving between countries freely, as we are members of a universal Church. Movements of peoples are becoming greatly restricted in Europe, to the point where in some countries, seminaries who apply from other countries to study for the priesthood cannot be accepted.

That Nigeria has over 700 seminarians, I am told, will no longer help Europe, as the EU decides who comes in and who does not and missionaries of all denominations are being stopped. I know this. A preacher was stopped two weeks ago and detained by immigration in an EU country just because he was coming to give a series of sermons.

This will happen more and more. The Catholic Church is the only institution in the world which transcends national boundaries and the free movement of Catholics will be more and more circumscribed.

Those Catholics who are paying attention see that they will be marginalized and then fined, and then imprisoned for being Catholics.

St. Philip Howard

When one is under lock and key, one must give one's self totally to Christ. One is in a passive state, without freedoms. St. John of the Cross was imprisoned by his own order. He learned about the Dark Night there. St. Thomas More remarked that he learned lessons in prison he should have learned outside. His remarks on the Carthusians, who went to their deaths singing, show us that the monks were ready because of their chosen lifestyle of the denial of comfort and their discipline of prayer.

We should and can be doing these things now-denial of comforts and deep prayer.

That is what we learn in hard times--to trust in God completely, to become like little children, meek and mild, forgiving those who hate us and moving on into sharing the Passion of Christ.

Will all respond? No, of course not. Will some? Yes. Remember, all the saints were people like you and me. So, too, all the martyrs were just Catholics not willing to compromise the Faith for life.

The Pope Emeritus Benedict told us years ago the Church would be smaller and stronger. Such is the result of hard times. 

Read my play here--it might help.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/06/walsingham-drama-in-three-acts.html

God bless you.

Feast of St. Charles Borromeo

Today's saint is important to me as we have generations of men named Charles in our family. This custom comes from the Czech side. St. Charles Borromeo was a hero saint, devoting his time and talents to the great teachings and seminary reforms coming out of the Council of Trent, and, also, to the plague-sticken people of Milan. Apparently, another saint connected to our family, St. Edmund Campion, visited St. Charles in Milan. How wonderful to think of them meeting and spending time together.

St. Charles is a role model for priests, bishops, cardinals.

Pray to him today for all men and women named Charles, Karl, Carl, Charlotte, Charlene, or Carola. Pray to him for seminarians, catechists and catechumens.

One of my favorite churches is the Karlskirche in Vienna. I have not been there for a very long time.

Here are some smashing photos of this great Baroque beauty.

Thanks to wiki for the following photo.

Mercy and Justice Misunderstood

People, even Catholics, do not understand mercy or justice.

Most people think that mercy is overlooking faults or even brushing these away.

No. Mercy is staring sin in the face and forgiving it. Mercy is not a weak virtue. On the contrary, only very strongly spiritual people can be merciful. Mercy is usually given to those who are guilty. However, mercy must be given to the innocent as well.

Those who are innocent many times are treated as if they are guilty. This is done for many reasons, but mostly because men and women choose to live by the law rather than by the spirit.

Christ warned us all of this.

Justice is different. Justice for the Catholic is based on natural law. This means that those who fall and sin against natural law must be judged according to their actions. All of us sin but some sin against the most serious of natural laws, including those sins which cry out to God for vengeance.

In today's world, justice has become a numbers game and a game of false equity. Justice no longer is based on natural law, but on whatever a particular government decides is law.

We are living in dangerously relativistic times, when people can decide what is just without the basis of God's natural law, or the Ten Commandments, which are based on natural law.

Mercy and justice are purposefully being twisted into complete moral relativism.

Be aware that Catholics may well suffer the consequences of these false, new definitions of mercy and justice.

Without recourse to Revelation and without the wisdom of the Tradition of the Catholic Church, men and women will determine themselves what mercy and justice are.

God is Justice and Mercy and without Him as the basis of laws, without reference to God, law becomes a tool in the hands of those who desire power.

From today's Mass.

Romans 11: 29 - 36
29	For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.
30	Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience,
31	so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may receive mercy.
32	For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all.
33	O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34	"For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?"
35	"Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?"
36	For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory for ever. Amen.

On The Desert God

Psalm 28

Douay-Rheims 

28 A psalm for David, at the finishing of the tabernacle. Bring to the Lord, O ye children of God: bring to the Lord the offspring of rams.

2 Bring to the Lord glory and honour: bring to the Lord glory to his name: adore ye the Lord in his holy court.

3 The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of majesty hath thundered, The Lord is upon many waters.

4 The voice of the Lord is in power; the voice of the Lord in magnificence.

5 The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars: yea, the Lord shall break the cedars of Libanus.

6 And shall reduce them to pieces, as a calf of Libanus, and as the beloved son of unicorns.

7 The voice of the Lord divideth the flame of fire:

8 The voice of the Lord shaketh the desert: and the Lord shall shake the desert of Cades.

9 The voice of the Lord prepareth the stags: and he will discover the thick woods: and in his temple all shall speak his glory.

10 The Lord maketh the flood to dwell: and the Lord shall sit king for ever. The Lord will give strength to his people: the Lord will bless his people with peace.

The name El was the title of the desert god of many of the ancient religions. El  was also the god of the storms. However, the One, True God took the name and made it His Own, the God of all Creation, the Father of all Mankind, as well as the God of the Desert. God is still the God of the Desert. Christ Himself went into the desert to pray and allow Himself to be tempted. Over and over again, those who love God went into the desert to leave the world and find Him. Sometimes, God calls some of us into the desert, as He did with the Desert Fathers. Why God calls some of us out into the dryness is a mystery of the Dark Night and of purity. I am in the desert. I know this. When I went to Adoration today, the monstrance was set up in a desert scene of rocks and sand. This is Malta. In the myth of Psyche  which I have mentioned more than once on this blog, the woman must do penance for doubting love. Such is the path of purification, which takes away all that is stopping Love Himself from coming to one. The desert experience is a clear symbol of the nothingness of the Dark Night. No consolations, no color, no refreshment, only dryness and a bright light which causes all to be dark because it is so bright. One's guardian angel can help us in this dark night.  You might want to check out this post from the past. On Sunday, we saw Christ in the desert facing temptations. He is God and Man and the temptations were real. But, this was not the first time God was in the desert. We remember the Hebrews, God's Chosen People being freed from Egypt by God's Mighty Hand and then rebelling over and over again in the desert. Their punishment was 40 years. But, God was with them. For God had a right to purify His Own; and one of the biggest sins was complaining. The person or person's with a complaining heart lacks several virtues, and is ignoring a truism God deserves praise daily. Pride causes complaining. The moaner wants to be a god, to play god. The moaning one lacks humility and wants to be in control. Only God is in control and He is in control. Why did the entire generation of Jews have to die out in the desert for their sins of rebellion? Why did they not get to see the promised land? Even Moses was punished for striking the rock three times instead of obeying God and striking it once. No big deal, one might think. Why such a harsh punishment? Was it merely that Moses was impatient, or angry? Was it that he was not trusting in God to make water flow in the desert with just one small gesture? Moses forgot who he was. As a great friend of God, one who walked with God and heard His Voice daily, Moses forgot one small truth. Obedience in the smallest thing which God asks is real Love. Moses died on Mt. Nebo within sight of the Holy Land, God's home for him. This was a terrible punishment for Moses. He was purified in this suffering, as we know that he, Moses, was seen in the Transfiguration with Christ and Elijah The obedience of the heart is learned in silence. In the desert, there is much silence. In silence, we learn to listen and hear God. Even Moses had to be punished for not listening. And, yet, we have more than what Moses had. We have Christ in the Eucharist, we have the Church and the sacraments to help us.St Paul writes, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" Rom. 10: 4 Doing things out of Love is what Paul means. We act out of love and not fear. We act out of love and not merely obedience without love. Moses forgot to act out of love. Obedience is Love. If one is not obedient in the smallest thing, one is lacking in love. The desert carves out our hearts so that we have room to love God. The desert is hard. It is very hot in the day and very cold at night. Sand gets into one's skin, eyes, hair. It is full of dangerous animals. Water is scarce. One has to rely on God totally in the desert. He is our Guide, as we cannot get out of the desert without Him. He is our sustenance, as we are not fed in the desert, without Him. The world is fast turning into the desert. There will soon be no Catholic nations to go to in order to avoid evils such as abortion, contraception, euthanasia, same-sex marriage. There will be no place to hide. Among rocks and sand, there are few places to hide. We must create that place in our souls or we shall die. Learn to live in the desert.  from today's Morning Psalm, 94 If only, today, you would listen to his voice:   “Do not harden your hearts   as you did at Meribah, on the day of Massah in the desert,   when your fathers tested me – they put me to the test,   although they had seen my works.” “For forty years they wearied me,   that generation. I said: their hearts are wandering,   they do not know my paths. I swore in my anger:  they will never enter my place of rest.” But God is merciful and He sent His Only Son to help us while we are in the desert. Dear Lord, help us to learn to live in the desert. Help us now to be so full of love for you, that being in the desert is merely one more way to find You and love you. To be continued..............