Exciting News! WOW! School of the Annunciation

http://www.schooloftheannunciation.com/

And, the methodology is Benedictine

A Benedictine Initiative

Buckfast is well-known for its uniting of spirituality and education, rooted in the Benedictine tradition. Since the Rule of St Benedict first proposed that a monastery be seen as a ‘school for the Lord’s service’, dominici schola servitii, monasteries have responded to the desire for learning - both among members of their own communities and also more widely - by supporting opportunities for a deeper appreciation of the faith in the light of the Lord’s own divine teaching of his people. The School of the Annunciation is the latest in a series of initiatives reaching back to the foundation of the Abbey in 1018.

In his Historical Sketches, Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman writes of the Benedictine educational tradition at some length. He draws attention to the Benedictine characteristic of balance and harmony, and in one striking passage evokes the gradual growth of institutions rooted in patterns of prayer and scholarship and in the development of quiet friendships, together with a humble willingness to begin again without complaint, that can still inspire us today.

“St. Benedict…found the world, physical and social, in ruins, and his mission was to restore it in the way, not of science, but of nature,… not professing to do it by any set time or by any rare specific or by any series of strokes, but so quietly, patiently, gradually… Silent men were observed about the country, or discovered in the forest, digging, clearing, and building; and other silent men, not seen, were sitting in the cold cloister, tiring their eyes, and keeping their attention on the stretch, while they painfully deciphered and copied and re-copied the manuscripts which they had saved. There was no one that "contended, or cried out," or drew attention to what was going on; but by degrees the woody swamp became a hermitage, a religious house, a farm, an abbey, a village, a seminary, a school of learning, and a city…

And then, when they had in the course of many years gained their peaceful victories, perhaps some new invader came, and with fire and sword undid their slow and persevering toil in an hour…and nothing was left to them but to begin all over again; but this they did without grudging, so promptly, cheerfully, and tranquilly, as if it were by some law of nature that the restoration came, and they were like the flowers and shrubs and fruit trees which they reared, and which, when ill-treated, do not take vengeance, or remember evil, but give forth fresh branches, leaves, or blossoms, perhaps in greater profusion, and with richer quality, for the very reason that the old were rudely broken off.”

The School of the Annunciation is delighted to be able to participate in the Benedictine charism of education, with its faculty and students sharing in the rhythms of the prayer, life and study of the community.

We knew this......hard hearts

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/372236/planned-parenthood-president-when-life-begins-not-really-relevant-abortion-debate

Secret Censorship

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/google-warns-muslims-ruling-will-684425

The Glory of God in Nature

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/gallery/2014/feb/28/northern-lights-illuminate-the-uk-in-pictures-aurora-borealis?CMP=twt_gu

What?

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/372240/tenn-state-university-requires-students-wear-trackable-ids-alec-torres

Why A Catholic Cannot Discern

As many of my readers have noted, and as I have tried to put on this blog, things such as court decisions, laws passed in the States and in the EU and financial changes are snowballing rapidly. The remnant Church must be prepared for great changes. My pastor in England warned his congregation of this for the two weeks running up to the acceptance of ssm in Great Britain. Rightly so, he said our lives would never be the same if that bill passed. It did. 

If you cannot see this, you need to pray for discernment.

Discernment is a gift from God to all Catholics, connected to the virtues of Prudence, Temperance, Justice and Fortitude, which we all have.

Discernment is an absolute necessity now, in these times.

If you cannot discern the signs of the times, peaceful or dangerous situations, good or evil, you must ask yourself why you cannot discern.

Here are some reasons why a Catholic may lack discernment.

1) The person is not praying daily and enough. Discernment is honed in prayer.

2) A person is too caught up in materialism and/or consumerism. One must be honest as to whether one is pursuing God and His Ways, or comfort.

3) One may be sinning in a certain area, in a habitual sin which stops discernment. Habitual sin may be serious venial sin.

4) One is not reading spiritual books daily, such as the Doctors of the Church or the daily readings from Mass.

5) One is following a certain false teaching, such as Liberation Theology, the Gospel of Success.

6) One is following false seers and false apparitions, which is a sinful position, by the way, especially if Rome has decided on such.

http://sersaldelatierra.blogspot.com/2012_08_01_archive.html

7) One is not going to Confession weekly or at least every two weeks.

8) One is living in mortal sin, which kills the life of the soul and, therefore, discernment.

9) One is a heretic in some way, perhaps not even knowing that one is not completely orthodox, If one chooses not to be orthodox, such as maintaining a position of "informed dissent", one will lose discernment quickly.

10) One is choosing friends and companions who do not have discernment and one is following bad advice, instead of looking towards the Teaching Magisterium or seeking out wise friends.

11) One thinks that there is neutral territory in the spiritual world. There is NO neutral territory. One is either in the land of God or the land of the devil.

12) One turns against discernment again and again, and finally, the Holy Spirit leaves one to one's devices. Grace must  be followed.


Do you have discernment? If not, why not? We all must be in the position to hear God and react quickly.

Very quickly.

http://sersaldelatierra.blogspot.com/2012_08_01_archive.html

Then he saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Peter answering said to him: Thou art the Christ. Mark 8:29 DR



To be continued....

Hello, Europe

I was out all day in frigid temps and just got back. I shall post for you all tomorrow my time. God bless, and good night or good morning.....

Trending fourth in the world on twitter-millions of comments

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23londonpoo&src=hash

The Brits are SO Medieval.

Polar Vortex Day

The Polar Vortex, first identified in the 1850s, blew in last night. The wind howled for hours and hours. Today, of all days, I must go out and it is 2 above F. Not a good temperature for asthmatics.

Pray for me, as I must be out all day.

Thank you.

STM

From LifeSiteNews...Ireland has gone nutsy

DUBLIN, February 26, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Ireland’s Parliament has proposed a bill that would allow 16 year-olds to have their “gender” changed on their birth certificates and passports. The Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, said she would bring the proposal to Parliament on Tuesday.

The Gender Recognition Bill proposes to have the state recognize a person’s “acquired gender” for all purposes, including birth certificates, marriage and civil partnership registries.

The draft bill, brought forward in the summer, proposed setting the age limit at 18. But the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection criticized this, saying that 16 year-olds can consent to surgery. The government has responded with a revision that allows 16-year-olds to have their new “gender” recognized by the state with parental consent.

more here

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/irelands-trans-bill-will-grant-state-recognition-to-teens-chosen-gender

Purgatory on Earth Part Two

The consequences of sin reach out of our own souls and touch others in negative ways.  One of the main things which happens in the Dark Night is that one cannot perceive or see God as one would like.

One has had a glimpse of Love, but Love has pulled away. The reason for this is similar to the particular judgement which happens immediately when we die.

Christ reveals Himself to us and we see our sins in the face of His Purity and Goodness.

Then, if one goes to purgatory, one is deprived of the Beloved until one has paid the price of sin.

One must be totally in agony and bereft of love, after having seen Christ and then being removed from His Presence.

These words in the Song of Songs reflect the agony of those who have seen the Bridegroom and have lost Him.

Verses 6 and 7 of Chapter One:

O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions. If thou know not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth, and follow after the steps of the flocks, and feed thy kids beside the tents of the shepherds

St. Bernard of Clairvaux notes that the Bridegroom tells the the Bride that she must find out her true self, she must seek self-knowledge, and is this not what happens in purgatory?

We come to know our true selves. Purgatory gives us the opportunity to see ourselves and our sins so that we can become pure.

To be continued....

Egotism-The Enemy Within

Two posh "dos", (well, one was semi-posh), I was invited to attend ended up with me ruminating on the same phenomenon.

Both gatherings were made up of Catholic journalists, theologians, priests, and even a smattering of Anglican clergy (low church).

These gatherings centered on the work of such illustrious men and women (few of us women were at these gatherings) in either pro-life work, campus ministries, or publishing in the Catholic world.

From both meetings, I walked away sad, knowing that the enemy was within the Church. But, these meetings were not just a grouping of liberals, but also of very traditional, Latin Mass Catholics.

Therefore, the enemy within proved not to be heresy alone, or modernism.

The great evil among so many of these people were their enormous egos. That they were more concerned with building their own kingdoms, rather than the Kingdom of God, became obvious over the time I engaged in conversation with some of the invitees.

Four indications of the specter of egotism were these. One, the illustrious people mostly talked about themselves and not the Church. Little love for the one, true, holy and apostolic Church shown in conversation.

Two, the talk centered on what so-and-so was doing for the Church rather than what the Church was giving to so-and-so. Men and women seemed to think themselves absolutely necessary for the growth of Catholicism.

Egotism creates hothouse plants not apostles.

Egotism wants adulation not service.

Three, few wanted to meet new people. The comfort of the clique even came down to one famous person exclaiming out-loud, "Who is .....? Why would I want to meet him?"

Four, the status quo of the various situations in which these people were engaged proved to be more important than brainstorming about new ways to evangelize or reach more people. In other words, the continuance of their communities or kingdoms was more important than God's plans. The reason for both of the meetings should have been furthering the Kingdom of God. In reality, the meetings were a gathering of individuals who only wanted to ensure their own positions of influence and power.

Such is the problem when people choose to serve the Church without allowing God to purify them first. The saints knew this secret of success in ministry.

Service must be centered on the love of God, not the love of men, or the love of one's self.

Love defines who we are and sets us on the path of service, for God alone.

Humility is the only way to serve God and the pursuit of humility is painful. There is no getting around being humiliated.

None.

(A few days after I wrote this piece, I had a sinking feeling that egotism is also the sin keeping people from forming communities. I had written several posts on community formation, which one can find under that label. Sadly, being in several gatherings recently and attempting to speak of community, I realized that the past two generations of Gen-Xers and Millennials may be too individualistic in their own ideas and set in their own materialistic ways to sacrifice for a community. I shall come back to this later.)

To be continued....

England? What Happened?

http://www.vocativ.com/02-2014/someone-facebook-near-likes-jihad/

Narcissism-The Victory of The Peter Pans

The Age of The Laity Is Not A Liberal Trend

It seems ironic to me that men in families, even fathers, continue the "blame-game" towards priests, laying all the evils of the Church at the feet of the clerical shepherds. There has been a demise of the Church Militant among men.

The lay shepherds truly must face the fact that they have been part of the weakening of the Church as well. The "blame game" needs to start in the home. 

Over and over, I have tried to encourage the laity to see that the call of the Holy Spirit in this age of the laity is a real call, not a liberal trend. God knew from all time the weaknesses, the sins of the clergy which would happen in these times, and led the Church to emphasize the role of the laity. There is a reason for this. Just as Pope Francis wants more emphasis on the local Church, so too, we must have a mindset of building up the local Church.

We may very well not have clergy in our parishes, or even in our dioceses. I wrote a long time ago that dioceses may disappear, totally.

We must rise to this challenge, and stop moaning and complaining about bad clerical shepherds.

There are just as many, if not more, bad lay shepherds.

We have witnessed the collapse of the protector lay shepherd.

That churches will close, that schools have compromised the Faith, that liberal Catholics have seized the centers of catechesis is not merely a problem of the clergy, but of the laity.

That men complain of too many women in chancery offices. Stop complaining and get the degrees necessary to work in these offices.  Decide to let your family live more simply in order for the wage-earner man to work in the Church.

The key to understanding the process of all these decisions may be located in one word, sacrifice.

A good man may have to decide to allow his family not to follow the American Dream, which is a false construct and not based on Catholic Thinking.

Yesterday, I was discussing family dynamics in this day and age with a holy priest. He noted that the main impetus pushing decisions of fathers in even so-called good Catholics families has been materialism, (or consumerism). Catholic dads have fallen into the trap of putting financial decisions, or decisions concerning status of the family, before those necessary decisions directly involved with developing a spiritual life of the family.

To clarify this point, and to show the faulty thinking of many Catholic dads, one can look at five areas of the corruption of Catholic thinking into complete materialistic thinking.

The first area of concern has to do with where some dads have chosen to live. My father moved into a neighborhood so that we could easily get to Catholic schools, both elementary and secondary. Having access to good Catholic schools may be a priority to some Catholics who would not consider how important the entire Catholic school community may thrive simply by people living in close proximity to one another.

This ideal may be connected to the fact that people do not move near one another for the sake of community.

We did this in the 1970s, by watching when houses came up for sale in a neighborhood and phoning those in the community to consider the houses. That many families would move into a neighborhood was called "banding", as in banding together.  Many community relationships were built up simply by people not having to travel any distances to see each other during the week.

Dads must consider not merely the status of living in suburbia, but the larger needs which the families will face in hard times. Living close to real Catholic families must become a priority again.  Status must bend to the needs of the domestic church.

A second area of concern is the choosing of jobs for a higher wage rather than considering family time as a necessity. The domestic church take time to build up, time which must be a priority as we all face the growth of persecution. The formation of children in the virtues has to be a priority of the father, not merely the mother.

I have spoken with a father in recent days whose jobs has odd, irregular hours. He cannot always be home at the same time. Without a set schedule, his children suffer from the lack of the family rosary and even attending Mass together on Sunday, as he must work on Sundays.

Sadly, this state will not be able to be rectified in the near future. The domestic church cannot grow in chaos. Sometimes, a dad may not have a choice regarding jobs, but if he does, family prayer time and the formation of virtues among children must take precedence over all other considerations. This may mean the dad allowing the family to live a lower standard of comfort.

A dad must choose not to waste free time with trivia, as the days of trivia are quickly passing.

This note leads to the third area of concern. One dad I have spoken with in the past three months told me that he was cutting out computer time, reading blogs and twittering in order to give more time for prayer and leading his family. I admire his decision. He said that he realized that his own spiritual growth had to be a priority if his family would be able to grow in virtue. The shepherd must be purified to lead the sheep to such.

The proverbial "couch potato" dad cannot be a true shepherd. Children do not automatically become saints.

Another area of concern has to do with the sad, sad ideal of American families which involves a gross type of independence, which keeps them from being open to other Catholic families.

I have written before about the fact that family relationships can become idolatrous-the Kingdom of God comes first, not extended non-religious families.  Those who choose to build the Kingdom sometimes must leave family members behind for a greater good. 

The last area of concern, which can stop real community building in a parish, and I see this particularly in TLM communities, is an snobbery concerning the poor. Too many trads fall into the horrible habit of judging those in their churches. I have seen this again and again. A middle class couple may judge someone who wears jean skirts, or needs a ride, or does not socialize by eating out at restaurants, as the persons cannot afford this. Instead of inviting and even paying for lunches, people are excluded from discussion groups after Mass attended by the middle class. I think part of the problem is the loss of the large families of the past, which gathered people in. Adults raised in small families have problems reaching out.

I am not sure of all the reasons why many of the TLM groups or other faithful Catholics,  are not forming into real communities, where people relate on a daily basis and help each other both spiritually and physically. 

But, unless this happens, many people will be swept away in the horrible times to come either out of fear, or from a lack of support.


Dads, how you lead your families to God when your local churches look like these photos?


See the other posts on community building and on men.....

The Growth of Evil and Not Following The Charisma of A Founder

In the city, the suburbs, in the country, I am seeing the permissive will of God unfolding to create a temporary state of victory of evil. Why this is being allowed by God can only mean a purification of the Church in a manner not seen before on the earth.

God is Love and Mercy. We are made in the image and likeness of God. Our faculties can be bent to move away from God by small decisions which cloud our discernment and will. One of the problems is that lay people are making decisions as if there is no change in the Church or in society, as if they were living in the 1950s.

This ostrich mentality must change or two things will happen. One, a person will not be ready physically for the challenges of a time of trial. Two, people will not be ready spiritually.

To pretend we are not on the cusp of one of the worst times of persecution. And, if you do not think people have their heads in the sand, just look at this. I am personally fed up with EWTN. More and more, the station has moved away from the cutting edge. prophetical tone set by Mother Angelica and become a Catholic main stream media, emphasizing trivia and not tackling the real issues of the day.

from Rorate:

*Update (0130 GMT): In an amazingly intolerant attitude, EWTN's National Catholic Register removed the post above minutes after it was posted by Patrick Archbold. This reminds us of the pure words of Benedict XVI exactly on this same affair, in a letter fully written by the Pope Emeritus personally:

Certainly, for some time now, and once again on this specific occasion, we have heard from some representatives of that community many unpleasant things – arrogance and presumptuousness, an obsession with one-sided positions, etc. Yet to tell the truth, I must add that I have also received a number of touching testimonials of gratitude which clearly showed an openness of heart. But should not the great Church also allow herself to be generous in the knowledge of her great breadth, in the knowledge of the promise made to her? Should not we, as good educators, also be capable of overlooking various faults and making every effort to open up broader vistas? And should we not admit that some unpleasant things have also emerged in Church circles? At times one gets the impression that our society needs to have at least one group to which no tolerance may be shown; which one can easily attack and hate. And should someone dare to approach them – in this case the Pope – he too loses any right to tolerance; he too can be treated hatefully, without misgiving or restraint.

In this case, not the Pope Emeritus, but poor Pat Archbold. EWTN's National Catholic Register and their intolerance justproved Benedict XVI right - one more time! It cannot be that Pentecostals have full presence in their paper, and their own Catholic brothers and sisters (whose priests are in an irregular situation, but are still priests, celebrating Catholic sacraments every single day) do not. How can unity ever be achieved thus? Curiously enough, we are pretty confident that Francis would be the first to reject this demeaning level of servility and sycophancy.

*Second Update (0230 GMT): Mr. Archbold's article can now be found in his own personal website, here.

                    

Another good read

http://www.catholicbandita.com/so-a-friend-has-asked-me-to-write-about-az-sb-1062/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+catholicbandita%2Fjesus+%28Catholic+Bandita%29

Five Year Old Clarifications In Case You Missed These

APOSTOLIC LETTER "MOTU PROPRIO" OMNIUM IN MENTEM OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF BENEDICT XVI ON SEVERAL AMENDMENTS TO THE CODE OF CANON LAW             The Apostolic Constitution Sacrae Disciplinae Leges, promulgated on 25 January 1983, reminded everyone that the Church, as a community which is at once spiritual and visible, and also hierarchically structured, requires juridical norms, "so that the exercise of the tasks divinely entrusted to her, especially the exercise of sacred power and of the administration of the sacraments, may be properly organized". The norms ought to reflect, on the one hand, the unity between theological doctrine and canonical legislation, and, on the other, the pastoral usefulness of the prescriptions whereby ecclesiastical ordinances are directed to the good of souls. The more effectively to safeguard this necessary doctrinal unity and pastoral purpose, the Church's supreme authority, after careful deliberation, decides, from time to time, to make suitable changes or to introduce additions to the canonical norms. This is the reason that has led me to promulgate the present Letter, which concerns two issues. First, in can. 1008 and can. 1009 of the Code of Canon Law, on the sacrament of Holy Orders, the essential distinction between the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood is reaffirmed, while the difference between the episcopate, the presbyterate and the diaconate is made clear. Inasmuch as my venerable Predecessor John Paul II, after consulting the Fathers of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ordered that the text of n. 1581 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church be modified in order better to convey the teaching on deacons found in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium of the Second Vatican Council (n. 29), I have determined that the canonical norm concerning this subject should likewise be adjusted. Consequently, after hearing the view of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, I decree that the words of the aforementioned canons are to be modified as set forth below. Since the sacraments are the same for the entire Church, the supreme authority of the Church alone is competent to approve or define what is required for their validity and to determine the rites to be observed in their celebration (cf. can. 841). All this is equally applicable to the form to be observed in the celebration of marriage, if at least one of the parties has been baptized in the Catholic Church (cf. cann. 11 and 1108). The Code of Canon Law nonetheless prescribes that the faithful who have left the Church "by a formal act" are not bound by the ecclesiastical laws regarding the canonical form of marriage (cf.can. 1117), dispensation from the impediment of disparity of cult (cf. can. 1086) and the need for permission in the case of mixed marriages (cf. can. 1124). The underlying aim of this exception from the general norm of can. 11 was to ensure that marriages contracted by those members of the faithful would not be invalid due to defect of form or the impediment of disparity of cult. Experience, however, has shown that this new law gave rise to numerous pastoral problems. First, in individual cases the definition and practical configuration of such a formal act of separation from the Church has proved difficult to establish, from both a theological and a canonical standpoint. In addition, many difficulties have surfaced both in pastoral activity and the practice of tribunals. Indeed, the new law appeared, at least indirectly, to facilitate and even in some way to encourage apostasy in places where the Catholic faithful are not numerous or where unjust marriage laws discriminate between citizens on the basis of religion. The new law also made difficult the return of baptized persons who greatly desired to contract a new canonical marriage following the failure of a preceding marriage. Finally, among other things, many of these marriages in effect became, as far as the Church is concerned, "clandestine" marriages. In light of the above, and after carefully considering the views of the Fathers of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, as well as those of the Bishops' Conferences consulted with regard to the pastoral advantage of retaining or abrogating this exception from the general norm of can. 11, it appeared necessary to eliminate this norm which had been introduced into the corpus of canon law now in force. Therefore I decree that in the same Code the following words are to be eliminated: "and has not left it by a formal act" (can. 1117); "and has not left it by means of a formal act" (can. 1086 § 1); "and has not left it by a formal act" (can. 1124). Likewise, having heard the views of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, and after inquiry among my venerable brethren, the Cardinals of Holy Roman Church in charge of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, I decree the following: Art. 1. The text of can. 1008 of the Code of Canon Law is modified so that hereafter it will read: "By divine institution, some of the Christian faithful are marked with an indelible character and constituted as sacred ministers by the sacrament of holy orders. They are thus consecrated and deputed so that, each according to his own grade, they may serve the People of God by a new and specific title"; Art 2. Henceforth can. 1009 of the Code of Canon Law will have three paragraphs. In the first and the second of these, the text of the canon presently in force are to be retained, whereas the new text of the third paragraph is to be worded so that can. 1009 § 3 will read: "Those who are constituted in the order of the episcopate or the presbyterate receive the mission and capacity to act in the person of Christ the Head, whereas deacons are empowered to serve the People of God in the ministries of the liturgy, the word and charity". Art. 3. The text of can. 1086 § 1 of the Code of Canon Law is modified as follows: "A marriage between two persons, one of whom was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, and the other of whom is not baptized, is invalid". Art. 4. The text of can. 1117 of the Code of Canon Law is modified as follows: "The form prescribed above must be observed if at least one of the parties contracting the marriage was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it, without prejudice to the provisions of can. 1127 § 2". Art. 5. The text of can. 1124 of the Code of Canon Law is modified as follows: "Marriage between two baptized persons, one of whom was baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it after baptism, and the other a member of a Church or ecclesial community not in full communion with the Catholic Church, cannot be celebrated without the express permission of the competent authority". All that I have laid down in this Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio, I now order to have the force of law, anything whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding, even if worthy of particular mention, and I direct that it be published in the official gazette Acta Apostolicae Sedis. Given in Rome, at St Peter's, on 26 October in the year 2009, the fifth of my Pontificate. BENEDICTUS PP. XVI © Copyright 2009 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Excellent-Must Reads on Gay Lifestyle

http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/papal-theologian-treating-homosexuals-with-dignity-means-telling-them-the-t

and more good stuff  http://www.firstthings.com/article/2014/03/against-heterosexuality

I am not my sin. I am not my temptation to sin. By the blood of Jesus Christ, I have been liberated from this bondage. I will have all sorts of identities, to be sure, especially in our crazily over-psychoanalytic age. But at the very least, none of these identities should be essentially defined by my attraction to that which separates me from God.

A Personal Interpretation

When Pope Benedict went to Fatima in 2010, he said this, “May the seven years which separate us from the centenary of the apparitions hasten the fulfillment of the prophecy of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of May, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity.”

There are two groups of people who see this statement in two very different lights.

The first is mostly made up of those who believe in Medjugorje and think that the Church is entering into a time of triumphant success, with thousands of priests being ordained and millions converting, beginning a new age of the Catholic Monarchy.

A second group are those who believe that this statement has something to do with the specific third secret of Fatima.

I am in a group of one. My own idea has been this. The Immaculate Heart of Mary is completely pure. A triumph of her heart to me means the purification of the Church through suffering and trials. That the Church coming out of terrible persecutions would be purified and full of saints would a triumph of her Immaculate Heart.

A reminder...

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html

http://news.investors.com/politics-obamacare/101813-675710-100-school-districts-blame-obamacare-for-cuts-to-work-hours.htm?utm_content=buffer42fab&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

Irish Memorare Count Again

Keep them coming--up to 83,199.

St. Therese The Little Flower on Purgatory One

A great article..http://www.franciscan-ofs.net/ap/litfwrpu.htm

Most priests do not encourage people to avoid purgatory. Some think it is dangerous to ask God to skip purgatory. I think this is a mistake. I firmly believe, studying the Doctors and those who have written on perfection, that we cannot build up the Church without first coming into a perfection on earth-at least the Illuminative State.

And, if we are willing to come into perfection now, we are willing to ask God to purged us now, thus avoiding purgatory. Those who are canonized saints went straight to heaven when they died. Can we not desire this as well and do good deeds to merit such?

St. Therese the Little Flower believed this was so. When a sister in the convent thought that one could not avoid purgatory, she answered:

You do not have enough trust. You have too much fear before the good God. I can assure you that He is grieved over this. You should not fear Purgatory because of the suffering there, but should instead ask that you not deserve to go there in order to please God, Who so reluctantly imposes this punishment. As soon as you try to please Him in everything and have an unshakable trust He purifies you every moment in His love and He lets no sin remain. And then you can be sure that you will not have to go to Purgatory.^5r



"Oh! How you grieve me! You do a great injury to God in believing you're going to Purgatory. When we love, we can't go there."⁶

"I know that of myself I would not merit even to enter that place of expiation since only holy souls can have entrance there. But I also know that the Fire of Love is more sanctifying than is the tire of Purgatory. I know that Jesus cannot desire useless sufferings for us, and that He would not inspire the longings I feel unless He wanted to grant them."¹³

Voting: Which One Do My Readers Like The Best? Poll Alert Time!

a

b

c

d

e

Do you want to avoid purgatory?

from HOW TO AVOID PURGATORY

By Fr. Paul O'Sullivan https://www.ewtn.com/library/SPIRIT/AVOIDPRG.TXT

One section:

TO AVOID PURGATORY, DO AS FOLLOWS

1. In every prayer you say, every Mass you hear, every Communion you
receive, every good work you perform, have the express intention of
imploring God to grant you a holy and happy death and no Purgatory. Surely
God will hear a prayer said with such confidence and perseverance.

2. Always wish to do God's will. It is in every sense the best for you.
When you do or seek anything that is not God's will, you are sure to
suffer. Say fervently, therefore, each time you recite the Our Father: "Thy
will be done"

3. Accept all the sufferings, sorrows, pains and disappointments of life,
be they great or small: ill health, loss of goods, the death of your dear
ones, heat or cold, rain or sunshine, as coming from God. Bear them calmly
and patiently for love of Him and in penance for your sins. Of course one
may use all his efforts to ward off trouble and pain, but when one cannot
avoid them let him bear them manfully.

Impatience and revolt make sufferings vastly greater and more difficult to
bear.

4. Christ's life and actions are so many lessons for us to imitate.

The greatest act in His life was His Passion. As He had a Passion, so each
one of us has a passion. Our passion consists in the sufferings and labours
of every day. The penance God imposed on man for sin was to gain his bread
in the sweat of his brow. Therefore, let us do our work, accept its
disappointments and hardships, and bear our pains in union with the Passion
of Christ. We gain more merit by a little pain than by years of pleasure.

5. Forgive all injuries and offences, for in proportion as we forgive
others, God forgives

us.

6. Avoid mortal sins and deliberate venial sins and break off all bad
habits. Then it will be relatively easy to satisfy God's justice for sins
of frailty. Above all, avoid sins against charity and against chastity,
whether in thought, word or deed, for these sins [and the expiation for
them] are the reason why many souls are detained in Purgatory for long
years.

7. If afraid of doing much, do many little things, acts of kindness and
charity, give the alms you can, cultivate regularity of life, method in
work, and punctuality in the performance of duty; don't grumble or complain
when things are not as you please; don't censure and complain of others;
never refuse to do a favour to others when it is possible.

These and suchlike little acts are a splendid penance.

8. Do all in your power for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Pray for them
constantly, get others to do so, join the Association of the Holy Souls and
ask all those you know to do likewise. The Holy Souls will repay you most
generously.

9. There is no way more powerful of obtaining from God a most holy and
happy death than by weekly Confession, daily Mass and daily Communion.

10. A daily visit to the Blessed Sacrament--it need only be three or four
minutes--is an easy way of obtaining the same grace. Kneeling in the
presence of Jesus with eyes fixed on the Tabernacle, sure that He is
looking at us, let us for a few minutes repeat some little prayer like
these: "My Jesus, mercy." "My Jesus, have pity on me, a sinner" "My Jesus,
I love You" "My Jesus, give me a happy death"

Do not like- do like

I do not like coyotes.

They eat cats and other pets.

They eat calves in calving season.

They kill Whitetail Deer

They howl hideously.


I like wolves.

I saw two wolves in winter fur in 2000 here in Iowa, about an hour from where I am now.

Sadly, both were killed on the highway.

And, still, some rectors allow homosexuals into the seminaries....

St. Peter Damian, Book of Gomorrah: An Eleventh-Century Treatise against Clerical Homosexual Practices:  

"Without fail, it brings death to the body and destruction to the soul. It pollutes the flesh, extinguishes the light of the mind, expels the Holy Spirit from the temple of the human heart, and gives entrance to the devil, the stimulator of lust. It leads to error, totally removes truth from the deluded mind ... It opens up hell and closes the gates of paradise ... It is this vice that violates temperance, slays modesty, strangles chastity, and slaughters virginity ... It defiles all things, sullies all things, pollutes all things ... "This vice excludes a man from the assembled choir of the Church ... it separates the soul from God to associate it with demons. This utterly diseased queen of Sodom renders him who obeys the laws of her tyranny infamous to men and odious to God.  She strips her knights of the armor of virtue, exposing them to be pierced by the spears of every vice ... She humiliates her slave in the church and condemns him in court; she defiles him in secret and dishonors him in public; she gnaws at his conscience like a worm and consumes his flesh like fire. ... this unfortunate man (he) is deprived of all moral sense, his memory fails, and the mind's vision is darkened. Unmindful of God, he also forgets his own identity. This disease erodes the foundation of faith, saps the vitality of hope, dissolves the bond of love. It makes way with justice, demolishes fortitude, removes temperance, and blunts the edge of prudence. Shall I say more?"

Undermining NSA-new cable, new blackphones...........

http://news.yahoo.com/brazil-presses-eu-undersea-cable-skirt-u-links-115123537--finance.html;_ylt=AwrTWfz.cAtT4nwACq3QtDMD

http://news.yahoo.com/mobile-privacy-sells-post-snowden-world-134136822--finance.html;_ylt=AwrBEiJknQtTwxwAU9_QtDMD

DUH!

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/24/chuck-hagel-shrink-army-pre-wwii-levels-report/#.UwuUjIUlR90.twitter


So, are we just letting China become the new superpower colonizer?

Trouble with NYC and Genocide

http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2014/elective-genocide.html

A good bishop

http://clarionherald.info/clarion/index.php/news/archbishop-aymond/2992-planned-parenthood-abortion-clinic-we-cannot-cooperate-with-evil

I am ashamed I voted for this man once

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/199038-mccain-urges-arizona-gov-to-veto-anti-gay-bill

Readers, VIP Petition

http://ffcoalition.com/

http://www.donotsilenceus.org/

On Josephite Marriages, Again

I have written about this before and have recently re-posted my original article on Josephite Marriages. Almost monthly, I am meeting couples who have chosen this way of holiness, as I noted in the first article I wrote two years ago.

Some saintly couples already noted on this blog chose Josephite Marriages, and I mentioned a fictional couple in my novella, who chose such a lifestyle.

As times become more perilous, couples may consider this path of holiness. Most of the couples I know who have chosen this path are just beyond child-bearing age. In other words, they made the decision to be completely chaste. As they had given God children, as expected from good Catholics, and as one of the huge reasons for marital relations no longer was possible, these couples prayed and spoke with spiritual directors about their decision.

The couples prayed first, of course, and came to the decision together, first.

As is most obvious, a Josephite Marriage is named after St. Joseph, who did not have marital relations with the Blessed Virgin Mary. This marriage was completely celibate, and some Josephite marriages are so.

There is a confusion among some modern people on the validity of a Josephite, or non-consummated marriages, unlike the ones described above. If a couple is married in the Church and has been living together for a length of time, the marriage is assumed consummated. A Josephite Marriage is called ratum tantum in Canon Law. Note, that when a couple are married in the Nuptial Mass, or with the Nuptial Blessing, they are "married".  In the Church today, a non-consummated marriage must still be the subject of an annulment if a party decides to leave the marriage, divorce, and re-marry.

One may reference this post and others under the tag, "marriage" on this blog for more information.

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2012/01/unusual-controversial-catholic-subject.html

Good news, imo

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2014/02/pope-francis-creates-financial-watchdog-dicastery-headed-by-card-pell-secretariat-for-the-economy/

The Catholic "New Army"

I was musing in the middle of the night and this morning. Those of you who have written to me that you cannot find real Catholic mates, especially those of you who love the TLM, may I say that I think God is raising up an army-a new army.

This is not Cromwell's New Army, but Christ's New Army. This army will be made up of all those singles, in some places, up to 33%, who, for some reason or other, cannot find the woman or the man who God has called to be a husband, has not found the woman. As that finding is blocked or thwarted, one can choose other possibilities.

Singles, let me challenge you to begin a New Order of prayer, fasting and daily Mass, if possible. Go to Confession weekly, but most importantly, pray for Holy Mother Church.

Recently, I have become aware of the power of Mary under the title of Virgo Potens. I have only found on not so attractive print of her under that title.

Perhaps some enterprising young single can draw a new Virgo Potens based on the print at the side of this blog.

But, imagine, an army of dedicated singles who love God first, and are willing to suffer for the Faith, setting aside pleasure and personal gain for the Kingdom of God.

I imagine these singles choosing to be in this New Army by pursuing perfection, perhaps even using the 600 plus posts on this blog on the journey to perfection. I do not see this New Army as part of the corrupt and compromised old groupings of third orders or even worldly oblates.

Do not waste time with those who do not want perfection and who desire detente with the world,

What say you?

Can you imagine such a staunch New Army of those who love Christ so much that they chose God's Will first in the world, always?

Do not waste your singleness, if you cannot get married or do not think you have a call to the priesthood or religious life. Do not waste grace.

Repeat Post

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

The Shock of the Real

It dawned on me today that Christ did not correct Martha because she was making the dinner or getting the wine, or setting the table. No.

He corrected her because she was not listening. Martha was in a bubble world of busyness. She had created that bubble. Her bubble stopped her from hearing Christ. She preferred her bubble world to the reality of The Son of God. Her bubble insulated her from listening to whatever was outside. Her mind was talking, talking, talking about food, dishes, wine, water...whatever while the God of Gods was sitting in her living room.

One can listen while one is doing chores. The beauty of the Benedictine life is such that prayer continues into work, as work is done, if it is done as it should be, in silence.

Mary was silent in her interior life. Her mind and heart were not "busy". She knew how to quiet herself in order to hear God.

She waited to hear Christ. Martha could have been listening while she was DOING. One can learn to do this. One can teach one's self and ask God for the grace to hear Him all day long. To be in His Presence is the shock of the real...........

But, apparently, Martha was not "in the presence of Christ". Her mind and heart and soul were full of anxiety and fretting. She became angry and frustrated because Mary was listening to Christ. Oh my....!

That is why Christ corrected her.

One of my Benedictine mentors wrote something apropos my comments on silence.

Talking most of the day creates a bubble in the mind and around the soul which separates one from reality.

He noted that silence and reflection are absolutely necessary for both discernment and problem solving.

He went on to emphasize that silence is necessary for salvation.

Wow.

False wisdom, false sense of superiority, fantasy and escapism form the soul and these things abound in talk, talk, talk.

We do not face ourselves or the reality of others is speech.

I have seen that conversation which bears fruit involves silence and thinking skills, as well as prayer.

We interfere with our capacity to find salvation if we talk too much or listen to talking too much.

Thanks to Orthowiki

Women need more conversation than men, but that need can be exaggerated. In stillness, we can solve many problems. Martha had to learn how to slow down, even stop, and listen to God.


God wants to enter into our hearts, minds and souls, but He can not if we are always listening to something or someone, or talking.

God will not interrupt us, unless by illness or even death. Seriously, we sometimes need the shock of the real in order to hear God.

How sad. How very unnecessary. We could be listening all day long in the solitude of our minds and hearts. If we do not learn how to do this, we may lose our very souls.

Here is the Orthodox prayers for the feast of Martha and Mary in the summer. Mary had the gift of wisdom and Martha learned, but Christ had to correct her. We hear that correction down to this present day.

Let us not pass up God because our minds and hearts and souls are too full of busyness.

Calm down, take a deep breath, trust in God, and wait in silence for the coming of Christ this Lent.

Be not shocked by the real. "Be real and face the situation", as a friend of mine use to say a long time ago. He is now a priest.

Troparion (Tone 3)

You fervently believed in Christ and His marvelous acts,

O Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus.

You were adorned with radiant virtues

and were found worthy to be numbered with the saints;

together with holy Lazarus pray to God for us.

Apolytikion (Tone 3)

Since ye believed in Christ with strong and ardent faith,

and ever worshipped His divine and mighty deeds,

ye both adorned yourselves with all the splendour of sacred virtues.

With your holy brother now,

ye are also vouchsafed to dwell with the ranks of Saints on high,

O ye sisters of Lazarus;

and with him, O wise Mary and Martha,

ye pray for us all unto the Master.

Kontakion (Tone 3)

In the town of Bethany, ye dwelt of old;

now in Heaven ye abide in Paradise,

where our Lord's countenance shineth.

For ye gave your hearts and souls up with fervent longing

unto Him that is the Life and the Resurrection;

as ye stand on high, O Mary and Martha,

pray Him to grant salvation to us.

Poem for Late February

Monoceros leaps in the sky unnoticed
as the night sisters spin in silent dancing

teasing Gemini, seeking the soft lights
of far away objects. The father of the

horizon, Jupiter, reminds me of mortality
bright planet resting in faint mist over

the river. I want to see Orion rise again
outside the haze, but barely see Sirius

in the changing sky. How clear the Hunter
was sixteen months ago, over the sea

but here, in farming land, Strider takes
a second place in dust and shadows.

I wait for a better night, for clarity in this
dark night of semi-hidden beauty. No one

answers the call for delineations, so I try
to be patient, knowing that the stars will

one night appear distinctly white again. The
Unicorn disappears into a secret garden,

beyond the line of trees lining the river.
I am left alone.

Moral Discussion Three; Yes, Virginia, There is a Purgatory

My perfection series from the viewpoint of the various authors, including the Doctors of Church, includes the truth that only the perfect see God. If one is not purified on this earth, one must be purified in another place. The purification of the senses and the spirit may happen here on this earth. This is according to God's Will, but one may pursue and ask God to help one cooperate with purification here and now.

As noted, the upbuilding of the Church, the Kingdom of God, cannot happen if a bunch of Catholics with strong egos are running around doing there own thing.

Egotism destroys the Church from within. Period.

The soul is purified from sin and the tendencies of sin, but also from something called "the moral matter". The moral matter includes the effects of sin, about which most people do not think.

Even after a sin is confessed and forgiven, the moral matter must be examined. Here is the Catholic Encyclopedia on this point.

The first effect of mortal sin in man is to avert him from his true last end, and deprive his soul of sanctifying grace. The sinful act passes, and the sinner is left in a state of habitual aversion fromGod. The sinful state is voluntary and imputable to the sinner, because it necessarily follows from the act of sin he freely placed, and it remains until satisfaction is made (see PENANCE). This state of sin is called by theologians habitual sin, not in the sense that habitual sin implies a vicioushabit, but in the sense that it signifies a state of aversion from God depending on the preceding actual sin, consequently voluntary and imputable. This state of aversion carries with it necessarily in the present order of God's providence the privation of grace and charity by means of which manis ordered to his supernatural end. The privation of grace is the "macula peccati" (St. Thomas, I-II.86), the stain of sin spoken of in Scripture (Joshua 22:17; Isaiah 4:4; 1 Corinthians 6:11). It is not anything positive, a quality or disposition, an obligation to suffer, an extrinsic denomination coming from sin, but is solely the privation of sanctifying grace. There is not a real but only a conceptual distinction between habitual sin (reatus culpæ) and the stain of sin (macula peccati). One and the same privation considered as destroying the due order of man to God is habitual sin, considered as depriving the soul of the beauty of grace is the stain or "macula" of sin.

The second effect of sin is to entail the penalty of undergoing suffering (reatus pænæ). Sin (reatus culpæ) is the cause of this obligation (reatus pænæ ). The suffering may be inflicted in this life through the medium of medicinal punishments, calamities, sickness, temporal evils, which tend to withdraw from sin; or it may be inflicted in the life to come by the justice of God as vindictive punishment. The punishments of the future life are proportioned to the sin committed, and it is the obligation of undergoing this punishment for unrepented sin that is signified by the "reatus poenæ" of the theologians. The penalty to be undergone in the future life is divided into the pain of loss (pæna damni) and the pain of sense (pæna sensus). The pain of loss is the privation of the beatific vision of God in punishment of turning away from Him. The pain of sense is suffering in punishment of the conversion to some created thing in place of God. This two-fold pain in punishment of mortal sin is eternal (1 Corinthians 6:9; Matthew 25:41; Mark 9:45). One mortal sin suffices to incur punishment. (See HELL.) Other effects of sins are: remorse of conscience (Wisdom 5:2-13); an inclination towards evil, as habits are formed by a repetition of similar acts; a darkening of the intelligence, a hardening of the will (Matthew 13:14-15; Romans 11:8); a general vitiating of nature, which does not however totally destroy the substance and faculties of the soul but merely weakens the right exercise of its faculties.

The point is this. That sin affects the heart, the intellect, the imagination, the soul. We cannot be purified without dealing with all of the faculties which were involved in sin. All those faculties must be purified after one receives the sacrament of Reconciliation.

To admit that the faculties have been affected involves a growth in humility. Even many years after a sin has been committed and forgiven, the moral matter of sin must be confronted if there are areas in the person which have not been purified.

A good confessor must be found.

Honesty is absolutely necessary.

Frequent confession and frequent Communion aid in the discernment of the moral matter.

One more time, the CCC.

III. THE FINAL PURIFICATION, OR PURGATORY

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.⁶⁰⁶ The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:⁶⁰⁷

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.⁶⁰⁸

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."⁶⁰⁹ From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.⁶¹⁰ The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.⁶¹¹

Check these posts out as well. Again, apologies for font problems...day of the gremlins....

^{http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-short-treatise-on-grace-moving.html}

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-sufficient-grace-part-two.html

^{http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/grace-part-three-merit-and-holiness.html}

^{http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/part-four-grace-and-salvation-for-all.html}

^{http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-efficacious-grace-part-five-on-mini.html}