Thursday, 4 June 2015
Sigh, again.....
I have been so happy to be able to get to daily Mass now in the place where I am temporarily and guess what? Not only was the Mass illicit, but the Eucharist was invalid.
The priest changed several parts of the Mass and the words of Consecration. Man....all those people were cheated.
I shall have to find another Thursday Mass. Lord, send us holy priests.
The priest changed several parts of the Mass and the words of Consecration. Man....all those people were cheated.
I shall have to find another Thursday Mass. Lord, send us holy priests.
Note to a commentator
The person who wrote to me about Clear Creek:
Could you please write to me again and check the email address you sent, as it is not working, or maybe I am copying it incorrectly. But, I tried several times. UPDATE--still cannot get it to work on Thursday night.
Thanks,
STM
Could you please write to me again and check the email address you sent, as it is not working, or maybe I am copying it incorrectly. But, I tried several times. UPDATE--still cannot get it to work on Thursday night.
Thanks,
STM
detachment mark two
It is clear we had a robbery. The most expensive things in the storage are gone. I am assuming when the movers moved things from the house to the storage things went missing then. I was already in Europe when things were moved, and all the boxes were marked for overseas shipping, which did not happen because of some circumstances at the US end. I was already in the EU, expecting things, when the arrangements fell through.
I always find it difficult to think of people stealing from the poor. But, sin is always with us and part of the human condition. This is the third robbery we have incurred since 2000. I do not want to share at this time the list of things gone missing, but these were our only valuable, and most valuable items.
However, STS has told me that he is very detached from our things, which is good, as some are now so detached from us by circumstances that we shall never see these things again.
I am reminded of St. Teresa of Avila's famous incident. She was moving from one monastery to another and had her belongings in sacks on the back of a donkey. As the little group was crossing a stream, the water turned into a rushing torrent and took the poor donkey and worldly belongings of St. Teresa far away.
She then uttered her now famous saying, "It is no wonder, God, that you have so many enemies, the way you treat your friends."
She was bolder than I. I have been so humbled by all of this that I am grateful for what I do have, and what can be given back to STS. As it is the 500 anniversary year of the great Doctor of the Church's birth, it is fitting that we think of her today and always, when we need the faith to bear up when there is little consolation.
Still, if anyone wants to help with the books, please do.
Wednesday, 3 June 2015
Book Begging Again
However, if anyone would like to replace the missing volumes I mentioned on the other post, I would appreciate it. At least one of the missing boxes contained such spirituality.
The next job is to repack, as I have sorted out books. I need to get some to Clear Creek, and am praying for someone to help me do this. Please join me in prayer for this intention. I am not sending that many there-no more than eight or so smallish boxes, at this time.
Giving away things has been fun. I love homeschooling families and know what they need. Thankfully, some stuff could be used.
Here are a few of the books I am begging readers to consider getting for me. Thanks for considering.
Teresa of Avila Interior Castle
The Philokalia--The Complete Text. Vols I and III
Garrigou-Lagrange Providence
Garrigou-Lagrange The Trinity
Garrigou-Lagrange The Priest in Union with Christ
Garrigou-Lagrange The Love of God and the Cross
Marmion Union with God
Marmion Christ: The Ideal Priest
Benson Lord of the World
Raissa Maritain We Have Been Friends Together
Raissa Maritain Adventures in Grace
I lost some hard bounds of these. Never mind....
Thanks for considering.
Also need The Three Ages of the Interior Life, is anyone wants to get it for me.
UPDATE: found my first edition, 1931 Fulton J. Sheen Old Errors and New Labels
The man was a prophet.
Also, update, I shall be where I am now for three months.
Wow! A Sign of Worse To Come
http://www.wnd.com/2015/06/cultural-cleansing-of-christian-males/
Pat Buchanan is GREAT!
Pat Buchanan is GREAT!
But if the founder of Christianity is the Son of God, then Christianity is a superior religion. What Ryan and those faculty and staff seem to be ashamed of, uncomfortable with, or unable to defend, is the truth for which Saint Louis University was supposed to stand.
But simply because they are cowardly, or politically correct, why should that statue be going into the SLU art museum? Why should not they themselves depart for another institution where their sensitivities will not be assaulted by artistic expressions of religious truths?
According to the Religion New Service, “State Sen. Ricardo Lara, an openly gay Los Angeles Democrat, wants to replace a bronze statue of Serra with a monument honoring Sally Ride, the nation’s first female astronaut. Lara said Ride would become ‘the first member of the LGBT community’ to be honored in Statuary Hall.”
Warfare
All of my closest friends are under spiritual attack. Sometimes this warfare "gets physical". I cannot describe how badly I feel that so many are experiencing the onslaught of evil which is ratcheting up prior to the SCOTUS decision. I am praying for all of my readers even though I cannot answer all of your emails. I am exhausted at this time.
If this court does what I think it will do, America as a country "under God" will be dead.
Today, on the street where I am temporarily, many houses sported American flags. Sadly, this symbol becomes more and more sinister in my view. This country is being changed by those who hate Christ so quickly, I can hardly keep up with the events pushing the agendas of the enemies of God.
Make no mistake--some people choose to become enemies of God. They choose fame, status, money, or whatever for the Kingdom of God. They choose their own wills and not God's Will.
A country which consistently chooses paths away from God's Plan will end up destroying itself from the inside, and, mostly likely, incurring the wrath of God from the outside.
The list of empires which fell through unethical, immoral, even depraved lifestyles would be a long list. Abortion itself cries out to God for punishment. But, the unnatural sins of those who to live in homosexual relationships will not be ignored by God.
Many years ago, we all were given warnings to pray against sin. Few heeded the words of Our Lady and her chosen saints-Lucy, Jacinta, Francisco, Faustina, Therese, John Bosco, and so on. Daily, I am reminded that we all waste time on trivia instead of getting ready for the final battles of Good against evil.
The war has been won by Our Lord Jesus Christ, but the battle for souls continues until the Second Coming of Christ.
Some old people said to me recently, "This country is no longer my country. I hardly recognize America."
God recognizes the good and the evil. He will not be mocked, however, by the arrogant, even Catholic politicians, who think they can hold positions concerning ssm contrary to the Church.
Obedience is the most important virtue, not humility, as obedience helps one become humble step-by-step. And, those who obey God's laws and His Church will be saved by their humble acquiescence to God's Will for us.
As I go through my books and sort things out, still looking for a necessary document, which is mysteriously missing, (please pray--this is not an optional thing at this time), I am reminds of the great minds which have gone before us to light out way to truth. The Early Church Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, the great theologians, poets, essayists, moral and mystical teachers fill by boxes. I am extremely grateful that God led me to so many wonderful people in my life to show me the way to purgation.
I am very, very grateful for His graces, which have been many in my life. But, all men and women are given graces to turn to Him, to repent, to study, to learn, to pray, to become one with God. All.
Too many have turned away, only looking at themselves instead of God.
Keep God as the Center of your entire life, your day, your decisions.
Look at Christ. And pray for the endurance which we shall all need in days to come.
Please keep me in your prayers.
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
Magical Thinking AGAIN
I have written about magical thinking in the Church.
One example from past articles has been the misconception that sacraments can be given to the dead.
No.
But, something which has come to my attention in the past six months has been the fact that in some dioceses, not all, The Rite of Christian Burial is being allowed for known apostates.
Recently, a young woman committed suicide in another state after many years of living away from the Church. In fact, some of her relatives, who are truly orthodox, said she may not have even been baptized by her parents long ago.
Yet, the priest in the home parish said a funeral Mass "for the parents". The Rite of Christian Burial is for Christians. If the woman had been a practicing Catholic and mentally unstable, and committed suicide, there would be room for doubt and a funeral could be appropriate. But, to hold large funeral for a young woman who did not want to be a Catholic and never lived an adult life as a Catholic seems to be not only hypocritical, but an insult to the dead.
She decided to fall away, or perhaps never did practice past her teens, so she chose not to be a Christian.
Why a funeral? The person who is dead gets no graces after death. Death ends the journey to heaven, hell or purgatory.
The parents should have been mourning the death of a soul long before the day of death--when a child grows up and falls away from the Church, choosing to live in a pagan lifestyle, that is a choice.
Magical thinking clouds truth.
For those who are faithful and fight the good fight daily, this confusion as to the reality of apostasy means that we have a hard time helping people fast, do mortification, pray daily, for those fallen away.
The priest made matters worse, imho, by giving in to the parents'desire for comfort. Funerals occur for three reasons: to say goodbye formally and allow grief to be shared; to give the body to God in respect for the tabernacle of the soul; and to pray for the dead person.
Magical thinking disregards not only sacramental theology, but common decency.
How far some clerics have fallen from the true understanding of death. This young woman chose a radically different lifestyle from her family. No amount of the trappings of the funeral Mass can change her decision made long ago to reject Christ and His Church.
Why, why do people choose lies? This situation was a running away of pain and suffering, which should have been faced while the woman lived.
Did anyone try to evangelize her? No, her pagan ways were accepted by her parents. "Everyone goes to heaven."
No, not everyone goes to heaven.
Perhaps the young woman repented at the last moment of life, That is possible, always, but a funeral Mass seems presumptuous.
Those diocese which have rules that a person be practicing member of a parish seem to be more obedient to reality and Church teaching on free will.
Years ago, many years ago, a grandmother who had fallen away from the Church for most of her life, came back because her grandson phoned the priest and asked him to go to the hospital. She was reconciled to the Church and she received the Last Rites.
Sadly, she did not have a Catholic funeral, as her children had fallen away, but her death was "in the Lord" and "in the Church". Her grandson acted by doctrine and good faith, not in magical thinking.
We need to be Catholics, not mushy minded relativists or universalists, and that warning must be applied to priests as well as the laity.
A Re-Discovered Jewel
I decided to share some of the pearls from this little book and set aside the encyclical on the Mystical Body of Christ for now.
The first section defines the relationship between Sacred Doctrine and the soul. Over and over again on this blog, I have written that one must be completely dependence on God's action in the soul and use our intellect and all our faculties "with a view to our sanctification and that our neighbour."
We must dedicate ourselves, and consecrate our intellect to the service of God. We must move our will by our consecrated intellect to know and love God, and then to know and love our neighbor. What is behind the purification of the intellect was stated in my perfection series--and that is prayer.
Prayer leads to the purification of the senses and the spirit, as also noted by the Maritains in this book, the process leading to the clarification and purification of the intellect. One must leave the sensory world in order to grow more perfect. The Maritains state here that the intellect grows more perfect "in proportion to its emancipation from sensory image.
Prayer allows the Spirit to share knowledge with us and only prayer, "by supernaturally rectifying our faculties of desire enables us to convert the truth into practice."
Interesting is the point the Maritains make that "Prayer, particularly in the case of intellectuals, can only preserve a perfectly right direction and escape the dangers which threaten it, on condition of being supported and fed by Theology.
Of course, the Maritains mean orthodox theology.
They go on to note that the study and knowledge of Sacred Doctrine shorten the spiritual journey. Sacred Doctrine "saves the soul from a number of errors, illusions and blind alleys."
And, here is a key point--"In relation to the purgative life, it (knowledge of Sacred Doctrine) possesses an ascetic virtue which succeeds in detaching the sould from the degradations and trivialities of self-love. "
For those in the illuminative state, or life, the purfication that it beings simplifies the gaze of the soul and turns it from the human self to God alone."
I shall comment on their explanation of Sacred Doctrine and the Unitive State later....
Why Don't People Not Believe in Hell?
I am so sorry that so many people do not believe in hell. I have come to realize lately that the vast majority of people who go to Church on Sunday, or even some at daily Mass simply do not understand God's Wrath or Justice. The cult of psychology has trumped doctrine.
The priests of this land must begin to preach about the Four Last Things. They must. Here is part of St. Faustina's vision of hell.
" Today, I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw: the first torture that constitutes hell is the loss of God; the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; the third is that one’s condition will never change; the fourth is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it, a terrible suffering, since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger; the fifth torture is conditional darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own; the sixth torture is the constant company of satan, the seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. These are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings. There are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me. Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no hell, or that nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like. I, sister Faustina, by the order of God, have visited the abysses of hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence. I cannot speak about it now; but I have received a command from God to leave it in writing. The devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God. What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell. When I came to, I could hardly recover from the fright. How terribly souls suffer there! Consequently, I pray even more fervently for the conversion of sinners. I incessantly plead God’s mercy upon them. O my Jesus, I would rather be in agony until the end of the world, amidst the greatest sufferings, then offend You by the least sin. (Diary 741).
Here are some awful paintings of hell. I think we should look at these and try and evangelize those who are in darkness.
http://filesmystery.blogspot.com/2011/04/paintings-of-hell-by-korean-artist.html
Monday, 1 June 2015
Another buzy backson day
Sorry for not blogging until much later today...organizing my life.
I need some help, like Rabbit's relations.
I need some help, like Rabbit's relations.
AMAZING!
Two priests in a diocese where I am visiting gave talks on the coming persecution of Catholics. I was surprised, as I have known both priests since the 1970s and would not have thought they would be on track, but they are.
God is inspiring many to see and get ready for what is coming.
Praise God!
Sunday, 31 May 2015
Reviewing Yeats
Years ago, on this blog, I quoted William Butler Yeats.
Here is the quotation I chose again.
“Out of Ireland have we come.
Great hatred, little room,
Maimed us at the start.
I carry from my mother's womb
A fanatic heart.”
My experience of some Irish men in 2012 and last week has been the sad revelation of "Great hatred, little room."
In County Cork years ago, I met a man who went on a tirad regarding the English persecution of the Irish. I listened, and then I quoted Christ, Who told us to love our enemies and pray for those who hate us. He adamantly said that he would never forgive the English, never. I asked him whether he realized that no one gets into heaven with hate in their hearts. The Irishman looked shocked. I do not think he ever stopped to reflect on this point. God, I told him, is not Irish, but Father of us all.
The man walked away and that was the end of the conversation.
Last week, a similar thing happened after Holy Mass. Some of us were sitting around having coffee with the pastor. He has given a superb sermon on modesty and the American-Irishman became angry.
"We cannot tell people what to wear." He said, and then he went on to talk about how we had no right to judge the culture. Of course, STM would not let this go, so I jumped in and said that it was our duty as Catholics to change the culture. The man went on to say that Christ reached out to Mary Magdalen. Another woman chimed in and said that she converted and changed her ways and would not have kept her "prostitute clothes", but in repentance, became humble and modest.
Then, I spoke of the fact that modesty was a virtue, connected to temperance, adding that a woman would change over time and become modest if she really experienced conversion, as immodesty was pride, drawing attention to one's self and not humility.
Then, I made the comment, after four others began to take sides on the issue, that if one visited the Queen of England, (or the Pope), that there was an accepted dress code.
OMgoodness. The Irish-American man stood up and said, "Well, as an Irish-American, I do not care what the Queen thinks and would not go out of my way to respect her." He grew very angry and red in the face and literally stomped out of the cafe area. He had also changed the subject from modesty and dress codes to the "evil English".
The problem of the hatred of the Irish for the English must be addressed by those who come up against hatred. My friend was shocked at the man's heated response, and informed me that he was a prominent Democrat in the city, and an Obama supporter.
Yeat's description of the "fanatic heart", a heart full of hatred and unforgiveness, a heart full of ideologies instead of Catholic truth, was revealed over coffee. I had met this in Dublin and in County Cork, and now in the Midwest. How sad that unforgiveness keeps people from rational behavior.
That was this parish's last coffee until September, and I shall most likely not be here. But, I pray for those who hate and those who do not see that the Catholic Church can change the culture, if people change their hearts and minds themselves, becoming like Christ, even at a coffee morning.
Book Begging
One of the mysteries of moving is that I have Volumes Two and Four of The Philokalia, but am missing One and Three. If anyone wants to help me get these, I would be very grateful and would do a walk through the volumes for you all.
I have the 1990 texts from Faber and Faber, which I got when living in England. These are in English.
Called: The Philokalia--The Complete Text. The two I have are in paperback. I actually gave these to STS for his birthday in 2009, although I was using them before that. However, when he left to go into the seminary, he left his books with me. He actually now has more than I do.....
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=philokalia+the+complete+text&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=29140950595&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4041729128216385830&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_7hskqo5nch_b
Please continue to pray for the missing vip document.
Ta muchly.
I have the 1990 texts from Faber and Faber, which I got when living in England. These are in English.
Called: The Philokalia--The Complete Text. The two I have are in paperback. I actually gave these to STS for his birthday in 2009, although I was using them before that. However, when he left to go into the seminary, he left his books with me. He actually now has more than I do.....
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=philokalia+the+complete+text&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=29140950595&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4041729128216385830&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_7hskqo5nch_b
Please continue to pray for the missing vip document.
Ta muchly.
Protestant Anti-Intellecualism
Up until the Protestant Revolt, the number of Catholic educational institutions which dotted the landscape of Europe measured in the thousands. Children from Norway and Sweden to Sicily and Malta were educated by the Benedictines, Dominicans and other orders. Adults listened to sermons on the doctrines of the Church and grew in their Faith.
The idea that the vast majority of people did not understand religion or the Scriptures is a lie perpetrated on purpose to undermine the authority of the Catholic Church. For centuries, the education of children and adults remained a priority among the Catholic hierarchy, and many reformers, such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, St. Anselm. renewed the seminaries demanding that the Trivium and Quadrivium be taught to the priests-to-be.
The high standard of education received a deadly blow of anti-intellectualism with the destruction of the authority of the Church, the destruction of the monastic schools, and the secularization of the ancient Catholic universities. The five "solas", which emphasize even today personal rather than authoritative interpretations of religious teaching, further created a new disenfranchised populace which no longer knew the Faith. Sadly, too many movies and documentaries insist on continuing, even in 2015, the lies that the Protestants created an educated mass populace, when the opposite is true.
Anti-intellectualism cannot be ever seen as a virtue. Reason and faith as gifts from God to the humans bring us to our adult acceptance of a mature stance of religion. For a study of the "solas", look at these links from wiki, which give a fairly decent explanation.
| Sola scriptura |
|---|
| Sola fide |
| Sola gratia |
| Solus Christus |
| Soli Deo gloria |
To ignore the intellect and the long history of Tradition in the Church makes one a Protestant. As Newman stated, one cannot study the Early Church Fathers and the Doctors of the Church and remain a Protestant. The truth converts.
It is the duty of every adult to appropriate the Faith through reading, study, watching orthodox aids, and so on. To ignore the adult responsibility of learning the Faith in a mature manner is the sin of spiritual sloth.
Today, I heard a fantastic sermon on the Trinity. The priest shared many perspectives on Church teaching in language which could be understood by most people. He also allowed for the mystery of Faith, which demands the we accept certain truths outside of our understanding.
Until adult Catholics appropriate the Faith in America, the same thing which happened in Ireland will happen here in America. Those who do not have the ability to understand the whys of Catholic teaching will fall for the majority ideologies.
As Fulton J. Sheen said a long time ago, "What do you call an ignorant Catholic? A Protestant."
Living in Fantasies
I know a woman who has recently visited a foreign country because it was filmed in her favorite fantasy movie. She has wanted to visit the scenes of the film, and now she is sending all of us friends photos of this film trip. I have other friends who have done the same thing--make pilgrimages to movie sites or to places where the actors stayed when a movie was made.
The films created a reality for these people, and they want to savor the pilgrimage to the places they have come to love through movies, a parallel movement of the heart to Catholics going on pilgrimages to Lourdes, or Fatima, or Walsingham. However, Our Lady Mary really, truly came to those places and the apparitions are considered real.
Not so with movie sites, as the film or book of the film are complete fantasies, unless the movies are documentaries. It seems that too many people live in fantasy worlds rather than the real world. This woman admits this, publicly, online. She prefers to seek out lovely places rather than face her fear of the future, which she rightly sees as one of lessened freedoms and financial setbacks. She tells all of us who know her that she wants to surround herself with beauty and light in the growing darkness she sees coming upon the West.
Her way of coping with reality is to escape it.
The Christian is not so lucky. As Christians who have been called by God to preach the Gospel and bring people to Christ, we have to face the difficulties of living in a pagan world, trying to spread the good news of Christ's salvific act, and His Divine Person, to a jaded world.
The travelling woman can stand in a green field and look at quaint houses which are all part of a story. But, the real story of sin, death, suffering, and resurrection alludes her. She admits to all of us who listen, and I do, as she wants the truth, but cannot yet accept Christ, that she will enjoy life until she no longer can do so, by living in the world of fantastical beauty. She is old enough to remember happier and more prosperous days, so she yearns for that fulfillment of grace and peace in the material world. I admire her ability to find beauty in the world, but am saddened that she cannot face suffering, which she believes is useless and unnecessary.
She, as many others do, denies the efficacy of suffering. She denies the need for the Crucifixion. Her god has never suffered or died.
Fantasies can be created easily, with the imagination taking over the senses and the intellect. To retreat into a fantastical world means that one can avoid unpleasantries and discomfort. Yet, my God calls me constantly to suffering. My God will not allow me to substitute mountains or lakes, flowers or fantastical stories for Him and His story, which is the stuff of Redemption.
All of us seek comfort in stress, and as stress becomes more common for many reasons to the intelligent, awake human being, the retreat into fantasy becomes a strong drive. Perhaps retreating into the beauty of false worlds seems more real than the ugliness of the world. Some people create fantasies out of false apparitions, or even occult activities, which involve deceit. Some people create fantasies about their families, or even their Church communities.
God is Beauty, and there is nothing wrong with seeking out the good, the true and the beautiful. But, to suppress reality by denial, and to run away from the strife of spiritual warfare, make one less than human.
Fantasies destroy reason. Fantasies destroy real friendships. Porn is fantasy, and addiction to porn, like addiction to travelling or even reading fantasies, leads one out of reality an into the false never-neverland of denial.
To deny that we Catholics are on the edge of a great turning of civilization reveals that a person has chosen fantasy rather than reality. But, many people either are not willing to face reality, or cannot do so. Actually, none of us can face suffering with great graces from God. But, He wills to give us those graces, and to identify with our personal suffering. Christ does not lead us to anything He has not already suffered. And, He intimately shares in our own sufferings.
God is Real. He is. If we choose the worlds of fantasy over His world, we may find ourselves permanently outside His Life.
Pray for this good, but running woman. Running away from suffering denies the soul, food for growth. She admits she is doing this to many of us. But, she is not the only one. This time of hiding from suffering seems to be a common mode of living for many people.
I wish that the fantasy worlds would all disappear, freeing those inhabitants and making them seek the truth. I pray that those who are caught up in all types of fantasies will come to see that reality, even though sometimes painful, brings us closer to God.
Even evil in the world can be overcome and endured to reveal the glory of God. Such are the lives of the martyrs. These brave men and women never ran away from the truth, and, therefore, forever, not just on a vacation, they have been surrounded with Beauty, the Beauty of the Beatific Vision.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)