Catch up time on important developments in Europe

http://www.radicalislam.org/analysis/europe-volunteers-churches-become-mosques

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/un-seek-control-internet_664018.html

and if you do not know this blog...

http://tridentine-mass.blogspot.ie/

Cobh Cathedral with Cardinal Pell and Cappa Magna

Someone on Fr. Z. brought up this beautiful cathedral in Cobh (Cove), and someone answered.  

Why did I not think of sharing this gem

 with you all? 

This is where I went to Confession weekly when I was with the

nuns. It is truly beautiful and here are some photos. 

Photos of TLM from New Liturgical Movement in 2009. Wish I could have been there!

Better than going to the Titanic museums there. 

Another multiple post day

Attention getting dogs today.....

There may be one or two weeks in mid-December when I shall be in places where there is no Internet again (yes, these exist in Eire). I try and post ahead, but in the meantime. I shall post several articles a day.

Hmm just for thought from a comment on another blog today

Margaret Thatchers:  " Socialism is fine until you run out of other peoples' money."

Perfection Series Will Continue on Wednesday

The series on perfection will continue, but I am taking a break from this theme for a day, and am encouraging all to go back and read what I have shared to far. What I am going to do is trace more of the stages in the writings of St. Paul, so that you all can see how these stages develop and reveal themselves.

Having a great spiritual director is becoming a luxury, but it is a necessity. God does give grace directly. If we look at the lives of the saints, very few had, or at least mention their directors, until the mystics began doing so. The martyrs, possibly imprisoned by years, had no one, not even confessors. Go back and look at at the lives of such people as SS. Philip Howard, Anne Line, even Edmund Campion, all denied help in preparing for horrific deaths of one kind or the other.

Errors of Doctrine Found in Conversations with Traditional Catholics

One of my readers, who is a catechist, asked if I would list some of the doctrinal errors found among Traditional Catholics, which I have encountered, both here in Eire, and in Great Britain. I shall list errors which are in the Creed and not in the Creed. I shall list errors here which are in contradiction to the Teaching Magisterium of the Church, especially in encyclicals, which are, as from the Chair of Peter, binding on the faithful.

These are not in order of importance, but merely as I recall them. This is not an exhaustive list.

1. Socialism is compatible with Catholic Teaching.
2. Babies who are not baptized are children of God and heirs of heaven (see 19).
3. Ignorance of the Gospel mitigates all punishment.
4. Civil marriage of same sex couples is ok, but not sacramental marriage
5. God is too good to send anyone to hell; hell is empty, if it exists.
6.Parents are not responsible for their minor children's souls, and therefore not punishable.
7.Tithing or giving money to the Church is not necessary.
8.The three hour fast is obligatory for trad Catholics.
9.Adults are not responsible for their Faith, priests are, or the teachers in the Catholic schools, etc.
10. Grandparents can secretly baptize grandchildren without parents approval or knowledge.
11. Confession alone removes excommunication for an abortion. (See previous blogs on this)
12. Liberal bishops do not have to be obeyed, especially with regard to private revelations.
13. The Novus Ordo is not a valid Eucharist.
14. SSPX confessions and marriages are valid and these can be attended (both need faculties or authority under a bishop of the CC-the Church has not made a public statement on marriages as of yet).
15. One can and should attend invalid marriages in Protestant or Jewish forms, such as that of a fallen away Catholic and unbaptized person for family unity.
16. Canon Law only applies to priests and not the laity.
17. The CCC is too liberal to use.
18. The Church does not dictate custom regarding veils, mantillas and hats for women (Clarification, Canon Law does not dictate, but custom does. However, it is not a sin not to wear a head-covering, although it may be an imperfection.)
19. There is no difference between the soul of an unbaptized baby and a baptized baby or child before the age of reason (denial of Original Sin)
20. Trads should discourage men in following diocesan vocations (This is a serious sin, IMO-Fr. Z is a diocesan priest, as is Fr. Tim Finigan, Fr. Ray Blake and many other Traditional Mass priests.)
21. One can do plenary indulgences for the living, especially fallen away family members.
22. A Catholic or Christian person who abjures Christ to marry a Muslim is not responsible for apostasy.
23. Annulment is wrong, always.
24. Late Confirmation is preferable to earlier as it is a rite of passage (the present Pope encourages early Confirmation)

25. There should never be married priests.

This is an odd mixture of too loose and too strict ideas brought about either by ignorance or stubbornness.

Persecution of Catholics and other Christians steady and increasing....

http://www.persecution.org/

Pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in these places. Pray for the media of all Western countries to stop ignoring Christian persecution and calling it "sectarian violence". Pray.

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/world-news/11-dead-in-nigeria-church-bombings-3305179.html

http://www.persecution.org/2012/11/25/christians-in-nigerias-northern-regions-plead-for-help/

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/11/mali-islamic-supremacists-arrest-three-catholics-for-refusing-to-listen-to-islamic-sermon.html

http://www.persecution.net/id-2012-10-25.htm

http://www.osservatoreromano.va/portal/dt?JSPTabContainer.setSelected=JSPTabContainer%2FDetail&last=false=&path=/news/internazionale/2012/198q12-Cristiani-in-fuga-dal-Mali.html&title=Christians%20flee%20Mali&locale=en

And in Minnesota....http://www.persecution.org/2012/11/24/minn-city-stops-christians-from-evangelizing-at-christmas-lighting-event/

Lay People-My Challenge to You

Laity, you must change. This is the age of the laity as the priest shortage becomes more and more acute. Even though vocations are up, they are not, in many countries, at replacement level. In my home diocese, in 2015, there will be 15 active priests under the age of retirement for 100,000 Catholics.

This is a pattern repeated in England, Wales, Scotland, Eire, Canada, France etc.

With the lack of priests and the spiritual decadence of the active orders of nuns, it is our age. The welfare of our soul and the welfare of the souls we meet are our responsibility.

God has given us this time and we must seize it. It will not last. We have tremendous graces, with Adoration, daily Mass, confession weekly in some places, which is a blessing. Even the nuns in the convent only had confessions once every two weeks.

So, if the evangelization has fallen into our hands, what must we do?

One, get serious about daily Mass, hours of prayer, Adoration, daily rosary.

Two, free your life from mortal and venial sin. Reach out for purification and perfection. Read my posts.

Three, get beyond your own problems and reach out daily to those who will perish without your evangelization.

Four, sacrifice, more than usual, and accept suffering as Christ entering into your lives.

Five, realize that your baptismal vows demand that you evangelize.

Six, absolutely be a sign of contradiction in the world-think about what that means.

Seven, be responsible for your children, because you are.....

Eight, pray daily with your spouse, you lucky person, as many of us singles pray on our own.

Nine, singles, find out who is in your area to create a small support group. This is essential.

Ten, singles, be contemplatives in the world. You have more time, so give it to God.

Eleven, be absolutely faithful to the Teaching Magisterium and if you are not, get there by being humble and submitting through Faith.

Twelve, be martyrs for the Church. What does this mean? In all places, at all times, stand up for the teaching of Christ as communicated through His Church. Always and everywhere be ready to defend the Church.

Boycott ToysRus

Gender neutral advertising is the name of the game in this toy shop. Boycott and write to the company. This is ridiculous. To be honest, it is not even "real gender neutrality" but idiocy. Androgyny is a great danger to our children. Silly and dangerous.....

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/girls-with-guns-not-dolls-in-gender-neutral-toy-shop/story-e6frf7jo-1226523307879

A brief summary of the unitive state

The feast day in the EF of St. John of the Cross is November 24th. The Low Mass I attended was attended by about 30 people, the regulars, as one said. There were about six young people in their twenties there, excluding the altar server. This is good news.

St. John of the Cross is the great Doctor of the Church who teaches us about mysticism. I highly recommend reading his work but only with the approval or aid of a spiritual director. His experiences were what is called Extraordinary Contemplation, the experience of great mystics. St. Teresa of Avila, of course, is the other Doctor of the Church who explains this type of contemplation.

Mystical experiences are sheer gift, occurring without any effort on our part. This is a great difference between Ordinary Contemplation and Extraordinary Contemplation. Of course, all prayer is gift, but the first type is something to which we can aspire in prayer. Whether all people can and are willed by God to experience Extraordinary Contemplation is open to discussion. The state is seen by some as willed by God for all people. Garrigou-Lagrange would fall into the category of theologians who believe that God is calling all to the unitive state.

The reason one should read these books with the approval of a spiritual director is to avoid deceit in one's life. I shall post more on this again.

Here is St. Teresa of Avila's definitions, from her Life, taken from the Catholic Encyclopedeia. Also, the fruits of the prayer of quiet follow. May I note that only those who are in sanctifying grace and in complete orthodoxy with the Catholic Church can rise to this level of prayer. Many heretics may have gotten to the illuminative stage and lost grace through pride, but none would be able to experience union.

1. incomplete mystical union, or the prayer of quiet (from the Latin quies, quiet; which expresses the impression experienced in this state);
2. the full, or semi-ecstatic, union, which St. Teresa sometimes calls the prayer of union (in her "Life" she also makes use of the termentire union, entera unión, ch. xvii);
3. ecstatic union, or ecstasy; and
4. transforming or deifying union, or spiritual marriage (properly) of the soul with God.

• interior peace which remains after the time of prayer,
• profound humility,
• aptitude and a disposition for spiritual duties,
• a heavenly light in the intellect, and
• stability of the will in goodness.

Contentious Post

If you are in a parish where the priest still is not using the new translation of the NO, leave that parish.

If you are in a parish where the priest skips parts of the Mass or is loose about his rubrics, leave that parish.

If you are in a parish with Communion Services run by women, nuns, lay persons, get out of that parish.

If you are in a parish where Confessions are by appointment only, get out of that parish.

If you are in a parish with altar girls, mostly, get out of that parish.

If you are in a parish where the priests do not give real homilies which have meat, get out of that parish.

If you are in a parish where people dress on Sunday like they are going to WalMart scrums right after Mass, leave that parish.

If you are in a parish where the priest baptizes and confirms everybody and anybody who asks without catechesis or looking into personal lives, leave that parish.

If you are in a parish which has a school which hires lesbians, homosexuals, non-Catholic teachers, leave that parish.

Your immortal soul is at danger and you may not have time to become holy NOW. Your family is affected. I you have children, they are being given bad examples. We do not know the day or the hour and all these things interfere with the virtue of religion and the proper formation of conscience. Move if possible or drive to another parish. Stop giving money to schools which are not teaching Catholic doctrine.

On perfection and orthodoxy

This is a hard saying, but I have been thinking for over a year about the necessity of being a Catholic in order to experience the real love of God and be one with Him. One cannot judge others, but the nature of love is such that it is based on Truth and the fullness of Truth is in the Catholic Church. Being one with the teachings of the Church is like being of one mind with the Beloved, Christ.

If one disagrees with one item of orthodoxy, one is removed from unity with the Catholic Church and therefore, oneness with Christ.

All baptized people are children of God and heirs of heaven. All baptized people are in sanctifying grace. But, there is a catch. As soon as one is at an age of reason and is choosing to be a Protestant, this relationship is broken.

The stages of holiness I have been describing cannot be reached in the fullness without a basis of orthodoxy. Does this mean that no one outside the Church is a saint? Obviously, the Church does not canonize Protestants. That some people outside merit special grace is because of the merits of the Catholic Church. This is part of the mystery of grace.

No one sees God who is not purified of sin and self-will. This is our mission, to cooperate with grace in order to know, love and serve God in this world and praise Him in the next.

The Fourth Step of the Cloister Stair-Contemplation

The first level of contemplation is listening to the Word of God, as we do in Mass, according to St. Augustine of Hippo. Therefore, the laity enter into this first step every time they go to Mass. Hearing is both an active and a passive event. We hear and appropriate what we hear.

Those who teach, such as the Jesuits, or parish priests, are involved in both the active and contemplative life, therefore. However, the laity must take time to enter into the quiet necessary for contemplation. I want to list some of the stages of contemplation, which is the call for all of us whatever our state in life. The difference for us laity is that we must seek after these gifts, unlike the religious in contemplative orders, whose primary work is that of personal perfection.

Please do not read popular, new age books on contemplation. These are deceitful and dangerous, concentrating on the person, the individual, rather than on the Trinity. This is the key. Affective prayer, which is part of contemplation, is praying listening to God, rather than focussing on ourselves. I shall say this in another way. As long as we concentrate on our own problems and grocery list of needs, we shall not enter into contemplation, which is looking, talking to God, or better yet, listening in silence to God.

The danger is concentrating, even in these posts, on one's self. No. The gaze of prayer is the love gazing on the Beloved. The God Who Loves us waits for us to come to Him in love. This gaze is what Mother Teresa noted, which I remembered in another post. This prayer of simplicity is the first type of contemplation, called Ordinary Contemplation.

This is not the mystic state of St. Teresa of Avila or St. John of the Cross, but is the stage just prior to that state, which is called Extraordinary Contemplation. This higher contemplation is not a topic which I shall cover for several days. The stage of Ordinary Contemplation is what we are all called upon to attain, and those who do, are experiencing God in a way He wants for all person, lay or religious.

To be continued....

Many posts today

 

Now that I have your attention....

Do not miss these posts, as some are part of the series on perfection.

Scroll down at your leisure.

An Example of the Lassus Scholars

Today, I met several members of the Dublin Choral Foundation-the Lassus Scholars- at breakfast. This very talented group of singers have sung at the TLM in St. Kevin's for a long time. Today, they did the Palestrina, Missa Aeterna Christi Munera  and the website is connected there. They are available for tours, even to the US, by the way.

I must say it was a joy to meet up with humble choristers. Those in the business will know what I mean. The leader is a personal friend of Cardinal Burke, who has said a high Mass at St. Kevin's for the past two years and hopefully will come this summer again. I am so glad to be back at the TLM after such a long time.

A Description of the Illuminative Stage from St. Paul

For the sake of the laity trying to understand the stages of perfection, may I point out that today in the TLM, the reading from Colossians of St. Paul is a description of the illuminative state.

Here it is.

EPISTLE Col. 1:9-14
Brethren: Therefore we also, from the day that we heard it, cease not to pray for you and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: That you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing; being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God: Strengthened with all might according to the power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with joy, giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.

The beginning phrase describes the type of knowledge and wisdom and understanding which comes in the illuminative stage. The life of the virtues follows that. Such fruits as long-suffering and patience are indicators of the person in that stage. The metaphors of light here directly indicate to me that St. Paul was in the Illuminative Stage. 

Of course, he and other great saints would experience what God has called all of us to experience.

On the way to Bethlehem part two

There is a saying which goes something like this: "The more insignificant one is, the more easily it is to find a place." This used to be true before the Celtic Tiger made the inhabitants of the Green Isle besotted with money, or before the Protestant Work Ethic which has morphed into idolatry of the rich and famous. Now, those with practically nothing are despised, judged, deemed insane or slothful. I know from experience the judgement of men and women who do not want to face suffering. God had another way of judging. He sees the heart.

Christ was rejected by his own, even as a baby. Imagine the shock of St. Joseph, trying to understand why his charges by God, Mary and Jesus, had to endure the cold of the stable and the shut doors of the very people, the Jews, to whom the Messiah had finally come. Imagine. That is meditation. This is real stuff, not movie shots. How many hotels or b and bs today would take a poor couple about to have a baby?

One never knows when one is entertaining angels and all men are made in the image and likeness of God. But, people's hearts have shrunken to their own image and likeness.

winter, summer

The above phrase has to do with travelling light, as we said in our generation. The nuns at Tyburn have a 48 hour notice as to whether they will go to Columbia, Ecuador, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, England or Rome. St. Paul had a skill in tent-making (yes, he worked as well as preached and wrote) which was a movable skill. I have three suitcases. One for summer, one for winter and one with books. I take one with me. I took one into the convent and left with one and a bag-of notes and diaries.

Most Catholics are so tied down to their places of living and employment that there is no room for travelling light. That may be good, as it is their vocation. But, for some, simplicity is a necessity.

And, it is very hard. However, as I have learned, there is no suffering without a quiet joy and that joy is being one with Christ as He joins Himself with my suffering. Hard is good, but the hard must be determined by God. We do not choose our suffering, God does. That is why it is important to discern a vocation.

Joseph and Mary, if we meditate, would have been planning their trip to Bethlehem at this time. Joseph would be temporarily closing down his shop in order to travel and be ready for the birth of Christ. Mary would have been planning what minimum things she could bring. Like me going on the plane, she did not have money for extra bags. One would suffice. Both had to trust in God the Father and the Holy Spirit who was leading them. Mary had the advantage of being in constant communication with the Indwelling of the Trinity-the first person to whom the Trinity was revealed. Father, Son and Holy Ghost would accompany them to Bethlehem, despite cold, derision, rudeness, and rejection. The Church does not know much about Joseph but he was a man of great faith. Scripture and Tradition give us no knowledge of his heart, mind, soul, except that he was obedient and humble. There are some private revelations, but I do not use those for teaching.

The stable was not a nice place. Animals are not clean. Cute, maybe, but not clean. I grew up in Iowa. One of my uncles had a farm. Cows do not smell nice. Neither do sheep, or dogs, or chickens, or geese. Only cats are clean. At the end of my pregnancy, I would not have wanted to be near a cow.

Bethlehem rejected the Christ and the Queen of Heaven and Earth and her Guardian. Do not reject Christ, Mary or Joseph. Do not pretend they were middle-class and looked well-heeled. Meditate and the Holy Spirit will show you many things upon which to ponder.

A sign of caritas in the soul, mind and heart

Matthew 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.'

5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

5:45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.


And a little phrase which reminds us of Advent coming up and the miracle of Christ's Incarnation

"The one who bears God finds no room."

More on the third step of the cloister stair-prayer

Here is a great quotation from St. Gregory, which is in my heart, "No sacrifice is more acceptable to God than is zeal for souls." Perfect love involves giving, teaching, reaching out to others.  "St. Thomas writes that the love of our neighbour for the sake of God is more perfect than is the love of God alone," writes Humphrey using Suarez. He adds that the love of others includes the love of God Himself. The love of God for the service of others is as the Jesuit says, "a sign of greater love for a man to serve others also for his friend's sake than for him to be willing to serve his friend alone."

Wow, this truism has been lost among Catholics. We can only love others if we love God first. We can only love others if it is for the sake of Christ Himself and not our own, or even the sake of the other.

So, if one is married, one loves one's spouse for the sake of Christ. The stage of prayer which St. Bernard speaks of includes intercessory prayer. This is a work of mercy and involves loving others in Christ enough to pray for them, even do penance for them.

Catholics are starving for the Truth, for the real Catholic teaching. Unless I and others feed the lambs, people will go to hell. I could go to hell for not feeding, sharing my two fish or five loaves, and prayer opens me up so that I can do this. The third step is prayer; and the fourth step in the stair is contemplation.

To be continued....

The Third Step in Bernard's Cloister Stair-Prayer

St. Bernard stated that the third step towards contemplation is prayer. At this point, the person should really beg God for the graces, all the graces of purification and humility. Such gifts as indifference and a heightened sense of sin occur at this time. One sees the horror of the smallest sin, making repentance easier and faster, in a way. Prayer at this stage is begging for the completion of the purity of heart necessary to see God.  St. Bernard makes an interesting comment that seeing a holy man may cause one to greater compunction, as one sees one's own sin more clearly in the face of holiness. How nice it would be if we saw this type of holiness daily, or even on a regular basis. Alas, such is rare. Prayer becomes more and more silent at this stage as well, but still, as all the great saints tell us, we sin and need to ask God for help in changing our hearts. I ask God for His Heart instead of mine.  He waits at the door and knocks. We have the free will to let Christ in...or, to be more exact, to realize He is with us constantly. That is the goal of prayer-repentance and the intense awareness of the Presence of God. The imperfections of our mind, heart, and soul need to be destroyed, and our being needs to be purified to accept the fullness of the Indwelling of the Holy Trinity, which we receive at baptism.