Being Invited to Suffer

I can honestly say that this being in America is like a death experience. Dying to self means dying to all one has desired and hoped. This is true for me. That God is in the darkness is true. He Himself allowed Himself this type of darkness, which is the undoing of self. I am honored to experience a fraction, a tiny fraction of His Universe Sized Pain.

Imagine, just imagine God allowing Himself to be undone, as one is in death.

Imagine God Himself becoming nothing, surrounded by those who do not want to understand Who He Is.

The Great I AM of the Exodus let Himself be scourged, through the Person of His Son.

Imagine the Creator of the Universe mocked as a King, when He IS all and all is in Him.

Imagine Christ carrying a cross and being spit upon by those He loves, allowing Himself to be despised for being Goodness.

Imagine the Passion of Christ happening now, daily, in the streets of Syria, Nigeria, Chicago....by those who are willing to join themselves with Him.

The God of Gods and Lord of Lords allowed Himself to be despised and rejected. Can we desire anything else but to be one with the Bridegroom?

Such is love, to desire oneness, even in suffering....

Note from America

Dear Readers,

Please pray for two immediate needs. I am very ill.  And, I do not have internet or phone access where I am. The McDonald's is too far for me to walk. Need solutions.

Discernment time....sorry no real posts today. I have not been this ill in years.

Prayers, please. Also, there is a feeling of unreality here, as if people cannot see what is happening spiritually.

Pray to St. Martin of Tours

...please, for me. And, thanks. His feast day is coming up on Monday. I am invoking him as one of the patron saints of tailors.

Once Again On The Intellect And Faith

Briefly, Fr. Chad Ripperger, whose book highlighted this past week on this blog readers should get, notes several principles ignored by those who pursue emotional religion.

A sketchy list:

1) Fr. reminds us that one definition of faith from Aquinas in the Summa is this: a habit of mind, by which eternal life is begun in us, making the intellect assent to things unseen. Faith is not a feeling or some sort of gift outside the mind, memory and will.

2) Faith is in the intellect-Summa, II-II, q 4, a 2, and in faith, we give assent to virtue and hope for those truths which are unseen.

3) An act of belief is in the second act of the intellect of judgment, from Aquinas' Quaestiones Disputatae de Veritate

4) Fr. notes that as God is the Rule of Faith, knowledge about Him, which is revelation, is found in Scripture and Tradition. One does not come to know God outside of these.

5) God did not reveal all these truths to each one of us personally, but through the prophet, Apostles and disciples of the Apostles, thereby making God the remote rule of Faith and Scripture and Tradition the immediate rule.

6) "Orthodoxy is the only means to salvation."  And, the footnote from which this phrase is taken refers to the Epistle of James and the Summa.

I have stressed over and over and over in the perfection series that one must be orthodox in order to even begin the way of holiness. The reason is that one must follow the rule of Faith, involving Scripture and Tradition.

This book contains arguments against those movements and even, new orders, in the Church which only stress the emotions or the gifts and not the role of the intellect in following Christ.

Sadly, too many of the newer, non-traditional (as in Latin Mass) orders are stuck in emotional and sensational ways of prayer, liturgy and belief.

Sadly, false ecumenism has kept Catholics from preaching the truth to our Protestant brothers and sisters.
One cannot presume on the mercy of God with regard to those Protestants who reject the sacraments, especially Holy Eucharist, the nature of the Church, the role of the Church in establishing the Canon of Scripture, the role of the Church in passing down the Deposit of Faith, and the form of the Liturgy. What God has revealed cannot be denied.

To be continued...

No more American prestige in Europe

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/11/08/207924/us-popularity-in-germany-on-a.html

And, in other EU countries, America is increasingly seen as a bully, run by incompetent persons of any party.

The ideal of the Republic, the ideal of the America which saved Europe from tyranny in the 1940s, has rightly been replaced by both derision and suspicion.

As for the UK, there is no such thing as a special relationship any longer.

Such is the fall-out of this administration in the States.

Slave Mentality-Quo Vadis?

In the movie, Ben-Hur, one of my favorites, Judah Ben-Hur is a slave to his hatred until he forgives and is healed at the foot of the Cross through Christ's forgiveness.

His hatred melted into love and in the book, Judah becomes a Christian and a missionary for Christ.

He changes from a slave of Rome to a slave of Christ.

But, what is a slave mentality? Some people treat God as a slave.

Some Catholics treat Jesus and Mary like their own personal slaves.

Their prayers resemble this: "Jesus, I want you to do this for me. Mary, please do this for me." And, so on.

Intercessory prayer is not ordering God and His Mother around as if this were the proper attitude of asking.

To intercede is to enter the Throne Room of God. One should enter on one's knees.

Too many Catholics have a laid-back attitude towards God, emphasizing friendship with Christ instead of discipleship.  When one lacks the proper perspective of prayer, one is not practicing the virtue of religion, which gives due worship to God.

Too many clergymen and ministers of other Christian denominations have stressed Christ as a Friend to the point of forgetting that He is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

We are not gods. We are humans, usually caught in sin and needing the mercy and grace bought for us on the Cross by God Himself.

We should have a slave mentality.

To ask and ask and ask without deferring to the Will of God reveals not only an immature attitude towards the Trinity but a lack of respect for the Godhead.

St. Louis de Montfort refers to himself and those who consecrate themselves to Mary as slaves.

Let me quote 1 Corinthians 7:22:

For he that is called in the Lord, being a bondman, is the freeman of the Lord. Likewise he that is called, being free, is the bondman of Christ. 

We have forgotten what a slave is in our modern days of freedom. A slave is simply a person who no longer has freedom of will or movement, but who is under a bond.

When we die to ourselves completely, when we truly become people of faith, we die to self-will. and are then under the bond of love. This takes courage and generosity. It takes admitting one has been wrong about many things.

We willingly lose our freedom in loving Christ and His Mother.

Those who are closed to love do not understand this type of relationship. They want to remain so free as to have no attachment to God or His Mother.

Another name for such complete freedom is selfishness. Rebellion results.

One becomes one's own god-the real root of all idolatry is self-love based on a rebellious will.

To have a slave mentality towards God takes courage, as one is then placing one's self completely under the Will of God.

But, ironically, in this state of slavery, one finds one's freedom. This is where each one of us should be.

Recently, I had an experience of God taking away my will and giving me His. This is freedom indeed. Not without suffering, however, do we experience this dying to self.  I not only understand the words below, but am living in these words....because my will is no longer operative independent from God's Will. In His Will is peace.

God tells me what to do-what He wants; I do not tell Him what I want. I can ask, politely, but only in the Will of God will my prayers be answered. God has delivered me from myself, which is the greatest prison we can experience.

And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Such is the journey towards perfection-acknowledging one's total dependence of God. And, if we do not put ourselves under the rule of God, we shall be ruled by the world, the flesh, or the devil. There is no middle ground here. One must be open to God's Will totally. Remember, crucifixion was the punishment for slaves. One moves towards the Cross.

St. Paul become a real prisoner because he was already a slave of Christ. He did Christ's bidding daily, constantly, working, living in God's Perfect Will.

Can you choose to do this?

So that my bands are made manifest in Christ, in all the court, and in all other places; Philippians 1:13

To be continued....

Fascinating-A Moment of Marxism in St. Louis

http://www3.niu.edu/~td0raf1/radicalunionism/unemployed.htm

Worth reading and thinking about....if there are holes, the Marxists will fill them up.

Pay attention. Well, there still is a lot of communism in Illinois.

God Makes New Doughnuts Everyday Part Three

Well, Dear Readers, I am in Chicago, Illinois. Nice to see colored leaves and trees.

Do not ask me why I am here, as I do not know yet.

Will give updates.

And, by the way, a pink sprinkle doughnut cost 2.50 Euros in the Malta International Airport, which is a great airport.

But, doughnuts are pricey there!

An Americano Coffee, my favorite, which is espresso with hot water added, also costs 2.50 Euros.

So, for a coffee and a doughnut at the Luqa Airport, an American pays $6.68. Skipped the coffee at O'Hare.

 

Not news....

http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2013/11/06/the_end_of_religious_liberty.html

A small but powerful gift

Today, I briefly met a monk-priest from Mt. Athos. He gave me a prayer bracelet, called the Komboskini 

Mine does not have a cross. But, what a treat.

Here is the story of this bracelet,  from http://www.prayer-bracelet.com/

These bracelets come with a great story that people just love. Here’s how the story goes. A very very long time ago there was a monk that was amongst the first to wander into the desert to spread the word of the Lord. This monk came up with the idea to use a rope to count his prayers. For every prayer he recited he made a knot.

Everything was just fine until one day during his prayer he got a vision of the Devil, which threw the monk out of concentration. The monk was surprised to see that the knots he made were mysteriously untied.

The monk tried to pray again, but everytime he got the same vision with the same result. But the brave monk was not to give up so easily. He kept on trying, but every passing day it got worse, the poor monk got very exhausted and it seemed the Devil would have his victory.

Thankfully Archangel Gabriel came to the rescue. Gabriel appeared in the monks dreams and showed him how to tie a special knot that vanquiches the Devil. The very next day the monk started to pray and to tie the special knot that consist of 7 small interlocking crosses. The Devil appeared again, but when he tried to untie the knots the special bond of the knots repelled him back to hell.

This brave humble monk stood his ground and kept on going even in his darkest hours. Ultimately claiming victory over evil. We all know this legendary monk. He was Saint Anthony the Great.

One can either say the Jesus Prayer on it, a prayer I have said off and on for 40 years or the prayer of St. Macarius....

"Lord, as Thou knowest, and as Thou wilt, have mercy!" 

The Signs of Change

There will be hardly any countries left in the western world by the end of this year which will not allow ssm. These trends have not happened by accident. Those Catholics who do not understand what is happening will be horribly surprised in the very near future.

As one young woman told a friend of mine, she can no longer see herself as a teacher in England, as she would have to teach, or let someone else go into her class and teach that ssm is ok. She cannot abide this and she can nothing about it.

The Marxists, the Gramscians have won the battle in Europe and are winning in America.

Unless Catholics rally against the dictates of the godless, they will find themselves not merely marginalized, but persecuted outright.

How many times can I write this and have people commenting that this is simply not so and that I am a false prophet? I only following what is already happening and highlighting these trends for readers.

Time for another ostrich picture....

Poetry from Malta

Autumn and a Lady in Malta

There are no falling leaves here

Desert plants do not acknowledge

Autumn nor reveal the pains of

Melancholia.

Yet, autumn it is, despite oleander

And cacti; the sunshine mocks

Those who are in mourning, those

Who do not come to these isles.

A woman sits in a darkened room,

With faded rose and pale green

Chairs, her head in black, her

Dress, black, and as the Irish

Companioni exclaimed, loudly, “I see

You are in mourning.” The black-

Laced lady is in mourning, and wears

A bishop’s ring, not noticing it

In her darkness.  Mysterious loss,

Hidden in time and memory, and

Memory she must deny, move on

As the Virgin Queen said to her

Executed lovers. No discussion, no

Tears are allowed in this hot country,

Where feelings fall like leaves in

Colder countries, but blow away

As fast, as if once seen in oranges,

Yellows and reds, now purposefully

Ignored. No country for old men

Or old women, just kind children.

The lady in lace, surrounded by

Grayness, knows now she is alone,

Like so many other women of her

Age and status. The curse of widows

Is that all seem to think that memories

Sooth, coddle, sustain, but that would

Be madness, not reality. She knows

This truth and knows she is alone with

No Ulysses desiring her after twenty years

Absence; no Orpheus willing to go into

Hades to rescue her from the fading fires.

No one but the New God, to Whom she

Turns. but when she turns, she sees

Only the painted Baroque cross.  This is her

Way now, and in the darkness, she

Acquiesces, joining with the Sorrowful

Madre.  Life was offered and she chose

Life, never death, for she knows the

Plant must die in order for new seeds

To grow; so she waits, in the land of in-

Between, like a holding area in an

Airport, she waits, like a child in

The care of a Father who allowed

His Own Beloved Son to die.

She takes her mourning memories, pressed

Like violets in the family bible, and puts

Them in her amethyst ring, symbol of

Lost power and lost tradition. She does not weep.

Take a moment and read all my Gramsci posts

Take time to read all my Gramsci and Marxism posts. These will help you understand what is happening in America and in Europe-the undermining, totally, of Western Civilization and the victory of the Marxists. Just follow the tags.

Ah, those unknown, unreal insects

Two weeks ago, I finally found out what was biting my legs. I have taken walks on the Sliema Promenade and stopped to say the rosary there in front of a beautiful, small statue of Mary, Our Mother.

The cats of Malta, many of which live in the park below the Promenade, occupy the same place as me and my rosary.

Cat fleas. I found a dead one which fell off of me. The fact that I had welts indicates an allergic reaction.

Well, I can avoid that area, or at least not sit there and pray.

I do love cats and it is too bad some have fleas.

I have not had bites now for two weeks. One must be careful. Poor cats. There are cat charities in Malta for the strays.

Here is one link .http://streetcatrescue.webs.com/howtohelp.htm

If you are not watching European stations

...you are not getting news.

Catholic persecution watch USA

Senate passes gay discrimination bill.

A Must Watch on Alan Keyes

http://new.livestream.com/churchmilitanttv/events/2504158

Post-Vatican II War Casualities

I have met many men and women who I call war causalities of the post-Vatican II Church. Some are broken because they could not find an orthodox or traditional order when they were of the age to enter to become nuns or priests.

Some were of the age where their parents trusted too much in so-called Catholic education and were taught Modernism.

Some were taught in colleges and universities for modernism-based theology and liturgical degrees, and because they lacked good grounding in the real deal of the Teaching Magisterium of the Church, they fell into error.

Some were taught post-modern philosophies in seminaries, and heresies of all sorts.

But, the ones which break my heart are the ones the Church did not address properly regarding those who went into other groups which were not in union with the Church, but came back and suffer the modernism of liturgy and teaching daily.  These people exhibit heroic virtue.

Some of these men and women are not as strong as they would have been if the Tradition had not been broken.

I have met these types of men and women throughout Ireland, England, and Malta.

Now, we all can be healed of the past, and we all can come into the Truth by study, repentance, humility, and good counseling, as well as good friends.

But, for this to happen, one has to learn to trust the Church again in one's area.

I sympathize.

I say to these broken people, keep looking, keep praying, keep finding out what the real teaching of the Church is and, most importantly, surround yourself with good, solid, orthodox Catholic friends.

God bless you, the walking wounded.

On Fr. Ripperger's Book Again

Father Chad Ripperger writes that the break with Tradition involves serious sins perpetrated by the clergy at all levels.

He is clear that the lack of passing on tradition, including ruining churches in wreckovation is sinful, noting that it is a sin against our forefathers, a sin breaking the Fourth Commandment, as well as a sin against the Church, the saints, and God. I have felt this myself when I saw the ruining of wood carvings in Iowa which had been made lovingly by immigrants to a high standard of art.

You can read all about this in his book. But, I shall briefly highlight one section on sinning against Tradition.

He writes: "One of the effects of novelty or heresy is that is tends to confuse the faithful rather than to clarify what the Church has always believed. Authentic development of doctrine always provides a clearer understanding of the constant teaching of the Church. Novelty does not.  But here we see that the lack of adherence to the tradition leads us to act against the intellectual virtues of wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Understanding is the gift of the Holy Spirit by which we intuitively grasp the truths of the faith. When we reject the tradition which passes on the object of tradition which is the truth of revelation, we cannot have an intuitive grasp of those truths."

Father then goes on to write about sins against the gifts of knowledge and wisdom. I hope you all see, again, the necessity for the purification of the intellect but also the use of the intellect on the road to holiness.

I hope these few remarks make you want to get the book.

Spinola Bay at Night Is Great

http://st-julians.com/st-julians-a-fishing-village-turned-entertainments-hub/

 The darkness comes in quickly now.

God bless all the Maltese.