Thoughts on Prayer

In this post, I look at two aspects of prayer. The first part is self-explanatory. The second revolves around understanding stigmatics.

Firstly, this post comes from a discussion I had with a friend on intercessory prayer. She is involved in doing reparation for members of her family who have fallen away from the Faith. As Christ told us, some prayer needs to be coupled with fasting, or, to extrapolate, other penances. My friend and I discussed how real prayer, entering into the spiritual world in order to do reparation, or intercede for others, is downright exhausting. (Actually, doing manual labor, such as laundry, or cleaning, or gardening, is a rest from intense prayer, and if one is doing this in silence, prayer continues, but at a lesser intensity.)

This is why scheduling and pacing prayer, as in the Benedictine day, an example given below, is so important. One needs breaks of other work, but one needs to keep up the prayer by pacing it throughout the day. This idea came from the genius of St. Benedict. Here is an example from a monastery in America.

Through the Day



Sunday Schedule

4:00 A.M. - Vigils (choral office in church) lasts about an hour and fifteen minutes.

6:00 A.M. - Lauds (in church) followed by breakfast for guests from 6:30 to 7:10 am in the monastic refectory.

8:45 A.M. - Terce (in church) lasts about 10 minutes.

9:15 A.M. - Conventual Mass (Eucharist) followed by refreshments in the Guest Reception Area.

11:30 A.M. - Sext (in church) lasts about ten minutes, followed by Light Meal in the monastic refectory, 11:45 to 12:30 P.M.

4:00 P.M. - None (in church) lasts about ten minutes, followed by Main Meal in the monastic refectory.

5:30 P.M. - Solemn Vespers and Benediction (in church) lasts about 45 minutes.

7:30 P.M. - Compline (in church) lasts about 15 minutes, followed by Nightly Silence.

Daily Schedule

4:00 A.M. - Vigils (choral office in church) lasts about one hour.

5:45 A.M. - Lauds (in church) lasts about thirty minutes, followed by Mass. Breakfast for guests in the Guest Breakfast Room from 7:00 - 7:45 A.M.

8:45 A.M. - Terce (in church) lasts about ten minutes.

9:00 A.M. - Work meeting for guests outside the Gift Shop. Work for All.

12:40 P.M. - End of work period.

1:00 P.M. - Sext (in church) lasts about ten minutes, followed by Main Meal in the monastic refectory.

3:30 P.M. - None (in church) lasts about ten minutes.

5:20 P.M. - Exposition and Eucharistic Adoration (in Church).

5:50 P.M. - Vespers (in church) lasts about thirty minutes.

6:20 P.M. - Light Meal until 6:50 P.M. in the monastic refectory.

7:30 P.M. - Compline (in church) lasts about fifteen minutes, followed by Nightly Silence.

Most nights, I try to be in bed by half-past nine so that I can get up early, or as God asks, very early, like three or four, to pray intercessory prayers for certain people

Real prayer is not merely saying words or sitting in silence. although that can be part of the day.

Intercessory prayer reminds me of a wrestling match. One enters into prayer knowing that God asks for suffering for those for whom one prays. Intercessory prayer can be very tiring.

My friend recalled prayer times when she was drained. Sometimes, if God wants a concentration of prayer, He will allow her to become ill with severe arthritis, so that she cannot do anything for three days but pray.

Last week, when I had that histamine reaction, God wanted me to stop doing things, including talking, and be quiet in intercessory prayer. I had become too busy.

The prayer of quiet demands attention and focusing. I compare it to the August chorus of birds in the early morning, now about five.

Early in the summer, in late May, early June, the chorus resounds with the songs of hundreds of birds, starting about half-past three in the morning. Now, in late summer, the songs of a few birds, a cardinal or two, a few robins, sing in a schola rather than in a chorale. But, these animals focus on their songs, intent on praising God, as they do at this time of year. This focusing only lasts a short time, Then, these birds rest, do a few "chores", fly about, and rest again, eating as well in between singing. But, the morning chorus only happens once a day, a focusing of song.

Birds sing all day, but at times, their song is more intense than at other times.

So, too, with some intercessory prayer, which can be a real struggle. And, what those who do not understand the contemplative life do not know, is that even encounters with God can be exhausting.

Again, I refer to the limp of Jacob.

Why a contemplative does not "work" in the world is that he IS working, on the threshold of the spiritual world, praising God, interceding, listening.

This takes time and energy.

Secondly, some people with whom I have spoken, do not understand the life of the stigmatic.

The stigmatic has crossed over the threshold of the spiritual world because Christ has invited them to be one with Him in His Passion. Those who do accept these graces of complete union in the physical suffering of Christ mirror what the contemplative experiences spiritually, without the signs and physical suffering at this level of intense pain. The stigmata is a great gift of love.

The stigmatic intercedes when in union with Christ, carrying on, as St. Paul noted, the sufferings of Christ in this world. Such special souls allow their bodies to be one with Christ, for a day, or longer. The example of Padre Pio, Francis of Assisi, (the first recorded stigmatic), Marthe Robin, and many others provides an example of intense intercessory prayer of love.

They become one with Christ in love, not only for the Savior, but for those for whom they suffer in intercession.

I am astounded when Catholics think that the life of the contemplative nun or monk or priest or lay person is an easy life, without work. Prayer is work. And, it can be exhausting, as my friend said.

Those who only value work which is physical and has monetary reward simply do not understand the ways of God in deep prayer.

The stigmatic teaches us the extreme of the loving union of those who intercede for us daily.

UPDATE: After I wrote this post, I checked my e-mail, and lo and behold--synchronicity.

Here is the note:

Prayer Takes Effort by The Hermit

I may be wrong but I think nothing needs so much effort as prayer to God. If anyone wants to pray, the demons try to interrupt the prayer, for they know that prayer is the only thing that hinders them. All the other efforts in a religious life, whether they are made vehemently or gently, have room for a measure of rest. But we need to pray till our dying breath. That is the great struggle. ~Sr. Benedicta Ward, SLG; The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

Pray

Bishop Rosario Pio Ramolo, of the diocese of Goré in the south of Chad, said that in the last few months “attacks have multiplied in Chad, causing the more than seventy deaths and two hundred wounded.” The violence has occurred mainly in the capital N’Djamena and in the areas bordering Nigeria.

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/08/01/boko-haram-slits-the-throats-of-sixteen-christian-fishermen/

and right here at home...

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/03/new-mexico-gov-martinez-says-coward-who-set-off-2-church-explosions-will-be/

The next blast came from a trash can outside Holy Cross Catholic at about 8:40 a.m. as Monsignor John Anderson was helping pass Communion.

"I was right in the middle of saying the words 'take and eat, this is my body,' and there was a pow! I mean, I knew it had to be more than a gunshot," Anderson told the Las Cruces Sun-News newspaper (http://bit.ly/1ME7PEp). "I didn't know if it was a shotgun blast, I didn't know what. But it was very loud, and I just kept on saying the words."

and here more...

http://southernorderspage.blogspot.com/2015/08/this-seems-like-important-national.html

From St. Catherine

God the Father spoke to Catherine of Siena and this selection from the Dialogue seems particularly poignant for today. I do not think any commentary is necessary.

How sin is more gravely punished after the Passion of Christ than before; and how God promises to do mercy to the world, and to the Holy Church, by means of the prayers and sufferings of His servants.

"And I wish you to know, My daughter, that, although I have re-created and restored to the life of grace, the human race, through the Blood of My only-begotten Son, as I have said, men are not grateful, but, going from bad to worse, and from guilt to guilt, even persecuting Me with many injuries, taking so little account of the graces which I have given them, and continue to give them, that, not only do they not attribute what they have received to grace, but seem to themselves on occasion to receive injuries from Me, as if I desired anything else than their sanctification.

"I say to you that they will be more hard-hearted, and worthy of more punishment, and will, indeed, be punished more severely, now that they have received redemption in the Blood of My Son, than they would have been before that redemption took place -- that is, before the stain of Adam's sin had been taken away. It is right that he who receives more should render more, and should be under great obligations to Him from whom he receives more.

"Man, then, was closely bound to Me through his being which I have given him, creating him in My own image and similitude; for which reason, he was bound to render Me glory, but he deprived Me of it, and wished to give it to himself. Thus he came to transgress My obedience imposed on him, and became My enemy. And I, with My humility, destroyed his pride, humiliating the divine nature, and taking your humanity, and, freeing you from the service of the devil, I made you free. And, not only did I give you liberty, but, if you examine, you will see that man has become God, and God has become man, through the union of the divine with the human nature. This is the debt which they have incurred -- that is to say, the treasure of the Blood, by which they have been procreated to grace. See, therefore, how much more they owe after the redemption than before. For they are now obliged to render Me glory and praise by following in the steps of My Incarnate Word, My only-begotten Son, for then they repay Me the debt of love both of Myself and of their neighbor, with true and genuine virtue, as I have said to you above, and if they do not do it, the greater their debt, the greater will be the offense they fall into, and therefore, by divine justice, the greater their suffering in eternal damnation.

"A false Christian is punished more than a pagan, and the deathless fire of divine justice consumes him more, that is, afflicts him more, and, in his affliction, he feels himself being consumed by the worm of conscience, though, in truth, he is not consumed, because the damned do not lose their being through any torment which they receive. Wherefore I say to you, that they ask for death and cannot have it, for they cannot lose their being; the existence of grace they lose, through their fault, but not their natural existence. Therefore guilt is more gravely punished after the Redemption of the Blood than before, because man received more; but sinners neither seem to perceive this, nor to pay any attention to their own sins, and so become My enemies, though I have reconciled them, by means of the Blood of My Son. But there is a remedy with which I appease My wrath -- that is to say, by means of My servants, if they are jealous to constrain Me by their desire. You see, therefore, that you have bound Me with this bond which I have given you, because I wished to do mercy to the world. "Therefore I give My servants hunger and desire for My honor, and the salvation of souls, so that, constrained by their tears, I may mitigate the fury of My divine justice. Take, therefore, your tears and your sweat, drawn from the fountain of My divine love, and, with them, wash the face of My spouse.

"I promise you, that, by this means, her beauty will be restored to her, not by the knife nor by cruelty, but peacefully, by humble and continued prayer, by the sweat and the tears shed by the fiery desire of My servants, and thus will I fulfill your desire if you, on your part, endure much, casting the light of your patience into the darkness of perverse man, not fearing the world's persecutions, for I will protect you, and My Providence shall never fail you in the slightest need."

What I Am Reading

right now, and what I can recommend highly:

Complete Works Of Elizabeth Of The Trinity, Volume 1: Major Spiritual Writings; ICS Publications: 1984

Complete Works Of Elizabeth Of The Trinity, Volume II: Letters from Carmel; ICS Publications: 1995

Command Culture: Officer Education in the U.S. Army and the German Armed Forces, 1901-1940, and the Consequences for World War II by Jorg Muth; Denton: University of North Texas Press: 2011

The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena (Again....) Tan Classics: 2010

The Virtue of Trust (Again...): Paul de Jaegher; London: Burns, Oates and Washbourne Ltd.: 1932

I am waiting for this one from a friend--

Total Resistance: H. Von Dach; Snowball Publishing: 2010

....and I am also waiting for

 Mediterranean Diet Cookbook For Dummies: Meri Raffetto

....and for sanity, I am about to read, for the umpteenth time,

Lord of the World.

No Hands But Yours

I do not think many Catholics actually believe what Christ said about His own homelessness. Why was He homeless? Not merely by choice, but because those around Him at home thought He was mad, or wrong, or a great sinner, to be so poor and wandering about sharing the Good News. I do not think most Catholics understand what Our Lord really meant--that He had no place. Rome did not give to the poor. The Jews were supposed to do so by the words of the Law and the Prophets. But, apparently, in the time of Jesus, charity had been forgotten.

And Jesus saith to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests: but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. Matthew 8:20

What saves us? The question should be "Who saves us?"  However, I am returning to a theme upon which I mused a few months ago that politics do not save us.

More and more I am realizing how many Catholics look to political leaders, instead of to God, for salvation. "Born Catholic. Baptized Democrat." This phrase is not just a clever assessment of the blindness so many voters have, about both parties, by the way, but the fact that religious beliefs take a secondary priority to party platforms.

Worse than that is the cult of personality, which has led over and over again to tyrannies of various types, facist and communist.

The sign of a Catholic falling into the heresy that politics and governments save must be the gross sin of the lack of charity to one's neighbor, because, of course, there is always a government program.

There is not always a government program.

Years ago, when I was fired for having cancer and complications from the operation, (yes, and I was not the only one fired from this institution for having cancer),  I discovered there was no program for unemployment as that institution did not have to pay into unemployment programs. Also, the town and county where I lived had run out of housing money, (I was paying rent at the time), and there was no backup except a federal emergency program which only paid for two months. Food stamps had to be applied for and I still had a son at home, who was a student. I still had to wait months for a food stamp card.

No money for rent after two months, no money for food.

Thankfully, during the five months of begging and getting help from one generous co-worker, who had witnessed the firing of cancer patients in the past at our place of work, we managed to get by until I found another job, which was part-time only, and in another state.

Some people wanted me to sue the institution, as the administration illegally broke a signed contract. I could not, as it was a Catholic institution, and my conscience would not allow me to sue something associated with the Church, no matter how corrupt.

There is not always a program.

Governments and politics do not save people or bring us to heaven. Charitable acts done out of selflessness do bring up closer to God, and our duty as Christians demands such charity. May God always bless that one woman who helped us at a critical time.

The ancient Catholic Church could not rely on Nero for food stamps or housing. If someone was being persecuted for being a Catholic, the community stepped in.

Sadly, these days are gone in most communities.

I have called this the attitude of the Middle Class Church. Those who have never been in want simply push off the cries of the poor to the governments. But, guess what? There is not always a program.

Catholics accept the brainwashing of the socialist agenda to make people dependent on the government. This creates an underclass which is similar to slavery.

I know of a good person who ended up literally living under a bridge because he had a nervous breakdown and had no family support. He had a higher degree but no one wanted to help him. His best friends became drug addicts and the homeless, many, who like him, could not find a program.

What saves us? Who saves us?

Christ, and we are Christ in the world. Will Catholics step in when governments completely fail the poor, which will happen, as there will be too many of the poor?

From St. Teresa of Avila:

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Christianus alter Christus Among The Boxes

As I sit in a little room surrounded by boxes packed and half-packed, putting things back into storage I so happily took out and rediscovered a mere few weeks ago, I am reminded that I am still in the night of the soul. This process is extremely painful for me. It is not that the things represent me, but that the lack of permanency brings purgatory onto this patch of earth.

This night may be years as a journey, as I am not as generous or intelligent as St. John of the Cross, who seems to have gone through both the dark night of the senses and the dark night of the spirit in about nine months.

Some saints take longer to make this climb to illumination than others, which is my hope. My hope is in the Lord, Who went before me into darkness, the darkness of death in His Passion. This night of the soul is no different than that Passion, except in the smallness of my heart and soul, I cannot become another Christ, without His great help.

In the night of the senses, all joy in physical human things and persons eludes one. In the night of the senses, one is in purgatory on earth. Unless God helps one become another Christ, one remains mediocre. Unless one yields to the pain of purgation, one does not enter heaven or perceive Christ's great love.

But, what I am really experiencing is Christ suffering in and through me and His Sacrifice purifies me as He joins His suffering with me. I have to let Him suffer in and through me. This is my salvation.

No one can compare one's sufferings with another's, Suffering is not quantifiable. One can only rejoice in one's own weaknesses and insignificance, as St. Therese of Lisieux wrote. To become nothing is to let Christ become all, and then, and only then, does the Christian become Christ in the world, Christianus alter Christus.

These boxes remind me of failures, itineracy, the lack of stable prayer times, the lack of family and even permanent communal support necessary to live in the heart of any community. Always, I end up like a ship passing through, (yes, with many friends waving on the shore), but only to leave again, not even knowing to where the tide will take me.

The night of the senses has left me with practically nothing on which to rely, which is the whole point of this dark night. The night of the spirit leads to a more ruthless purging of even gifts, which are not allowed to be used, or deep loves, which cannot be expressed. The only thing left is the longing for Christ, as the bride seeks the Bridegroom until He is willing to be found.

Distant are the moments of love and trust, as I sit surrounded by boxes of books, clothes, and papers The chapel has been taken down weeks ago, and the remnants of it put away, with only one large icon and one statue left on, yes, a box, and a dresser.

But, God is Creativity. When St. Benedict Labre was not allowed to join a community, he created, with the Holy Spirit, his own way to God, pilgrimaging throughout Europe, until he got to Rome and collapsed, dying at the young age of 35. He is a patron of the homeless, beggars, and the mentally ill. He is a one-of-a-kind saint. I do not believe he was mentally ill, but found joy in the humility of being misunderstood by those who did not and still, do not, understand the fool for Christ. A great sign of humility is the ability to rejoice in being misunderstood.

Those who want to follow Christ do so in many different ways, and, it is not one's own way, but God's way. What the world needs is known to God, not to us. We can imagine, in the narcissism of our gifts and talents what we think the world needs, but God has other ideas. God fashions us to be saints according to His ideal, not one's own.

Three people experienced this dark night of the spirit in Scripture, and we have their words.

The most obvious is Job, who lost everything in the dark night of the senses, and then was misunderstood and falsely reprimanded by friends in his dark night of the spirit, when God seemed far away, indeed. Job had to come to complete trust in God, complete surrender, and God dealt with those who tried to put Job into their own boxes of what holiness should look like.

Job 42 Douay-Rheims 

42 Then Job answered the Lord, and said:

2 I know that thou canst do all things, and no thought is hid from thee.

3 Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have spoken unwisely, and things that above measure exceeded my knowledge.

4 Hear, and I will speak: I will ask thee, and do thou tell me.

5 With the hearing of the ear, I have heard thee, but now my eye seeth thee.

6 Therefore I reprehend myself, and do penance in dust and ashes.

The second person who one sees in the dark night of the spirit is the bride in the Song of Songs.

Song of Solomon 3 Douay-Rheims 

3 In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and found him not.

2 I will rise, and will go about the city: in the streets and the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and I found him not.

3 The watchmen who keep the city, found me: Have you seen him, whom my soul loveth?

She had experienced love, but lost the first flames of consolation. Therefore, she must look for Love, Who hides from her until she is ready to find Him. She must seek the Beloved until He lets her find out where He really is.

The third person one can identify as in the dark night of the spirit is St. Paul. His conversion brought him into the dark night of the senses, literally, as he was temporarily blinded for three days, in keeping with Christ's three days in the tomb. But, after his cure, Paul went into the desert, to Mt. Sinai, for as long as ten years, and later wrote this in Galatians 4:

22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, and the other by a free woman.

23 But he who was of the bondwoman, was born according to the flesh: but he of the free woman, was by promise.

24 Which things are said by an allegory. For these are the two testaments. The one from mount Sinai, engendering unto bondage; which is Agar:

25 For Sina is a mountain in Arabia, which hath affinity to that Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

26 But that Jerusalem, which is above, is free: which is our mother.

27 For it is written: Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not: break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband.

28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

29 But as then he, that was born according to the flesh, persecuted him that was after the spirit; so also it is now.

30 But what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.

31 So then, brethren, we are not the children of the bondwoman, but of the free: by the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free.

Now, Hagar represents the flesh, Sarah's bad will, and Ishmael the child of the flesh, while Sarah represents the spirit, when she trusted God, and Isaac the child of the spirit. St. Paul went into Arabia, to Mt. Sinai, the place of Moses' reception of the Law. This was no accident. 

There, St. Paul learned, through the long purification of his soul, the difference between living by the Law and living in the Spirit. This is exactly what he preached with such clarity, and he learned it the hard way, as so many of us do, by enduring purgation of sin, and the destruction of the predominant fault. Then, God allowed Himself to be found. In this finding, Paul experienced great freedom. He is the theologian of this freedom. Isaac represents the covenant of love, and the New Jerusalem, not the old, which was destroyed in 70 A.D., --the old represents the lack of covenant love. St. Paul in the desert moved from this purgation of his soul to illumination, about which he wrote later. This is a true description of a man who has moved out of purgation, out of both dark nights, into the illumination state, and then union.

2 Corinthians 12 Douay-Rheims 

12 If I must glory (it is not expedient indeed), but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.

2 I know a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not, or out of the body, I know not; God knoweth), such a one caught up to the third heaven.

3 And I know such a man (whether in the body, or out of the body, I know not: God knoweth),

4 That he was caught up into paradise, and heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter.

5 For such an one I will glory; but for myself I will glory nothing, but in my infirmities.

6 For though I should have a mind to glory, I shall not be foolish; for I will say the truth. But I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth in me, or any thing he heareth from me.

7 And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me.

8 For which thing thrice I besought the Lord, that it might depart from me.

9 And he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

10 For which cause I please myself in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ. For when I am weak, then am I powerful.

11 I am become foolish: you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you: for I have no way come short of them that are above measure apostles, although I be nothing.

12 Yet the signs of my apostleship have been wrought on you, in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

And, yet, God allowed him to suffer something which was painful. What form this infirmity took does not matter, But, like the limp of Jacob, this physical suffering remained a sign of St. Paul's encounter with God. One is wounded when one encounters God, never to be the same again. When one wrestles with God for the blessing of illumination and union, one is wounded. One must be.

That St. Paul's night of the spirit may have lasted ten years gives me hope, for he is a great saint, and I shall be content with being a little saint. However, what St. Benedict Labre knew, and what St. Paul knew, and what Job learned, and what the bride learned is that some of us cannot be anything but extreme-either extremely good or extremely bad. God took them to the edge, and there, they found Him.

Such is the lesson I learn in my box-room. God literally boxes me in so that I have to face my own sin and imperfections in order to make my small heart larger so that He can reside there comfortably. This box-room is on the edge of new life, like a dry oasis, a mirage, of something greater to come.

This little prison of transience, shows me again and again, that this world passes, is temporary, but that God's life is eternal.

I knew as a young person that I loved the things of this world too dearly-nature, music, people, animals, even God's own presence in the things He created. I walked in love. I always experienced things deeply. People noticed this. I loved love. To be weaned from such a love of creation, which is overwhelming, and the love which comes from the sensitivities of a thinker, a writer, a poet and a painter, I have had to be draw into the ugliness of nothingness in order to see the God Within. My God is the God of the Passion, the God of the desert.

He is here, among the boxes and detritus of my life, waiting, while He takes me through this stage of the dark night.

Father Ripperger reminds us all in his talks that few people realize that they are far from true holiness. Today, as I move into a smaller and smaller place to walk and even write, I am aware of this need to be violently honest with the self in order to move on. The walk is not over, but I am on the way...

The one persistent myth which has spoken to me has been that of Psyche, who had Love, the god of love, and lost him through disobedience and a lack of trust, only to have to endure the punishments and trials of Aphrodite, who was jealous of her, but also to prove Love that she, Psyche, could love. Because of her journey and persistence to find love, Psyche was allowed to become a goddess herself. Psyche means soul, and this tale is very much like the journey of the dark night of the spirit, where impossible trials are overcome with both grace and determination, in an atmosphere of the complete lack of consolation. One keeps walking. One does not give up seeking Love.

The immortal soul must find love and live in love. Love has a name, Jesus Christ. But, one must suffer.

This is my hope..that Christ allows me to suffer in and with Him, and in this suffering, I shall find Him, as He is here among the boxes.

This Sermon Deserves A Large Audience

http://guildofblessedtitus.blogspot.com/2015/07/mary-teaches-us-to-worship.html

Thoughts on A Thursday on A Saturday

 Repeat from another blog from Thursday, 3 July 2014

Thoughts on A Thursday from A Guild Member

Years ago, the woman who stood up in my wedding as matron of honor told me to “transcend difficulties”. I had to do this, as circumstances forced me to do so.  This great lady was almost my mother’s age, but a good friend of mine. She had been raised in India, in the Raj. Her father died early. Then, she and her mother came back to London to live. She had to leave her mom and live on a farm, as she was young enough to be sent out of harm’s way during the Blitz of London. Later, she married a wonderful man, but only had two children.

She and her husband took care of her mother until that old woman died. Her mother never learned to cook, or sew, or clean, as when she grew up, she had seventeen servants and lived in the luxury of the English in India. My friend had to pay for all her mother’s many needs.  As a person with many hardships to bear, my friend knew how to “transcend” trials. She was “self-possessed”; that is, she had control over her emotions, mind, soul. She was a peaceful woman. Another friend of mine is the same way. She is in her nineties and had an extremely hard life, living with a husband who was ill all their married life. She, too, was and is, “self-possessed”, able to transcend all types of difficulties.

This type of transcendence and self-control only comes with humility and prayer. There is a reality about people who live transcendently. Garrigou-Lagrange writes that we must become closer to God daily in simplicity of heart, “…without which there can be no contemplation of God and no true love.”

What does he mean by this? The death of the ego is the beginning of this emptying of the heart. Egotism must go, must, as I have written many times on this blog.

If we are “too full of ourselves”, there is no room for God. We must not desire attention, or fame, or status, or riches. We must find contentment in what is given to us. We must transcend the trials put on our paths. We need to meditate, and then, to contemplate.

Contemplation is not meditation, again, as I have noted on this blog. Contemplation, whether active, or passive, demands focusing on God Himself, and not on ourselves.

Do we think of ourselves and our problem before Christ in Adoration, or do we immerse ourselves in Him? Do we come with the proverbial laundry list of prayers, or do we just, like Mary of Bethany, sit in His Presence?

Purity of heart, mind, and soul comes with a combination of prayer and sheer gift. Some great saints have these gifts early. Most of us must walk the road of travail and suffering to get to such purity.  We must choose mortification, however, as the given trials may not be enough.

We may not become great saints, few of us will be Padre Pios or Mother Teresas. However, all of us are called to be saints and that means we are all called to purification and perfection.

It is rather ironic that I always  think and sometimes write that “this is my last post on perfection” but I can now see that as I learn and grow, taking the long road through suffering and dying to self.  May God be patient with me. Let me return to Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

My favorite photo of Mother Teresa is not one of her with her beloved dying, or with St. John Paul II, but one of her alone in prayer. Like all saints, like Christ, she needed to be alone with God. Sister Agnes, her helper, said once,“Every day we have Mass, half an hour of meditation, morning prayer, afternoon prayer, and in the evening we have a full hour of Adoration. It would not be possible to work otherwise. There must be a spiritual motive. You can work only for God. You can never work for any man.”

Mother Teresa said, “That is why we begin and end the day with prayer, because, when we pray, we are touching the body of Christ.  You people in the world might not have the time or leisure to pray. It is a beautiful gift of God for us to have that amount of time.”

We must make time. We must.

Mother Teresa also said, “I am not afraid to say I am in love with Jesus because He is everything to me.”

For all Catholics, our work should be for Jesus, and He can be All in All.

Here is the voice of a simple heart. Mother Teresa states that chastity is “undivided love”, that poverty is “freedom”, that total surrender is “obedience”.

“If I belong to God, if I belong to Christ, then He must be able to use me. That is obedience. ….If you really belong to the work that has been entrusted to you, then you must do it with your whole heart.  And you can bring salvation only by being honest and by really working with God. It is not how much we are doing, but how much love, how much honesty, how much faith, is put into doing it. It makes no difference what we are doing. What you are doing, I cannot do, and what I am doing, you cannot do. But all of us are doing what God have given us to do. ….”

And, I love Mother Teresa for saying this-as I have experienced the disrespect which comes to the poor, even from priests, sadly.

“The poor are not respected. People do not think that the poor can be treated as people who are lovable, as people like you and I. You know, the young are beginning to understand. They want to serve with their hands. And to love with their hearts. To the full, not superficially.”

I believe this as I believe that in the remnant will be many young people who have sought and found love.

And, Mother Teresa’s comment about doing the work God has called us to do is also a call to humility. Sometimes people want desperately to do something big for God. But, sometimes, we are called to do something small for God.

I blog. I pray. I do dishes, clean, do laundry, make coffee, take walks. Nothing grand in all of this… but more than that, I love. I am learning daily to live in love, to choose love, to walk, clean, make coffee in love. I blog in love, as that is what God wants me to do right now.

There is nothing to do but to love.

Some of us learn this by loving and being loved by another. Some of us learn this directly from Jesus, the Bridegroom. Either way, love hurts.

“True love hurts. It always has to hurt. It must be painful to love someone, painful to leave them, you might have to die for them. ….A young American couple told me once, ‘You know a lot about love; you must be married.’ And I said, Yes, but sometimes I find it difficult to smile at Him.”

Remember

There is a Doctors of the Church series on this blog.

On a particular doctor's day, just follow the tags.

Not reading mystical books

Both the great St. Teresa of Avila, and Saint Veronica Giuliani warn against the reading of mystical books. A priest told me years ago that it was dangerous for someone to read mystical writings on prayer as one could very easily think one is holier, more advanced that one actually is.

This advice proves to be ignored by the vast majority of Catholic women who think they can skip to contemplation, a point I have made on this blog many times, without developing meditation and without going through the levels of purification in the Dark Night.

My own unpacking of mystical texts has been mostly from the viewpoint of a teacher trying to slow people down by showing the great difficulties of each level of prayer. I myself, am a beginner.

To imagine one is holier and more advanced than one really is actually prevents one from growing in holiness. And, the real litmus test remains very simple. Is one actually loving as Christ loves? I would add, is one living the evangelical counsels as much as possible in the world?

Again, I have written many times on "middle-class" spirituality-that mind-set which many Catholic women adopt by wanting to be saints without suffering. They want all the consolations of life, no suffering, and yet, all the goodies God wants to give them.

I am reminded of a vision I had in England in 2011. I was frustrated by the lack of orthodoxy in a particular charismatic group, which, at that time, included some friends of mine. In this vision, I saw Christ on the Cross, suffering, with copious amounts of blood dripping from His wounds. His agony was occurring in a typical English field, not on Calvary. Strewn all over this field, and under His Cross, where thousands of those candies called Smarties. Charismatics were bending over picking up the Smarties instead of looking at Christ on the Cross.

I shared this with someone who acted almost immediately, left Charismatic prayer groups, knowing this was true-people wanted candy from God and not suffering, consolation and not the Cross.

One reason I used Garrigou-Lagrange in my long perfection series was that he presented the levels of prayer and the way to holiness rationally, and avoided, like a good teacher, falling into subjectivity.

His emphasis on purification and suffering can be found in the lectures of Father Chad Ripperger online, a priest who has told his audiences that most people have not even begun to follow the path of holiness and that most people think they are holier than they really are.

I began to read the mystics in my late twenties, and put St. Teresa back on the shelf, as I realized the danger of thinking I was making more progress than I really was. Then, the wise priest cautioned me and others not to get ahead of reality.

But, the real step in the right direction for me has been much suffering and the acceptance of that suffering, both physical and spiritual. Once one is pulled into the Dark Night, one knows where one actually is, and that is a good thing. If a person does not want to suffer that purification, he or she will fall back into the "candy seeking" stage again and again.

We do not have time for this waffling back and forth. We do not have time to look for Smarties, or read books beyond our ken.

The book which saved me from thinking I was holier than I was had to be The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence which I highlighted in the Framing Prayer series last month.
Such simplicity keeps one rooted in reality.

Again, taking up the holy priest and Fr. Ripperger's warnings about not thinking one is holier than one is, I caution readers not to read or study too much mysticism without truly, truly the daily examen of sin explained also in the Framing Prayer series.

Go back and look seriously at the levels of prayer from Garrigou-Lagrange in the long perfection series, and be honest about what level one finds one resting in.

Becoming holy is a full-time response to God's graces. The real key is saying yes to suffering, willing suffering and purification.

But, remember my most constant warning, one cannot become holy without first being completely orthodox in all things. One must conform one's mind to the teachings of the Church, all the teachings, before stepping on the ladder of the levels of prayer.

Without orthodoxy, there is no sanctity.

More later...

St. Veronica Giuliani's Trip to Hell

One day the devil showed her a vision of hell. “It seems that the tempter showed my soul hell being opened, and that in fact he had placed it (her soul) in it, and that only a small push was needed to cast it inside. It seemed then that I heard screams and voices of lamentation from the damned. I only saw infernal monsters, many serpents, many ferocious animals, and an infernal stench and extremely hot flames, which were so big that their height could not be measured. I could only compare it to the distance between heaven and earth. As far as the size of the place, one could not see the beginning or the end. You could hear many blasphemies and curses against God. How sad. What torment this caused my soul.”
She was shown hell once more: “At that moment I was once again shown hell opened; and it seemed many souls descended there, they were so ugly and black that they struck terror in me. They all dropped down in a rush, one after the other, and once they had entered those chasms there was nothing to be seen but fire and flames.” This vision led Veronica to offer herself as a victim of Divine Justice: “My Lord, I offer myself to stand here as a doorway, so that no one may enter down there and lose You.” Then she stretched out her arms and said, “As long as I stand in this doorway, no one shall enter. O souls, go back! My God, I ask nothing else of You but the salvation of sinners. Send me more pains, more torments, more crosses!”

The Blessed Virgin Mary speaking to Veronica about her trips to hell told her, “When you were going around hell, you came across torments and tormentors at every step; but that time when you went by the seat of Lucifer, you were terrified at seeing so many souls were on the seat of Lucifer himself. This is in the center of hell and is seen by all the damned, by all the devils, and this sight causes all of them great suffering. I also let you know that, in the same way that the sight of God in Paradise constitutes Paradise itself; down there in hell, the sight of Lucifer is what constitutes hell.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary also told her, “Many do not believe that hell exists, and I tell you yourself, who have been there, have understood nothing of what hell is.”

- See more at: http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2015/07/st-veronica-giuliani-extraordinary.html#sthash.KomNEvn2.dpuf

If you are not getting this site in your daily mail, you should

http://www.lifenews.com/2015/07/31/obama-will-veto-bill-to-de-fund-planned-parenthood-despite-selling-aborted-baby-parts/

More on Why Prayers Are Not Answered

How very pleasing to God is the willing desire to suffer for Him. "Very pleasing to Me, dearest daughter, is the willing desire to bear every pain and fatigue, even unto death, for the salvation of souls, for the more the soul endures, the more she shows that she loves Me; loving Me she comes to know more of My truth, and the more she knows, the more pain and intolerable grief she feels at the offenses committed against Me. You asked Me to sustain you, and to punish the faults of others in you, and you did not remark that you were really asking for love, light, and knowledge of the truth, since I have already told you that, by the increase of love, grows grief and pain, wherefore he that grows in love grows in grief. Therefore, I say to you all, that you should ask, and it will be given you, for I deny nothing to him who asks of Me in truth. Consider that the love of divine charity is so closely joined in the soul with perfect patience, that neither can leave the soul without the other. For this reason (if the soul elect to love Me) she should elect to endure pains for Me in whatever mode or circumstance I may send them to her. Patience cannot be proved in any other way than by suffering, and patience is united with love as has been said. Therefore bear yourselves with manly courage, for, unless you do so, you will not prove yourselves to be spouses of My Truth, and faithful children, nor of the company of those who relish the taste of My honor, and the salvation of souls." from the Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena.


This type of loving intercessory prayer is not the same as that of the victim souls. I believe victim souls are called to that special vocation from birth. We see this type of sublime holiness in the lives of such as Marthe Robin, Alexandrina da Costa, Gemma Galgani and Veronica Giuliani among others.

Victim souls have an entire life of intercession, usually through the joining of their bodies and souls to the Passion of Christ. One cannot choose to be a victim soul, as it is a vocation usually found at a very young age. 

These souls are rare people. However, the suffering explained in St. Catherine's Dialogue is also reparatory intercession, but part of a more active, and not victim soul type of vocation, In other words, we can all pray in the manner explained by God above. One can choose to offer up one's life for another, like Michael Voris' mother did for her sons, and like someone I know, a local saint, did for the conversion of her husband. The proof of God's acceptance of these heroic gestures would be the ultimate conversions of those for whom the lives were offered, and, indeed, in both cases, two men were converted through the intercessory offering.

What God is revealing to St. Catherine would be more the "ordinary" manner of intercession, involving daily courage and suffering, as well as patience, perhaps for a husband, a wife or children.

Like St. Therese, one may choose a stranger for whom to pray, but one must be careful. Several friends have told me of situations in which they took on praying for people and in the process, it became clear that these good pray-ers, simply were not holy enough to take on the type of spiritual warfare necessary.

Sometimes one is tempted to take on praying for something or someone which is simply too difficult, even too evil.

Stories of people in hell who revealed that the reason they were there was that they did not listen to friends' exhortations, or storied of people in purgatory, who asked for prayers, indicate the seriousness and need for intercessory suffering.

This week, realizing that some intercession I was doing needed more prayer and fasting, I asked God what I could do more than what I have been doing. Within hours of this prayer, my doctor put me on a low carb diet. This will be very difficult, as I have been eating a lot of poor food, like Ramen noodles,potatoes, and cheap tortillas for quesadillas, I shall need to spend more money, which I do not have yet, for more protein and less carbs. So, this is a hardship, but I definitely know this is an answer to prayer. I shall have to eat even less than what I have been, which is only two full meals a day. But, God desires this suffering for souls for whom I am interceding daily. Souls are worth every bit of hardship.

God is calling all of us to love, love, love. Patience, suffering, love...

In these virtues, we are called to become more and more like Christ in this world, and closer to Him in the next.

To be continued...

Why Prayers Are Not Answered

Many months ago, I wrote, in response to a reader's question on the efficacy of prayer, that the more one becomes holy and pure in heart, the more efficacious one's prayers become.

Thus, the saints in heaven can answer our prayers, according to God's Will, as they have merited eternal life and live in holiness and grace.

St. Catherine of Siena, a favorite on this blog, wrote in her Dialogue that the prayers for the evil and sinners in the world are not answered because those who are praying have not fulfilled the necessary steps to find holiness.

These steps form a little summary of the entire perfection series, but these are worth repeating in the context of the growing evil which is surrounding all of us.

First step: One must ask for self-knowledge, and the grace to see one's sins, imperfections and predominant fault. Only with self-knowledge can one be in the truly humble place before God in presenting prayers to Him.

Second step: Knowledge of God demands that we seek His Face, seek Him daily and answer His call to find Him in the desert of the Dark Night of both the senses and the spirit. True reparation follows this cleansing of the soul, mind, heart and body.

Here are a few selections from her work to underline these points:

Man is placed above all creatures, and not beneath them, and he cannot be satisfied or content except in something greater than himself. Greater than himself there is nothing but Myself, the Eternal God. Therefore I alone can satisfy him, and, because he is deprived of this satisfaction by his guilt, he remains in continual torment and pain. Weeping follows pain, and when he begins to weep, the wind strikes the tree of self-love, which he has made the principle of all his being.

...

So, that soul, wishing to know and follow the truth more manfully, and lifting her desires first for herself -- for she considered that a soul could not be of use, whether in doctrine, example, or prayer, to her neighbor, if she did not first profit herself, that is, if she did not acquire virtue in herself -- addressed four requests to the Supreme and Eternal Father. The first was for herself; the second for the reformation of the Holy Church; the third a general prayer for the whole world, and in particular for the peace of Christians who rebel, with much lewdness and persecution, against the Holy Church; in the fourth and last, she besought the Divine Providence to provide for things in general, and in particular, for a certain case with which she was concerned.

...

How the desire of this soul grew when God showed her the neediness of the world. This desire was great and continuous, but grew much more, when the First Truth showed her the neediness of the world, and in what a tempest of offense against God it lay. And she had understood this the better from a letter, which she had received from the spiritual Father of her soul, in which he explained to her the penalties and intolerable dolor caused by offenses against God, and the loss of souls, and the persecutions of Holy Church. All this lighted the fire of her holy desire with grief for the offenses, and with the joy of the lively hope, with which she waited for God to provide against such great evils. And, since the soul seems, in such communion, sweetly to bind herself fast within herself and with God, and knows better His truth, inasmuch as the soul is then in God, and God in the soul, as the fish is in the sea, and the sea in the fish, she desired the arrival of the morning (for the morrow was a feast of Mary) in order to hear Mass. And, when the morning came, and the hour of the Mass, she sought with anxious desire her accustomed place; and, with a great knowledge of herself, being ashamed of her own imperfection, appearing to herself to be the cause of all the evil that was happening throughout the world, conceiving a hatred and displeasure against herself, and a feeling of holy justice, with which knowledge, hatred, and justice, she purified the stains which seemed to her to cover her guilty soul, she said: "O Eternal Father, I accuse myself before You, in order that You may punish me for my sins in this finite life, and, inasmuch as my sins are the cause of the sufferings which my neighbor must endure, I implore You, in Your kindness, to punish them in my person."

...

Then, the Eternal Truth seized and drew more strongly to Himself her desire, doing as He did in the Old Testament, for when the sacrifice was offered to God, a fire descended and drew to Him the sacrifice that was acceptable to Him; so did the sweet Truth to that soul, in sending down the fire of the clemency of the Holy Spirit, seizing the sacrifice of desire that she made of herself, saying: "Do you not know, dear daughter, that all the sufferings, which the soul endures, or can endure, in this life, are insufficient to punish one smallest fault, because the offense, being done to Me, who am the Infinite Good, calls for an infinite satisfaction? However, I wish that you should know, that not all the pains that are given to men in this life are given as punishments, but as corrections, in order to chastise a son when he offends; though it is true that both the guilt and the penalty can be expiated by the desire of the soul, that is, by true contrition, not through the finite pain endured, but through the infinite desire; because God, who is infinite, wishes for infinite love and infinite grief. Infinite grief I wish from My creature in two ways: in one way, through her sorrow for her own sins, which she has committed against Me her Creator; in the other way, through her sorrow for the sins which she sees her neighbors commit against Me. Of such as these, inasmuch as they have infinite desire, that is, are joined to Me by an affection of love, and therefore grieve when they offend Me, or 16 see Me offended, their every pain, whether spiritual or corporeal, from wherever it may come, receives infinite merit, and satisfies for a guilt which deserved an infinite penalty, although their works are finite and done in finite time; but, inasmuch as they possess the virtue of desire, and sustain their suffering with desire, and contrition, and infinite displeasure against their guilt, their pain is held worthy. Paul explained this when he said: If I had the tongues of angels, and if I knew the things of the future and gave my body to be burned, and have not love, it would be worth nothing to me. The glorious Apostle thus shows that finite works are not valid, either as punishment or recompense, without the condiment of the affection of love.

Third step: Only when the soul is immersed in the love of God are prayers truly answered in power and according to His Will.

"I have shown you, dearest daughter, that the guilt is not punished in this finite time by any pain which is sustained purely as such. And I say, that the guilt is punished by the pain which is endured through the desire, love, and contrition of the heart; not by virtue of the pain, but by virtue of the desire of the soul; inasmuch as desire and every virtue is of value, and has life in itself, through Christ crucified, My only begotten Son, in so far as the soul has drawn her love from Him, and virtuously follows His virtues, that is, His Footprints. In this way, and in no other, are virtues of value, and in this way, pains satisfy for the fault, by the sweet and intimate love acquired in the knowledge of My goodness, and in the bitterness and contrition of heart acquired by knowledge of one's self and one's own thoughts. And this knowledge generates a hatred and displeasure against sin, and against the soul's own sensuality, through which, she deems herself worthy of pains and unworthy of reward." The sweet Truth continued: "See how, by contrition of the heart, together with love, with true patience, and with true humility, deeming themselves worthy of pain and unworthy of reward, such souls endure the patient humility in which consists the above-mentioned satisfaction. You ask me, then, for pains, so that I may receive satisfaction for the offenses, which are done against Me by My Creatures, and you further ask the will to know and love Me, who am the Supreme Truth. Wherefore I reply that this is the way, if you will arrive at a perfect knowledge and enjoyment of Me, the Eternal Truth, that you should never go outside the knowledge of yourself, and, by humbling yourself in the valley of humility, you will know Me and yourself, from which knowledge you will draw all that is necessary. No virtue, my daughter, can have life in itself except through charity, and humility, which is the foster-mother and nurse of charity. In self-knowledge, then, you will humble yourself, seeing that, in yourself, you do not even exist; for your very being, as you will learn, is derived from Me, since I have loved both you and others before you were in existence; and that, through the ineffable love which I had for you, wishing to re-create you to Grace, I have washed you, and re-created you in the Blood of My only-begotten Son, spilt with so great a fire of love. This Blood teaches the truth to him, who, by self-knowledge, dissipates the cloud of self-love, and in no other way can he learn. Then the soul will inflame herself in this knowledge of Me with an 17 ineffable love, through which love she continues in constant pain; not, however, a pain which afflicts or dries up the soul, but one which rather fattens her; for since she has known My truth, and her own faults, and the ingratitude of men, she endures intolerable suffering, grieving because she loves Me; for, if she did not love Me, she would not be obliged to do so; whence it follows immediately, that it is right for you, and My other servants who have learnt My truth in this way, to sustain, even unto death, many tribulations and injuries and insults in word and deed, for the glory and praise of My Name; thus will you endure and suffer pains. Do you, therefore, and My other servants, carry yourselves with true patience, with grief for your sins, and with love of virtue for the glory and praise of My Name. If you act thus, I will satisfy for your sins, and for those of My other servants, inasmuch as the pains which you will endure will be sufficient, through the virtue of love, for satisfaction and reward, both in you and in others. In yourself you will receive the fruit of life, when the stains of your ignorance are effaced, and I shall not remember that you ever offended Me. In others I will satisfy through the love and affection which you have to Me, and I will give to them according to the disposition with which they will receive My gifts. In particular, to those who dispose themselves, humbly and with reverence, to receive the doctrine of My servants, will I remit both guilt and penalty, since they will thus come to true knowledge and contrition for their sins. So that, by means of prayer, and their desire of serving Me, they receive the fruit of grace, receiving it humbly in greater or less degree, according to the extent of their exercise of virtue and grace in general. I say then, that, through your desires, they will receive remission for their sins. 

The more I pray, the more I realize how unworthy my prayers are and how far I am from meriting good for myself and others. The sufferings endured by me are only good insofar as these are united in the love of God for myself and for others.

Prayers are not answered unless a person has been stripped of ego and the selfishness of certain desires not in keeping with God's Will.

People ask me to pray for them daily, and I do. Yesterday, on my "down day",  I could get much more prayers said, more meditation and more affective contemplation done in the busy weeks prior. I thank God that I was ill so that I could be in His Presence as in the days before I came here to this little box room.

The purgation demanded by God must come before one experiences truly efficacious prayer. Here is St. Catherine again, from the words of God.

But I do not, in general, grant to these others, for whom they pray, satisfaction for the penalty due to them, but, only for their guilt, since they are not disposed, on their side, to receive, with perfect love, My love, and that of My servants. They do not receive their grief with bitterness, and perfect contrition for the sins they have committed, but with imperfect love and contrition, wherefore they have not, as others, remission of the penalty, but only of the guilt; because such complete satisfaction 18 requires proper dispositions on both sides, both in him that gives and him that receives. Wherefore, since they are imperfect, they receive imperfectly the perfection of the desires of those who offer them to Me, for their sakes, with suffering; and, inasmuch as I told you that they do receive remission, this is indeed the truth, that, by that way which I have told you, that is, by the light of conscience, and by other things, satisfaction is made for their guilt; for, beginning to learn, they vomit forth the corruption of their sins, and so receive the gift of grace. "These are they who are in a state of ordinary charity, wherefore, if they have trouble, they receive it in the guise of correction, and do not resist over much the clemency of the Holy Spirit, but, coming out of their sin, they receive the life of grace. But if, like fools, they are ungrateful, and ignore Me and the labors of My servants done for them, that which was given them, through mercy, turns to their own ruin and judgment, not through defect of mercy, nor through defect of him who implored the mercy for the ingrate, but solely through the man's own wretchedness and hardness, with which, with the hands of his free will, he has covered his heart, as it were, with a diamond, which, if it be not broken by the Blood, can in no way be broken. And yet, I say to you, that, in spite of his hardness of heart, he can use his free will while he has time, praying for the Blood of My Son, and let him with his own hand apply It to the diamond over his heart and shiver it, and he will receive the imprint of the Blood which has been paid for him. But, if he delays until the time be past, he has no remedy, because he has not used the dowry which I gave him, giving him memory so as to remember My benefits, intellect, so as to see and know the truth, affection, so that he should love Me, the Eternal Truth, whom he would have known through the use of his intellect. This is the dowry which I have given you all, and which ought to render fruit to Me, the Father; but, if a man barters and sells it to the devil, the devil, if he choose, has a right to seize on everything that he has acquired in this life. And, filling his memory with the delights of sin, and with the recollection of shameful pride, avarice, self-love, hatred, and unkindness to his neighbors (being also a persecutor of My servants), with these miseries, he has obscured his intellect by his disordinate will. Let such as these receive the eternal pains, with their horrible stench, inasmuch as they have not satisfied for their sins with contrition and displeasure of their guilt. Now, therefore, you have understood how suffering satisfies for guilt by perfect contrition, not through the finite pain; and such as have this contrition in perfection satisfy not only for the guilt, but also for the penalty which follows the guilt, as I have already said when speaking in general; and if they satisfy for the guilt alone, that is, if, having abandoned mortal sin, they receive grace, and have not sufficient contrition and love to satisfy for the penalty also, they go to the pains of Purgatory, passing through the second and last means of satisfaction. "So you see that satisfaction is made, through the desire  of the soul united to Me, who am the Infinite Good, in greater or less degree, according to the measure of love, obtained by the desire and prayer of the recipient. Wherefore, with that very same measure with which a man measures to Me, do he receive in himself the measure of My goodness. Labor, therefore, to increase the fire of your desire, and let not a moment pass without crying to Me with humble voice, or without continual prayers before Me for your neighbors. I say this to you and to the father of your soul, whom I have given you on earth. Bear yourselves with manful courage, and make yourselves dead to all your own sensuality.

Fourth step: One must pray in the Will of God. One prays for God's Perfect Will to be done, and not merely seeking one's or another's own will. Diligent prayer forms our will to God's Will. Then, things happen.

The more we have been purified, the more will be the efficacy of our prayers

to be continued...

Good Read

http://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/lgbt-activists-pour-millions-into-attacking-religious-freedom

...and I cannot raise money for a house of prayer.

Quick Note

If you have a hard time choosing or doing penances and mortification, ask God to help you. He will, indeed, give you penances and mortification.

Just a hint for today...

The Responsibility of Christians in The Market Place

Recently, I was struck by the types of things sold in religious stores, either Catholic or Christian. Now, I worked as an assistant manager in my early youth in a Catholic store, in charge of all the ordering and selling of the books, as well as curriculum. That particular shop sold religious items, pictures, medals, statues, nativity sets, etc. from Europe.

In those days, nothing "Catholic" was made in China.

In 2010, my son and I discovered faux Benedictine medals in a Catholic shop. The normal Benedictine inscription on the medals had been dropped for nonsensical letters, not the traditional Benedictine abbreviations. We told the owner, who took them off the shelf. She returned them to the company. From that time, I have been extremely careful to buy European, mostly Italian, Benedictine medals and other medals, avoiding those made in China.

Not too long ago, I had a discussion with two shop sellers, in different states, about this problem. The one store salesperson was grateful for the information, but the other, until I began to explain the problem, was defensive. She said that most of the Catholic companies have stopped buying things from Europe, as these items were more expensive.

I told her that to sell Benedictine medals without the proper inscriptions would be deceitful and misleading to the public. She then claimed she was not in charge of buying, and knew that the owner wanted to buy cheap and sell cheap.

WalMart philosophy...

At the retreat, almost a month ago, the priest giving the talks, Father Dan, told us that infestations of demons in houses, at least in one case about which he knew, was caused by faux Catholic medals being hidden in a statue depicting the Holy Family, bought at a Catholic shop, The item attracted demonic activity because of this. The statue had been made in China, and, as well, presumably, the faux medals.

Years ago, a daughter of a friend of mine was given a statue of an angel called Uriel for a confirmation present. We are not allowed to honor this angel, who is mentioned in Rabbinic and kabbalistic literature, as well as in some translation of Esdra 2. However, in the Catholic tradition, we only honor three angels, who are called saints, Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.

Several New Age and cultic "churches" honor Uriel as a modern day messenger giving gnostic knowledge to their congregations. I wrote about such a cult years ago here on this blog and warned people of one such group.

The family took the statue outside, as it was not blessed, and smashed it, throwing it away.

This summer, I have seen occultic items in Christian bookstores which are not Catholic. I have seen a Catholic bookstore which only sells statues from China, and when I discussed this with the seller, she told me some of the big companies, which use to supply religious items from Europe, now only supply Chinese items.

China hates America and Christianity, and especially Catholicism. Why should China make things for the Catholics, who buy religious items, which are good and true?

Apparently, the WalMart philosophy of cheap overcomes the philosophy of truth and goodness.

Only scholars should have Protestant Bibles in their homes for study as well. The Church in the past has been clear about the use of proper translations both in the Liturgy and in prayer meetings. Falsity comes in many forms.

We open ourselves up to demonic activity in homes by using false or heretical items. Father Dan described the exorcist destroying the false statue and medals, then exorcising the house, and the poltergeist went away. A priest is trying to help a friend of mine, who is experiencing poltergeist. He suggested the members of the family to try and find a thing which is attracting the demonic activity. Objects, as well as events, cause infestations.

Suppliers and sellers of Christian and Catholic religious items owe us not only quality products, but real products, which are truly, for example, Benedictine, or truly a saint or angel, and not false products depicting false words or images.

However, too many people who buy and sell seem ignorant or, as one shop keeper told me, the suppliers have abandoned European products.

Not me. If I need to buy a religious object, it must be made in Italy or Spain.

Spiritual warfare came occur by stealth, as well as by the obvious.

A Must See

http://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/the-vortexpolling-deceptions-from-hell

Blogging Later Today

I am still worn out from the histamine reaction and from another issue. I shall try and post later, but I may choose to have an unusual "down day".

Even supertradmums get tired once and a while.....

Another Step Closer to Global Catholic Persecution

http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/21347-globalization-of-education-producing-green-global-citizens-video

and, my thoughts exactly on this .....

http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/item/21346-cecil-the-lion-ranks-higher-than-planned-parenthood-s-baby-holocaust