Feast of Our Lady of The Holy Rosary

Celebrated today in the EF, this feast is called an "feast" and the TLM I just attended was truly beautiful.

Singing, superb. Ambiance, superb. Sermon, out of this world

I hear the best sermon I have heard in 40 years live.

Why?

Because the young priest was honest about enemies inside and outside the Church, sparing no names and referring to the euphemistic Turks as Muslims, which they were and are.

I heard a real call to holiness, to leadership, to the renewal of the Church and the defense of the Church.

God bless this young priest.

Note to A Byzantine Reader

A Byzantine Catholic sent me a note and the email sent is not working, as you wanted a response. Can you re-send your email, please?

STM

Hello to Readers in Italy

Blessed Alvero del Portillo

As most of you know by now, one saint I have prayed to for my needs has been Blessed Alvero del Portillo, who was recognized as a blessed last week.

Here is a video of the Mass. I ask you all, dear readers, to beg him for a miracle for my immigration needs. If he answers this one prayer, I shall honor him on this blog and also share with you all the details.

I need a miracle.

http://opusdei.us/en-us/video/beatication-of-alvaro-del-portillo/

And here is, again, the prayer for you to use on my behalf, please

O God, merciful Father, you granted your servant Alvaro, Bishop, the grace of being an exemplary pastor in the service of the Church, and a most faithful son and successor of Saint Josemaría, the founder of Opus Dei. Grant that I too may respond faithfully to the demands of the Christian vocation, turning all the circumstances and events of my life into opportunities to love you and serve the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Deign to glorify your servant Álvaro, and through his intercession grant me the favor I request ... (here make your petition). Amen.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.

In conformity with the decrees of Pope Urban VIII, we declare that there is no intention of anticipating in any way the judgment of the Church, and that this prayer is not intended for public use.

Letter from the Pope on Blessed Alvero, with my boldface type:

Dear Brother,

The beatification of the Servant of God Álvaro del Portillo, faithful collaborator of St Josemaría Escrivá and his first successor at the head of Opus Dei, is a moment of special joy for all the faithful of the Prelature, and also for you, who were for so long a witness of his love for God and others, and his fidelity to the Church and to his vocation. I too wish to unite myself to your joy and to thank God, who embellishes the face of the Church with the holiness of her children.

His beatification will take place in Madrid, the city where he was born and spent his childhood and youth. Here his life began to take shape in the simplicity of family life, through friendship and service to others, as when he went to outlying districts to help provide human and Christian formation to so many people in need. And in this city, above all, there took place the event that definitively marked the course of his life: his meeting with St Josemaría Escrivá, from whom he learned to fall more in love with Christ every day. Yes, to fall in love with Christ. This is the path to holiness that every Christian has to follow: to let ourselves be loved by the Lord, to open up our hearts to his love, and to allow him to be the one who guides our lives.

I like to recall the aspiration that the Servant of God would often repeat, especially for personal celebrations and anniversaries: “Thank you; forgive me; help me more!” These words bring us closer to the reality of his interior life and his relationship with the Lord, and can also help to give a new impulse to our own Christian life.

In the first place, Thank you. This is the soul’s immediate, spontaneous reaction on experiencing God’s goodness. It cannot be otherwise. He always goes ahead of us. However hard we try, his love always gets there first, touches and caresses us first, He beats us to it. Álvaro del Portillo was aware of the many gifts God had given him, and thanked God for that manifestation of his fatherly love. But he did not stop at that: his recognition of Our Lord’s love awakened in his heart desires to follow him with greater commitment and generosity, and to lead a life of humble service to others. Especially outstanding was his love for the Church, the Spouse of Christ, whom he served with a heart devoid of worldly self-interest, far from discord, welcoming towards everyone and always seeking in others what was positive, what united, what was constructive. He never spoke a word of complaint or criticism, even at especially difficult times, but instead, as he had learned from St Josemaría, he always responded with prayer, forgiveness, understanding and sincere charity.

Forgive me. He often confessed that he saw himself empty-handed before God, incapable of responding to so much generosity. But to admit our poverty as human beings is not the result of despair but confident abandonment in God who is our Father. It means opening ourselves to his mercy, his love, which is able to regenerate our life. His love does not humiliate us, nor cast us into the depths of guilt, but embraces us, lifts us up from our prostration and enables us to go forward with more determination and joy. The Servant of God Álvaro knew the need we have of God’s mercy, and devoted a lot of his own energy to encouraging the people he met to go to the sacrament of Confession, the sacrament of joy. How important it is to feel the tenderness of God’s love, and discover that there is still time to love!

Help me more. Yes, the Lord never abandons us, he is always at our side, he journeys with us, and every day he expects new love from us. His grace will not fail us, and with his help we can take his name to the whole world. The heart of the new Blessed beat with the desire to bring the Good News to all hearts. And so he travelled to many countries to foster new projects for evangelization, undeterred by difficulties, moved by his love for God and his brethren. One who is very immersed in God is able to be very close to other people. The first condition for announcing Christ to them is to love them, because Christ loves them before we do. We have to leave behind our selfish concerns and love of comfort, and go out to meet our brothers and sisters. That is where Our Lord is awaiting us. We cannot keep our faith to ourselves: it is a gift we have received to give away and share with others.

Thank you, forgive me, help me! These words express the thrust of a life that is centered on God. It is the life of someone who has been touched by the greatest Love and who lives totally on that love; someone who, while experiencing their own human weakness and limitations, trusts in God’s mercy and wants all mankind, their brothers and sisters, to experience it too.

Dear brother, Blessed Álvaro del Portillo is sending us a very clear message. He is telling us to trust in the Lord, that he is our brother, our friend, who never lets us down and is always at our side. He is encouraging us not to be afraid to go against the current and suffer for announcing the Gospel. He is also teaching us that in the simplicity and ordinariness of our daily lives we can find a sure path to holiness.

I ask all the faithful of the Prelature, priests and lay-people, as well as all those who take part in its activities, to please pray for me. At the same time, I give them all my Apostolic Blessing.

May Jesus bless you, and may the Holy Virgin watch over you.

Fraternally,

Franciscus

Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2014/10/path_to_sainthood_bayonne_nun_blessed_at_newark_catholic_basilica.html

Please pray to her for all who suffer eye complaints, including myself.

Also, pray to her for holy families to nurture new vocations to the religious life.

Pray to her for America.

Pay Attention

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/as-supreme-court-term-begins-prospect-of-a-gay-marriage-ruling-looms-large/2014/10/04/8d0df452-4bbf-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html

fast, pray, do mortification

On Books Again And Purgatory

Another great book which demonstrates the necessity for purgation and the existence of purgatory is Hungry Souls, by Gerard J. M. Van Den Aardweg. For those who have visited the Museum of Purgatory in Rome, some of the stories would be familiar, as well as some of the photos.

Again, I want to emphasize just one section of this small but intriguing book.

But, before I go into this example, I want to stress what I did stress in the perfection series.

And that is this: we should never aspire to purgatory but to heaven. Becoming perfect on earth not only spares us the pain of non-merit-able suffering, but deprives the Church of living saints who could be building the Kingdom of God on earth.

Too many people do not realize that only those in the last two stages of perfection can labor for the Church with results. No one who is lacking purification can lead or build up the Church in virtue.

This is one serious problem in the Church today-the lack of saints, those who have cooperated with God in the Dark Night and allowed Him to cleanse each part of the senses and spirit.

Too few have generous hearts to undergo purification for the sake of the Church.

One of the things I want to highlight is the repetition of the idea that in purgatory there is real fire. many priests, bishops and even recent popes have moved away from this idea in private or public statements which are not ex cathedra, not infallible statements.

The fact that many saints and those to whom souls in purgatory have visited to ask for prayers speak of fire or are seen in fire is a fact that cannot be denied.

St. Faustina was shown her "particular judgment" as noted in this book. She was so horrified at the seriousness of her sins, even her venial sins, that she wanted to throw herself into the fired of purgatory. Jesus stopped her from doing this. Obviously, she worked out her purgatory on earth and became a saint, now recognized by the universal Church.

Fire is not merely a symbol of purification, but of love. Those who are in purgatory have seen God and love Him so much they willingly endure their penance and purification.

I have a friend who, for three days, was shown all his sins from his childhood to the present day of the beginning of this experience. He told me that it was a terrible and sad experience, and he literally sobbed for three days, knowing how he had insulted the Purity and Innocence of God.

We talked about this, and in the same year, several other people in Europe experienced the same thing-their particular judgment, while alive.

These visions were tremendous graces, enabling those who experienced both God's mercy and justice to change their lives and strive more after holiness.

For more information on the Museum of Purgatory, look here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_delle_anime_del_Purgatorio

Talking About Books

As I am on R and R before doing some serious retreat work, I want to share some books I have read or at least skimmed for your consideration.

Many years ago I read, rather in a cursory manner, The End of the Present World, by Father Charles Arminjon. Now, it is not infallible and only one priest's interpretation of the end times. However, as it was one of St. Therese, the Little Flower's favorite books, I decided to read it. I need to look at it again, but am merely sharing one section, as it fits into the perfection series. The most important sections, in my mind, are those on the need for perfection, for seeking holiness on this earth.

Fr. Arminjon relates that the punishments and purifications of purgatory are terrifying. But, this small paragraph brings consolation in desolation.

Poor souls. They have but one passion, one burning desire, one wish; to break the obstacle which prevents them from springing forward towards God, Who calls them and draws them to Himself with all the energy and  the violence of His beauty, mercy and boundless love.

What Father is describing is the purification of the predominant fault. They love God so intensely, having seen Him as He really is, that they willingly endure and will the punishment intended for them because of their sins, even venial ones.

The souls in purgatory cannot gain merit, cannot become more holy, but they can be purged and they do not lose any merit they did gain on earth.

Pray for those who have not converted, those who have not gained any merit. Do penance for the fallen away Catholics and those who are lukewarm.

Pray for the leaders in the Church who have not stressed the fact that only the perfect see God and have spread the modernist lies that all or most people go straight to heaven.

My copy of this book is in box in Silvis, Illinois, where my few worldly belongings have been for years. I want to move them, but cannot. If anyone wants to help me ship my items, please let me know. It is one of my greatest sufferings and anxieties to have those there without any help of redeeming these few things.

But, that is what this book is all about-enduring suffering and counting it all joy, as St. Therese did.

The Formation of Children

I am having the privilege of staying with a trad family with nine children. I cannot tell you what a joy this is, to be around excellent parents who take the responsibility of raising their children Catholic most seriously. These parents are forming saints.

One of the books in this house is Forty Dreams of St. John Bosco. I would like to get this book at some time, but as I am traveling, I shall not beg for it now. As readers know, one of St. John's most terrifying dreams has been posted and re-posted on this blog several times.

But, today, I want to highlight a section on mortification for children, as this is something which most parents never consider.

I shall outline what the great saint shared. First of all, mortifications for children are part of the discipline of learning to be a saint. In one of his dreams, St. John Bosco was told that if St. Aloysius had not done penance, he would have fallen into mortal sin.

The messengers in this dream said that children who did penance by embracing the cross would not lose their innocence. This messenger listed several mortifications a child must learn. These are:

1) Mortification of overcoming weariness in prayer;
2) Mortification of the intellect through obedience to superiors;
3) Mortification of always telling the truth so that one loves one's soul and become holy;
4) Mortification of the heart, focusing on holiness and not being distracted by useless things;
5) Mortification against seeking human respect;
6) Mortification of the senses, including the eyes, ears, mouth (eating and drinking) and speech;
7) Mortification daily concerning little things, like not seeking to be cold when one is hot, or hot, when one is cold.

How many parents teach such penances to their children in order to help them avoid sin and grow in the virtues?

If you are raising children, especially boys, I highly recommend this book.

From Garrigou-Lagrange: What We Need Now

The story is told that one day St. Philip Neri went through the cloisters of his monastery exclaiming in a loud voice: "I am in despair, I am in despair." His spiritual sons, astonished, said to him: "Is it possible, you, Father, who so many times have restored our trust?" Leaping joyfully, St. Philip replied in his characteristic way: "Yes, left to myself, I am hopeless; but by the grace of our Lord, I still have confidence." He had doubtless had a very strong temptation to discouragement, which he overcame in this fashion. He thus experienced the truth that one must be crushed in order to grow, to be configured to Him of whom Isaias says: "He was wounded for our iniquities." (10) St. Paul of the Cross had the same experience over a long period of years when he had to suffer in order to unify the Order of Passionists which he had founded, an order that was to bear especially the marks of our Savior's passion.(11)

TRUSTING ABANDONMENT AND UNWAVERING FIDELITY

Heroic hope manifests itself not only by its firmness, but by trusting abandonment to Providence and to the omnipotent goodness of God. Perfect abandonment differs from quietism because it is accompanied by hope and unwavering fidelity to duty, even in little things, from moment to moment, according to our Lord's words: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is greater." (12) He will receive the divine help to undergo martyrdom if necessary. Unwavering fidelity to the will of God signified in the duty of the present moment prepares the soul to abandon itself with entire confidence to the as yet unrevealed divine will of good pleasure, on which depend its future and eternity. The more faithful the soul is to the divine light received, the more it can abandon itself wholly to Providence, to divine mercy and omnipotence. Thus are harmonized in the soul the activity of fidelity and the passivity of abandonment, above restless, fruitless agitation and slothful quiet. At those times when all may seem lost, the soul repeats with the Psalmist: "The Lord ruleth me; and I shall want nothing. . . . For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they have comforted me." (13)

In its greatest difficulties, the tried soul remembers the holy man Job, who, after losing all he possessed, exclaimed: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. As it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done. Blessed be the name of the Lord." (14) The tried soul should also repeat the words of the Book of Proverbs: "Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thy own prudence. In all thy ways think on Him, and He will direct thy steps." (15) The Psalmist likewise says: "In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded." (16) When all seemed lost, St. Teresa used to say: "Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou canst do all, and Thou lovest me." To give oneself up to His love and in advance to accept all from this love rests the soul and makes it victorious over temptations to murmur. This temptation is sometimes formulated as follows: "O Lord, why dost Thou not come to my help?" We should remember that nothing escapes Providence, that the Lord watches over us, that there is a precious grace in the cross which He sends us, and that "His commiserations have not failed." (17) St. John of the Cross used often to say: "O heavenly hope, which obtains as much as it hopes for!"

Heroic hope, moreover, rests more and more on the infinite merits of our Savior, on the value of the blood He shed for us. No matter what happens, even though the world should crumble, we should hope in the good Shepherd, who gave His life for His sheep, and in God the Father, who, after having given us His own Son, cannot refuse to come to the aid of those who have recourse to Him.(18)

Some People Will Say This-Better The Turks Than The Catholics

Matthew 24:20-36Douay-Rheims

20 But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath.

21 For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be.

22 And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.

23 Then if any man shall say to you: Lo here is Christ, or there, do not believe him.

24 For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.

25 Behold I have told it to you, beforehand.

26 If therefore they shall say to you: Behold he is in the desert, go ye not out: Behold he is in the closets, believe it not.

27 For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west: so shall the coming of the Son of man be.

28 Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.

29 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn: and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty.

31 And he shall send his angels with a trumpet, and a great voice: and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.

32 And from the fig tree learn a parable: When the branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh.

33 So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at the doors.

34 Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.

36 But of that day and hour no one knoweth, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone.

Byzantium fell to the Turks for one reason.

The Orthodox preferred the Muslims to the European Latins.

This will happen again.

Many so-called Christians and Catholics will turn against the real Catholics.

Joining the enemy may save cities, but destroy real Christianity.

Just wait.

Sign of Perfection-Perfect Hope

North American Martyrs

Ch 44: Heroic Hope and Abandonment from Garrigou-Lagrange

"Against hope. . . in hope." Rom. 4: 18 Heroic hope is the eminent degree of this virtue, which makes us tend toward God, the object of eternal beatitude, relying, in order to reach Him, on the help He promised us.(1) The formal motive of infused and theological hope is God Himself ever helpful, Deus auxilians, or helpful Omnipotence. As long as the Christian has not reached perfection, his hope lacks firmness; it is more or less unstable, in the sense that the soul sometimes allows itself to slip into presumption when all is going well, and to fall subsequently into a certain discouragement when some undertaking does not succeed. Above these fluctuations, heroic hope is characterized by invincible firmness and trusting abandonment, sustained by unwavering fidelity to duty. The heroic confidence of the saints is also shown by its effects: it restores the courage of others and arouses hunger and thirst after the justice of God. More Martyrs of Spain THE INVINCIBLE FIRMNESS OF PERFECT HOPE The Council of Trent tells us: "We should all have a most firm hope in the help of God; for if we do not resist His grace, as He has begun the work of salvation in us, He will finish it, working in us both to will and to accomplish, as St. Paul says (Phil. 2: 13)." (2) The invincible firmness of hope appears, we have seen, in the passive purification of the spirit when, to make us hope purely in Him, the Lord permits every human help to disappear. Then occur rebuffs, at times calumnies, which give rise to a certain mistrust in those who until then had been helpful. In addition, the tried soul has a clearer view of its own wretchedness; it is likewise at times depressed by illness, and must overcome strong temptations to discouragement or even to despair, proceeding from the enemy of all good. The soul must then hope supernaturally and heroically against all human hope, as St. Paul says of Abraham, who, although nearly a hundred years old, did not despair of becoming the father of a great number of nations, according to the promise which had been given to him: "So shall thy seed be." Some of the Oblate Martyrs of Spain (3)If this trial is courageously endured, hope grows stronger and stronger during it and is increased tenfold. However, it does not give us absolute certitude that individually we shall be saved, since that would require a special revelation; (4) but we hope increasingly for salvation with a certitude of tendency. Just as under the direction of Providence, the animal's instinct tends infallibly toward its end, the swallow toward the country to which it should return, so under the direction of faith in the divine promises we tend infallibly toward eternal life. (5) This firmness in tending toward eternal life should be invincible because of the formal motive on which it rests: God who always aids us, according to His promises. In spite of rebuffs, contradictions, the sight of our wretchedness and our sins, we should always hope in God, who has promised His help to those who ask Him for it with humility, trust, and perseverance. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. . . . And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? Or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? . . . If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask Him!" (6) And if we must ask conditionally for temporal goods, in the measure in which they are useful to our salvation, we should ask unconditionally, humbly to be sure, but with absolute trust, for the graces necessary to persevere. And as St. Luke relates in the text just quoted, we should thus ask not only for the graces necessary for our sanctification, but for the Holy Ghost Himself, the gift par excellence. He is sent anew when the soul passes from one degree of charity to another that is notably higher, as it must be, for the soul to pass through the trials which are ordered precisely to this progress. Hope thus purified becomes invincible, according to the words of St. Paul, which have sustained the martyrs: "If God be for us, who is against us?" (7) The Lord has more than once said to His saints: "You shall lack help only when I lack power." St. Teresa of the Child Jesus used to say: "Even if I were the greatest sinner on earth, I should not have less trust in God, for my hope does not rest upon my innocence, but on God's mercy and omnipotence."

Martyrdom and Perfection

Choosing martyrdom, when one must, is the short-cut, albeit horribly painful, to perfection.

One says "yes" to God and His Church in and through intense suffering.

Here is Garrigou-Lagrange on this and I write this as we are now involved in the Last Age of the Marytrs.

THE VICTORY OF HEROIC FAITH OVER THE SPIRIT OF THE WORLD St. John writes in his First Epistle: "Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" (11) The victory of heroic faith appears even in the Old Testament, as St. Paul says: "By faith, Abraham, when he was tried, offered Isaac. . . . By faith also of things to come, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. By faith Jacob dying, blessed each of -the sons of Joseph. . . By faith he [Moses] left Egypt, not fearing the fierceness of th king: for he endured as seeing Him that is invisible. . . . By faith they [the Israelites] passed through the Red Sea. . . . The prophets . . . by faith conquered kingdoms, wrought justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions [like Daniel], quenched the violence of fire [like the three children in the furnace]. . . . They were stoned, they were cut asunder, they were tempted, they were put to death by the sword. . . being in want, distressed, afflicted: of whom the world was not worthy." (12) This is what makes St. Paul say in the same epistle: "And therefore, . . . let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us: looking on Jesus, . . . who having joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and now sitteth on the right hand of the throne of God. . . . For you have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin."  (13)The numerous martyrs who have died in Spain since July, 1936, gave our Lord this testimony of blood; they won the victory of heroic faith over the spirit of the world or the spirit of evil. Without going as far as the shedding of blood, this victory is won by the faith of all the saints: in the last century by that of the Cure of Ars, Don Bosco, St. Joseph Cottolengo, and nearer our day by that of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, and of many very generous souls whose names we do not know, but whose oblation ascends toward God like the sweet odor of incense. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." (14) In this way souls are configured to Christ: first of all, to His childhood, then to His hidden life, in a measure to His apostolic life, and finally to His sorrowful life, before sharing in His glorious life in heaven.

John Bosco's Prayer to Mary,Help of Christians

Most Holy Virgin Mary, Help of Christian,

how sweet it is to come to your feet

imploring your perpetual help.

If earthly mothers cease not to remember their children, 

how can you, the most loving of all mothers forget me?

Grant then to me, I implore you, 

your perpetual help in all my necessities, 

in every sorrow, and especially in all my temptations.

I ask for your unceasing help for all who are now suffering.

 Help the weak, cure the sick, convert sinners.

Grant through your intercessions many vocations to the religious life. 

Obtain for us, O Mary, Help of Christians,

that having invoked you on earth we may love and eternally thank you in heaven.

One Year Max

I was at Adoration today and saw this in my mind. I saw America as if I had a bird's eye view from Europe. A huge dome covered the entire United States lower 48. Outside this dome, there were no flights, no communications. America was the biggest prison on earth.

Inside, the plants were dying. There was a dust bowl. People were gone in some areas. A dead nation...I had a series of visions over three days in 2006, which I have told a few friends and some of which were confirmed. I was wide-awake. This recent picture is not the same. Pay attention.

Some of these things are in my novellas. I do not think I can finish the one I started last week...things are happening too fast. I shall be glad to be on a retreat next week. Pray for me and all bloggers.

The Unitive State Revisited-First Signs

In the next few days, before I go on a short retreat, I shall blog about the unitive state.

Of course, some of this I have written about before in the perfection series. But, I want to highlight a few points from Garrigou-Lagrange.

A few points:

Remember, the purpose of the Dark Night is to purify one so that one is walking in faith totally.

Secondly, this "adherence" to faith is necessary in temptation and extreme conditions.

Thirdly, this new faith in Divine Providence allows one to see things as God sees them.

Here is St. Catherine on this from Garrigou-Lagrange:

St. Catherine of Siena often insists on this point in her Dialogue. Speaking of the perfect, the Lord says there:

She [the soul] would be illuminated to see that I, the primary and sweet Truth, grant condition, and time, and place, and consolations, and tribulations as they may be needed for your salvation, and to complete the perfection to which I have elected the soul. And she would see that I give everything through love, and that, therefore, with love and reverence she should receive everything.(7)
Those who belong to the third state. . . deem themselves worthy of the troubles and stumblingblocks caused them by the world, and of the privation of their own consolation, and indeed of whatever circumstance happens to them. . . . They have known and tasted in the light My eternal will, which wishes naught else but your good, and gives and permits these troubles in order that you should be sanctified in Me.(8) . . .
With this light the souls in the unitive state love Me, because love follows the intellect, and the more it knows the more can it love. Thus the one feeds the other.(9)

The perfect soul thus attains to a penetrating faith, which enters the depths of the mystery of Christ, of the Son of God made man and crucified for our salvation.

Next, the person must be able to reject not only temptation and sin immediately, which is possible in the Illuminative State, but also must and does reject any errors regarding truth.

One more quotation on this section:

Perfect faith leads the just man always to base his decisions not on human but on supernatural motives. It gives life a superior radiant simplicity, which is like the reflection of the divine simplicity. Sometimes it shines forth on the countenances of the saints, which are as if illumined by a celestial light. One day St. Dominic, all unsuspecting, escaped an ambush prepared by his adversaries to bring about his death. When those who were awaiting him in a lonely place in order to kill him, saw him approaching, they were so struck by the light illuminating his countenance that they did not dare to lay hands on him. St. Dominic was thus saved, as someone has said, by his contemplation, which radiated over his features; and with him was saved the Order he was to found.