tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17014025660559660012024-03-14T01:18:39.215+08:00Spiritual MattersSpiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-75547432296575774232013-08-04T11:15:00.000+08:002013-11-04T13:21:39.489+08:00Wearing the Veil and Proper Attire in the Church<i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>"[But] these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."</b></span></i><br />
~Matthew 23:23<br />
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We must practice charity without neglecting the traditions of the Church.<br />
<i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><br /></b></span></i>
<i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>"Above all, don't look as if you approved of evil whatever you do..."</b></span></i><br />
~Padre Benedetto Nardella, spiritual director of Padre Pio whom he described as the man who "formed" him<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hCfVDJsHU6E/UhGM99bR_AI/AAAAAAAAAHk/0tQgEtEun3I/s1600/veil01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hCfVDJsHU6E/UhGM99bR_AI/AAAAAAAAAHk/0tQgEtEun3I/s1600/veil01.jpg" /></a>"<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Padre Pio</span></b> is known for not tolerating any women in wearing low-necked dresses or short, tight skirts, he didn't even allow his spiritual daughters to wear transparent stockings, esp. in the confessional. [You read it, even 'in the confessional.'] When he saw anyone like that, he called them “clowns” and dismissed them. The same for boys and men, they are not allowed to enter the Church with three-quarter length sleeves and they had to wear long trousers. Padre Pio's religious brothers had to fasten a sign to the Church door: "By Padre Pio's explicit wish, women must enter the confessional wearing skirts at least 8 inches below the knee. It is forbidden to borrow longer dresses in church and to wear them to confession." Another sign read: <i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">"The Church is the House of God. It is forbidden for men to enter with bare arms or in shorts. </span><span style="color: #a64d79;">IT IS FORBIDDEN FOR WOMEN TO ENTER</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> in trousers, </span><span style="color: #a64d79;">WITHOUT A VEIL ON THEIR HEAD</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">, in short clothing, low necklines, sleeveless or immodest dresses."</span></b></i> " (From <i>"Prophet of the People: A Biography of Padre Pio"</i> by Dorothy Gaudiose)</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zb99oVlE2dg/UhGNo6VPX6I/AAAAAAAAAHs/FGYN5gMqeYM/s1600/stbernadettepic3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zb99oVlE2dg/UhGNo6VPX6I/AAAAAAAAAHs/FGYN5gMqeYM/s320/stbernadettepic3.jpg" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Bernadette of Lourdes wearing Veil</td></tr>
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For 2,000 years, Catholic women have veiled themselves before entering a church or any time they are in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament (e.g., during sick calls).</div>
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Sacred Scripture presents several reasons for wearing the chapel veil. St. Paul tells us in his first letter to the Corinthians (11:1-16) that Christian women must cover their heads because it is a Sacred Tradition commanded by our Lord Himself and entrusted to Paul: "The things I am writing to you are the Lord's commandments" (1 Cor. 14:37). "That is why a woman ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels" wrote St. Paul (1 Cor. 11:10).</div>
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Though I am not a Canon lawyer, the following is easy to understand.</div>
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It was written into the <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">1917 Code of Canon Law</span></b>,<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Canon 1262.2</span></b>:<br />
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<i><span style="color: #3d85c6;">"Men, in a church or outside a church, while they are assisting at sacred rites, shall be bare-headed, unless the approved mores of the people or peculiar circumstances of things determine otherwise; </span><span style="color: #a64d79;"><b>women, however, shall have a covered head and be modestly dressed, especially when they approach the table of the Lord.</b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">"</span></i></div>
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But though the 1917 Code of Canon Law was replaced by the 1983 Code, it is still somewhat in force as in the following.<i style="color: #3d85c6;"> </i><br />
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When the <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">1983 Code of Canon Law</span></b> was produced, veiling was simply not mentioned (not abrogated, mind you, but simply not mentioned). However, Canons 20-21 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law make clear that later Canon Law abrogates earlier Canon Law only when this is made explicit and that, in cases of doubt, the revocation of earlier law is not to be presumed; quite the opposite:</div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Canon 20</b></span> </span>A later law abrogates or derogates from an earlier law, if it expressly so states, or if it is directly contrary to that law, or if it integrally reorders the whole subject matter of the earlier law. A universal law, however, does not derogate from a particular or from a special law, unless the law expressly provides otherwise.<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Canon 21</b></span> In doubt, the revocation of a previous law is not presumed; rather, later laws are to be related to earlier ones and, as far as possible, harmonized with them.</div>
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Canons 27 and 28 add to the argument:<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Canon 27</b></span> Custom is the best interpreter of laws. </div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Canon 28</span></b> Without prejudice to the provisions of can. 5, a custom, whether contrary to or apart from the law, is revoked by a contrary custom or law. But unless the law makes express mention of them, it does not revoke centennial or immemorial customs, nor does a universal law revoke particular customs.</div>
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<b>From Various Internet Sources </b><br />
<b>All Photos do not belong to the webmaster and are solely used for educational and religious purposes.</b></div>
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Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-11887382813619849622013-08-04T07:36:00.000+08:002014-03-06T17:49:44.209+08:00Eucharistic Miracle of St. John Marie Vianney<b>(Feast: August 4)</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NYVXtU5sFyM/UfxCWVYiEnI/AAAAAAAAAG8/5UGZWF2ZUW8/s1600/s_john_vianney_host.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NYVXtU5sFyM/UfxCWVYiEnI/AAAAAAAAAG8/5UGZWF2ZUW8/s1600/s_john_vianney_host.jpg" height="400" width="235" /></a><br />
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Of the Holy Parish Priest of Ars (+1859) it has been reported that when he distributed Holy Communion, a Holy Host floated from his fingers and by Itself was placed on the lips of the first communicant. One who became a witness to it but had previously doubted, converted himself and later became a priest.(1) The Holy Cure himself described the event:</div>
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"One day, two Protestant ministers came here, who did not believe in the Real Presence of Our Lord. I said to them,<i> 'Do you think that a piece of bread could detach itself, and go, of its own accord, to place itself on the tongue of a person who came near to receive it?' 'No.' 'Then it is not bread.'</i> There was a man who had doubts about the Real Presence, and he said,<i> 'What do we know about it? It is not certain. What is consecration? What happens on the altar at that moment?'</i> But he wished to believe, and he prayed the Blessed Virgin to obtain faith for him. Listen attentively to this. I do not say that this happened somewhere, but I say that it happened to myself. At the moment when this man came up to receive Holy Communion, the Sacred Host detached Itself from my fingers while I was still a good way off, and went off Itself and placed Itself upon the tongue of that man."(2)</div>
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<b>Sources:</b><br />
1) Ferd. Holbock, Das Allercheiligate und die Heiligen, Stein am Rhein 1979, p. 187<br />
2) Catechetical Instructions of the Cure of Ars: <a href="http://www.ewtn.com/library/catechsm/catars.htm" target="_blank">http://www.ewtn.com/library/catechsm/catars.htm</a><br />
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<b>Photo do not belong to the webmaster</b>Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-55102822945316927772013-07-15T17:09:00.000+08:002014-03-06T17:25:46.723+08:00Eucharistic Miracle of St. Bonaventure, Seraphic Doctor of the Church<b>(Feast: July 15)</b><br />
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<i>Not all Eucharistic Miracles are accompanied by visions.</i><br />
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On his deathbed our Saint longed with all the ardour of his seraphic soul for the sweet intercourse of Sacramental Communion. But the cause just mentioned made this impossible [i.e. his infirm state of health with a certain unknown type of epidemic that do not allow him to receive Communion]. Still, as far as possible to appease his pious longing, the Consecrated Host was brought into his room and placed beside him, so that his eyes might rest upon it. This only intensified his desire, until it would appear that the Lord could no longer withstand the ardour of his pleadings. A wonderful thing was then seen to happen. Without any visible agency the Sacred Host left the ciborium and, moving through the air towards the dying Saint, vanished within his breast!</div>
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At an earlier period in his life a somewhat similar occurrence is recorded. Bartholomew of Pisa and the author of the Chronicles of the Twenty-four Generals relate that, on a certain occasion, the pious General [Bonaventure], thinking himself unworthy, abstained for a long time from saying Holy Mass. But the Lord was touched by his humility, and one day as he was devoutly hearing Mass, a particle of the Consecrated Host, solely at the command of the Saviour, left the altar and entered his mouth, filling his soul with divine sweetness. It may be that both records are but different versions of the same fact, and we may doubt which of them is authentic. But if Bonaventure's malady were such as described, we should like to think that the Lord, pitying the loneliness and extremity of His dying servant, afforded him, even by a miracle, the supreme consolation which his passing spirit sighed for.</div>
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<b>From:</b><br />
Saint Bonaventure:<br />
The Seraphic Doctor<br />
Minister-General of the Franciscan Order<br />
Cardinal Bishop of Albano<br />
by Rev. Fr. Laurence Costelloe, O.F.M.<br />
<b>Download the free eBook (PDF) at:</b><br />
<a href="https://ia600209.us.archive.org/13/items/saintbonaventure00costuoft/saintbonaventure00costuoft.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://ia600209.us.archive.org/13/items/saintbonaventure00costuoft/saintbonaventure00costuoft.pdf</a>Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-44022605762650744362013-07-14T17:43:00.000+08:002014-03-08T17:16:24.463+08:00Eucharistic Miracle of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi<b>(Feast: June 9)</b><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K4FjHPb417w/UxhDRDi3AmI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/xYDUXAvIfBs/s1600/B_Anna_Maria_Taigi_P_Cacciolo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K4FjHPb417w/UxhDRDi3AmI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/xYDUXAvIfBs/s1600/B_Anna_Maria_Taigi_P_Cacciolo.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Not all Eucharistic Miracles are accompanied by visions. </i><br />
<i>Pope Benedict XV beatified Anna Maria Taigi on May 30, 1920.</i><br />
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Many other marvels might be mentioned of this holy woman in connection with the Blessed Sacrament; such, for instance, as occurred in the Church of San Carlino, the same where she had so fervently assumed the habit of the Third Order of the Trinitarians. An Irish priest was saying Mass, and Anna Maria was waiting to receive Communion, when behold! upon his turning round to the congregation holding aloft the Sacred Host and pronouncing the words: <i>'Ecce Agnus Dei; ecce qui tollit peccata mundi' [Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world]</i> the consecrated particle flew from his hands and rested on the lips of the servant of God.</div>
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<b>From:</b><br />
The Life of Blessed Anna Maria Taigi:<br />
The Roman Matron<br />
by Edward Healy Thompson<br />
<b>Download the free eBook (PDF) at:</b><br />
<a href="https://ia700705.us.archive.org/19/items/lifeofvenerablea00thom/lifeofvenerablea00thom.pdf">https://ia700705.us.archive.org/19/items/lifeofvenerablea00thom/lifeofvenerablea00thom.pdf</a>Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-66587306111036184292013-07-13T17:22:00.003+08:002014-03-09T18:17:35.134+08:00The Brown Scapular and the Sabbatine Privilege<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel: July 16</span></b><br />
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On July 16th 1251, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Simon
Stock, Superior General of the Carmelite Order. Holding on her hands the Brown
Scapular, she said: “Received, my beloved son, this Scapular of your Order;
whoever dies wearing it shall not suffer eternal fire. It is a sign of
salvation, a safeguard in danger… and a pledge of my special protection till
the end of time... Wear the Scapular devoutly and perseveringly. It is my
garment. To be clothed in it means you are continually thinking of me, and I in
turn, am always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><b>The
Sabbatine Privilege: The Promise Extended into Purgatory</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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During another apparition, this one to Pope John XXII (1316-1334), the
Blessed Mother generously granted what is known as the <b>Sabbatine Privilege</b>: that those who wear the Brown Scapular and
fulfill certain conditions will be freed from Purgatory on the first Saturday
after death: “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory, I shall free, so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.”<br />
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This promise was also mentioned in a Bull issued on March 3, 1322
by Pope John XXII. Pope St. Pius V stated in his Bull “Superna dispositione” (18
February 1566): “With apostolic authority and by tenor of the present, we
approve each of the privileges [of the Carmelite Order] and also the
Sabbatine.” It was Pope Paul V (1605-1621) who settled a controversy concerning
the Privilege when he issued a Decree on January 20, 1613 in which he gave
priests permission to preach that the Blessed Virgin of Mt. Carmel “… will aid
the souls of the Brothers and Sisters of the Confraternity of the Blessed
Virgin of Mount Carmel after their death by Her continual intercession, by Her
suffrages and merits and by Her special protection, especially on the day of
Saturday which is the day especially dedicated by the Church to the same
Blessed Virgin Mary…”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Recently, Our Lady confirmed the Sabbatine Privilege to Pere Lamy (1855-1931), Founder
of the <i>Religious Congregation of the
Servants of Jesus and Mary</i>, read at: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://spiritual-matters777.blogspot.com/2013/07/apparitions-to-pere-lamy-1855-1931.html" target="_blank">http://spiritual-matters777.blogspot.com/2013/07/apparitions-to-pere-lamy-1855-1931.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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To receive the Scapular privileges one must be enrolled in the Brown
Scapular. One should ask a priest to make this enrollment.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The conditions for obtaining the Sabbatine Privilege are:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">Wear the Brown Scapular faithfully.<o:p></o:p></li>
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of life.<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify;">Recite the Little Office of the Blessed
Virgin daily, or, with permission, substitute for this another pious work,
e.g., the daily recitation of five decades of the Rosary. Any priest with
faculties to hear confessions (this includes most priests) has the faculty
to commute (change) this third requirement. Those who are bound to recitation of the full Divine Office fulfill this condition by praying the full Office instead. Those who cannot read may instead abstain from eating meat on Wednesdays and Saturdays, unless Christmas Day falls on one of those days.</li>
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“In 1947 the General Chapter of our Order [Carmelite], held at Rome, decreed that<b> the recitation of the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be to the Father, [each] said seven times daily should be the minimum requirement</b> when authorized priests substitute for the obligation of the Little Office or the abstinence. But this Chapter added that the devout client of Our Lady should not be satisfied by so little and should remember the greatness of the Promise and try to say the Rosary daily since Our Lady requested the daily Rosary.”<br />
~ Fr. Howard Rafferty, O.Carm.<br />
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Until it is explained, the Scapular Promise seems unbelievable. Ever
since Our Lady appeared to Saint Simon Stock on July 16, 1251, many—yes, thousands—have
found it almost impossible to believe
that for so little a practice as belonging to Her Confraternity, one could be
rewarded with salvation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It seems that Our Lady returned to Heaven and considered, as it were,
the great favor She had conferred. She saw the amazement of thousands at so
small an action as wearing two pieces of cloth being favored by Her with so
tremendous a Promise. So She returned again to earth, and this time to make a
Promise still more astounding!<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the year after Saint Peter Thomas was informed by Her that “the
Order of Carmel is destined to exist until the end of the world,” the Queen of
Heaven conferred a favor through the habit of Her family which has caused the
great Pope Benedict XV to exclaim: “Let all of you have a common language and a
common armor: the language, the sentences of the Gospel; the armor, the
Scapular of Mary which all ought to wear and which enjoys the singular
privilege of protection even after death.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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For, on March 3rd, 1322, Pope John XXII had issued the following Bull:
[See P. E. Magennis: <i>The Sabbatine Privilege</i> [New York 1923]
for a demonstration of the authenticity of this script.] <o:p></o:p></div>
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“John, Bishop and servant of the servants of God, to the faithful of
Christ, collectively and individually: As though in the most sacred heights of
paradise, the so sweet and charming harmony of the Angels is heard while the
sense of sight is also delighted and Jesus is seen adorned with the glory of
His Father. For He saith: I and the Father are one... He who seeth Me, seeth
also the Father... and the choir of the Angels ceaseth not to say: Holy, Holy,
Holy. Even so, the Assembly ceaseth not to pour forth praise to the Virgin on
high, O Virgin, Virgin, Virgin, be thou our mirror alike and example... For she
is adorned with the gift of Grace, as holy Church singeth... Mary, full
of Grace and Mother of Mercy... So that hill which is reputed of the Order of
Carmel, praising with song and extolling and telling of this Mother of Grace...
Hail, Queen of Mercy and our hope... So, as I prayed with bended knees, the Virgin
of Carmel seemed to speak to me these words: O John, Vicar of my well-beloved
Son, I shall snatch thee, as it were, from thy foe. Thee who art Pope, I make
my Vicar for the solemn gift which I sought from My Son and have obtained by my
prayers. So, it behooveth thee to grant a favor and confirmation to my holy and
devout Order of Carmel, which took its rise with Elias and Eliseus on the
mountain of that name. Whoso maketh profession, whoso observeth the Rule drawn
up by my servant Albert the Patriarch, whoso unfailingly sheweth obedience
thereunto and to that which has been approved by my dear son Innocent, so that
thou mayest accept through the Vicar of my Son on earth what my Son hath
ordained in Heaven: that he who shall have persevered in holy obedience,
poverty and chastity, or shall enter the Holy Order, shall be saved. And if
others for the sake of devotion shall enter holy religion, hearing the sign of
the Sacred Habit and calling themselves associates of either sex of my
aforesaid Order, they shall be freed and absolved from a third part of their
sins on what day they enter. . . So let the professed members of the said
Order be freed from punishment and from guilt on what day they go from this
world,” so that with hastened step they shall pass over Purgatory, I, THE
MOTHER OF GRACE, SHALL DESCEND INTO PURGATORY ON THE SATURDAY AFTER THEIR DEATH
AND WHOMSOEVER I SHALL FIND IN PURGATORY I SHALL FREE, so that I may lead them
unto the holy mountain of life everlasting. ‘Tis true that you brothers and
sisters are bound to recite the Canonical Hours, as it behooveth according to
the Rule given by Albert. Those who are ignorant must lead a life of fasting on
those days on which Holy Church doth so ordain. Moreover, unless through some
necessity they be involved in some difficulty, they must abstain from flesh
meat on Wednesday and Saturday, except on the Birthday of my Son. Now, when
these words had been uttered, the sacred vision departed...”</blockquote>
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Purgatory! Eye has not seen nor ear heard the tremendous suffering that word
implies. Some theologians are of the opinion that the worst pain we could
possibly suffer on earth-----utter moral abandonment while the body be tortured
by the most diabolical cruelties-----cannot be compared to the least of the
Purgatorial pains. Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi tells us that “the pains
suffered by all the Martyrs are as a pleasant garden in comparison with the
sufferings of the Souls in Purgatory.” [ Cf. Savaria, pg. 222.] Saint Cyril
said: that, as for himself, he would rather suffer all the pains that have
beset man from the time of Adam together with all that will beset him until the
end of the world, rather than spend one day in Purgatory. For since nothing
impure can enter Heaven, one must go to Purgatory and, there, only tremendous
suffering can satisfy the temporal punishment due offenses against an Infinite
Goodness. Saint Bridget beheld a Soul in Purgatory tortured inexplicably for
having been vain and having thought more of frivolous diversion than of things
spiritual. [<i>Revelations</i> (Rome, 1628) , Bk. V, ch. liii.] Saint Mary
Magdalen de Pazzi, reports that a Saintly religious was detained sixteen days
in Purgatory for three trifling faults and that she would have been there
longer had it not been that she had been very faithful to her rule. A certain
layman, although he was a good Christian, was fifty-nine years in Purgatory
because of his love of comfort; another, thirty-five years for the same reason;
a third, who was too fond of gambling, was in Purgatory for sixty-four years.
And Saint Augustine says that the torments of Purgatory surpass all that a man
can suffer on earth. [<i>Treatise on Psalm xxxvii</i>; cf Savaria, op. cit.
231.] But Mary, who through Her intercession has complete dominion over
Purgatory, [St. Bernardine: Serm. 3, de Nom. Mar. a. 2, c. 3.] has come to Her
special children to assure them that She will not suffer them to remain in its
fires more than a week-----in fact, not beyond the day consecrated to Her Honor
by the Church. With Saint Bonaventure, we hear Her saying in the words of
Scripture: “I have penetrated the depths of the abyss, that is, the depths of
Purgatory, to help those holy Souls.” [<i>Glorie</i>, viii, pg. 305. N. B.:
Novarinus says, in Cit, Exs. 86, “<i>Crediderim omnibus qui in flammis purgantur,
Mariae meritis non solum leviores fuisse redditas illas poenas, sed et
breviores, adeo ut cruciatum tempus contractum Virginis ope illius sit.</i>”
Such is the meaning of the Sabbatine Privilege.] Saint Bernardine said that the
Blessed Virgin always liberates Her special devotees from the torments of
Purgatory and Saint Denis the Carthusian and Saint Peter Damian had written
that on the feasts of the Assumption, Christmas and Easter: “Our Lady descends
into Purgatory and takes many souls from it.” [St. Dionysius, <i>Cart.
Serm</i>. 2, de Ass. N. B. : Note that the Saint says that Mary descends and
that on a certain day: <i>Beatissima Virgo singulis annis in festivitate
nativitatis Christi ad purgatorii loca cum multitudine angelorum descendit</i>.”]
But Our Lady has declared that She will not wait for the great Feasts to
liberate Her devotees of the Scapular. Regardless of the punishment merited,
provided they have observed chastity and practiced an act of piety regulated by
their confessors, She will obtain for them the complete remission of their debt
and their complete purification by the very first Saturday after their death
and, on that day, escort them to eternal bliss.</div>
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When Saint Teresa was astonished at seeing a certain Carmelite carried
straight to Heaven without even going to Purgatory, she was given to understand
that he had been faithful to his rule and avoided Purgatory because of Bulls
granted to the Carmelite order. [<i>Autobiography</i>, ch. xxxviii [near the
end]: “I was amazed that he had not gone to Purgatory. I understood that,
having become a friar and carefully kept the rule, the Bulls of the Order had been
of use to him, so that he did not pass into Purgatory.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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(N. B.: Fr. Zimmerman opines that this does not refer to the Sabbatine
Bull and to the Bulls that confirm it; but since he gives no grounds for his
opinion and since he had very “queer” ideas about the Sabbatine Privilege
itself, readers of his edition of St. Teresa’s autobiography might discredit
his opinion. Saint John of the Cross rejoiced to die on Saturday because of
this “Sabbatine” Privilege. “Everyone should strive for it,” said Pope Pius XI.
But there are many who miss this great Privilege. “Although many wear my
Scapular,” Our Lady complained to the Ven. Dominic of Jesus and Mary, “only a
few fulfill the conditions for the Sabbatine Privilege.” [R. P. Bauss, <i>Das
Fegfeuer</i> (Mainz, 1883) ; cf. <i>Scapulier-Biichlein</i> (Graz,
1892), pg. 34.] Similarly, at her death the saintly Carmelite, Frances of the
Blessed Sacrament, exclaimed:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“There are only a few who receive the Privilege because only a few
fulfill the conditions.” “Is it true that wearers of the Scapular are actually
freed from Purgatory on the Saturday after their deaths?” was one of the
questions put to her father by Sister Seraphina in the celebrated
communications with his suffering soul which caused international comment. “Yes,”
was the answer, “‘when they have truly fulfilled all the obligations.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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And yet the privilege is very easily obtained. One must observe
chastity according to his state in life. But this must be done, privilege or no
privilege, and if one should have the misfortune of falling into grievous sin,
it is the opinion of authorities that as soon as he repents and resolves never
to sin again, his right to the privilege begins anew. The other condition for
obtaining the Sabbatine Indulgence often varies. Our Lady required the daily
recitation of the Office, or, if recitation of it should be impossible, the
keeping of the fasts of the Church together with abstinence from meat on
Wednesdays and Saturdays. However, if one cannot observe even this condition,
then any other work may be substituted by a confessor, either inside or outside
the confessional. (It is to be noted, however, that only a confessor with the
special faculty... which faculty is often obtained together with the faculty of
enrolling in the Scapular but which does not follow from the latter... can
commute the saying of the Little Office to Abstinence from meat on Wednesdays
and Saturdays. It is only this latter condition which can be commuted by all
confessors...<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is a semi-triumph for Satan to cause Souls to suffer in Purgatory
as the result of unrequited sin. Mary sees them, Her children, in unspeakable
suffering in the Heart of Her Son, which longs to give bliss to these
predestined ones whom He has ransomed at the price of His Blood, is deterred
for a time from being finally united to them. Hence Satan celebrates a victory.
How crushing it must be to him, an incarnation of pride, to be vanquished by so
simple a Marian devotion as the Scapular! And where the promise of Salvation
rendered him powerless against Souls who died in the Scapular, now a further
promise almost completely curtails his power. To keep Souls in Purgatory which
do not enjoy the Sabbatine Privilege he can use his wiles to prevent suffrages from
being offered for them, but, before Mary’s new Scapular Promise, he is
impotent. How true it is that the Immaculate crushes his head, the seat of
pride, with her heel! We are again forcibly reminded of the cloud that appeared
to Elias over Mount Carmel, the prophetic vision that gave rise to the title of
the Scapular Queen, “Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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For even as that little foot-shaped cloud brought material salvation
and cooled the burning earth, so does Mary, through Her humble garment of
Carmel, bring spiritual salvation and cool the fires of Purgatory.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Naturally Satan did not allow the Sabbatine Privilege to spread in the
Church without a great struggle. In the opposition that has met it from every
quarter it is not difficult to discern his forces at work. A privilege that is
authoritatively confirmed by the Holy See, for which Popes have almost begged
us to enter the Scapular Confraternity, should be utterly beyond question. A
Pope granted it and Popes have ratified it: John XXII, Alexander V, Nicholas V,
Sixtus, IV, Clement VII, Paul Ill, Saint Pius V, Clement VIII, Leo XI, Paul V,
Urban VIII, Alexander VII, Benedict XIV, Pius VI, Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI.
[Of the nine Popes who have sanctioned the Sabbatine Privilege, note these
words of St. Pius V (<i>Superna dispositione</i>... Feb. 18, 1566): “With
apostolic authority and by tenor of the present, we approve each of the
privileges [of the Carmelite Order] and also the Sabbatine.”] But even though
everyone knows that the indulgence comes through the Church, it has been
mysteriously clouded by a discussion as to the authenticity of our present copy
of the original bull! As in the case of the Scapular Vision we see a document
being attacked and defended again and again, as though with the fall of that document
the Sabbatine Privilege would cease to exist. The easiest way to dispel such a
cloud is to point out to the querulous that if the Blessed Virgin did not grant
the indulgence, what they refuse to attribute to Her they cannot refuse to
attribute to the Popes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Now, it seems that there is more in the Sabbatine Privilege than first
appears. In what is probably the greatest of all Marian books, the author of
which has been declared a Doctor of the Universal Church, the unusual opinion
is voiced that if a Scapular wearer does a little more than Mary requires as
conditional for obtaining the Sabbatine Privilege, he will never go to
Purgatory at all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The book is <i>The Glories of Mary</i> by Saint Alphonsus
Ligouri. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After the death of St. Alphonsus, there was a clamor for his
canonization. When his body was solemnly exhumed, upon removal of the inner
coffin covering his remains, a most remarkable sight met the eyes of the
examiners: there, in the coffin, where the body and episcopal robes had
decomposed, the Scapular lay incorrupt. Was it Mary’s testimony to that most
unusual statement, in Saint Alphonsus’ famous book, concerning the Sabbatine
Privilege of Her Scapular?<o:p></o:p></div>
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It is noteworthy that many devotees of the Scapular Queen hope and
pray for the grace of dying on Saturday, and receive their request. An edifying
incident occurred some “years ago when, despite the opinion of her doctor that
she should die on Wednesday, a certain lady earnestly protested that ever since
she had sought the Sabbatine Privilege she had begged Mary not to let her die
until Saturday, and she felt certain that she would not die until that day. To
the doctor’s surprise, she did not. Saint John of the Cross died in 1591
saying: “The Mother of God and of Carmel hastens to Purgatory with grace, on
Saturday, and delivers those Souls who have worn Her Scapular. Blessed be such
a Lady who wills that, on this day of Saturday, I shall depart from this life!”
Saint Alphonsus asks: “Can we not hope for the same grace if we also do a
little more than Mary asked?” Saint Alphonsus himself did more, and with the
result that the Mother of God came to his death bed personally to bear his
beloved Soul straight to Her Divine Son.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As was said, although all else perished in his tomb, Mary’s Scapular
remained incorrupt. The Virgin of the Scapular is so full of love for Her
children, so unspeakably good and completely condescending, that She is not
content with being at their side in death, but She aids them after death. It is
little wonder that Pope Leo XIII, as he saw death approaching, called his
familiars to his bed and said: “Let us make a novena to Our Lady of the
Scapular and I shall be ready to die!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Mary’s love is limitless and Her mercy extends to all. Nevertheless,
She has Her favorites. There is no one in the world for whom She prays more
readily than the religious of Mount Carmel and all who are affiliated to them,
because She has a particular tenderness for them. The reason is that the
religious of Carmel were the first to consecrate themselves to Her. They are
Her eldest. And the protection which Mary accords to them does not stop at the
end of this life but follows on into the next life. She causes them to avoid
the torments of Hell and, if they are in Purgatory, She obtains speedy
deliverance for them!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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~ R. P. LEJEUNE<o:p></o:p></div>
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“For the gate of the inner court which looks to the east shall be shut
for six days, but on the Sabbath it shall be opened.” ~ Offertory of the Mass
on the Scapular Feast.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Original Article is at:</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/scapular7.htm" target="_blank">http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/scapular7.htm</a><o:p></o:p><br />
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<b>All Photos do not belong to the webmaster</b></div>
Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-22974739288021092892013-07-13T12:29:00.000+08:002017-01-02T14:13:35.605+08:00Apparitions to Pére Lamy (1855-1931), Founder of the Religious Congregation of the Servants of Jesus and Mary<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b><i><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Pére Lamy (Father John Edward Lamy) 1855-1931 is a Mystic and Founder
of the Religious Congregation of the Servants of Jesus and Mary</span></i><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEFTmMk3e5c/SxCUfg56YqI/AAAAAAAABcQ/6WN9c1enwhU/s1600/Pere_Lamy_John_Edward_Lamy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408986421601657506" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEFTmMk3e5c/SxCUfg56YqI/AAAAAAAABcQ/6WN9c1enwhU/s400/Pere_Lamy_John_Edward_Lamy.jpg" style="height: 400px; margin-top: 0px; width: 267px;" /></a><br />
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[Typographical errors of the original article were already corrected]</div>
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The source for this information is from the book <b><i>“Pere Lamy”</i></b> by
Comte Paul Biver, translated from the French by Monsignor John O’Connor, 1973,
Tan Books and Publishers, available <a href="https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/70/" target="_blank">by clicking here</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The author Comte (Count) Paul Biver was a very close friend of Pere
Lamy. He conducted numerous informal interviews of Pere Lamy in his house not
long before his death in 1931 (in fact, he died in the house of the author on Dec.
1, 1931). These interviews are contained in this extraordinary saintly
biography full of spiritual inspiration. Concerning Pere Lamy his bishop said: “<b><i>I
have in my diocese another Cur</i></b><b><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">é</span>
of Ars.”</i></b> This holy priest had visions of the past and of the
future, of Our Lord, the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph and the Angels –even Lucifer.
He founded the Religious Congregation of the Servants of Jesus and Mary, built
a Chapel to Our Lady of the Woodlands, cared for countless wounded soldiers and
sick people during World War I, was called the Priest of the “ragpickers” and
hooligans for having directed a Youth Movement and cared for countless street
boys in Troyes and La Courneuve and was a parish priest for over 30 years. The
many accomplishments of his life are an amazing proof to us of what one priest
can do. Profound and enlightening are his statements on religious subjects. He
said the Rosary almost continually, slept but one or two hours a night, could
smell sin even through a penitent's perfume, conversed regularly with his
guardian angel, effected miracles and made prophecies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">Childhood</span></b></div>
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Jean Edouard Lamy was born on June 23, 1853 at Le Pailly, France. His father
Jean Fredrick was a farmer and also a masonry worker and his mother Marie
Janinel was a diligent and loving housewife. About his childhood, his sister,
Mrs. Vauthelin testifies: “My brother and I slept in the same room from our
earliest years, and our parents only lodged us apart when I was 12 years and he
was 15. From the moment that I began to observe things about me, until I was 12
years old, I have never once seen him in his bed. He was all night praying,
kneeling on his stool without support, before the statue of Mary Immaculate.
She was set upon the chimney piece and lit by a little lamp which he had got
from our mother. I never once woke without seeing him in this attitude. Never
for years have I seen his bed unmade. Perhaps he lay down one time or another,
I could not swear to it, but I never once saw him lie down. Our mother noticed
it from time to time and used to say to him: ‘But, my child, the Blessed Virgin
does not ask as much as that.' And yet, we were working hard, he and I, during
the daytime. Twice a week we used to go together to sell our stuff at the
market at Langres (6 miles distant), loaded up to the limit; and he working in
the fields from morning till night, and he even broke stones on the high road.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">First Mystical Visions</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pere Lamy recounted: “… It was in 1863, the vigil of St. John the
Baptist; a Saturday, I believe. I was at Buisson de la Plaine. I was minding my
parents' cows and also minding the cows with me was Anne Richard. I said, ‘Look
there, Annette, the lovely lamb on the hill.’ The lamb was on Le Cognelot,
there to the right of Noidant on the bald part of the mountain (about 2 miles
away), lighting up the whole hill. He was standing up, holding in his left foot
the standard cross bent towards Chalindrey, and a white pennant floating from
it. His head was turned towards Le Pailly. You could see his eyes perfectly. It
was a very fine lamb. Distance makes no difference to these things, and when
you are a child nothing surprises you unduly. Annette said it was a bad sign.
Why? I don't know at all, and so I told her it wasn't a bad sign. He gazed at
us for a while and then suddenly disappeared. The sky had darkened and
lightning was beginning. I said, ‘I am bringing home my cows.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Don't tell this story till I have crossed over the bridge (into the
other world)” [Speaking to Comte Paul Biver, the author. He repeatedly said
this during the interviews with the author as he did not want anything
pertaining to him published prior to his death.]<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“As for the Blessed Virgin, She appeared to me with Her hands like those in the
Immaculate Conception… I had a little statue of Our Lady of The Crypt, at
Chartres (The Virgin of the underground chapel in Chartres Cathedral), of whom
the Druids told a prophetic legend centuries before the Christian era. I was
making a little procession under the line of poplar trees, holding my statue
like this (he lifted both hands the height of his forehead, with an imaginary
image between thumb and index). I sang Her Litanies. She showed Herself to me
among the branches of the poplars, almost at the top, very high up, Her head
bent, gazing at me. There were very tall poplars there, nicely aligned. She
stayed there the whole time of the Litany. She withdrew a little, but I kept on
my road. The more I advanced the more She seemed to retreat. She returned, and
I finished my Litany. She then rose a little above the branches and at once
disappeared.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“At first, I thought it was a mirage which happens sometimes near water or in
the mountains. I was mistrustful. I kept on the Litanies during the apparition
as if nothing mattered. I was only a child. I said to myself: ‘I hope that good
Lady likes to be there up among the poplars.' After that I sat down at the foot
of the poplar tree and I said my Rosary and I fell asleep. The Blessed Virgin
minded my cows for I found them round about me when I woke up. Not one had gone
far. All the same I had been very much moved with it. Later I said to the
parish priest: ‘Ah, Monsieur Le Cur<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">é</span>,
I have seen a strange thing. I have seen a person at the top of the poplar
trees. I really think it is the Blessed Virgin. I was doing a procession.’
‘Were you all alone?’ ‘Yes, all alone and I had that image of the Virgin of
Sous-Torre.' The priest said to me, ‘What in the world would She have to do
with you?’ The Curé then gave me a slap in the face, but right in my inner
consciousness I kept that remembrance. She herself reminded me when She
appeared to me at Gray [see below]: ‘You saw me at Pre-Jacquot.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">An Incident During His Military Service</span></b></div>
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In 1875, John Edward Lamy was trained as a soldier in the 91st Regiment
of Infantry; he was promoted corporal on November 10, 1876, and sergeant on
March 4, 1878. He was demobilized 7th October that year.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I lived at Mezieres with the other soldiers. We had sixty Christian soldiers.
We had formed [it was he that founded] a group, the Legion of St. Maurice. We
kept together well and recruited some good young fellows. Three times a week
there was a meeting of the Legion; prayer and spiritual reading; they were
picked fellows. We had a chaplain, the Abb<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">é</span>
Henri Nicole, who is a canon of Rheims. There were 80 Haut-Marnais in that
regiment, and the greater part of them were good.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“At the camp of Chalons, in 1875, I was sick, or at least, tired out. During
these heavy maneuvers we had, every day, two hours rest. We were bound to stay
in barracks and lie flat on the bed. I used that time to recite the Little
Office [of the Blessed Virgin Mary]. Often, overcome by fatigue, I used to fall
asleep before even reciting one Psalm, and always when they sounded the end of
rest, my fingers were at the last verse of the book. The Blessed Virgin (at
Gray in 1909 [see below]) told me that She came near me in the camp at Chalons
in 1875. She turned the leaves, She told me, and put back my fingers in the
last page. Subdued as I was, I thought that I had said the Office and then I
took my rest. That was what She wanted in Her motherly goodness.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
During his military service the powder charge of a comrade's rifle exploded in
his right eye. He never complained but he lost his sight on that side. Later in
life, he progressively developed severe cataracts in his left eye, causing him
complete blindness for 3 years, until a successful operation partially restored
his vision in his left eye. He once asked the Blessed Virgin why she never
cured his eyesight. She told him it was better for him to be that way, so as to
keep him humble.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">A Vision of St. Joseph–Call to the Priesthood</span></b></div>
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408986583559656114" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kEFTmMk3e5c/SxCUo8PtUrI/AAAAAAAABcY/bub5_V85BDE/s400/Pere_Jean_Edouard_Lamy_Pere_Lamy.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 276px;" /><br />
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“I had always wanted to be a priest and now could not imagine how it could be
done. I did not think I had the necessary qualifications. I was in despair and
was going to give up. It was then St. Joseph appeared to me. He fixed my
vocation. It was at Troyes in the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Hope, in the early
days of March. He spoke with me quite a long time and pointed out my vocation.
He said: ‘<b>Be a priest; become a good priest.’</b> That does not mean to
say that I did, but I strained every effort to come to that point. <b>‘Be
a priest.’</b> He was very urgent, with a very firm tone, putting out his
hand as if to swear. It was in the evening. The young people had just gone. I
closed the door and went into the chapel for a few minutes for a moment of
recollection. In the daytime it was very hard for me to do that. It was 11 o'clock
at night, or later than 10:20 p.m. In the chapel there was a gas-jet [heater]
turned low, which had been lighted earlier for prayers. I was kneeling at the
kneeler in front of the first pillar in the right aisle. St. Joseph appeared
standing on the floor beside the pillar. He was lit with his own light. The
saint was in his glory; not in his great glory; in his milder glory. As I saw
him, St. Joseph must be no more than 60 years of age. His beard was like his
hair; he is not bald but going very grey. He wore a brown suit with something
round the neck which folded down in front. He was clothed in a rough
strong-looking material; I think he had a belt. The Blessed Virgin speaks of
him as ‘my holy husband' and the word ‘holy’ in Her mouth is something to
remark. St. Joseph showed himself to me barefoot like the Blessed Virgin and
Our Lord do always. A short while after this, I received Minor Orders (March 1,
1885). It was St. Joseph who foretold me my departure from Troyes without
giving me any details.”</div>
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Gray</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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“This was the 9th September, 1909. I had come [to Gray] nearly every
year, and the parish priest of Violot was with me. They gave me handsome
vestments put out for a prelate who was to come and who didn't arrive. I began
my Mass. The Abb<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">é</span> Lemoine
was in the interior of the chapel to the right, on the kneeler which is still
there. The Blessed Virgin appeared to me suddenly, and at the same time the
devil. It caused me violent emotion. I was in great doubt but I did not dare to
believe because of my unworthiness, that I was facing the Most Blessed. It was
so much beyond me. The Blessed Virgin came down from the ceiling, throned in
great glory, so gently, so gently. She was as if in a furnace of light. Her
glory went through everything gradually. The candles, the chalice, the altar
vestments and myself, like the sun going through water. How far did the glory
reach? You need to know what the glory of God is, when you think of what He
gives to the dearest of His creatures. It was just like a sun. I never saw the
end of it. She came down from the ceiling like that, with Her hands joined. She
wore a little smile before letting Her voice be heard. When She uncrossed Her
hands, it seemed to make an eddy around Her.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“She first exchanged a word or two with the demon. During the descent, She said
to Lucifer, who appeared behind Her, ‘Is that you?’<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
[Lucifer answered:] ‘I have leave from the Father.’<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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‘So be it.’ replied the Blessed Virgin.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Then, as if She were questioning him, ‘You know how to obey the Father?’ He
gave no answer but I felt crushed. She extinguished Her glory. The lesser glory
never left Her during all the Mass. I still stayed at the Dominus Vobiscum. Had
I dared, I would have fled into the vestry, if I had not been at the altar.
When I looked at the parish priest of Violot, he put his two hands over his
face and his face in his book, and leaned his whole weight on the kneeler. I
kept saying, ‘I shall be well defended.’ She talked. She asked me questions. I
did not dare to answer. She stood upright. She was of middle height. With the
movement that She made, there was like a little storm of glittering spangles.
Her crown only appeared when She stood up. Her feet were just about the height
of those chairs. She stayed a little above the ground. With the right hand, She
signed to me very maternally, ‘Go on,’ to give me back my courage. I said
within myself, ‘If you are the Blessed Virgin, show me.’ She said: ‘I am the
Mother of God.’ When She said, ‘I am the Mother of God,’ very gently, I seemed
to melt away within. I did not doubt the word of the Mother of God. I believed
Her, but She came in poor company (the fiend).”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“When I commemorated the martyrdom of St. Gorgonius She smiled gently. It was
the prayer of Her Nativity. At the <i>ut
quibus beatae Virginis</i>, I bowed to Her. She bowed to me, very graciously.
What humility, even in Heaven. (And for me, a mountebank of the umpteenth class.)
I saw Her reflection in the glass before me in the altar-card. The interview
went on, and so as not to cause too long a break, She signed to me to read the
Epistle.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The little altar server said: ‘Is it the Blessed Virgin, Father?’ as he took
the book from the Epistle side to the Gospel side. I said to him, low, ‘Don't talk,
you will make Her go away,’ She looked on him with motherly tenderness. She
stayed aside to let him pass and took Her place again at the middle of the
altar. When I said the <i>Munda cor meum</i>,
She left the middle of the altar and went to the Gospel side.”<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“After the Gospel, the priest comes back to say the Creed. She took her place
again at the side of the priest, almost in front of the book. She let him begin
the Creed; at the <i>Incarnatus est</i>, She
bowed as if to say, ‘That is so.’ At the <i>Sub
Pontio Pilato</i>, She put forward Her closed hands upon the altar, clenching
Her fists in a gesture of mighty sorrow. Her arms were just beside me (and Pere
Lamy showed a distance of five inches). I was so upset that I made a mistake. I
muddled things. When She saw that I wasn't getting over it, She went on with
the Creed as if She were saying the Mass. My mistake had given me such a shock.
She put me back where I stopped, very gently. (And, smiling, he said): She
knows Her prayers well.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“At the Memento, She recommended the priest to ask more. There is great store,
and still greater to be given.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The Blessed Virgin foretold the War. She spoke to me very maternally, about my
childhood, founded the pilgrimage of Our Lady of the Woodland; told me She
wanted a new congregation. With great energy She condemned Modernism, treated
of several different matters, defending me from Lucifer.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“She was dressed in a deep blue gown, with Her white veil, the sleeves gathered
in at the wrists, and bare feet. The neckline of Her dress is just below the
chin. The gown is ample and quite simple. But anything She wore would be
equally becoming. Her proportions are perfect. Everything in Her is perfect.
Her eyes are very changeable; they can take all the colors, but there is one
settled color all the same. When She lived on earth they were neither brown nor
altogether blue. Rather periwinkle. Her ears are visible. So is the start of
the hair on the forehead. In the same way you can see the plaits of hair at the
side. The only statue resembling her in the least is the one (Rue du Bac, above
the entrance door of the Ladies of Charity), where She is giving an audience to
Catherine Labour<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">é</span>, That
has the face, just as long, but She has not that forehead. She looks too young
in that statue, and yet you cannot make Her old. I have never been able to tell
Her age. The Virgin is very dark. (‘I am black, but comely.’) Her demeanour is
very simple. She seldom inclines Her head but looks you straight in the face,
just like Her Divine Son, but you feel that beyond, how Their gaze pierces into
the entire world.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“When the Blessed Virgin speaks as a mother, She wears a crown made from a
spray of roses, of lilies, and of daisies, with a silver band, quite narrow, at
a third of the height. These flowery sprays are arranged like the fingers; a
white rose, almost open, a single lily, almost open, and a daisy. Naturally,
these flowers often repeated, form a circle. As for the green branches at the
base of the crown, they are very sober in color. It is a bell-shaped crown. You
could pass your hand between Her crown and the veil on Her head. But when She
condemned Modernism, She wore a crown of matchless beauty. If the crown of
flowers can be copied, the other one, the great one, cannot be even dreamed. It
is made up of clusters of jewels and light. The jewels are very fine, small for
the most part and a few large. They are harmoniously arranged like the grains
in an ear of corn, with sparkling lights inset between the stones and throwing
them into relief. There are blue stones, some red, some violet but less
numerous than the blue. Amongst the most beautiful are the pale blue stones. I
am almost sorry I didn't ask Her for one. Of those stones, some hang and others
cluster. There is quite a play of lights, some outside and some inside the
crown. It is like a diadem, rising in the middle. All that I have seen in the
museum look like cobble work beside a finely finished shoe. There is no crown
on earth like that. She wears it when She speaks as a sovereign Lady. She is
majestic. She wore it without the glory, or else She would be frightening and
She does not come to frighten.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“After the Creed, She spoke of the War in very sorrowful tones. ‘It
will be slow to kindle. It will set all Europe on fire. It will set the world
on fire. There will be about five millions killed, but (turning towards
Lucifer) I shall save many in spite of you.’ The fiend said, ‘They'll pass
through the gorge of the Vosges.’ The Blessed Virgin, ‘No, no, they will pass
through Belgium.’ Satan said, ‘They are just as guilty on one side as the
other.’ Satan understands guilt very well. The Blessed Virgin half turned
towards me and the bottom half of the church filled with a white cloud which
opened. The wall disappeared and then I saw there a town with a mighty river. I
think it is Belgrade. I saw the pictures of the War. I had a curious sensation.
I felt quite well that I was in the church, but I was also transported far
away. I cannot exactly reckon the thing up. I have perfectly reckoned up the favor
the Blessed Virgin was doing me by showing me those countries. She brought me
through an immense landscape. I am giving you very incomplete explanations but
I cannot find words for these things. I saw ships of war with enormous funnels.
I saw the landscapes, but later on I took awful trouble to place them and that
wasn't possible at all. You see the great rivers, mountains, sea. How place
them on the maps? All is not over. There are scenes which I did not see unfold.
The best for you just now is to keep quiet.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The priest recommended his parish to the Blessed Virgin. The Blessed Virgin
protected it in a special way during the War, especially on the day of the
explosion. She looked at me very steadily; ‘While he is alive, the Germans will
not pass this way—at Le Pailly.’ After a little silence She added, ‘Even after
his death. That is his cradle, the village where he was born. I shall be the
Protectress of those lands!’ Just then the pictures of the War left off and the
wood came on the scene. They have nothing in those countries, nothing… no
pilgrimage. Lucifer said to Her, ‘You are already called Our Lady of Lourdes;
you are going to call yourself Our Lady of the Woodlands.’ She turned Her head
lightly. I followed the direction and She showed me a shanty. I saw the shanty,
I saw the little statue; perhaps She shows it because of its gestures. The
Virgin (it is awkward and badly done) spreads Her cloak to protect us and the
Child is blessing the earth on which there is no cross. Just at this moment,
She stood aside a bit to let the boy with the book pass.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I had not been to the Bois Guyotte for many years but I recognized it at once.
I saw it twenty-five miles away as if I were in it. The wood was being cut way
altogether. At Gray I saw the forest all in disorder and I saw people in the
wood, cross-cut saws squaring the tree trunks, perhaps more than a hundred
persons. There were horses, harnesses. I could hear carters swearing under the
eyes of the Blessed Virgin, and they did not check themselves. The wood was in
a lamentable condition, trees cut down, stripped, branches everywhere hanging
down to the ground. It was in September and the wood was already turning
russet. The house was shown to me just as it is, but in a lamentable condition.
Still there were a good few panes of glass left but these had all gone when I
bought it. There were great slabs of plaster fallen down. There was no
sanctuary naturally. I saw it close up. Just at that time, the chapel, which
had formerly been a hunting-lodge, had become a woodman's shelter. Of the other
hut which I had known near the well, there remained one post.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I will not say anything much of what was told to me concerning the
monasteries. She spoke to me a long time about the community at Gray. She
visits the communities. She told me so. She visits them. She taught the holy women
Herself. She had grouped the holy women, the widows, and she had them with Her.
She was with Her apostles. The scattering of the congregations were a
punishment rather for the people than for individuals. She showed me all the
monasteries in France in times past and times to come, with their inmates. I
saw Clairvaux.” and Pere Lamy sketched a complete picture of this ideal
monastery in the heroic time of St. Bernard, with its blessed Abbot and its
monks, whom he described one by one. He spoke also of the future religious of
Grossesauve re-populated: “As I knew the district well, my attention was focused
on the priory. I remarked how the ancient building was made and I saw the monks
that lived in centuries gone by. They were shown to me in procession, two by
two and four by four, with their heads down. They went into the three hundreds.
The desert shall again be peopled and I saw buildings that are to be.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Later on, when Madame Caillier asked me to pray for Remiremont, I found the
very place when I found myself with Her [the Blessed Virgin] in front of the
Holy Mount. I picked out Remiremont from the many landscapes which I saw then.
I saw many of those abbeys. They died out gradually under commendatory abbots.
The monks were not numerous, only enough to till the ground, and the revenue
was very small. I have seen white monks, brown monks and black. I don't want to
say how touched I was by that. What interested me was to see the congregation
bud and grow. I shall be a foundation stone. The monasteries will flourish
again, the convents will fill up again. After these calamities, souls in great
numbers will come and dwell in them again.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“She talked to me and gave me a plan of my own daily life, up to and including
the <i>Sub tuum</i> at the end of evening
prayer which was not always recited well. She reminded me of the <b>Sabbatine Privilege</b>. <b>‘You must do what is laid down.’</b> She is
very strict on respect for the Pope's orders. She went over my whole life. The
Blessed Virgin explained to me all my childhood. She said that without Her, I
would have been killed a hundred times, when I was doing antics in the pear
tree. The pear tree was in the fruit garden of my father and mother on the
other side of the road from their house where the barn is. Then how She had
saved my life when I had typhoid fever. Neither the doctor nor my mother knew
what it was. It was cured in one day by toast and water. Then She spoke to me
of the burning down of our house. She told me who lit the fire. It had brought
my family to the greatest wretchedness. My outfit was already in the making for
me to go to the little seminary. I was 19 years old and the fire made me put it
off. I could only go after my military service. She said, ‘I wanted him a
priest; you see, he is a priest.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408986212074914818" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kEFTmMk3e5c/SxCUTUW2BAI/AAAAAAAABcI/TSSupMTpVkE/s400/Pere-Lamy.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; text-align: justify; width: 278px;" /><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
”She also spoke to me about the Miraculous Medal. She spoke about a plaster
statue after the medal which someone had given me a long time ago. In my
childish faith I thought I was doing something wonderful painting that statue;
a veritable daub. I had painted the Blessed Virgin white, Her cloak blue, Her
veil white. In some wild notion, I had painted the girdle yellow. ‘He thought
to give me a yellow girdle,’ She said, ‘it was ugly, very ugly,' laughing very
heartily, ‘but I liked the intention.’ I was eight years old or a little less.
That statue was burned in the fire. The Holy Mother said, ‘For a moment, I
meant to save that statue, but there was no need.’ I went looking for that
statue in the remains of the fire and I gathered up bits in my hat. I carried
that rubbish to the new house and I buried it at the root of the black-currant
bush. The Blessed Virgin added, ‘He put them in his hat.’… She asked for
penance, a return to God, but no one put it into commission. I thought I said
enough of it at La Courneuve. I repeated it every time, every Sunday. People
used to say, ‘He is a good man, but he is always on about the War, and you must
do this and that; there's a bee in his bonnet! They said simply that I had a
slate off. They used to say, ‘He said it; he said it again and you will see he
will say it on Sunday.’ Afterwards they say, ‘Ah, if we had only known I…’ ‘But
I told you often enough.’ ‘Oh, but we didn't believe it!’ She asked for
holiness in family life. She asked us to give up disorder and go back to
orderly lives and then all will be restored. God does not demand more for
forgiveness.”</div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I have not told you a tenth of what I saw. There are many things that I cannot
set down. There are things it would not be good to say even forty years hence.
And then the present time is perhaps the least favorable that ever was for
revelation. I don't speak for one fraction of the people, the fervent
Catholics; those simply do not need revelation.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I have made notes (accidentally destroyed by Miss Delarue), but even in those
notes you will find lines of full stops at certain passages. I took those notes
on the back of funeral notices. They are in the boxes where I put my papers at
Le Pailly. Only a year after did I speak of them. Now I am getting old. I shall
die very soon from now and I feel more free. I have read passages from these
notes on the apparition at Gray to a priest among my friends. He said to me at
the end of the reading, ‘But it is you that is in this; I guess it. It must be
well founded.’ I answered him that it was very well founded. ‘What especially
astounded the late Bishop of Langres is, I believe, father, that dialogue
between Mary and Lucifer, and also the somewhat candid style of the
conversation. She speaks as She chooses, She is not highfalutin. She said to
me, 'I am coming into the family circle.’”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Father Lamy’s only nephew was killed during the war. It was a huge loss for
himself and his sister Rosine Vauthelin, whom he especially loved.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">Apparitions of Our Lord</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pere Lamy used to say his Mass with an extraordinary fervor, which
almost transfigured him. That was the time when Divine favors were often
granted him, in a sensible fashion; the time also when Christ showed Himself
most frequently to His servant.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Before saying Mass I always invoked St. Peter Fourier, because he used to say
his Mass with exceptional devotion. In the church at Gray, where his heart is
kept, the Blessed Virgin said of him that he is a real saint. He must be
holiness itself because She does not pay compliments lightly.” (St. Peter
Fourier, 1565-1640, was a Canon Regular of St. Augustine, and Vicar of
Mattaincourt in the Vosges. He founded the Congregation of Our Lady. He is the
second patron saint of Lorraine, and died in exile at Gray which was then under
the domination of Spain.)<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“In celebrating Mass one is cut away from all earthly thoughts. You only get
back to earth at the Memento. Those are the two moments in which you set out
before God all that touches us on the human side. Then you come back a little
to yourself.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I generally see the Sacred Species surrounded with light. You feel a
sweetness, a gentleness out of the ordinary. Yes, at such moments, you think no
more of the earth; you feel something so heavenly. It is the effect of the
presence of Our Lord. I also feel the presence of the holy angels who help me
at Mass, but not every time.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Do not ask me what man or woman is at the service when the Blessed Sacrament
is on the altar. I no longer see anyone. I quite discern there are people
about. I saw quite well that it was the curate who handed me the monstrance.
How poorly we receive Our Lord! You should say to Him, ‘You are received in a
stable on rough straw, but both you and Your Mother were put up in a stable at
Bethlehem.’ Fortunately, She is there to receive Him. Neither He nor His holy
Mother is hard to please.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Our Lord comes generally alone, whether He shows Himself suffering, or risen
in glory, or whether He shares, and in some sort celebrates, the Mass. You feel
small, small, small, and Our Lord makes Himself small so as not to frighten us
by His greatness. And the attention is so concentrated on Him that you think of
nothing else.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“He follows the prayers at Mass as if He were assisting at Mass. He lets you do
the praying.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“He disappears at the third of the last prayers, so that the priest can
communicate.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Very rarely He has an aureole; you could not bear the glory of Our Lord. He is
generally preceded by red clouds. I call them that color because I cannot find
the right word. They are neither brown nor purple. A white light appears, which
opens out. Then He is there, quite simple. It is wondrous majesty. You never
get used to it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“When Our Lord shows Himself in His sorrowful state, He has none of His
habitual glory about Him. He is not luminous, as usual. He shows His Hands,
when He speaks, He makes gestures, more sober than the Blessed Virgin. I have
never seen Him smile. As a Child He smiles, but as a Man, He is no longer
smiling. He appears cold; you might almost say sad. He has the dignity of a
man. I find Our Lord very dignified. He inspires respect, true, but He also
inspires confidence. His eyes are blue, His look very gentle. You feel when Our
Lord is looking at you, but also how His look goes into the infinite. It is the
same with the Blessed Virgin. Our Lord appears about 33 years of age. He is a
man. Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin have quite straight noses; both He and His
holy Mother have the real complexion of Their country, and so has St. Joseph.
When I have seen a man from the East, I have recognized Their color. In brown
there are shades, as in black.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Our Lord's hair is dark auburn. His hair is fairly long, falling down as low
as His shoulders. Some falls forward too, and Our Lord is enveloped, so to
speak, in His hair, like that. He is not heavily bearded. You can make out the
cleft of the chin here. The beard is not luxuriant, but handsome. It is lighter
in color than the hair; not red and not blonde, either. His hair does not come
down over His forehead. His ears are visible. He has a very beautiful face. His
voice is grave, not slow, but His gravity gives it a certain slowness.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Our Lord is not very tall. He is dressed in brown stuff, not the same as the
Capuchins, but like brown sheep. His gown is brown with wide sleeves like ours
(cloak sleeves) but in His sleeves you see the white underneath, and a cloak on
His shoulders. The gown is thick, warm. It has large folds.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I have never seen wounds in the head of Our Lord, but only those in the feet
and hands. He shows Himself to me with hands and feet swollen and a little bit
of flesh torn loose upon them. The nails must have been square, as long as your
pencil. The heads of the nails were very wide and stamped a violet mark on the
hand, or rather on the wrist. You can see the place of them clearly. The inside
of the nail must be hollow, for it makes a ring in the inside. The feet are
bluish, bleeding, and the hands also. What suffering! ... and Christians hunt
enjoyment so when in the green wood they do these things, what will be done in
the dry?”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I often touch His feet, which are between the chalice and the canon when He is
standing upright on the altar during the Mass. I touch His side, and I feel the
wound in His side and His ribs through His cloak, when I raise the Host. I stay
and rest It against His side.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“It was at Mass at Gray when I saw Our Lord lying in the altar (9th September,
1909). Matter is no more for glorified bodies. He put himself at the level of
the altar, lifting the corporal and the Sacred Host (Pere Lamy shows by a
gesture that the body of Our Lord was in the altar, flush with the surface of
the table). He said, ‘A year from now’ ... I saw Him twice at Gray; the first
time like that; the second time at Gray, 9th September, 1910, He was standing
upright. The second time He spoke to me. Our Lord, being on the altar, was
listening to my prayer. At La Courneuve, seeing that my slumming was absolutely
in vain, and the more I work the less result I got, I complained to Our Lord. Everything
I did turned out wrong. My soul was sorrowful indeed. I set forth my pain to
Our Lord. Placing the Sacred Host against His breast, I said, ‘It is evidently
the result of my unworthiness. I ask You, my good God, to ask Your holy Mother
to deign to tell You what I tell You. You are Her Son, and I also am Her son.
You cannot hold out against Her prayer.’ And through His mantle I could feel
the shape of His ribs. I also felt a lively warmth which comforted me. After
the Consecration, the devil was at the right hand of the altar; he said in a
contemptuous voice: ‘Good Lord, what a prayer!’ At that moment, the altar was,
as it were, on fire and Our Lord, turning His face from the fiend, answered
him, ‘He is my Mother's Client.’ Nothing more. There are details, but I leave
them out.” [Comte Biver asked:] “When Our Lord appeared lying in the altar, had
the altar table disappeared ?” “The altar table remained. You see yourself in a
pail of water. Matter, all the same, has no resistance, whether it is wood or
stone. It is a very difficult thing to make understood. Matter does not cease
to be so, but it lets itself be penetrated. When Our Lord passes behind the
altar, the tabernacle disappears. The gaze rests upon His presence, but matter
never interferes. Never have I seen the chalice disappear, nor the Sacred Host.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408985995237411458" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kEFTmMk3e5c/SxCUGskwSoI/AAAAAAAABcA/kSHe7wxtep8/s400/Pere_Lamy_1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 400px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; text-align: justify; width: 262px;" /><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Our Lord told me that the [First World] War had three causes;
Blasphemy, Sunday labor, and the desecration of marriage. When a young man or a
young girl falls into sin, it is nothing in comparison. It is a grave sin, but
after all it is human weakness.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Many priests, offering the Holy Sacrifice, do not take sufficient account of
this. They do not understand how great is the power at one's disposal. How the
sacrifice of Our Lord is of infinite value.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
By a special favor, Pere Lamy could feel when the soul for whom he was
celebrating the Mass got profit from it. Whether it is a lessening of his pains
in purgatory, or in Heaven by a momentary increase of glory…: “I said Mass for him
[a certain person]; it wasn't an arid Mass like sometimes, but I had great
consolation. I don't say he is in Heaven; I know nothing about that, but I have
no doubt that he is in God's mercy.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pere Lamy saw Our Lord in the scenes of His Holy Childhood. At other times in
the pains of His passion, but to the best of our knowledge he never described
in detail more than two visions of Jesus Crucified, which came about in quite
strange circumstances: “Out in the orchard it was given to me to see Our Lord
on the Cross. I saw Him while some boys were stealing my pears. I was actually
running after them with a rake, saying: ‘I will show you.’ Then, suddenly,
there He was.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“It was in the month of September during the holidays, on a Sunday… I cannot
remember the year. I was at the Guild. I had the key and went into the
property. I was keeping a watch on the fruit because I used to give it to the
children. There was quite a band of thieves there. I lay down in the grass to
hide because the grass was very high. As they came near I got up, seized a
rake, and ran after them as fast as I could, brandishing the rake and shouting:
‘You rascals, you wait!’ I raised the rake though I did not intend to injure
them. When I reached the wall by the road, there was Our Lord on the Cross—about
where you are now. The boys were overcome with amazement and so was I. Our Lord
did not want me to strike the boys, and so He appeared. I heard them saying: ‘Jesus,
Jesus is there with the Cur<span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">é</span>.’
No doubt, some of them saw Him, but they kept running all the same. I had had
wire-netting put up, and those boys got out above and below the wire-netting,
scratching out the earth with their hands like dogs or rabbits. They were from
a revolutionary family, reds, and all that's reddest.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Our Lord was almost torn asunder. The arms were straight out, at right angles
to the body. He had on His Head what looked like a bush of thorns, like a
basket upside down. It was a hood of thorns. What an outrage! He had one foot nailed
upon the other, I think, but it was His Face I was looking to. To make the
crown they must have put several branches together and twisted them, and then
hammered them in with cudgel blows. It was a mass of sharp points. He wore grey
linen round His loins, knotted at the back, not at the side.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I could almost have touched His Feet, by lifting my hand. It was an apparition
willed by Our Lord and not the scene of Calvary. On Calvary the Cross was very
high, and it was set in the earth and choked with stones. But in the apparition
no hole was marked in the ground. The cross appeared near the outer corner of
the orchard, facing me, with its back to the street. The boys were running away
from me very fast, but after the apparition they ran faster.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“On Holy Saturday, 1914 or 1915, I saw Jesus Christ Crucified, His
cross was set against the altar on the Gospel side. The children were making a
noise in church; it was near the time of the fair. I knocked on the wood of the
altar to make them keep quiet (Pere Lamy made gestures with the left hand), and
as I turned to the side I saw Our Lord on the Cross. He seemed to say to me, ‘You
have hardly any patience, see what I endure.’ Our Lord stayed during the <i>Magnificat</i> of the Holy Saturday Mass. He
was alive. But He said nothing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“In Our Lord's case, it is so natural. Our Lord is always so natural. He hangs
on the cross as if He were a child. Our Lord carries a bush of thorns on His
head. I cannot say a crown of thorns; it is a real bush. His head is covered
with them. That head-dress keeps Him from resting His head backward against the
wood or leaning it against His shoulder and His head is not inclined very much
forward. When He dies, His head bows forward. They pulled His arms like wild
beasts; they knew how to inflict suffering. His arms are stretched out… stretched…
stretched…”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The wound of the lance is low down on the left side. Yes, I say true, the left
side, below the ribs, almost in the stomach. There are painters who represent
the wound in the breast. It is a large, vertical opening. The steel went
through from below upwards. The cross must have been very tall.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Oh, souls, souls! They do not see what they have cost Our Lord. They are
judged and valued at a high price. When they want to break from the world,
everything is lined up against them.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“In a word, to whom much is given, much is demanded.”<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On being asked for advice on how to obtain the grace of an answered
prayer, Father Lamy replied: “First and foremost, you must be in a state of
grace. Before praying, you have to kneel in the Confessional. Then, pray with
confidence, and then finally with perseverance.”<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<b style="color: #3d85c6;">“The devil stands behind the Mother of God: If you let her pass by, you will find the devil.”</b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">“</span></b><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">You must pay dearly for
spiritual graces. Better not to have any; you are in total darkness afterwards.
If the Blessed Virgin was behind that door, I would not ask Her to come in. All
that is to be paid for… by tears of the heart, than tears of the body.”</span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pere Lamy died on Tuesday, December 1st, 1931 at his friend Comte Paul Bivers
house (the author of the book used for this article).<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Here is a link to the French website of the <a href="http://www.serviteurs.org/" target="_blank">Religious Congregation of the Servants of Jesus and Mary</a> that Pere Lamy founded. There are many great
photographs of Pere Lamy on this website.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
The original article is posted at <b>Mystics of the Church</b> at:<br />
<a href="http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2009/11/pere-lamy-father-john-edward-lamy.html">http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2009/11/pere-lamy-father-john-edward-lamy.html</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">More
on <b>Pere Lamy and the Sabbatine Privilege</b>:</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
“Pere
Lamy, who saw the coming triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, said: ‘As for
Our Lady, Her kindness gets Her everywhere... The Blessed Virgin said again to
me one day that those who have fulfilled the conditions of Her Sabbatine
Privilege will be drawn out of Purgatory by Her on the first Saturday after
death.’ This was said in 1924, not long after Pope St. Pius X had given
permission for the use of the Scapular medal adding, in the papal decree, ‘not
excluding the Sabbatine Privilege.’ The Pope gave this permission for serious
reasons, such as conditions in the trenches during the First World War Pere
Lamy said: ‘How precious then is the Brown Scapular which brings us deliverance
from such places of pain, for Purgatory is extremely painful. The Blessed
Virgin told me that She thought it better to stay behind 15 years, dragging
one's weight on earth, than to spend 15 minutes in Purgatory.’ ”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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~
John M. Haffert, “God's Final Effort,” Chapter 17<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-4334891020200980162013-07-04T20:27:00.002+08:002013-07-04T20:57:05.362+08:00Prayers of St. Gertrude and St. Mechtilde<div nbsp="" style="-x-system-font: none; display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 12px auto 6px auto;">
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Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-72838568301815032222013-06-20T19:46:00.000+08:002013-06-20T20:13:05.532+08:00Marylike Standards of Modesty<i style="text-align: justify;">“A dress cannot be called decent which is cut deeper than two
fingers breadth under the pit of the throat; which does not cover the arms at
least to the elbows; and scarcely reaches a bit beyond the knees. Furthermore,
dresses of transparent materials are improper.”</i><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
--The
Cardinal Vicar of Pope Pius XI<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Women’s Dress</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rWRoGcoXOcc/UcLrVx5182I/AAAAAAAAAFg/MUNM28wJqFg/s1600/mary-022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rWRoGcoXOcc/UcLrVx5182I/AAAAAAAAAFg/MUNM28wJqFg/s320/mary-022.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
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Our Lady’s words at Fatima, “Certain styles and fashions are being introduced which gravely offend My Divine Son,” certainly represent no innovation in the teachings of her Divine Son, Who said Himself, “Anyone who so much as looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:28) All throughout the centuries the true followers of Christ have recognized the critical need, not only of penance and self-denial, in order to preserve chastity of mind and body, but also of avoiding all occasions of sin, especially immodest fashions on the part of women, who through their vanity become horrible occasions of sin for men, just as Our Lord warned. Indeed, if woman’s vanity has been a prolific source of temptation down throughout the centuries, what is to be said of our own age, in which the styles and fashions are deliberately calculated to lead men into sin. Let us be reminded of the unchanging doctrine of the Church in this regard, and diligently avoid, without fear of human respect, that terrible immodesty in dress which is the cause of so many sins and offenses against the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Sacred Heart of Her Divine Son! Considering this tragic reality, reflect carefully upon this warning to women by a great and holy Doctor of the Church:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<img alt="St. John Chrysostom (d. 407)" class="c4" height="154" src="http://www.salvemariaregina.info/Images/Chrysostom.jpg" style="float: left; margin-right: 20px;" width="99" /><br />
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“You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not, indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment, and much more effectively than you could by your voice. When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges in court punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death-dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body, but the soul. And it is not to enemies that you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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~ St. John Chrysostom</div>
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<br /></div>
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1. “Marylike”
means modesty without compromise -- “like Mary,” Christ’s pure and spotless
Mother.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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2. Marylike
dresses have sleeves extending to the elbows; and skirts reaching at least below the knees.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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3. Marylike
dresses require full and loose coverage for the bodice, chest, shoulders, and
back; the cut-out about the neck must not exceed “two fingers breadth under the
pit of the throat” and a similar breadth around the back of the neck.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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4. Marylike
dresses also do not admit as modest coverage transparent fabrics -- laces,
nets, organdy, nylons, etc. -- unless sufficient backing is added. Fabrics such
as laces, nets, organdy may be moderately used as trimmings only.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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5. Marylike
dresses avoid the improper use of flesh-colored fabrics.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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6. Marylike
dresses conceal rather than reveal the figure of the wearer; they do not
emphasize, unduly, parts of the body.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
7. Marylike
dresses provide full coverage, even after jacket, cape or stole are removed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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8. Marylike fashions are designed to conceal as much of the body as
possible, rather than reveal. This would automatically eliminate such fashions
as slacks, jeans, shorts, culottes, tight sweaters, sheer blouses, and
sleeveless dresses; etc. The Marylike standards are a guide to instill a “sense
of modesty.” A girl or woman who follows these, and looks up to Mary as her
ideal and model, will have no problem with modesty in dress. She will not be an
occasion of sin or source of embarrassment or shame to others.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The standard set by the Cardinal Vicar of Pope Pius XI (quoted above)
is meant to delineate between “decent” and indecent; it would be sinful to wear
clothes which “cannot be called decent.” We expect women, who are resolved to make reparation for the sins of the world --
especially of immodest and impurity, will do far more than the minimum. They
will truly strive to imitate the Blessed Virgin Mary in the virtue of modesty.
Keep this guide with you when buying clothes. Make sure that you purchase or
make only garments which meet the Marylike Standards.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“Be Marylike
by being modest -- be modest by being Marylike.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Warning of St. Anthony Mary Claret
Concerning Immodest and Worldly Fashions</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<img alt="St. Anthony Mary Claret, d. 1870" class="c4" height="307" src="http://www.salvemariaregina.info/Images/Claret.jpg" style="float: right; margin-left: 20px;" width="188" /><br />
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“...Now, observe, my daughter, the contrast between the luxurious
dress of many women, and the raiment and adornments of Jesus... Tell me: what
relation do their fine shoes bear to the spikes in Jesus’ Feet? The rings on
their hands to the nails which perforated His? The fashionable coiffure to the
Crown of Thorns? The painted face to That covered with bruises? Shoulders
exposed by the low-cut gown to His, all striped with Blood? Ah, but there <i>is</i> a
marked likeness between these worldly women and the Jews who, incited by the
Devil, scourged Our Lord! At the hour of such a women’s death, I think Jesus
will be heard saying: ‘<i>Cujus est imago haec</i>... of whom is she the image?’
And the reply will be: ‘<i>Demonii.</i>.. of the Devil!’ Then He will say: ‘Let
her who has followed the Devil’s fashions be handed over to him; and to God,
those who have imitated the modesty of Jesus and Mary’.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Certain Fashions Threaten To Retard Mary’s
Triumph And World Peace</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
By Rev.
Father Bernard Kunkel<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Is it a sin to wear shorts, strapless dresses, short skirts, pants,
modern swimwear, etc.? These questions continue to disturb even so-called
conservative Catholics almost a century after the disrobing trend began in
feminine attire at the close of the First World War. <i>True</i> traditional
Catholics, mindful of the virtues of Christian modesty and purity, refuse to be
stampeded by “the crowd” into accepting the hedonistic fashions. They know that
the Blessed Virgin Mary will <i>never</i> approve of these pagan
styles which are so contrary to Christian tradition on modesty.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Our Blessed Mother knew in advance the moral havoc that would follow
the introduction of these unholy fashions. This is why she came personally at
Fatima in 1917 to forewarn us. At the same time she gave the answer in advance
to the question, “Is it a sin to follow these fashions?” To little Jacinta,
aged seven, Our Lady entrusted this prophecy, which embodies her theology on
the modern fashions: <b>”Certain fashions will be introduced that will
offend Our Lord very much.”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Let the Modernist pseudo-Theologians realize that they are in serious
conflict with this heavenly message when they condone the aping of these “certain
fashions” by so many Catholic women and girls. They cannot sanctify these
sinful fashions by sprinkling them with holy water. Our Lady’s verdict is that
they are mortally sinful. For, in theological language, to “offend Our Lord
very much” means <b>mortal sin.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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How sad Our Blessed Mother must be when so many ignore Her maternal
warning! “Men must cease offending God, Who is already too much offended,” She
pleads. Instead of heeding Mary’s pleas, “the crowd” rejects Her as their model
of modesty and looks for its models in the camp of Her archenemy, Satan. How
can Catholics be so blind?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>They
Follow Like Sheep</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
How sad, too, must have been the Vicar of Christ Himself, Pope Pius
XII, as he lamented this blindness in his allocution to the Sodality convention
in Rome on July 17, 1954! These are the Holy Father’s own words:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“You live in a world which is constantly forgetful of God and the
supernatural, where the only interest of the crowd seems to be the satisfaction
of temporal needs, well-being, pleasure, vanity....<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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“How many young girls there are who do not see any wrongdoing in
following certain shameless styles like so many sheep. They certainly would
blush if they could guess the impression they make and the feeling they evoke
in those who see them. Do they not see the harm resulting from excess in
certain gymnastic exercises and sports not suitable for virtuous girls? What
sins are committed or provoked by conversations which are too free, by immodest
shows, by dangerous reading. How lax have consciences become, how pagan morals!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>The
Prophecy of Fatima Is Fulfilled<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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The stern condemnation of modern fashions by Christ’s Vicar shows that
the prophecy of Our Lady of Fatima, “Certain fashions will be introduced”, had
already been fulfilled in the Marian Year of 1954. Especially since, a little
over one month later, on August 21, the Pope startled the world by his
reference to the modern fashions as “a most serious plague”; and directed the
Bishops throughout the world to “take action against this most serious plague of
immodest fashions”.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
To emphasize still more the seriousness of “certain fashions”, Pope
Pius XII asked the Sacred Congregation of the Council to make a forceful appeal
to all Catholics, but especially those in authority, to “leave no stone
unturned which can help remedy the situation.” Thus, he repeated the action of
his predecessor, Pius XI, who had asked this same Sacred Congregation to send
out the “Special Instructions” in 1930 directing that the Roman Standards of
modesty in dress (Marylike Standards) be followed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>The Pope
Confirms Fatima Warning<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
What could be more condemnatory of these “certain fashions” than this
second stern letter of the Sacred Council, which was sent on August 21 through
its Prefect, Pietro Cardinal Ciriaci! Read carefully the excerpts from this
letter which here follow, then resolve to redouble your “prayers and sacrifices”
so that Mary Immaculate may extirpate that accursed heresy of Modernism which
refuses to heed the appeal of both the Mother of God and the Vicar of Christ:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
“Everyone knows that during the summer months particularly, things are
seen here and there, which are certain to prove offensive to anyone who has
retained some respect and regard for Christian modesty. On the beaches, in
country resorts, almost everywhere, on the streets of cities and towns, in
public and private places, and, indeed, often even in buildings dedicated to
God, an unworthy and indecent mode of dress has prevailed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
“Because of this, the young particularly, whose minds are easily bent
towards vice, are exposed to the extreme danger of losing their innocence,
which is, by far, the most beautiful adornment of mind and body. Feminine
adornment, if it can be called adornment, feminine clothing, if that can be
called clothing which contains nothing to protect either the body or modesty,
are at times of such a nature, that they seem to serve lewdness rather than
modesty . . . Well did the ancient poet say of this matter, ‘Vice necessarily
follows upon public nudity.’ “<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>The
Bishops are Asked To Take Action<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
“But you especially, whom ‘the Holy Ghost has set up as Bishops to
rule the Church of God’, must by all means consider that matter carefully and
take under your care, and promote with all your power, everything which has to
do with the protection of modesty and the furtherance of Christian morals.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
“Therefore, it is altogether imperative to admonish and exhort, in
whatever way seems most apt, people of all stations, but particularly youth, to
avoid the danger of this kind of vice (immodest dress), which is so directly
opposed, and potentially so hazardous to Christian and civic virtue...<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
“It is the earnest desire of the August Pontiff that this cause be
taken up enthusiastically, especially during the present Marian Year. He
desires that Bishops in particular leave no stone unturned, which can help
remedy the situation; and that, with their counsel and leadership, the rest of
the clergy work prudently, assiduously, and earnestly, within their own
jurisdiction, toward the happy attainment of this goal...”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Vain
Excuses For Shameless Fashions<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
In spite of the many discourses of various Popes condemning the modern
“certain fashions,” many women and girls stubbornly persist in “following
certain shameless styles like so many sheep.” (Pius XII) And how do they
justify their immodesty? In many cases, by parroting this sophistry, which can
only be Hell-inspired:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? It doesn’t bother me. Evil to him
who thinks evil. He must have a dirty mind. To the pure, all things are pure.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
It is obvious that many of the female sex do not understand the
workings of the mind of man, and how it fits in the plan of God for the
procreation of new human life. Otherwise, to re-quote Pius XII, “They would
certainly blush if they could guess the impression they make and the feeling
they evoke in those who see them.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>All Sense
of Modesty Is Lost<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Why do they not blush? God gives to each girl a special innate sense
of modesty which causes her to blush when appearing in public in immodest
attire. This instinct is intended by God for the protection of her own
chastity, but especially to help the male, whose helpmate she is called to be,
to keep in check his fiery passion. If she no longer blushes she has lost this
precious “sense of modesty”. At this point, she is literally “asking for
trouble.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>“My
Conscience Is Clear”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Some women and girls justify their immodest attire by the sophism, “My
conscience is clear. It tells me that there is nothing wrong in wearing shorts,
strapless dresses, swimsuits, etc.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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“Follow your conscience” is a safe rule, provided you add, “Under the
guidance of the Church.” Otherwise you are following the modern sophism, “Everybody
his own Theologian.” This is nothing but the principle of “private
interpretation,” essentially the same as the error held by the Lutherans of the
16th century, which led to the Protestant revolt against the true Church.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Sister
Says They’re Modest”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Still other women and girls appeal to the authority of a Priest or
even a Sister. They shop around until they find one imbued with Modernism, or
one who is either not too well acquainted with the recent pronouncements of the
Popes, or not inclined to take them seriously.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How often does one hear, “Sister So-and-so says there is nothing wrong
with shorts, strapless dresses, swimsuits”! Unfortunately, some Sisters <i>do</i> usurp
the role of Theologian, without ever having had a course in Theology. Even with
such a course, the Church does not authorize Sisters, Religious, or teachers to
make decisions on such vital and intricate questions as modesty in dress.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Even if you can give the same quotation as coming from a Priest, you
may not follow such a decision. If you do, you are still guilty of wrongdoing.
For, not even a Priest is authorized to make such decisions which contradict
the official statements of the Vicar of Christ, since he is only a “delegated
authority” in the Church. You are still guilty of sin by following “certain
shameless styles like so many sheep”, unless, through no fault of your own, you
are ignorant of the recent Papal statements.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>“Blind
Leaders of the Blind”<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Pastors, teachers, parents, and all who exercise authority over
others, have a grave responsibility to promote modesty in dress according to
the “mind of the Church.” Otherwise they may fall under this same condemnation
spoken by Christ against the Pharisees: “Let them alone: they are blind and
leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit.”
(Matt. 15:14)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Pre-Requisite
For the Triumph of Mary’s Immaculate Heart<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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How can we expect Mary’s triumph and world peace in an unchastened
human society? And how can the reign of purity be established as long as these “certain
fashions” continue to fan furiously the flame of passion in the hearts of men?
Is it not evident from Our Lady’s messages at Fatima that modesty in feminine
attire is a prerequisite for Her triumph and for world peace?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Let’s use our God-given faculty of reasoning. Our Lady tells us “Men
must cease offending God....” In the next breath, as it were, she reminds us
that one way in which God is offended “very much” is by those “certain
fashions.” The conclusion should be plain. These semi-nude fashions retard Mary’s
triumph, and are one of the chief causes bringing the world to the brink of
annihilation.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our Lady further revealed that “More souls go to Hell because of sins
of the flesh, than for any other reason.” Who can count the millions of mortal
sins of the flesh that are daily occasioned by immodest attire-evil thoughts
and desires, touches, impure embracing, kissing, raping, etc. How can the
Immaculate Heart of Mary triumph as long as “more souls go to Hell” through
shameless fashions?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Again, a Christian society would never tolerate the current flood of
indecent literature, movies, and television if it had not first tolerated the
public appearance of semi-nude women and girls IN THE FLESH. As Pius XII points
out, “vice necessarily follows upon public nudity.” Which implies: when public
nudity is tolerated, innumerable sins against purity necessarily follow, and
the corruption of mankind.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Yet, who will convince our Catholic women and girls that their
shameful attire is responsible that so many “souls go to Hell...”?<o:p></o:p></div>
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It will take a miracle to save a world which has forgotten God to such
an extent that even many Catholics have turned to the worship of human idols in
the form of body cult and sex worship. Our Lady of Fatima has promised this
miracle that will save us from the “greatest catastrophe since the deluge,”
(Pius XII) <i>if</i> we do our part.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Listen to the Virgin Mary’s pleas for “prayers and sacrifices.” There
can be no doubt that one of the sacrifices that is very acceptable to Our Lady
is the sacrifice required to become ever more Marylike ourselves; and to
promote energetically in others the “Marylike Way of Life’’ which will restore
Marylike chastity and modesty to the world. This will hasten true world peace,
which is promised only through the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<b>From Various Sources</b></div>
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Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-89301897519289063052013-05-30T21:12:00.001+08:002013-05-30T22:24:50.815+08:00Relation and Difference between Devotion to the Holy Eucharist and Devotion to the Sacred Heart<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<i>Note: Father Joseph de Gallifet
(1663–1749) was a French Jesuit priest, known for his promotion of the devotion
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He was under the direction of St. Claude de la
Colombière, the confessor of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-clczc0gr04s/UadNW_TlO_I/AAAAAAAAAEw/fzyG6UTn8UY/s1600/bl-sacrament-sacred-heart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-clczc0gr04s/UadNW_TlO_I/AAAAAAAAAEw/fzyG6UTn8UY/s1600/bl-sacrament-sacred-heart.jpg" /></a></div>
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There is an intimate relation between devotion to the Holy Eucharist
and devotion to the Sacred Heart. Both tend to honor the same Man-God, Our Lord
Jesus Christ. We offer acts of homage to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus;
nevertheless these two devotions should not be confounded one with the other;
they are two separate devotions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“There have been,” says Father Gallifet in his admirable work <b><i><span style="color: #548dd4; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">The Adorable Heart
of Jesus</span></i></b>, “from the beginning, people who asserted that there
was no essential difference between devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and that
to the Sacred Heart, and who consequently rejected the latter as only adding a
new name to a very old devotion.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“These two devotions differ from each other: <b><i><span style="color: #548dd4; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">first</span></i></b>, in their objects;
<b><i><span style="color: #548dd4; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">secondly</span></i></b>,
in the motives for honoring these objects; <b><i><span style="color: #548dd4; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">thirdly</span></i></b>, in the essential end of their
institution. This is to say—they differ in the three most important points
which can distinguish devotions one from the other.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“They differ in the first place in their object; for in the one is
proposed alone the adorable Heart of Jesus Christ, without any reference to the
rest of His body. In the other the entire body of Jesus Christ is proposed
under the sacramental species, without any special reference to His Heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“They differ, in the second place, in the motives for honoring the
object, for in the devotion to the Blessed Sacrament the motive for honoring
the body of Jesus Christ is the infinite dignity of this adorable flesh, which,
through its union with the Word, is worthy of the adoration of angels and men.
In the devotion to the Sacred Heart the essential motive for honoring it is the
love with which it is inflamed, and the sufferings it endured through the
ingratitude of men, which has relation to the divine Heart, and to no other
part of the body.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“In short, in instituting the feast of the Blessed Sacrament the
object was to render to Jesus Christ, abiding amongst us, the adoration, the
gratitude, and the love which are so justly due to Him in this ineffable
mystery. It is in order to satisfy these obligations that the Church has
instituted the festival of the Blessed Sacrament with its solemn octave, with
processions, decorations, and all the pomp and magnificence with which this
feast is celebrated. But in that of the Sacred Heart the principal object of
its institution is to make reparation to Our Lord for the insults His love has
received in the holy sacrament through the ingratitude of men—a reparation
which Jesus Christ desires should be directed to His Heart, which is, as it
were, the source and the seat of this love.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“The Heart of Jesus is the symbol of His love; the Blessed Sacrament is
the effect of His love. While these two devotions are very distinct one from
the other, nevertheless there is a bond of union between them, since the body
of Jesus Christ, really present in the Holy Eucharist, contains this adorable
Heart, which is the object of a special worship.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“In her Divine Office the Church herself reveals the motive of the
worship we render the Sacred Heart of Jesus, when she declares that the feast
of the Sacred Heart was established in order that the faithful might honor with
more devotion and zeal, <b><i><span style="color: #548dd4; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">under the symbol of the Sacred Heart</span></i></b>,
the <b><i><span style="color: #548dd4; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themetint: 153;">love</span></i></b>
of Jesus Christ, which induced Him not only to suffer and to die for the
redemption of mankind, but also to institute the sacrament of His body and
blood in commemoration of His death.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>From:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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The Blessed Sacrament Prayerbook, pp. 625-627<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
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by Fr. F.X. Lasance<o:p></o:p></div>
Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-15602202813896865582013-05-24T07:00:00.000+08:002013-06-09T12:14:29.998+08:00Maria de Agreda (Life of the Venerable) by Bishop Jose Ximenez SamaniegoDownload the "Life of the Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agreda" (English Version) written by Bishop Jose Ximenez Samaniego in Spanish and translated from the French of Abbe Joseph A. Boullan at:<br />
<br />
1) <a href="http://archive.org/details/LifeOfVenMariaOfAgredaByFrJoseXimenezSamaniego" target="_blank">http://archive.org/details/LifeOfVenMariaOfAgredaByFrJoseXimenezSamaniego</a><br />
<br />
2) <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/146477796/Life-of-Venerable-Mary-of-Jesus-of-Agreda-by-Fr-Jose-Ximenez-Samaniego" target="_blank">http://www.scribd.com/doc/146477796/Life-of-Venerable-Mary-of-Jesus-of-Agreda-by-Fr-Jose-Ximenez-Samaniego</a><br />
<br />
Ven. Mary is the author of the masterpiece "The Mystical City of God: The Divine History and Life of the Virgin Mother of God"<br />
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<i>Tags: Venerable, Mary of Agreda, Maria of Agreda, Maria de Agreda, Jose, Ximenez Samaniego, Jimenez Samaniego, Boullan, Mystical City of God, Mistica Ciudad de Dios</i>Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-86649111376293615992013-05-11T13:09:00.001+08:002013-05-11T14:17:21.140+08:00Raising of the Dead by Venerable Maria of Agreda<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9G2RVbon-Yg/UY3SNnxIZvI/AAAAAAAAAEM/pwbKvgfezeU/s1600/ven_mary_of_agreda07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9G2RVbon-Yg/UY3SNnxIZvI/AAAAAAAAAEM/pwbKvgfezeU/s400/ven_mary_of_agreda07.jpg" width="302" /></a></div>
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In one extraordinary report that her prayers were instrumental in the restoration of life to a dead man, the humble nun swore the witnesses to secrecy until after her death. The following account derives from witnesses’ sworn testimony in official records documenting the apostolic process in her cause for canonization. </div>
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In 1660, with the bulk of writing [her visions] behind her and a certain slowing in the intensity of correspondence with the king [Philip IV] due to each of their increasing ages and health concerns, Sor María frequently retreated in quiet devotions. On one such day, she knelt in prayer in the lower choir adjacent to the church. Unbeknownst to her, or any of the other nuns, two workmen approached the minor sacristan who assisted the priest in caring for the church. The men asked for and received permission to set a large chest just inside the church door, indicating only that it contained merchandise for safekeeping. </div>
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Deep in meditative prayer, Sor María heard “sad moans and profound lamentations.” In the report, she indicated that she had been frightened and disturbed because the sighs sounded horrible and seemed hopeless. She told how she approached the church doorway and saw the chest. The crying, she realized, came from there. Then she realized that the chest was a coffin harboring an anguished soul, one that had died impenitent. To Sor María there could be no worse fate. She prayed for God to put new life into the soul, so it could repent before facing judgment. In struggling for more understanding, Sor María said she realized not only that the coffin had been placed in the church in secret, but that a more astounding secret lay within: the body inside was none other than that of her brother, Padre Francisco Coronel. He had at one time held a position of authority at a Franciscan college in Madrid, but in later years he had felt that his efforts were not sufficiently rewarded and had returned to Ágreda, discontented, ambitions thwarted, bitter toward God and the church. </div>
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Sor María grieved for her brother. She called upon God’s “infinite omnipotence and divine justice” to concede “new life for a brief time and space,” so her brother could confess his sins. In response, she felt prompted to arrange for a confessor to hear her brother’s confession. She left immediately to do so and did not return to the church. </div>
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A neighboring priest responded to the call, almost frightened to death himself, he later reported, at the prospect of attending to a dead person. He was accompanied by another—perhaps the sacristan—who later served as a witness. </div>
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Coronel, they attested, stepped out of his coffin and prostrated himself cruciform before the altar. After some time, he “came to the feet of the confessor, and made a painful confession.” The witness, who had left during the confession and penance, returned and saw Coronel reenter his coffin, arms raised toward the choir platform in gratitude to his sister. Then he reclined, the lid was closed, and the same two workmen carried it away. </div>
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The priest who took Coronel’s confession made a complete record of the event, including his initial death and the witness’s testimony. Then he sealed the record. It remained a secret throughout the lifetimes of the three remaining participants. Finally, over a century later, church officials broke the seal and added the amazing account to Sor María’s growing file for sainthood.</div>
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<br />
<b>From:</b><br />
María of Agreda: Mystical Lady in Blue<br />
by Marilyn H. FedewaSpiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-25796747776263077872013-04-23T21:04:00.001+08:002015-03-14T01:08:02.103+08:00Angelica Zambrano Mora and Catholic Resurrection MiraclesThis is to compare Angelica Zambrano Mora's "Prepare to Meet Your God (23 Hours Dead)" experience and Catholic Resurrection Miracles.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">These are the Numerous Resurrection Miracles in the Catholic Church</span></b><br />
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1) <a href="http://bit.ly/XKsNuw">http://bit.ly/XKsNuw</a> (Virgin Mary of Czestochowa)<br />
2) <a href="http://bit.ly/uTHE9Q">http://bit.ly/uTHE9Q</a> (St. Vincent Ferrer)<br />
3) <a href="http://bit.ly/ZTLdD3">http://bit.ly/ZTLdD3</a> (Venerable Mariana de Jesus Torres of Quito, Ecuador)<br />
4) <a href="http://bit.ly/ZTLiqq">http://bit.ly/ZTLiqq</a> (St. Patrick of Ireland)<br />
5) <a href="http://bit.ly/Ym1P7h">http://bit.ly/Ym1P7h</a> (St. Francis Xavier)<br />
6) <a href="http://bit.ly/17N5Tl9">http://bit.ly/17N5Tl9</a> (St. Francis of Paola)<br />
7) <a href="http://bit.ly/ZiizjG">http://bit.ly/ZiizjG</a> (St. Anthony of Padua)<br />
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and many more...<br />
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Angelica claims that Devotion to Mary doesn't please her and breaks her heart.<br />
And yet from the above, Our Lord was pleased to raise the dead through the people's devotion to Mary at Czestochowa.<br />
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<i>Tags: Angelica Zambrano Mora, Prepare to Meet Your God, 23 Horas Muerta</i><br />
<br />Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-42751301780357549662013-03-08T23:26:00.000+08:002014-05-19T17:32:28.262+08:00Our Lady of Tears & Sr. Amalia of the Scourged Jesus<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><b><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: large;">[Updated 08-19-2013: A Fuller Vision of March 8, 1930]</span></b></i><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MSarBU7V3zA/Ue6eDDcTCMI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Yh-N1T0BCLw/s1600/sr-amalia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MSarBU7V3zA/Ue6eDDcTCMI/AAAAAAAAAGc/Yh-N1T0BCLw/s640/sr-amalia.jpg" height="640" width="395" /></a>Sister Amalia of the Scourged Jesus was one of the first eight sisters and co-founders of the Institute of Missionaries of the Crucified Jesus, founded by Msgr. Count Francisco de Campos Barreto, Bishop of Campinas, Brazil. Like her contemporary, Therese Neumann, and in company with Saint Francis and Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, Amalia was graced with the singular but dreadful privilege of bearing the marks of the Passion of Christ upon her own body, the stigmata. It was to this young woman that both Our Divine Lord and His Blessed Mother spoke, revealing a beautiful devotion focused on the Tears of Sorrow. The Lord Jesus spoke and instructed her, and Our Lady further encouraged her to conquer the devil and even hell itself through the devotion of this rosary. ‘Get ready for this great battle’ were the parting words of Our Lady.</div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><b>Sister Amalia Aguirre (1901- 1977)</b></span></div>
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The future nun was born in Rios, Spain on 22nd July 1901 and received her baptism eight days later. She made her First Communion and was Confirmed in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Rios and was noted at the time to be a girl with the character of obedience; the first indication of her virtue. Amalia exhibited a propensity at this time for both goodness and charity towards others and also a care for the things of God. A closeness with Him was evident in her young life. Jesus became a great ‘book’ from which her eyes were never averted. Her spiritual growth and her practice of charity were learned from her parents, Andres and Emerita. Her home had been a fertile ground in which the seed of her vocation was able to grow to maturity. Amalia’s parents emigrated from Spain to Brazil in search of a better life and, after a period in which she remained behind caring for the sick of the Great Flu Pandemic, Amalia came to join them on 16th July 1919.</div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><b>The Establishment of The Institute</b></span></div>
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In the late 1920s Amalia became involved with an Association of Missionaries of the Crucified Jesus. She was inspired by and strongly identified with the devotion of this group to the Passion of Jesus and to charitable work. In 1928, Msgr. Count Francisco de Campos Barreto convened some eight members of this Association, including Amalia, and between them founded a Congregation. Though the Order was to be both contemplative and active, the members retained secular dress in order to be accessible to ordinary folk. Called to the Contemplative Life and living the ‘Paschal Mystery’ the new Order was also dedicated to announcing the Gospel in the most difficult places where people lived. At this time Sister Amalia is described as having that same generous nature and sacrificial character she exhibited as a child. She made her Temporary Vows on 8th December 1927 – the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and then on 8th December 1931, exactly four years to the day, took Perpetual Vows. Thus Amalia became a nun consecrated to Christ and His Church, taking the name in religion ‘Sister Amalia of the Scourged Jesus.’ She continued to live in community in Campinas until 1953 when she was transferred to Cassa de Nossa Senhora Aparecida (House of Our Lady of the Apparition) in Taubate, San Paulo. Her life was dedicated to the poor and needy and she developed a special concern for both children and widows. At some point Amalia received a vision in which she saw a home that should be constructed where poor children might find refuge, and promptly vowed to carry out this project. She began by seeking to assist twenty poor children who she fed. So the work began which continues to this day. The vision of a ‘house of safety’ eventually came to fruition in 1969 when a home for Children was opened in the Village of Saint Gerald. The seed had been planted and watered by sacrifice; it was now seen to blossom. Here children would be able to receive instruction, be provided with food, clothes and shawls. Sewing, hygiene and religious education were taught and the house expanded due to the generosity shown by many well-wishers. Though Amalia was not to see the completed work as she died in 1977, new land was acquired and a large, spacious Home of Sr Amalia was opened on 18th June 1981. The practical love of this nun continuing to bear fruit when, in 2001, on the occasion of the anniversary of her birth, a center for alcoholics was opened. But in another way, her gift to the whole Church is only beginning to be discovered, for the events which occurred shortly after she joined the Order have led to a beautiful devotion which continues to spread through the Church.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">I. The Vision of Our Lord on 8 November 1929</span></b></div>
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On 8 November 1929 Sister Amalia received a visit from a distressed relative whose wife was seriously ill and had been pronounced incurable by several doctors. With tears in his eyes the poor husband asked; ‘What will become of the children?’ His distressed state and desperation regarding the loss he and his children would shortly sustain, grieved Sister Amalia in her heart. At once she turned to God in prayer as she listened to the sad tale. She recounts an inner compunction calling her to make an immediate visit to the Lord, and went straight to the chapel where she laid these concerns before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Kneeling on the steps before the Altar and Tabernacle, she extended her arms and offered herself as a substitute for her relative. ‘If there is no longer any possibility of recovery for the wife of T… then I am prepared to offer my own life for the mother of the family. What do You want me to do?’ </div>
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It was then that Amalia reported Jesus Himself spoke: <i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>‘If you wish to receive this grace, ask Me for the sake of My Mother’s tears.’ </b></span></i></div>
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Amalia inquired: <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><i><b>‘How must I pray?’ </b></i></span></div>
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Thereupon Jesus told her the following invocations: <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><i><b>‘O Jesus, hear our prayer for the sake of the tears of Your Most Holy Mother!’ ‘O Jesus, behold the tears of the one who loved You most on earth and who loves You most ardently in heaven!’ </b></i></span></div>
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Sister Amalia reports that after giving these words to her, Jesus said: <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><i><b>‘My daughter, whatever people will ask of Me for the sake of the tears of My Mother, I shall lovingly grant them. Later, my Mother will hand over this treasure to Our beloved Institute as a Magnet of Mercy.’</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><b>II. The Vision of Our Lady on 8 March 1930</b></span></div>
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Four months to the day, on 8th March 1930, Sister Amalia was again on her knees before the tabernacle when the promise of the Redeemer was granted to her. In her own words we hear: <i>“I was in the chapel kneeling on the steps on the left side of the altar, when suddenly I felt myself raised up. Then I saw a woman of indescribable beauty approach. She was dressed in a garment of purple, a blue cloak and a white veil that draped to her breast and was drawn across her shoulders. She glided towards me smiling, and holding in her hand a rosary, which she called ‘corona’ (that is ‘crown’ or rosary). Its pearls shone like the sun and were as white as snow.</i><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">‘</span></b></i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><i>Do you know why I wear a blue mantle? To remind you of heaven, when you are feeling weary from your labors, and carrying the cross of your tribulations. My mantle reminds you of heaven, to give you indescribable joy and eternal happiness, and this will give courage to your soul and peace to your heart, to continue the struggle until the end!</i></b></span><i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">’</span></b></i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><i> </i></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">‘</span></b></i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><i>Do you understand the significance of my purple-violet tunic? I will tell you that you should remember, as you stand before the image of Tears, of the colors I wear, purple signifies pain. The pain that Jesus felt when they beat him, barbarically, on his body. My mother's heart and my soul were also lacerated by pain, on seeing Jesus.</i></b></span><i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">’</span></b></i><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">‘</span></b></i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><i>My child, I will explain to you why I wear this white veil, around my breast and covering my head. White signifies purity, and being the white flower of the Holy Trinity, I could not appear without this whiteness. The sweet smile you see traced on my lips is for the immense happiness to be able to give mankind such a precious treasure!</i></b></span><i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">’</span></b></i><br />
<i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></b></i>
<i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">‘</span></b></i><b style="color: #3d85c6;"><i>My child, I will tell you about the rosary in my hands. I have named it the Crown (chaplet) of Tears. When you are near me, seeing this chaplet in my hands, remember that it signifies mercy, love, and pain... this chaplet of my blessed tears signifies that your Mother loves you. Use all its privileges, resort to it with confidence and love.</i></b><i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">’</span></b></i><br />
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<i>Handing me the rosary, she said: <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">‘</span></b></i><i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">This is the rosary of my tears, which is being entrusted by my Son to His beloved Institute as a portion of His inheritance. The invocations have already given you by My Son. My Son wants to honor me especially with these invocations; and therefore, He will gladly grant all graces that are asked for the sake of my tears. This rosary will provide for the conversion of many sinners, especially those possessed by the devil. To the Institute of the Crucified Jesus is reserved a special honor; that is the conversion of many members of a wicked sect to the ‘flowering tree’ of the Church. Through this rosary the devil will be conquered and the power of hell will be destroyed. Get ready for this great battle.’</span></b></i><br />
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<i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">‘</span></b></i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><i>I will explain to you the reason I appear with my eyes inclined downward. Inspired painters have recorded my eyes looking upward to sing the glory of my Immaculate Conception. Then why are my eyes inclined downward in this apparition, into which you entrust yourself to my blessed tears? It signifies my compassion towards humanity, because I have come from heaven to alleviate your suffering. My eyes will always be directed to your sorrows and afflictions, whenever you ask my Son through the tears I shed. And as you are near my image, see that I gaze at you with eyes of compassion and tenderness.</i></b></span><i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">’</span></b></i><i>”</i><i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span></b></i><br />
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When the Blessed Virgin had finished speaking, she was seen no more.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">III. The Vision
of Our Lady on 8 April 1930</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">*</span></b><b style="font-style: italic;">Medal of Our Lady of Tears given to Sr. Amalia of the Scourged Jesus at Campinas, Brazil.</b></div>
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<i>(In front) Our Lady of Tears as in the apparition with the inscription:</i></div>
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<i><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">“O Virgin Most Sorrowful, Your Tears Have Destroyed the Infernal Empire.”</span></b></i></div>
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<i>(At the back) The image of Jesus bound & scourged (Ecce Homo) with the inscription:</i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>“By Your Divine Meekness, O Jesus Bound, Save the World from the Error which Threatens It.”</b></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><br /></b></span></i></div>
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Bishop
Francisco was travelling in Europe at the time of these visions. He attended
the Passion Play at Oberammergau and also visited the German mystic and
stigmatic Therese Neumann. Whilst on this journey he spread the knowledge of
the revelations and the devotion of the Chaplet. He also spoke of a third
vision on 8 April 1930, in which the Blessed Mother revealed a Medal of the
Tears to be worn. Reports began to emerge of innumerable conversions as a
result of wearing this Medal. Furthermore news came of requests granted
and healing occurring as a result of the Chaplet of Tears. The practice of
reciting the Chaplet for nine days, receiving the Sacraments and performing
works of charity has indeed led to many blessings.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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In 1934
Bishop Francisco wrote: <i>“Innumerable graces have been received through the
praying of the rosary to honor the tears of our dear Lady. The reason lies in
the promise of the holy Savior, 'no favor will be refused, when asked of Him
for the sake of the tears of His most holy Mother.'<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>It is
well known, that the holy Savior rewards in a special way the sincere reverence
for the sorrows of His most holy Mother, which alone are the cause of her
tears. Also from Germany, Holland, and Belgium many report of extraordinary
favors and graces. They prayed the rosary of our Lady of the Tears daily for
nine days, received the holy sacraments and performed works of mercy.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>From
religious, we understand, that the praying of this rosary is a very dear habit
to which they attribute extraordinary graces. For that reason, they pray it
daily often to ask graces for themselves and others, the conversion of sinners,
heretics, and atheists, to obtain graces for priests and missionaries, to help the
dying, and to free the poor souls from Purgatory.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>A
believing, pious soul, for whom the good of the holy Church, and the honor of
God is close at heart, knows without special guidance, what it can and will
obtain from our gracious Redeemer through the tears of His most holy Mother.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>When
sorrow and suffering fill our heart, we direct our thoughts to God. Through the
tears of Mary, His most holy Mother, we soften the heart of God, even though it
is ever ready to grant us kindness, graces and blessings.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i> At the present, so it seems to us, the blessed
tears of the Mother of Jesus are especially powerful to win the heart of God.<o:p></o:p>”</i></div>
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There exist
other examples of visions of Our Lady shedding tears including; La Salette,
1846, and the incidents at Syracuse, 1953. At La Salette the Virgin was seen
weeping for humanity while at Syracuse a terra-cotta image of Our Lady
exhibited tears. Enormous crowds bore witness to the miracle leading Pope Pius
XII to declare in wonder, <i>‘O the Tears of Mary!’<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">How to Pray the Rosary of Our Lady of Tears</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The rosary
transmitted to Sister Amalia by the Mother of God consists of forty-nine white
beads, which is divided into seven parts by seven larger beads of the same
color -- similar to the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Blessed Virgin which can be used if the Rosary of Tears is not available. At the end, there
are attached three more small beads and a medal of our dear Lady of Tears.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Through
these instructions we are obviously directed to honor Mary our Mother on
account of her sorrows, for which she shed many tears. The Medal of our Lady of
Tears is an essential part of the rosary, but it must be the way it was
revealed to Sister Amalia by the Mother of God on April 8, 1930. In Germany,
this medal is made with the specified inscription in all the European
languages. The rosary beads are recommended but not required in praying.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>On the Medal of Jesus<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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O crucified
Jesus, we fall at Your feet and offer You the tears of the one, who with deep
compassionate love accompanied You on Your sorrowful way of the Cross. O good
Master, grant that we take to heart the lessons which the tears of Your most
holy Mother teach us, so that we may fulfill Your holy will on earth, that we
may be worthy to praise and exalt You in Heaven for all eternity. Amen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>In the large beads (instead of the “Our
Father”):<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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V. O Jesus,
look upon the tears of the one who loved You most on earth,<o:p></o:p></div>
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R. And loves
You most ardently in heaven.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>In the small beads (instead of the “Hail
Mary”):<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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V. O Jesus,
listen to our prayers,<o:p></o:p></div>
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R. For the
sake of the tears of Your most Holy Mother.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>On the final three beads:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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V. O Jesus,
look upon the tears of the one who loved You most on earth,<o:p></o:p></div>
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R. And loves
You most ardently in heaven.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>On the Medal of Mary<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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O Mary,
Mother of Love, Sorrow and Mercy, we beseech you to unite your prayers with
ours so that Jesus, your Divine Son, to whom we turn, may hear our petitions in
the name of your maternal tears, and grant us, not only the favors we now ask,
but the crown of everlasting life. Amen.<o:p></o:p></div>
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With your tears, O sorrowful Mother, destroy the rule of Satan. Through Your divine tenderness, O Jesus bound and fettered, defend the world from the errors that threaten it. Amen.<br />
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The following says that this devotion was only <b><i>‘</i>Approved for Faith Expression<i>’</i></b>:</div>
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<a href="http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/campinas/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/campinas/index.html</a></div>
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<b>From Various Internet Sources</b><br />
<b>All Photos do not belong to the webmaster except <span style="font-size: large;">(*) </span>which can be used freely for non-profit purposes.</b></div>
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Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-79411707316812152592013-02-11T00:52:00.000+08:002013-10-20T19:19:23.995+08:00The Blue Scapular of the Immaculate Conception<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Apparitions to Venerable Ursula Benincasa</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4fsWyMiYqB0/URZkcIF07uI/AAAAAAAAAB0/4HndX-k_eYA/s1600/v_ursula02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4fsWyMiYqB0/URZkcIF07uI/AAAAAAAAAB0/4HndX-k_eYA/s1600/v_ursula02.jpg" /></a>In the year 1583, the Venerable Ursula Benincasa (1547-1618), founded the Congregation of the Oblates of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. At this period, having created much popular excitement by her visions, her ecstasies, and the loftiness of her teaching, and having attracted enthusiastic admiration and envenomed calumny, she was accused of being possessed by a devil and was therefore summoned to Rome. By the Pope's authority she was placed under the spiritual direction of St. Philip Neri, who subjected her to the most severe trials; he was constantly astonished by her piety and humility. In 1583 the foundation proper took place, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, St. Michael the Archangel, and St. Peter.</div>
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On February 2, 1617, in Naples, Italy, on the Feast of the Purification of Our Lady, Ursula, having received Holy Communion, had a vision of the Blessed Mother clothed in a white garment over which she wore another garment of azure blue. In her arms, Mary held the Infant Jesus. Our Lady was surrounded by many persons, all similarly attired. </div>
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The Blessed Mother spoke to Ursula with these words: <i>“Cease weeping, Ursula, and turn your sighs into heartfelt joy. Listen closely to what Jesus, whom I am holding in my lap, will say to you.”</i></div>
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Then Jesus revealed to Ursula that she would found a convent where thirty-three nuns, dressed in the same attire as the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of her vision, would live a life of solitude and seclusion. The Savior promised special graces and many spiritual gifts to those who would zealously follow this way of life. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rIz2lFls-7Y/URZlEqnrTOI/AAAAAAAAACE/_Co8RHlb1CM/s1600/v_ursula01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rIz2lFls-7Y/URZlEqnrTOI/AAAAAAAAACE/_Co8RHlb1CM/s320/v_ursula01.jpg" width="235" /></a>The Venerable Servant of God besought the Lord to extend these favors also to such people who, living in the world, would have a special devotion to the mystery of the Immaculate Conception, observe chastity according to their station in life, and wear a small sky-blue Scapular. As a sign that her prayer had been heard, Jesus showed Ursula in a vision a multitude of angels distributing scapulars over the earth. He promised Mother Ursula the following for those who wear the scapular:</div>
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1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>they will be covered by Our Lady’s Sacred Mantle</div>
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2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>they will have Her defense against all the snares of the enemy that lead us to sin</div>
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3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>plenary and partial indulgences, both in life and in death</div>
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4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>cure of diseases</div>
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5.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>fortress of faith in the face of difficulties</div>
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6.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a good death assisted by the Sacraments of Anointing and Reconciliation</div>
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7.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>light and wisdom of God in difficult times</div>
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8.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>the defense of Our Lady on the day of final judgment</div>
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9.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a shield of graces against all the dangers</div>
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10.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>her eternal intercession before Jesus and many graces.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--p1HTySJNXU/URZkxXPZgII/AAAAAAAAAB8/dPh9im9YZCA/s1600/blue_scapular01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--p1HTySJNXU/URZkxXPZgII/AAAAAAAAAB8/dPh9im9YZCA/s200/blue_scapular01.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Blue Scapular with <br />Our Lady of Lourdes as the <br />Immaculate Conception on front <br />and at the back, the Miraculous Medal.</span></td></tr>
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Overwhelmed with joy, Ursula personally made scapulars similar to the ones she saw in her vision, had them blessed, and distributed them among the faithful. The practice of wearing the Blue Scapular began to spread quickly already during Ursula's lifetime. She founded what was later called the Theatine Hermitesses <i>(Romite Teatine)</i> as prophesied. As Venerable Ursula wished to completely withdraw from the world she took thirty-three companions, in memory of the thirty-three years of Christ upon earth, and retired to a hermitage. The rules of the Hermitesses are much like those of the Oblates as regards works of piety; but the former religious follow the contemplative life of St. Magdalene. In addition to their solemn vows, their constitution imposes on them great austerities. They are bound to perpetual abstinence from flesh meat except in case of illness, to fast on the vigils of feasts of the Blessed Virgin and with still greater rigour on the vigils of the Immaculate Conception, the Ascension, and Corpus Christi. They also fast every Saturday and on the last two days of Carnival, besides the ordinary fasts of the church. The rules of the Hermitesses and those of the Oblates were approved by Gregory XVI in 1623.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EQvaKjMUtq8/URZphj8ZJaI/AAAAAAAAACc/qr3NKXGJAUU/s1600/blue_scapular02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EQvaKjMUtq8/URZphj8ZJaI/AAAAAAAAACc/qr3NKXGJAUU/s1600/blue_scapular02.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Another version of the Blue <br />Scapular with the image <br />of the Immaculate <br />Conception on front <br />and at the back, <br />the initials A and M for <i>Ave</i> <br /><i>Maria</i>. This one is distributed <br />by the Marians of the <br />Immaculate Conception.</span></td></tr>
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Oblates and Hermitesses practiced fervent and incessant prayer to avert from mankind the terrible chastisements which Ven. Ursula by Divine Providence foresaw in her ecstasy. The life of the Oblates is active, that of the Hermitesses contemplative. After her death, her spiritual daughters undertook the promotion of this scapular as their Order's special mission. On August 7, 1793, Pope Pius VI recognized the heroic virtues of Ursula, and proclaimed her a Venerable Servant of God. </div>
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In 1633, the Theatine Fathers founded by St. Cajetan, in their General Chapter, recognized the Oblates of the Immaculate Conception and the community of contemplative nuns whose inception was rooted in the vision of Venerable Ursula as branches of their order. From that time on, these two communities took on the title of Theatines Nuns of the Immaculate Conception of the BVM.</div>
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In January 1671, Pope Clement X approved the blessing and investing of this scapular. Several years later, Clement XI, endowed this scapular with more indulgences, which he mentioned in his apostolic letter dated May 12, 1710. The indulgences were confirmed and amplified by Pope Gregory XIV in 1845 and by Blessed Pius IX in 1850. These two Popes also declared that the indulgences of the Blue Scapular could be applied to the souls of the faithful departed. Those who are enrolled pray daily 6 Our Fathers, 6 Hail Marys, and 6 Glory Bes in honor of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Only the sky blue woolen cloth is essential and necessary in the scapular. The scapular usually bears on one portion a symbolization of the Immaculate Conception and on the other the name of Mary.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Blue Scapular and the Holy Souls in Purgatory</b></span></div>
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<b>The Old 433 Plenary Indulgences</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A42dlDTx4Jk/URZouCcxQ2I/AAAAAAAAACU/vEh-cG325Wk/s1600/purgatory-blue-scapular.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A42dlDTx4Jk/URZouCcxQ2I/AAAAAAAAACU/vEh-cG325Wk/s640/purgatory-blue-scapular.jpg" width="403" /></a></div>
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<i>“And let it be particularly made known that, besides many particular indulgences, there are annexed to the scapular of the Immaculate Conception, which is blessed by the Theatine Fathers, all the indulgences which are granted to any religious order, pious place, or person. And particularly by reciting "Our Father," "Hail Mary," and "Glory be to the Father," six times, in honor of the most holy Trinity, and of the immaculate Mary, are gained each time all the indulgences of Rome, Portiuncula, Jerusalem, Galicia, which reach the number of four hundred and thirty-three plenary indulgences, besides the temporal, which are innumerable.” </i></div>
~ St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, <i>“The Glories of Mary”</i> (Original Edition)<br />
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<i><span style="text-align: justify;">“</span>They who become invested with the blue scapular of the Immaculate Conception ought to have it in view to honour this glorious privilege of the Mother of God, and to apply themselves to pray for the reformation of those who are leading a sinful, disorderly life, and straying from the paths of salvation... Those invested with the blue scapular can gain all the [plenary and partial] indulgences attached to a visit paid to the seven Roman Basilicas, to the church of the Portiuncula at Assisi, of St. James, at Compostella, and of the holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, each time (toties quoties) they devoutly recite in any place whatever, six Paters, Aves, and Glorias, in honour of the Most Holy Trinity, and of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, praying for the exaltation of Holy Church, the extinction of heresies, and for peace and concord amongst Christian princes. To gain these indulgences, nothing more is necessary than simply to recite the six Paters, Aves, and Glorias. All the above-named indulgences are applicable to the souls in Purgatory.<span style="text-align: justify;">”</span></i><br />
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~ From <i>“The Book of Holy Indulgences compiled from the Decrees of The Sacred Congregation of Indulgences” </i>by Rev. Michael Comerford<br />
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These old plenary indulgences is granted without the necessity of approaching the Sacraments, the only conditions are that one must be in the state of grace and free from all attachment to sin, even venial sin.</div>
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Although the Church's regulations on indulgences, which is publicly approved, have changed, we may still hope to obtain these old indulgences from God at least privately if we ask Him for them with confidence. As stated above, Our Lord promised privately to Ven. Ursula plenary and partial indulgences both in life and in death. This is also the case with the Rosary. Although the Church publicly granted specific indulgences to it, the Blessed Mother privately promised Blessed Alan de la Roche (1428-1475):</div>
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<i>“I want you to know that, although there are numerous indulgences already attached to the recitation of my Rosary, I shall add many more to every five decades for those who, free from serious sin, say them with devotion, on their knees. And whosoever shall persevere in the devotion of the holy Rosary, with its prayers and meditations, shall be rewarded for it; I shall obtain for him full remission of the penalty and the guilt of all his sins at the end of his life. And let this not seem incredible to you; it is easy for me because I am the Mother of the King of heaven, and he calls me full of grace. And being filled with grace, I am able to dispense it freely to my dear children.”</i></div>
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~ From<i> </i><i>“The Secret of the Rosary,” 28th Rose,</i> by St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u9tBV0W1XD8/URd6Js-cLWI/AAAAAAAAACs/jCCVE6C_LHQ/s1600/s-john-massias.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-u9tBV0W1XD8/URd6Js-cLWI/AAAAAAAAACs/jCCVE6C_LHQ/s1600/s-john-massias.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">St. John Massias<br />praying for the<br />souls in<br />purgatory</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Saint John Massias (1585-1645), the Dominican lay brother, had a wonderful devotion to the Souls in Purgatory. He obtained by his prayers <span style="text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;">(chiefly by the </span><span style="text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;">recitation of three Rosaries on his knees every evening) </span>the liberation of one million four hundred thousand souls! In return, they obtained for him the most abundant and extraordinary graces and came at the hour of his death to help and console him and accompany him to Heaven. This fact is so certain that it was inserted by the Church in the bull of his Beatification.</div>
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This is also similar to the plenary indulgence of Divine Mercy Sunday promised by Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska in a private revelation:</div>
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<i>“On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity.”</i> (Diary of St. Faustina, 699)</div>
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The Feast of the Divine Mercy, as requested by Our Lord, was established in 2000 but it was only on June 29, 2002 that the Church publicly granted a plenary indulgence to be gained by the faithful on the Feast. That does not mean that all that time before 2002, no one received the plenary indulgence promised privately. So, while the promise seems easier to fulfill, the indulgence is more certain. By seeking to satisfy the stricter conditions of the indulgence, we would certainly satisfy the conditions of the promise, as well. Keep both intentions in mind, in other words, while doing what is required to gain the indulgence. What is most intrinsic to the promise is the generosity of the Lord in forgiving on this day, and so we may reasonably count on Him to provide the actual graces necessary to do what is required for the indulgence. </div>
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It is also the same with other prayers offered for the deliverance of the souls in purgatory to which the Church did not grant any indulgence, plenary or partial. We cannot say that these cannot completely deliver the poor souls, as for example, the novenas for the dead. It is also said that St. Gertrude the Great's <i>“Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory”</i> deliver one thousand souls, but some aver that this promise only applies to the saint because of her disposition, Our Lord having said of her during her lifetime:</div>
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<i>“</i><i>... there is no creature on earth so dear to Me as Gertrude, because there is no one at this present time amongst mankind who is closely united to Me by purity of intention and uprightness of will.</i><i>”</i></div>
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In the end, it is the Lord who decides and responds according to His will:</div>
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<i>“... </i><i>and I will have mercy on whom I will, and I will be merciful to whom it shall please me.</i><i>” </i></div>
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~ Exodus 33:19b</div>
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<i>“For he saith to Moses: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy; and I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” </i></div>
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~ Romans 9:15-16</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Recommended Daily Blue Scapular Prayers</b></span><br />
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<i>Pray the following once during the start of the day:</i><br />
O Lord my God, Immaculate Virgin Mary, I offer the following prayers this day in honor of the Mysteries of the Most Holy Trinity and the Immaculate Conception; and (1) I beg of You the exaltation and restoration of the Holy Catholic Church and the defeat of all her enemies, visible and invisible, internal and external; (2) I beg for peace and concord among Christian leaders and in the whole world; (3) I beg for the destruction of all heresies and all errors against the Catholic Faith and the traditions of the Catholic Church that the whole world may be made one people and one Church in the One True Catholic Faith; (4) I beg for the propagation of the Holy Catholic Faith; (5) I beg for the conversion of all sinners especially those who are in the state of mortal sin and affect the majority of the people in our country and the world; (6) I beg for the complete deliverance of as may souls from purgatory as it used to be freed in plenary and partial indulgences granted by the Church in the old times, as attested by St. Alphonsus Liguori, for this devotion. <i>(You can mention here specific names of the faithful departed whom you desire to be released)</i><br />
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Dear Holy Souls, which had passed from this world into purgatory and who are awaited eagerly in heaven, pray for me and ask for all the graces I need, and for which I beg the Divine Majesty.<i> </i><br />
<i>(Mention here your petitions to the souls in purgatory so that they can pray for it)</i><br />
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<i>Pray the following as many times as you can during the day to pray for the above intentions and to gain as much the 433 plenary indulgences:</i><br />
Blessed be the Holy and Undivided Trinity who created all things and governs them, now and always, forever and ever. I believe in the Threeness, I confess the Oneness, of the Creator of creation.<br />
O Sacrament most holy, O Sacrament divine, all praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.<br />
Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.<br />
<b>6 Our Fathers, 6 Hail Marys, 6 Glory Bes </b><i>(The length of these is about two decades of the Rosary)</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Blessing and Investiture of the Blue Scapular of The Immaculate Conception</b></span></div>
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<b>From <i>The Roman Ritual</i></b></div>
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This blessing was formerly reserved to the Theatines, Clerks Regular, and they gave the Marians of the Immaculate Conception authority to invest the Blue Scapular.<br />
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But the No. 77 of Instruction “Inter Oecumenici” (September 26, 1964) of the Sacred Congregation of Rites now also says:</div>
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<i>“77. The blessings in the Rituale Romanum tit. IX, cap. 9, 10, 11, hitherto reserved, may be given by any priest, except for: the blessing of a bell for the use of a blessed church or oratory (cap. 9, no. 11); the blessing of the cornerstone of a church (cap. 9, no. 16); the blessing of a new church or public oratory (cap. 9, no. 17); the blessing of an antemensium (cap. 9, no. 21); the blessing of a new cemetery (cap. 9, no. 22); papal blessings (cap. 10, nos. 1-3); the blessing and erection of the stations of the cross (cap. 11, no. 1). reserved to the bishop.”</i></div>
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The one who is to receive the scapular is kneeling. </div>
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The priest, vested in surplice and white stole, says:</div>
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Priest: Our help is in the name of the Lord</div>
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All: Who made heaven and earth.</div>
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P: The Lord be with you.</div>
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All: May He also be with you.</div>
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Let us pray.</div>
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Lord Jesus Christ, who condescended to clothe yourself in our mortal nature, we humbly beg you in your boundless goodness to bless † this garment, designed in honor and memory of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and as a reminder for those who wear it to pray for the conversion of sinners. May this servant of yours, who is to wear it, by the merits and prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, likewise put on you. We ask this of you who live and reign forever and ever.</div>
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All: Amen.</div>
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The priest sprinkles the scapular(s) with holy water, without saying anything; and then invests the person(s) with it, saying to each one:</div>
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Take, dear brother (sister), this scapular of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so that by her intercession you may divest yourself of the old man, and be cleansed from every stain of sin. May you keep it spotless and thus attain everlasting life; through Christ our Lord.</div>
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All: Amen.</div>
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The priest continues:</div>
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By the faculty granted me, I make you a partaker of all the spiritual benefits which the Congregation of Clerks Regular enjoys by God's grace and the privilege of the Holy See; in the name of the Father, † and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.</div>
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All: Amen.</div>
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Then he kneels, and together with the person(s) just enrolled he </div>
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says the following prayers facing the altar:</div>
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Let praise and thanksgiving be offered at every moment to the Holy and Godly Sacrament. (3x)</div>
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Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. (3x)</div>
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Nihil obstat for the Blessing: </div>
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REV. HUGO C. KOEHLER </div>
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Censor deputatus</div>
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Imprimatur for the Blessing: </div>
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JOHN P. TREACY, S.T.D. </div>
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Bishop of La Crosse</div>
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September 1, 1964</div>
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<b>Sources:</b></div>
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1. Catholic Encyclopedia 1917, Topics: Theatines and Scapular<br />
2. “Read Me or Rue It” by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan, O.P.</div>
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3. EWTN: <a href="http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/indulgence.htm">http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/indulgence.htm</a></div>
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4. Saint Gertrude the Great: Herald of Divine Love, TAN Books</div>
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5. The Roman Ritual: <a href="http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/60-blessings-formerly-reserved-to-religious-orders.html">http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/60-blessings-formerly-reserved-to-religious-orders.html</a></div>
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6. Other Internet Sources<br />
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<b>All Photos do not belong to the webmaster</b></div>
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Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-4478288733034214992013-02-07T11:22:00.001+08:002016-12-18T09:19:45.457+08:00Exercises to Remain CelibateThis post was deleted. Because the author was informed that this is an unorthodox way of becoming chasteSpiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-11767175212815811682013-02-06T20:14:00.003+08:002013-10-20T19:18:32.746+08:00The Road to Hell (Vision of St. John Bosco)<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i>Many of the dreams of St. John Bosco could more properly be called visions, for God used this means to reveal His will for the Saint and for the boys of the Oratory, as well as the future of the Salesian Congregation. Not only did his dreams lead and direct the Saint, they also gave him wisdom and guidance by which he was able to help and guide others upon their ways. He was just nine years of age when he had his first dream that laid out his life mission. It was this dream that impressed Pope Blessed Pius IX so much that he ordered St. John Bosco to write down his dreams for the encouragement of his Congregation and the rest of us. Through dreams God allowed him to know the future of each of the boys of his Oratory. Through dreams God let him know the boys' state of their souls. On February 1, 1865 St. John Bosco announced that one of the boys will die soon. He knew the boy through the dream the night before. On March 16, 1865, Anthony Ferraris passed away after receiving the Last Sacraments. John Bisio, who helped Anthony and his mother during the former's last hour, confirmed the story of his part in this episode by a formal oath, concluding as foIlows: "Don Bosco told us many other dreams concerning Oratory boys' deaths. We believed them to be true prophecies. We still do, because unfailingly they came true. During the seven years I lived at the Oratory, not a boy died without Don Bosco predicting his death. We were also convinced that whoever died there under his care and assistance surely went to heaven."</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
<br />
On Sunday night, May 3 [1868], the feast of the Patronage of Saint Joseph, Don Bosco resumed the narration of his dreams: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have another dream to tell you, a sort of aftermath of those I told you last Thursday and Friday which totally exhausted me. Call them dreams or whatever you like. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I told you of a frightful toad threatening to devour me on the night of April 17. When it finally vanished, a voice said to me: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Why don't you tell them?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<tr><td width="350"><span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img alt="St John Bosco" src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H092_Bosco.jpg" /></span><br />
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<span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />St. John Bosco</span></center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I turned in that direction and saw a distinguished person standing by my bed. Since I did not understand the reason for that censure, I asked:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“What should I tell my boys?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“What you have seen and heard in your last dreams and what you have wanted to know, which shall be revealed to you tomorrow night!” He then vanished. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The next day I was continuously worried about the miserable night in store for me, and when evening came, I did not want to go to bed. I sat at my desk browsing through books until midnight. The mere thought of having to contemplate more terrifying scenes thoroughly frightened me. However, with great effort, I finally went to bed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In order not to sleep immediately, and fearful that my imagination might drag me into the previous dreams, I placed my pillow in a way that allowed me to practically sit on the bed. But, due to my tiredness, I unintentionally fell asleep. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Soon I saw the man who had appeared to me the previous night standing by my bed. He said to me: “Get up and follow me!” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“For Heaven's sake,” I protested, “leave me in peace. I am exhausted! I have been tormented by a toothache for several days now and need rest. Besides, my last dreadful dreams have completely worn me out.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I said this because this man's apparition always means anxiety, fatigue and terror for me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Get up,” he repeated. “There is no time to lose.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I complied and followed him. As we walked, I asked him: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Where are you taking me?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Come and you will see.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He led me to a vast, boundless plain, veritably a lifeless desert, with not a soul in sight, nor a tree or brook. Yellowed, dried-up vegetation added sadness to the desolate scene. I had no idea where I was or what was I to do. For a moment I even lost sight of my guide and feared that I was lost, utterly alone. Neither Fr. Rua nor Fr. Francesia nor anyone else was with me. When I finally saw my friend coming toward me, I sighed in relief and said: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Where am I?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Come with me and you will find out!” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Well, I will go with you.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He led the way and I followed in silence, but after a long, dismal trudge, I began worrying whether I would ever be able to cross that vast expanse, what with my toothache and swollen legs. Suddenly I saw a road ahead. Breaking the silence I asked him my guide: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Where to now?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“This way,” he replied. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" id="picture" style="width: 350px;"><tbody>
<tr><td width="350"><span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img alt="Path of roses" height="232" src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H092_Roses.jpg" width="350" /></span><br />
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<span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />At the begining the path of sin is lined with roses...</span></center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We took the road. It was beautiful, wide, and neatly paved. Both sides were lined with magnificent verdant hedges covered with gorgeous flowers. Roses in particular peeped everywhere through the leaves. At first glance, the road was level and comfortable, and so I ventured upon it without the least suspicion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But after walking a while, I noticed that it almost imperceptibly kept sloping downward. Although it did not look at all steep, I found myself moving so swiftly downward that I felt I was effortlessly gliding through the air. Really, I was gliding and hardly using my feet. Our march was fast. Then the thought struck me that the return trip would be very long and arduous, I asked my friend: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“How shall we get back to the Oratory?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Do not worry,” he answered. “The Almighty wants you to come back to it. He Who leads you onward will also know how to lead you back.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The road was increasingly sloping downward. As we continued on our way, flanked by banks of roses and other flowers, I became aware that the Oratory boys and a multitude of others whom I did not know were following me on the same road. Somehow I found myself in their midst. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As I was looking at them, I noticed that now one, now another, fell to the ground and then was instantly dragged by an unseen force toward a frightful opening in the ground, distantly visible, which led those unfortunate boys straight into a furnace. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“What makes these boys fall?” I asked my companion. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Take a closer look,” he replied. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I did. Traps were everywhere, some close to the ground, others at eye level, but all well concealed. Unaware of their danger, many boys got caught, and as they tripped, they would sprawl to the ground, legs in the air. Then, when they managed to get back on their feet, they would run headlong down the road toward the abyss. Some got trapped by the head, others by the neck, hands, arms, legs, or sides, and were pulled down instantly toward that hole. These ground traps, fine as spiders' webs and hardly visible, seemed very flimsy and harmless; yet I observed that every boy they snared fell to the ground. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Noticing my astonishment, the guide remarked:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<tr><td width="350"><span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H092_Devil-2.jpg" /></span><br />
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<span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />The Devil is behind every trap of human respect</span></center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Do you know what that is?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Just some filmy fiber,” I answered. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“It seems like nothing,” he said, “but it is human respect.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Seeing that many boys were being caught in those fibers, I asked: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Why do so many get caught? Who pulls them down?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Go nearer and you will see!” he told me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I followed his advice but saw nothing peculiar. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Look closer,” he insisted. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I picked up one of the traps and tugged. I immediately felt some resistance. I pulled harder, only to feel that, instead of drawing the thread of the trap closer, I was being pulled down myself. I followed where the thread led and soon found myself at the mouth of a frightful cave. I halted, unwilling to venture into that deep cavern, and again I started pulling the thread toward me. It gave a little, but only through a great effort on my part. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I kept tugging, and after a long while a huge, hideous monster emerged, clutching a rope to which all those traps were tied together. He was the one who instantly dragged down anyone who got caught in them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It would be useless to match my strength with his, I said to myself. I would certainly lose. I could better fight him with the Sign of the Cross and with short ejaculations. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then I went back to my guide and he said to me: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Now you know who he is.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“I surely do! It is the Devil himself who places these traps to make my boys fall into Hell!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Carefully examining many of the traps, I saw that each bore an inscription: Pride, Disobedience, Envy, the Sixth Commandment, Theft, Gluttony, Sloth, Anger, and so on. Stepping back a bit to see which ones trapped the greater number of boys, I discovered that the most dangerous were those of impurity, disobedience and pride. In fact, these three were linked to together. Many other traps also did great harm, but not as much as the first two. Still watching, I noticed many boys running faster than others. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Why such haste?” I asked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" id="picture" style="width: 350px;"><tbody>
<tr><td width="350"><span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img alt="Devil tempting with mirror of vanity" height="381" src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H092_Devil-1.jpg" width="350" /></span><br />
<center>
<span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />Bishops and Kings are tempted by the mirror of pride and vanity</span></center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Because they are being dragged by the snare of human respect.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Looking even more closely, I spotted knives among the traps. A providential hand had put them there to cut oneself free. The bigger ones, symbolizing meditation, were for use against the trap of pride; others, not quite as large, symbolized spiritual reading well made. There were also two swords - one representing devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, especially through frequent Holy Communion, and the other devotion to the Blessed Virgin. There was also a hammer symbolizing confession, and other knives symbolizing devotion to St. Joseph, St. Aloysius and other Saints. By these means, quite a few boys were able to free themselves or evade capture. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Indeed, I saw two boys walking safely through all those traps without being caught, either becuase of good timing - getting past it before before the trap sprung on them - or by sliding out of it if they got caught. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When my guide saw that I had observed everything, he made me continue along that rose-hedged road. But the farther we went, the scarcer the roses became. Long thorns began to appear, and soon there were no more roses. The hedges became sun-scorched, leafless and thorn-studded. Withered branches torn from the bushes were strewn along the roadbed, littering it with thorns and making it difficult to walk through. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We had come now to a gulch whose steep sides hid what lay beyond. The road, which increasingly sloped downward, was becoming ever more horrid, rutted and littered, bristling with rocks and boulders and making the march ever more difficult. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I lost track of all my boys, most of whom had left this treacherous road for other paths. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I kept going, but the farther I advanced, the more arduous and steep the descent became, so that I tumbled and fell several times, lying prostrate until I could catch my breath. Now and then my guide supported me or helped me to rise. At every step my joints seemed to give way, and I thought my shinbones would snap. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Panting, I said to my guide: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“My good fellow, my legs will not carry me another step. I just cannot go any farther.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He did not answer but continued walking. Taking heart, I followed. Finally, seeing me soaked in perspiration and thoroughly exhausted, he led me to a little clearing alongside the road. I sat down, took a deep breath, and felt a little better. From my resting place, the road I had already traveled looked very steep, jagged and strewn with loose stones, but what lay ahead seemed so much worse that I closed my eyes in horror. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Let us go back,” I pleaded. “If we go any farther, how shall we ever get back to the Oratory? I will never make it up this slope.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My guide sternly responded: “Now that we have come so far, do you want me to leave you alone?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At this threat, I wailed: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“How can I survive without your help?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Then follow me,” he added. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
We continued our descent, the road now becoming so frightfully steep that it was almost impossible to stand erect. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And then, at the bottom of this precipice, at the entrance of a dark valley, an enormous building loomed into sight, its towering portal, securely locked, facing our road. When we finally reached the bottom, I became smothered by a suffocating heat, and I could see a dense, green-tinted smoke lit by flashes of scarlet flames rising from behind those enormous walls which loomed higher than mountains. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Where are we? What is this?" I asked my guide. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<tr><td width="350"><span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img alt="locked gates of hell" height="456" src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H093_Locked.jpg" width="350" /></span><br />
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<span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />An Angel locking Hell: No one can leave it</span></center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Read the inscription on that portal and you will understand." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I looked up and read these words:<i>Ubi non est redemptio</i> - The place where there is no redemption. I realized that we were at the gates of Hell. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The guide led me all around this horrible place. At regular distances bronze portals like the first overlooked precipitous descents; on each was an inscription, such as: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the Devil and his angels." (Mt 25: 41) "Every tree that yielded not good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire." (Mt 7: 19) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I tried to copy them into my notebook, but my guide restrained me: "There is no need. You have them all in Holy Scripture. You even have some of them inscribed on your porticoes." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At such a sight, I wanted to turn back and return to the Oratory. As a matter of fact, I did try to start back, but my guide ignored my attempt. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After trudging down into a steep, never-ending ravine, we again came to the foot of the precipice facing the first portal. Suddenly the guide turned to me with a changed and startled face, pointing to something with his hand: "Look!" he said. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I looked up in terror and saw in the distance someone racing down the path at an uncontrollable speed. I kept my eyes on him, trying to identify him, and as he got closer, I recognized him as one of my boys. His disheveled hair was partly bristled and partly tossed back by the wind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" id="picture" style="width: 370px;"><tbody>
<tr><td width="350"><span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img alt="Pointing to Hell" height="222" src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H093_Pointing.jpg" width="350" /></span><br />
<center>
<span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />The guide pointed to the path ending at Hell</span></center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">His arms were outstretched as though he were thrashing water to keep from going under. He wanted to stop, but could not. Tripping on the protruding stones, he kept falling even faster. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Let us help him! Let us stop him!" I shouted, holding out my hands toward him. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Let him go," the guide replied. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Why?" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Do you not know how terrible God's vengeance is? Do you think you can stop one who is fleeing from His blazing wrath?" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Meanwhile the youth had turned his fiery gaze behind him in an attempt to see if God's wrath were still pursuing him. He precipitated himself toward the bottom of the ravine and crashed against that bronze portal as though he could find no other solution in his flight. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Why was he looking back in terror?" I asked. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Because God's wrath pierces all the gates of Hell and will reach and torment him even amidst the fire!" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As the boy crashed into the portal, it sprang open with a roar of chains. Instantly two, then ten, then one hundred, then near a thousand inner portals opened with a deafening screech as if moved by the crash of the youth, who was dragged in by an invisible, very rapid and irresistible gale. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As these bronze doors - one behind the other, though each at a considerable distance from the other - remained momentarily open, I saw far into the distance something like furnace jaws spouting fiery globes at the moment the youth hurtled into it. As swiftly as the portals had opened, they then clanged shut again. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For a third time I tried to take notes, this time to write down the name of that unfortunate lad, but the guide again took me by the arm and said, "Wait, and look again." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" id="picture" style="width: 320px;"><tbody>
<tr><td width="300"><span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img alt="Don Bosco and his boys" height="435" src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H093_Boys.jpg" width="300" /></span><br />
<center>
<span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />Don Bosco with the boys of the Oratory</span></center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I could see a new scene. Three other boys of ours precipitated themselves down the same path. Screaming in terror and with arms outstretched, they were rolling down it, one behind the other like massive rocks. I also recognized them as they too crashed against that first portal. It sprang open and so did the other thousand. The three lads were sucked into that endless corridor amidst a long-drawn, fading infernal echo, and then the portals clanged shut again. At intervals, many other lads came tumbling down after them. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I saw one unfortunate boy being pushed down the slope by an evil companion. Others fell alone or with others, arm in arm or side by side. Each of them bore the name of his sin on his forehead. I kept calling to them as they hurtled down, but they did not hear me. Again the portals would open thunderously and slam shut with a rumble. Then, dead silence! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My guide explained to me: “These are some of the causes why many are eternally lost: Bad companions, bad books and bad habits." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The traps I had seen earlier were indeed dragging the boys to ruin. Seeing so many falling into perdition, I cried out disconsolately, "If so many of our boys end up this way, we are working in vain. How can we prevent such tragedies?" </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My guide replied: "This is their present state and that is where they would go if they were to die now." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Then, let me jot down their names so that I may warn them and put them back on the path to Heaven." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Do you really believe that some of them would reform if you were to warn them? At first, your warning might impress them, but soon they will forget it, saying, 'It was just a dream,' and they will do worse things than before. Others, realizing they have been unmasked, will receive the Sacraments, but this will be neither spontaneous nor meritorious since they are not upright. Others will go to confession because of a momentary fear of Hell, but will still be attached to sin." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Then is there no way to save these unfortunate lads? Please, advise me how they can be saved." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is the advice: "They have superiors; let them obey them. They have rules; let them observe them. They have the Sacraments; let them receive them."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
A new group of boys came hurtling down the path, and the portals opened momentarily. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“You should enter as well,” the guide said to me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I pulled back in horror. I could not wait to return to the Oratory to warn the boys lest others might be lost as well. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My guide, however, insisted, “Come, you will learn much. But first tell me: Do you wish to go alone or with me?” He asked this to make me realize that I was not strong enough to go alone and, therefore, needed his friendly assistance. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" id="picture" style="width: 350px;"><tbody>
<tr><td width="350"><span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img alt="Dante visiting Hell" height="468" src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H094_Inferno.jpg" width="350" /></span><br />
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<span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />Dante watching the horrors of Hell</span></center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I replied: “Alone inside this horrible place without the solace of your goodness? How will I ever be able to find my way out without your help?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then a thought came to my mind and raised my spirits. I said to myself: Before a person is condemned to Hell, he must pass by his judgment. And I still have not presented myself before the Supreme Judge. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After that I said resolutely: “Then, let us go in.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We entered that narrow, horrible corridor, whizzing through it with lightning speed. Threatening inscriptions appeared under a veiled light over each one of the inner gateways. The corridor opened into a vast, gloomy courtyard with a small but incredibly thick door at the far end. Above it we could read this inscription: Ibunt impii in ignem aeternu - The impious shall go into the everlasting fire. [Mt 25: 46] The walls all around were filled with inscriptions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I asked my guide if I could read them, and he answered, “Do as you wish”. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then I examined everything. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In one place it was written: <i>Dabo ignem in carnes eorum ut comburantur in sempiternum Cruciabuntur die ac nocte in saecula saeculorum</i> - I will give fire to their flesh and they will burn for ever. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever. [Judith 16: 21] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In another place: <i>Hic univérsitas malorum per omnia saecula saeculorum</i> - In this place all the evil ones are put forever and ever. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In others:<i> Nullus est hic ordo, sed horror sempiternus inhabitat</i> - There is no order in this place, but only eternal horror dwells here. [Job 10: 22] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Fumus tormentorum suorum in aeternum ascendit </i>- The smoke of their torments rises forever. [Apoc 14: 11] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Non est pax impiis </i>- For the impious there is no peace. [Isaiah 47: 22] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Clamor et stridor dentium</i> - [Here is] weeping and the gnashing of teeth. [Mt 8:12] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As I moved around reading the inscriptions, my guide, who had been standing in the center of the courtyard, came up to me and said: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“From here on, no one may have a companion to help him, a friend to comfort him, a heart to love him, a compassionate glance or a benevolent word to sustain him. All this is gone forever. Do you want to see and experience these things yourself?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“I only want only to see!” I answered. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Then come with me,” my friend replied, and, taking me by the hand, he led me to that small door and opened it. It opened onto a corridor at whose far end was a room with a large window that had a single crystal pane reaching from the pavement to the ceiling, which allowed the observer to look through. As soon as I entered the room, I felt an indescribable terror and stopped. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ahead of me I could see an immense cavern that extended far ahead ending in deep caves dug into the bowels of a mountain. They were all ablaze, but it was not an earthly fire with leaping tongues of flames, but a fire that made everything incandescent and white because of its high temperature. The entire cavern - walls, ceiling, floor, iron, stones, wood and coal - was white and glossy. That fire surpasses the fire of earth in heat thousands and thousands of times. Yet it did not consume what it burned or reduce it to ashes. It is impossible for me to describe that cavern in all its astounding reality. </span><br />
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<span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />Souls swallowed into the mouth of Hell</span></center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">While I looked appalled at that place of torment, I saw a lad, oblivious of everything around him, arriving with an indescribable momentum. He emitted a most shrilling scream, like one who is about to fall into a cauldron of liquid bronze. Then, jumping into the center of the fire, he too became incandescent like the entire cavern and perfectly motionless, while the echo of his dying wail lingered for an instant more. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Terribly frightened, I stared briefly at that unfortunate youth for a while. He seemed to be one of my Oratory boys, one of my sons.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Isn't he one of my youth?” I asked my guide. “Isn’t he X?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Yes, that is right,” he answered. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Why is he so still, so incandescent without being consumed?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“You chose to see. Do not speak. Observe and you will see. For,<i>omnis enim igne salietur et omnis victima sale salietur</i> - Everyone shall be immobilized by the fire. Every victim shall be conserved with salt. [Mk 9: 48] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As I looked again, another boy came hurtling down into the cavern in a despairing fury and at a lightning speed. He too was from the Oratory. As he fell, he remained there immobile. He too emitted a shriek of pain that blended with the last echo of the scream that came from the youth who had preceded him. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Other boys kept hurtling down with the same impetus, all screamed, and then all became equally motionless and incandescent, like those who had preceded them. I noticed that the first became immobile with one hand and one foot up into the air; the second boy was bent toward the floor. Others had their feet up or their faces glued to the floor. Still others supported themselves by only one foot or hand; others were sitting, standing, kneeling or lying on their backs or sides, their hands clutching their hair. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Briefly, the scene resembled a large statuary group of youth set in every painful posture imaginable. Other lads hurtled into that same furnace. Some I knew; others were strangers to me. Then I recalled what is written in Scriptures to the effect that as one falls into Hell, so he shall remain forever. <i>Lignum, in quocumque loco cecíderit, ibi erit</i> - In the place the wood falls, there it remains. [Eccles 11:3] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As my astonishment increased, I asked my guide: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“When these boys run with such speed, do they not know they are coming here?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Oh, yes, they surely do! They have been warned a thousand times, but they still choose to rush into the fire because they do not detest sin and are loath to forsake it. Furthermore, they despise and reject Divine Mercy, which calls them to do penance. Thus provoked, Divine Justice harries them, hounds them and goads them on so that they cannot halt until they reach this place.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Oh, how terrible must be the desperation of these miserable boys who do not have any hope of leaving this place” - I exclaimed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“If you really want to know their innermost frenzy and fury, go a little closer,” my guide remarked. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I took a few more steps, coming closer to the window, and looked inside. I saw that many of those poor wretches were savagely striking at each other causing terrible wounds; some were biting one another like mad dogs. Others were clawing their own faces and hands, tearing their own flesh and spitefully throwing it about. Just then the entire ceiling of that cavern became as transparent as crystal and revealed a patch of Heaven and their radiant companions safe for all eternity. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The reprobates gnashed their teeth with envy, hardly breathing because they had once ridiculed those just youth.</span><br />
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<tr><td width="350"><span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><img alt="Heaven Hell" height="347" src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H094_Hell-1.jpg" width="350" /></span><br />
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<span style="color: maroon; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br />Reprobates in Hell suffer more to see the Blessed in Heaven</span></center>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I asked my guide, “Why do we hear no sound?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Go closer!” he advised. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pressing my ear to the crystal window, I heard some screaming and weeping among the horrible contortions; others were blaspheming and making imprecations against those saints. It was a tumult of voices and cries, shrill and confused. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I asked: “What are they saying? What are they shouting?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He replied: “When they recall the happy lot of their good companions, they are obliged to admit, ‘We fools deemed their lives to be madness, and their end without honor. Behold, how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints. Thus we passed up the path of truth.’ [Wisdom 5:4-6] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“They also cried out, ‘We wore ourselves out on the path of iniquity and destruction and walked through hard roads, but we ignored the way of the Lord. What has pride profited us? All those things have passed away like a shadow.’ [Wis 5: 7-9] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“These are the melancholic canticles that sound here for all eternity. But screams, efforts, weeping are all useless. Omnis dolor irruet super eos - All sorrow fell over them! Here time is no more. Here is only eternity.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As, in utter terror, I viewed the condition of many of my boys, a thought suddenly struck me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I asked: “How is it possible that these boys are damned? Last night they were still alive at the Oratory!” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The guide answered: “The boys you see here are all dead to God's grace. Were they to die now or persist in their evil ways, they would be damned. But we should not waste time. Let us go on.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
He led me away from that terrible place and we went through a corridor deeper down to another underground cavern. Over its entrance I read: <i>Dabit Dominus omnipotens ignem et vermes in carnes eorum, ut urantur et sentiant usque in sempiternum</i>. [The Lord Almighty will give fire, and worms into their flesh, so that they may burn and may feel forever - Judith 16: 21] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here I could see the terrible remorse of those who had been formed in our schools:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">• The memory of each unforgiven sin and its just punishment; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">• The thousands of means, many of them extraordinary, they had to convert to the Lord, persevere in the good and earn paradise;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">• The memory of so many graces given by the Blessed Virgin that were ignored and the promises made to her that were not kept;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">• The fact that they could have been saved by a small effort, and instead, now they are condemned forever! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">• So many good intentions that were not kept!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hell is indeed paved with good intentions, as the proverb says. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In that place I again saw those Oratory boys who I had seen before in the fiery furnace. Some are listening to me right now; others are former pupils or even strangers to me. I drew nearer to them and noticed that they were covered with worms and disgusting insects that gnawed and consumed their hearts, eyes, hands, legs and entire bodies, leaving them in such a miserable state that it defies description. Those unfortunate boys remained motionless and were a prey to every kind of torment without any possibility of avoiding them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Hell horrors" height="267" src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H095_Hell.jpg" width="350" />He saw horrors in Hell that defy description</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Hoping that they could see me and I might be able to speak with them or to hear a word from them, I drew even nearer but no one spoke or even looked at me. I asked my guide why, and he explained that the damned are totally deprived of freedom. Each must endure the full weight of God’s punishment, with no change whatsoever in his state.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He added: “And now it is necessary for you to enter this fiery region you just have seen.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“No, no!” I objected in terror. “Before going to Hell, one has to be judged, and I have not been judged yet. So I do not want to go to Hell!” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Answer me,” he said, “what would you rather do: Visit Hell and save your boys, or stay outside and abandon them to their torments?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For a moment I was struck speechless. Then, I answered: “I love my boys and wish to save them all, but isn't there some other way without going to that place?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Well,” he went on, “you still have time just as they do, provided you do all you can.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My heart felt a great relief as I heard those words and instantly I said to myself: I don't mind how much work it takes if I can rescue these beloved sons of mine from such torments. “Come inside then,” my guide went on, “and observe a proof of the Goodness and Mercy of God, who uses a thousand means to induce your boys to penance and save them from everlasting death.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><img src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H095_hell2.jpg" />Each cavern of Hell has punishments for different sins</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Taking my hand, he led me into the cavern. As I stepped in, I found myself suddenly transported into a magnificent crystal hall. In the hall, at regular distances were large veils that covered other rooms that accessed the cavern. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The guide pointed to one of those veils over which was written: The Sixth Commandment, and he exclaimed: “Transgressions against this commandment caused the eternal ruin of many boys.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Did they not go to confession?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“They did, but they either made a bad confession or purposely omitted the sins against the beautiful virtue of purity. For example, one said that he had committed such sins two or three times when it was four or five. Other boys who had fallen into that sin in their childhood were ashamed and never confessed it, or made a bad confession, or did not tell everything. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Others did not have the sorrow for their sin or lacked the purpose to avoid it in the future. There were even some who, rather than examine their consciences, spent their time trying to figure out ways to deceive their confessor. Anyone dying in this frame of mind shall be among the damned for all eternity. Only those who die truly repentant with the hope of eternal life shall be eternally happy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Now do you want to see why the mercy of God brought you here?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He lifted the curtain and I saw at the end of the room a group of Oratory boys - all known to me - who were there because of this sin. Among them were some whose conduct seems to be good. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“At least now you will surely let me take down their names so that I may warn them individually,” I begged.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“There is no need for that”, he answered. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Then what do you suggest I tell them?” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Always preach against immodesty. A generic warning will suffice. Bear in mind that even if you admonished them individually, they would make you a thousand promises, but not always sincerely. For firm resolution not to sin again, one needs God's grace, which will never be denied to your boys if they ask. God is so good that He manifests His power especially by being merciful and forgiving. On your part, pray and make sacrifices. As for the boys, let them listen to your admonitions and teachings and let them consult their consciences, which will tell them what to do.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He spent the next half hour discussing the requisites of a good confession. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Afterward, my guide exclaimed in a loud voice several times, “<i>Avertere! Avertere!</i>” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“What do you mean?” I asked. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“They must change their lives! They must change their lives!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Heaven" height="492" src="http://www.traditioninaction.org/religious/images_F-J/H095_Heaven.jpg" width="350" />God provides innumerable aids and graces to help a soul avoid Hell and attain Heaven</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Perplexed, I bowed my head and was going to withdraw, when he called me back again and said: “You have not yet seen everything.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He turned and lifted another veil under which this inscription was written: <i>Qui volunt dívites fieri, íncidunt in tentationem et láqueum diáboli</i> [Those who desire to become rich, fall into temptation and into the snare of the Devil - 1 Tim 6: 9] </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“This does not apply to my boys!” I countered. “For they are as poor as I am. We are not rich and do not want to be. We give it no thought.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As the veil lifted, however, I saw in the room a group of boys, all known to me. They were in pain, like those I had seen before. Pointing to them, my guide remarked:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“As you see, the inscription does apply to your boys.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Then explain to me the means of the word <i>divites</i>.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“For example, the hearts of some boys are attached to material objects so that this disordered affection distances them from the love of God; they lack therefore, piety and recollection. The heart can be perverted not only by the use of riches, but also by the immoderate desire for them, especially when this desire is against the virtue of justice. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Your boys are poor, but remember that greed and idleness are bad counselors. Some of the boys committed substantial thefts in their native towns, and although they could make restitution, they are not concerned to do so. There are others who try to break into the pantry or the prefect's or treasurer’s office; others rummage in their companions’ trunks to steal food, money or other objects, and there are some who steal stationary and books for their own use...” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">After naming these boys and others as well, he continued: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Some are here for having stolen clothes, linen, blankets and comforters from the Oratory wardrobe in order to send them home to their families. Others, for some intentional damages they made and did not repair. Still others, for not returning objects they had borrowed or for keeping sums of money they were supposed to hand over to the superior.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">He concluded, saying:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Now that you know who these boys are, admonish them, tell them to curb all vain, harmful desires, to obey God's law and to be zealous of their own honor, otherwise jealously shall lead them to greater excesses that shall plunge them into sorrow, death, and damnation.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I could not understand why such dreadful punishments should be meted out for infractions that boys held of little account, but my guide interrupted my thoughts by saying: “Remember what you were told when you saw those spoiled grapes on the wine.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Source:</b></span><br />
Memorias Biograficas de San Juan Bosco,<br />
Vol. 9, pp. 166-181<br />
<b>All Photos do not belong to the webmaster</b></div>
Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-65720461633004333862013-01-06T09:49:00.003+08:002014-03-06T17:46:17.833+08:00The Three Kings and Blessed Elizabeth Canori Mora<div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">On October 19, 1816 the Feast of St. Peter of Alcantara, Elizabeth was going to Holy Communion, when she heard a voice, which said to her : "On the 23rd Our Lord will contract with you a sacred marriage. This favour which I bestow upon you equals that which I was pleased to grant to my worthy servant Catherine of Siena."</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Midnight of the 23rd of October had scarcely struck when the room was illuminated. The Blessed Virgin appeared, carrying in her arms the Blessed Infant. The Divine Child called Elizabeth, and told her to come to Mary, the Throne of His mercies. At this sight, Elizabeth was so confused that she desired to conceal herself. She approached them, trembling. Then the Divine Infant placed on her finger a precious ring, and communicated to her so much love that she seemed to be in the midst of an immense fire. He then gave her a new heart, like His own, and purified her in a miraculous water which poured forth from His sacred side. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">This ceremony was accomplished in the presence of a numerous company, who shared in the happiness of the new Spouse of the King of Glory. Elizabeth received the congratulations of the Queen of Heaven, who on this occasion held the office of Bridesmaid; of St. Joseph, her chaste and virginal Spouse; of the Three Kings, of the Patriarchs of the Order of the Most Blessed Trinity, and a multitude of angelic Spirits. The delight which the saintly Mother experienced during this night made her beside herself, and during fifteen days she fell into continual ecstasies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">One day the holy and venerable Pontiff, Pius VII, had a fall, from which fatal consequences were feared. The Blessed Elizabeth, profoundly afflicted at the news of this accident, began to pray most ardently for his cure. Our Lord ordered her to send to him a small vial of the water of Jesus of Nazareth [the miraculous image of "Ecce Homo," or Jesus scourged and crowned with thorns, that she had, see photo]. She desired to obey, but who would undertake to present this beneficial water to the Sovereign Pontiff? At the same moment that she conjured God to come to her aid, she found herself suddenly transported in spirit into the apartment of the Holy Father. There she saw the Three Kings, who themselves presented the miraculous water to the august patient. A few days later it was reported throughout Rome that the Holy Father had been completely cured. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">A man named De Sanctis, of Marino, lost a splendid mare, which he valued exceedingly. The sorrow he experienced, added to the extraordinary exertion which he had made to find it, caused him to fall dangerously ill. His son, Matthew de Sanctis, distressed by his father's condition, went to Rome to see the saintly Mother, and in her presence gave way to uncontrollable grief. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Elizabeth, much moved, led the young man to her Oratory, and told him to recite three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys in honour of the Three Kings, with the assurance that he would recover the lost mare. After some other prayers to Jesus of Nazareth [the miraculous "Ecce Homo" image in her Oratory] she informed him that his father was already better. Then she said to him; " Listen, Matthew, where do you wish the mare to be left if she should be recovered? Would you like her to be taken to your friend, John Fioravanti?" The young man replied that he would like this to be done. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Seven or eight days after the son of De Sanctis returned to Rome, and, to his great satisfaction, he found the animal in the stable of his friend Fioravanti. He asked the coachman who brought her. He told him that the animal was brought back by a well-dressed young peasant, and that when he went to seek him to give him a reward he was not to be found. Matthew de Sanctis hastened to Elizabeth to inform her of what had occurred, and to thank her. She replied to him : "Go, and return thanks to Jesus of Nazareth and the Three Kings."</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><b>From:</b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Life of the Venerable Elizabeth Canori Mora</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Translated from the Italian by Lady Herbert </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><b>Download the free eBook (PDF) at: </b></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><a href="https://ia600406.us.archive.org/14/items/lifevenerableel00moragoog/lifevenerableel00moragoog.pdf">https://ia600406.us.archive.org/14/items/lifevenerableel00moragoog/lifevenerableel00moragoog.pdf</a></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-66860252395110485192013-01-03T13:54:00.001+08:002013-01-27T20:53:06.891+08:00A Snakebite Letter from a Senior Demon<br />
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A Letter
from a senior Demon, <b>Snakebite</b>, to
an apprentice Demon, <b>Braintwister</b>,
instructing him in methods of tempting men and winning men's souls from
"the Enemy" (God). </div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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From
<b><i>The
Snakebite Letters</i></b> by Peter Kreeft, <o:p></o:p>in the tradition of <i><b>The Screwtape Letters</b></i> of C. S. Lewis.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8AcHPWmKkDs/UOUcEThwI_I/AAAAAAAAAIE/aDAlMKHOSMI/s1600/devil_&s_wolfgang_michael_pancher1483+-+Copy01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8AcHPWmKkDs/UOUcEThwI_I/AAAAAAAAAIE/aDAlMKHOSMI/s400/devil_&s_wolfgang_michael_pancher1483+-+Copy01.jpg" width="204" /></a><b><i>My
dear Braintwister,<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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See? We've won the teachers, soon we'll
have the students. Once you capture the cause, you soon own the effect. And
these teachers aren't limited to the classroom; through TV, movies, internet, magazines and music, we've turned the whole society into a classroom. And the
lesson plans are written by us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We have a right to preen a bit over this
success, but we should also be realistic and candid. Not only do we have the
usual Enemy counterattacks to fend off; but we're also struggling with a
contradiction within our own strategy, and if the humans ever sense it, our
plans may be ruined.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here's the problem. On the one hand, we
want the human vermin to be bland, egalitarian conformists. Our strategy has
been to produce photocopied souls, and we've labored long and hard (and quite
successfully) for more than a century now to rid them of the very concepts of
excellence, nobility, superiority, hierarchy and authority. Nearly all of them,
when they hear those words, react with a negative knee jerk. Their unconscious
creed is: What all cannot attain, no one should.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But on the other hand, the masses remain
much more traditional, religious and moral in their beliefs than our
elite. We don't want souls to conform to the real
majority just yet—not until the majority is ours. You must therefore keep your
patient from noticing the contradiction between his egalitarianism and his
elitism.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But here's the good news: You'd be amazed
how easy this is. Remember our basic principle of keeping his mind and his
morals in separate compartments.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Enemy wants him to be an elitist about
ideas and ideals, and an egalitarian about people; to be suspicious and
critical of ideas but open and welcoming to all people. Our strategy is to make
him just the opposite: an elitist about people and an egalitarian about ideas.
Make him think his teachers and scriptwriters are superior people, but also
that one idea isn't really superior to another, that all ideas are equal, that
there's no objective truth, no real right and wrong, and thus no one has any
right to "impose his own values on others". (You simply will not
believe how much mileage we've gotten out of <b><i>that</i></b> hog-wash!)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Once again, keep his mind away from noting
the self-contradiction in our propaganda, the value judgment that there are no
real value judgments, the dogma against dogma.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How can they not notice such an obvious
contradiction? They can, Braintwister, they can—especially the well-educated
ones. The more educated they are, the less they believe in logic and common
sense. It's the firm boys and cleaning women whose minds we've been unable to
twist.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Really, did you think the sexual revolution
of the 1960s just "happened"? No, it was the flowering of a long,
deliberate strategy. The basic principle of our approach is a one-two punch:
Hit them where they're soft and weak, and at the same time hit them where
they're hard and proud—in other words, between their legs and between their
ears.<o:p></o:p></div>
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They've always been soft in the
reproductive organs, of course. How typical of the Enemy to invent that obscene
joke of a "rational animal", to put an angel-like spirit in an
ape-like body! But now we've softened their heads too. They've always had
trouble obeying the Enemy's law of chastity; but they've never had such trouble
understanding it and believing it until now. It's not new that we've tempted
them to live promiscuously, but it's thoroughly novel that we've tempted them
to justify it, to glorify it even to sanctify it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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How did we manage it? We had some success
with philosophers, playwrights, artists, novelists and poets over the last
century, but our campaign really took off with the advent of movies, internet and TV. The secret is the power of images. The humans can put up defenses
against ideas, which have to pass the gate keeper of their mind, Reason; but
they're weak as water against images. Images sneak in through their
unconscious, which is a helpless child.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If we plant the same kind of image in them
over and over again through TV, internet and movies, they'll gradually be
desensitized. Sex and violence are our two specialties, of course. Our media
elite personnel have relentlessly pressured for more. If the sex and violence
curve continues at the current rate, we'll have Hell incarnate in their minds
in just two more generations. There's nothing, literally nothing, these
creatures won't allow. Already, most things the last generation would have
regarded as unthinkable are commonplace on TV and internet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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With the movies, it was a two-step
strategy. First, their films showed more explicit sexual promiscuity, but
within a moral context— "crime and punishment", so to speak. Movies
like <i>Carnal Knowledge, Alfie</i> and <i>Shampoo</i> typify this stage. Then, once
the explicit images became commonplace, the sheep were too passive to protest
the removal of the moral frame. Their moralists played right into our strategy;
they were so hung up on how much flesh was shown that they forgot the lesson
the images taught. They were so shocked at overt eroticism, even in a framework
of fidelity, that they hardly noticed the snide little smirks for infidelity.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The upshot is that now, nearly every single
movie that's made for young people must have a dash of nudity, no matter how
gratuitous (and of course never, never between married people). And every time
a boy first kisses a girl, the next scene always shows them in bed. What a
triumph of image propaganda!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The lesson it bores into them
unconsciously, like holes bored in the hull of a ship, is so obvious I'm
surprised they don't get bored with it: that the normal, the natural, the
inevitable corollary of kissing is copulating.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Notice the power of images, Braintwister.
Not even a professor could be fool enough to fall for that as an argument. Put
it in words, and it's ridiculous. Put it in images, and it's compelling.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thus we've persuaded them to rationalize
their lust, to believe that feeling, not marriage, justifies sex. Most of them
don't yet believe in infidelity, but they do believe in fornication. The only
structures they put on copulating are "emotional maturity"; and
"contentment", which are vague enough for anyone but an infant to
claim.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Oh, we've had a field day with their heads.
There have been times and places in the past where we've had as much success
with their hormones, but never with their heads. That's because never before
has a society been so educated, and never before have we so dominated the
education industry, especially the extracurricular one, the media.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We've also succeeded in imposing a total
media censorship on the one subject that is the most important thing of all in
the lives of the majority of the people in the country, but which is never
allowed to enter even the most "realistic" movies or public TV shows.
I mean, of course, religious faith. Religion is shown occasionally, but from
the outside, and never as <b><i>true</i></b>. The only characters shown as
deeply religious are either bigots or sissies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Though we've undermined their sexual
morality, we haven't yet rotted away the rest or their Christian ethics. We've
persuaded only a few to accept cruelty, the last bastion of their moral
absolutism; but we've succeeded in glorifying it and desensitizing them to it,
for example, just by making "slasher" movies fashionable. Wait till
they see the next step!<o:p></o:p></div>
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But we mustn't let our love of violence
distract us from our main task. Niceness is as useful as nastiness, stamp
collecting is as useful as murder, if only it sucks these vermin from the
Enemy's grasp. That's the only thing that matters in the end.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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The Enemy has this utterly ridiculous thing
about repentance, you know. Sometimes I suspect He deliberately allows us to
tempt some of the vermin to great sins just so that they'll see them more
clearly and repent more strongly, and thus escape our two most deadly nets,
pride and self-satisfaction. That supremely troublesome philosopher Thomas
Aquinas let out a secret of the Enemy's strategy when he said that just as a
doctor may tolerate a lesser disease to free his patient from a greater one,
the Enemy often deliberately withholds that loathsome thing He calls
"grace" and allows a soul to succumb to our temptation to some dear,
external sin in order to free it from pride and bring it to repentance.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Enemy really will forgive any sin, you
know—that is, any sin He can forgive, i.e, any sin that's repented of. So
impenitence is what we must aim at, by dulling their consciences to guilt,
making them feel more guilty about guilt than sin.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Your patient does, unfortunately, have
something of: conscience. That's our enemy, Braintwister. Conscience is the
Enemy's own mouthpiece in the soul. Shut it down at any cost.</div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wWFxPNcky0A/UOUc4_O2jvI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/VE91tRz4H68/s1600/Screwtape01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wWFxPNcky0A/UOUc4_O2jvI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/VE91tRz4H68/s1600/Screwtape01.jpg" /></a> Our end, of course, is not simply to
inveigle the brutes into bed with each other, but <b>(1) </b>to win their souls
through corrupting their society (after all, a "good" society is
simply one where it's easy to be good, as one of their more dangerous but
fortunately obscure thinkers Peter Maurin, has said); <b>(2)</b> to corrupt their
society through destroying its fundamental foundation, the family, the one
place they naturally learn the Enemy's philosophy of unselfish love, being
loved just for who you are, not for what you do; <b>(3)</b> to destroy the family
through destroying marriages; <b>(4)</b> to destroy marriages through destroying
fidelity, their anchor and glue; <b>(5)</b> to destroy fidelity through the new
philosophy of <b>"sexual liberation" </b>and the <b>"sexual
revolution"</b>; and <b>(6)</b> to do that through our domination of the media. <b>It's
a simple six-step sexual strategy.</b></div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the most pernicious ideas that can creep
into your patient's head is throwing away his TV set and gadgets. That would
burn the bridge by which we march into his heart. But that's an act so radical
that few of them are ever capable of it—no junkie likes going cold turkey.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><i>Your
affectionate uncle,<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><i>Snakebite<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-19406149841435346012012-12-23T16:30:00.005+08:002014-03-06T18:15:31.562+08:00Our Lady Converts the Jew Alphonse Ratisbonne<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Marie Alphonse Ratisbonne, an anti-Catholic Jew, befriended a baron in Rome and began wearing the Miraculous Medal as a simple test. On January 20, 1842 while waiting for the baron in the church Sant Andrea delle Fratte, Ratisbonne encountered a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He converted to Catholicism, joined the priesthood, and began a ministry for the conversion of Jews.</i></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Alphonse Ratisbonne was born a Jew in the Alsace region of Eastern France and would, over the years, develop a particular disdain for the Catholic Faith. Fully embracing the wave of new philosophic trends and scientific advancements, he looked upon Catholics as naive, superstitious, unintelligent and foolish. </span><br />
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This prejudice would grow to outright hatred when his older brother converted to Catholicism and became a Jesuit priest, essentially "betraying" his family and heritage. </div>
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In 1842, on a journey for pleasure undertaken before he was to marry, Ratisbonne made the decision to take a slight detour and pay a visit to Rome. It was there he met a priest, a brother of an acquaintance, who would dedicate himself to the cause of this unlikely candidate's conversion. In an effort to demonstrate the frivolity of Catholicism, Ratisbonne agreed to wear a Miraculous Medal and recite the Memorare daily. Additionally, for his own entertainment and prideful appetite, Ratisbonne would accompany his new acquaintance around Rome, never missing an opportunity to ridicule and blaspheme all he would hear and see.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Our Lady of the Miracle</b></span></div>
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All that would change on January 20th, when he visited the Church of Sant' Andrea delle Fratte. It was within the walls of this historic church where Ratisbonne would be instantaneously converted by the Mother of God Herself.</div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“</span></i><i>At the moment when the Blessed Virgin made a sign with her hand, the veil fell from my eyes; not one veil only, but all the veils that were wrapped around me disappeared, just as snow melts beneath the rays of the sun.”</i> [1]</div>
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The Mother of God would present to him the glories of the Faith and instantly educate him in its sacred truths.</div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“</span></i><i>It is well known that I never opened a religious book and had never read a page of the Bible, and that the dogma of Original Sin, which it is either denied or forgotten by modern Jews, had never for a single moment occupied my thoughts—indeed, I doubt I had ever heard its name. How did I arrive at a knowledge of it? I know not. All I know is that when I entered that church I was profoundly ignorant of everything, and that when I came out I saw everything clearly and distinctly.”</i> [2]</div>
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In another, he said: <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“</span></i><i>I was scarcely in the church when a total confusion came over me. When I looked up, it seemed to me that the entire church had been swallowed up in shadow, except one chapel. It was as though all the light was concentrated in that single place. I looked over towards this chapel whence so much light shone, and above the altar was a living figure, tall, majestic, beautiful and full of mercy. It was the most holy Virgin Mary, resembling her figure on the Miraculous Medal. At this sight I fell on my knees right where I stood. Unable to look up because of the blinding light, I fixed my glance on her hands, and in them I could read the expression of mercy and pardon. In the presence of the Most Blessed Virgin, even though she did not speak a word to me, I understood the frightful situation I was in, my sins and the beauty of the Catholic Faith.”</i></div>
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After a thorough inquiry and investigation, Pope Gregory XVI declared the event a true miracle. There was no natural explanation to what happened on that particular day. As Ratisbonne's Roman companion recounts:</div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“</span></i><i>Even if we imagine an illusion in the case of a person of Ratisbonne's character and education, with prejudices so violent, and with such interest both of affection and of position, it could not have been induced or augmented by any outward representation; for in the chapel that was the scene of the miracle, there is no statue, or picture, or image of the Blessed Virgin of any kind.</i><i>”</i> [3]</div>
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Alphonse Ratisbonne was baptized, ordained and joined the very Society of Jesus he had so violently despised. As he predicted, his family disowned him and revoked his partnership in the bank which was to be his inheritance. He would later receive permission to leave the Jesuits to start the Sisterhood of Our Lady of Sion, which dedicated itself to the conversion of Jews. The sisterhood soon moved to Jerusalem where it established two convents, two schools, three orphanages and a church. The priests assisting Ratisbonne, known as the Peres de Notre Dame de Sion later returned to Europe to establish additional foundations. Less than a century later, during the Nazi persecutions, these holy priests were among the most active rescuers of Jews. [4]</div>
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As was the case when She appeared to St. Juan Diego three centuries earlier, Our Lady demonstrated the same “simplistic” outlook towards Catholicism and conversion that many Catholics today are mocked for maintaining. She did not fill Ratisbonne with a newfound respect for Judaism or encourage him to follow his conscience and “be the best Jew he could be” [indirectly promoting Indifferentism and Pluralism]. She clearly showed him the error of his ways and the true light of the Catholic Faith. She did not enlighten him as to the permanence of the Old Covenant, suggest that conversion may not be necessary for his eternal salvation or apologize for past actions of Catholics [although an apology for Her presumptuous actions that day may be in the works]. Following Our Blessed Mother's heavenly example, Ratisbonne would take this holy gift and make it his mission to provide it to as many other Jews as possible.</div>
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The story of Ratisbonne's conversion is not ancient history. This wasn't a Roman centurion or even a medieval prince; he was a modern man in every sense of the term. He was well-educated in the ways of science and modern philosophy, had a prestigious position as a wealthy banker, was betrothed to a beautiful young girl and had every reason in the world to remain in his current state of worldly pleasures. The unlikelihood of the miraculous occurrence was not lost of the recent convert:</div>
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<i>“O my God. . . . I who only a half hour before was still blaspheming! I who felt such a deadly hatred of the Catholic religion! And all who know me well enough that, humanly speaking, I have the strongest reasons for remaining a Jew. My family is Jewish; my bride is Jewish; my uncle is a Jew. In becoming a Catholic, I sacrifice all the interests and all the hopes I have on earth; and yet I am not mad. Everyone knows that I am not mad, that I have never been mad. Surely they must receive my testimony . . .</i><i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.555556297302246px;">”</span></i></div>
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<i>“A man has a claim to be believed, when he sacrifices everything to a conviction that must have come from Heaven. If all that I have said is not rigorously true, I commit a crime, not only the most daring, but the most senseless and motiveless.</i><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">”</span></i> [5]</div>
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Men in Alphonse Ratisbonne's pre-conversion condition are anything but a rarity; millions could easily be found today. However, the nature of priest the Blessed Virgin called him to become is becoming increasingly scarce. Her clear example provided by the conversion of this "modern man" has fallen into the dustbin of history...</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><sup><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times="">1</span></sup><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times=""> "The Conversion of Ratisbonne" Roman Catholic
Books, p.71 (2000)</span><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times=""> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><br />
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="2"></a><sup><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times="">2</span></sup><i><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times=""> Ibid</span></i><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times="">., p.71</span><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times=""> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><br />
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="3"></a><sup><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times="">3</span></sup><i><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times=""> Ibid</span></i><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times="">., p.37</span><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times=""> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><br />
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="4"></a><sup><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times="">4</span></sup><i><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times=""> Ibid</span></i><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times="">., p.75</span><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times=""> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Book Antiqua', serif;"><br />
</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="5"></a><sup><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times="">5</span></sup><i><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times="">Ibid</span></i><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times="">., p.36-37</span><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: '} ';" times=""> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: "; font-size: 14.5pt;" times="">Other Sources:</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span antiqua="antiqua" background:white="background:white" book="" color:black="color:black" mso-bidi-font-family:="mso-bidi-font-family:" mso-fareast-font-family:="mso-fareast-font-family:" new="" roman="roman" serif="serif" style="font-family: "; font-size: 14.5pt;" times="">1. “From Ratisbonne to Reflections” by
Peter W. Miller</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua, serif;"><span style="font-size: 17.77777862548828px;">2. <a href="http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/rome1842/index.html">http://www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/approved_apparitions/rome1842/index.html</a></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-79026573964206185622012-12-23T15:42:00.004+08:002016-04-24T14:50:04.448+08:00The Purity of Soul Necessary for Holy Communion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Padre Pio was delighted when they brought him young children who were prepared for First Holy Communion. Father Stefano Manelli, the author of </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Jesus, Our Eucharistic Love</b></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> went to First Confession and First Communion to Padre Pio.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fr. Stefano Manelli founded the "Franciscans of the Immaculate" despite of persecutions particularly within the Franciscan Order. The Institute was raised to Pontifical Right by Blessed John Paul II.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_5030" style="font-size: small;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_5029" style="font-size: medium;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_5028" style="font-weight: bold;">From: </span></span></span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_4949" style="font-size: small;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_4948" style="font-size: medium;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_4950" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Jesus, Our Eucharistic Love</span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_4968" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">, Chapter 3</span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_4947" style="font-weight: bold;"><br />by Father Stefano Manelli, F.I., S.T.D</span></span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_4969" style="font-size: medium;">.</span></span></span><br />
<h3 class="yiv111159650style7" id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_4904" style="margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_4943" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Purity of Soul Necessary for Holy Communion</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What is there to say about the great purity of soul with which the saints approached to receive the Bread of Angels? We know that they had a great delicacy of conscience which was truly angelic. Aware of their own misery, they tried to present themselves to Jesus "holy and immaculate," (Eph. 1:4) repeating with the Publican, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:13), and having recourse with great care to the cleansing of Confession.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> When St. Jerome was brought Holy Viaticum at the end of his life, the Saint prostrated himself on the ground in adoration and he was heard to repeat with profound humility the words of St. Elizabeth and those of St. Peter, "How is this, that my Lord should come to me?" "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8). And how many times was the angelic and seraphic St. Gemma tempted to not receive Holy Communion, holding herself to be nothing else than a vile “dunghill”?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Padre Pio of Pietrelcina used to repeat with trepidation to his brethren, "God sees blights even in the angels. What must He see in me!" For this reason he was very diligent in making his sacramental Confessions."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> “Oh, if we could only understand Who is that God Whom we receive in Holy Communion, then what purity of heart we would bring to Him!" exclaimed St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> For this reason St. Hugh, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis de Sales, St. Ignatius, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Francis Borgia, St. Louis Bertrand, St. Joseph Cupertino, St. Leonard of Port Maurice and many other saints went to Confession every day before celebrating Holy Mass.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> St. Camillus de Lellis never celebrated Holy Mass without first going to Confession, because he wanted at least "to dust off" his soul. Once, at sundown, in a public square in Livorno, before taking leave of a priest of the same religious order, foreseeing that he would not have a priest to confess to on the following morning before his Mass, paused, took off his hat, made the sign of the Cross and went to Confession right there in the square, to his confrere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Also, St. Alphonsus, St. Joseph Cafasso, St. John Bosco, St. Pius X, and Padre Pio of Pietrelcina went to Confession very often. And why did St. Pius X wish to lower the age for First Holy Communion to seven years, if not to allow Jesus to enter into the innocent hearts of children, which are so similar to angels. And why was Padre Pio so delighted when they brought him children five years old who were prepared for First Holy Communion?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The saints applied to perfection the directive of the Holy Spirit, "Let everyone first examine himself, and then eat of that Bread and drink of that Chalice; because he who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks unto his own condemnation" (1 Cor. 11:28-29).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> To examine themselves, to repent, to accuse themselves in Confession and to ask pardon of God, and in this way even every day profit from the Sacrament of Confession, was something natural for the saints. How fortunate they were to be capable of so much! The fruits of sanctification were constant and abundant because the purity of soul with which each saint welcomed into himself Jesus, "the Wheat of the elect," (Zach. 9:17) was like the good ground "... which brings forth fruit in patience". (Luke 8:15).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> St. Anthony Mary Claret illustrates this fact very well: "When we go to Holy Communion, all of us receive the same Lord Jesus, but not all receive the same grace nor are the same effects produced in all. This comes from our greater or lesser disposition. To explain this fact, I will take an example from nature. Consider the process of grafting, the more similar the one plant is to the other, the better the graft will succeed. Likewise, the more resemblance there is between the one that goes to Communion and Jesus, so much the better will the fruits of Holy Communion be." The Sacrament of Confession is in fact the excellent means whereby the similarity between the soul and Jesus is restored.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> For this reason St. Francis de Sales taught his spiritual children, "Go to Confession with humility and devotion ... if it is possible, every time that you go to Holy Communion, even though you do not feel in your conscience any remorse of mortal sin."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> In this regard it is well to recall the teaching of the Church. Holy Communion must be received only while one is in the grace of God. Therefore, when one has committed a mortal sin, even if one has repented of it and has a great desire to receive Holy Communion, it isnecessary and indispensable to confess oneself first before receiving Holy Communion, otherwise one commits a most grave sin of sacrilege, for which Jesus said to St. Bridget, "there does not exist on earth a punishment which is great enough to punish it sufficiently!”[Editor's Note: Thus can we wonder about the great calamities in the world today?]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> St. Ambrose said that persons who commit this sacrilege "come into church with a few sins, and leave it burdened with many." St. Cyril wrote something yet stronger: "They who make a sacrilegious Communion receive satan and Jesus Christ into their hearts - satan, that they may let him rule, and Jesus Christ, that they may offer Him in sacrifice as a Victim to satan." Thus the Catechism of the Council of Trent (De Euch., v.i) declares: "As of all the sacred mysteries ... none can compare with the ... Eucharist, so likewise for no crime is there heavier punishment to be feared from God than for the unholy or irreligious use by the faithful of that which ... contains the very Author and Source of holiness."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> On the other hand, Confession made before Holy Communion to render a soul already in the state of Sanctifying Grace more pure and more beautiful, is something precious even though not required. It is precious because it clothes the soul with a more beautiful "wedding garment" (cf. Matt. 22:12) with which it may take its place at the table of the angels. For this reason the most conscientious souls have always made frequent use (at least once a week) of the sacramental cleansing of absolution, even for venial sins. If you want great purity of soul in order to receive Jesus, no purity shines brighter than that which one obtains when he makes a good confession, where the cleansing Blood of Jesus renders the repentant soul divinely bright and beautiful. "The soul that receives the Divine Blood becomes beautiful, as being clothed in a more precious garment, and it appears so beautifully aglow that if you could see it you would be tempted to adore it," declared St. Mary Magdalene di Pazzi.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Holy Communion with Mary</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oh, how much it pleases Jesus to be received by a soul cleansed and clothed with His Divine Blood! And what affectionate delight He takes when such a soul is a chaste virgin! For "the Eucharist came from the Paradise of Virginity" (namely, Mary), said St. Albert the Great; and Our Eucharistic Lord does not find such a paradise except in virginity. No one can repeat, quite like a virgin, with the Spouse of the Canticle of Canticles at every Holy Communion: "All mine is my true Love, and I am all His; ... He goes out to pasture among the lilies .. Come back, my heart's Love" (Cant. 2:16-17).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> One praiseworthy way of preparing for Holy Communion is to invoke the Immaculate Virgin, to count on Her to enable us to receive Jesus with Her humility, Her purity and Her love - praying rather that She Herself may come to receive Him in us. This pious practice is much recommended by the Saints, in particular St. Louis Grignon de Montfort, St. Peter Eymard, St. Alphonsus Liguori, and Blessed Maximilian Mary Kolbe. "The best preparation for Holy Communion is that which is made with Mary," wrote St. Peter Eymard. A delightful illustration is given by St. Therese of Lisieux, picturing her soul as a little three or four-year old girl whose hair and dress were in disarray, ashamed to present herself at the altar rail to receive Jesus. However she appeals to the Madonna, and "immediately," the Saint writes, "the Virgin Mary occupies Herself with me. She quickly replaces my dirty dress, ties up my hair with a pretty ribbon and adds a simple flower ... This is enough to make me attractive and enables me to take my place without embarrassment at the banquet of the angels."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Let us try this method of preparation. We will not be disappointed. We will be able to say what St. Gemma exclaimed in ecstasy, "How beautiful it is to receive Communion with the Mother of Paradise!" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Thanksgiving After Holy Communion</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The time of Thanksgiving after Holy Communion is the most ideal time for an intimate exchange of love with Jesus. Let it be a love of total self-giving thus returning Jesus' love so wholeheartedly that there is no longer two of us but one, so to speak, in soul and body. Let it be a love that vivifies and unites, - He in me and I in Him, so that we may be consumed in the uniqueness and unity of His love.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> "You are my loving prey just as I am the object of Your immense charity," said St. Gemma to Jesus with tenderness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> St. John wrote, "Blessed are they that are called to the wedding banquet of the Lamb" (Apoc. 19:9). In truth, in Eucharistic Communion rightly received, the soul realizes, in a heavenly virginal union, a nuptial love for the Spouse, Jesus, to Whom the soul can say with the most tender enthusiasm of the Bride in the Canticle of Canticles: "Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth" (Cant. 1:1).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Thanksgiving after Holy Communion is a small foretaste, while on earth, of the love which will be experienced in Paradise. In Heaven, in fact, how shall we love Jesus if not by being one with Him eternally? Dear Jesus, sweet Jesus, oh how I ought to thank You for every Holy Communion that You grant me! Did not St. Gemma have good reason to say she would thank You in Paradise for the Eucharist more than for anything else? What a miracle of love to be so completely united with You, O Jesus!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Saints chose, when it was possible, to set no time limit for thanksgiving after Communion, which would last at least a half hour. St. Teresa of Jesus told her daughters, "Let us detain ourselves lovingly with Jesus and not waste the hour that follows Communion. It is an excellent time to deal with God and put before Him the matters that concern our soul. ... As we know that good Jesus remains within us until our natural warmth has dissolved the bread-like qualities, we should take great care not to lose such a beautiful opportunity to treat with Him and lay our needs before Him."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> St. Francis of Assisi, St. Juliana Falconieri, St. Catharine, St. Paschal, St. Veronica, St. Joseph Cupertino, St. Gemma, and many others, used to almost always go into a loving ecstasy immediately after Holy Communion. As for the duration, only the angels measured the time. Also St. Teresa of Avila nearly always went into ecstasy right after receiving Holy Communion, and sometimes it was necessary to carry her away bodily from the Communion grille.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> St. John of Avila, St. Ignatius Loyola, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga used to make their thanksgiving on their knees for two hours. St. Mary Magdalene di Pazzi wanted it to continue without interruption. It was necessary to constrain her so that she might take a little nourishment. "The minutes that follow Communion," the Saint said, "are the most precious we have in our lives. They are the minutes best suited on our part for treating with God, and on His part for communicating His love to us."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> St. Louis Grignon de Montfort used to remain for Thanksgiving after Holy Mass at least a half hour, and he would not let there be any worry or engagement that could make him omit it. He said, "I would not give up this hour of Thanksgiving even for an hour of Paradise."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Let us also then make the following resolutions: That we will so organize our time and our lives that we will remain in Thanksgiving after Holy Communion for at least fifteen minutes; And further resolve to allow nothing to stop us from taking this time for Thanksgiving. These minutes in which Jesus is physically present to our souls and within our bodies are heavenly minutes that we should by no means waste.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Thanksgiving with the Madonna</span></h3>
<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1356249657073_5039" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> There is a special beauty in a Thanksgiving made in Mary's company in honor of Her Annunciation. Right after Holy Communion we carry Jesus within our souls and bodies, just as the Blessed Virgin Mary did when She had received the message of the angel. We cannot find a better way to adore and love Jesus at that time than by making our dispositions agree with those of the Mother of God, making our own the same sentiments of adoration and love that She had toward Her Divine Son Jesus enclosed under Her Immaculate Heart. It can be helpful in achieving this, to recite meditatively the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. Let us try it. We cannot fail to profit by becoming united this way with the Madonna in order to love Jesus with Her Heavenly Heart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>On Weekly Confession</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Pope Benedict XVI</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">(At a question and answer session with children who just received their First Communion) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Livia: Holy Father….Do I have to confess every time I receive Communion, even when I have committed the same sins?...They are always the same. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Benedict: "I will tell you two things. The first, of course, is that you do not always have to go to confession before you receive Communion unless you committed such serious sins that they need to be confessed. …. It is only necessary when you have committed a really serious sin, when you have deeply offended Jesus…and you have to start again. Only in that case, when you are in a state of "mortal" sin, in other words, grave [sin], is it necessary to go to confession before Communion."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">"My second point: Even if, as I said, it is not necessary to go to confession before each Communion, it is very helpful to confess with a certain regularity. It is true: Our sins are always the same, but we clean our homes, our rooms, at least once a week, even if the dirt is always the same; in order to live in cleanliness, in order to start again. Otherwise, the dirt might not be seen but it builds up."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">"Something similar can be said about the soul, for me myself: If I never go to confession, my soul is neglected and in the end I am always pleased with myself and no longer understand that I must always work hard to improve and make progress. This cleansing of the soul which Jesus gives us in confession helps make our consciences more alert, more open, and hence helps us to mature spiritually and as human persons. Therefore, two things: Confession is only necessary in the case of a serious sin, but it is very helpful to confess regularly in order to foster the cleanliness and beauty of the soul and to mature day by day in life." (From: Zenit News Service, October 20, 2005)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">To the souls Padre Pio directed, he gave a five-point rule: weekly confession, daily communion and spiritual reading, examination of conscience each evening and mental prayer twice a day. He said:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">"Confession is the soul's bath. You must go at least once a week. I do not want souls to stay away from confession more than a week. Even a clean and unoccupied room gathers dust; return after a week and you will see that it needs dusting again!" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>St. Francis de Sales, Doctor of the Church</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">"...never allow your heart to abide heavy with sin, seeing that there is so sure and safe a remedy at hand...Make your confession humbly and devoutly every week, and always, if you can, before communicating, even although your conscience is not burdened with mortal sin; for in confession you do not only receive absolution for your venial sins, but you also receive great strength to help you in avoiding them henceforth, clearer light to discover your failings, and abundant grace to make up whatever loss you have incurred through those faults. You exercise the graces of humility, obedience, simplicity and love, and by this one act of confession you practise more virtue than in any other." (from "Introduction to the Devout Life")</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">+++</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Blessed Teresa of Calcutta</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Everybody loved and respected Mother Teresa. She was a weekly penitent. Some may express surprise at this: "But, she was holy!" Indeed she was, precisely because she regularly and humbly sought forgiveness from Our Lord in exactly the way He intended: through the Sacrament of Penance. She would not cheat herself of the very graces that Jesus hung on the Cross to give us, graces that helped her to do what we all aspire to do: to live a life pleasing to our Father in Heaven...to live not just a good life, but a holy life. Mother Teresa knew and traveled the "narrow path" to Heaven. We are not likely to follow her in heroic sacrifice, but we can try to follow in some measure her simplicity and humility of heart by regularly asking pardon for our sins in the confessional, and so not cheating ourselves of the graces that Jesus earnestly wishes to give to each of us. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">(From: Zenit News Service, April 12, 2006)</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-8293773799747753322012-12-14T00:55:00.000+08:002013-10-20T19:39:29.362+08:00Censure and Opinion of a Certain 'Mystic' by St. John of the Cross <span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"><b>Introduction</b></span><br />
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<i>At the time Nicolas Doria was vicar general he asked John of the Cross to examine an account written by a Discalced Carmelite nun and give his opinion about her spirit. We do not know who this nun was or the community to which she belonged, but we know that other learned men had judged her favorably. Discerning five defects in the nun's report of her experiences, John gives a negative evaluation of her spirit in this written opinion for his vicar general.</i></div>
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<b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">Censure and Opinion</span></b></div>
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[On the spirit and procedure in prayer of a discalced Carmelite </div>
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nun, given by St. John of the Cross Segovia, 1588-91]</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hEv3FZIZF0M/UeGGWUqnQxI/AAAAAAAAAGM/eQLZsXVYt2A/s1600/s_john_cross09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hEv3FZIZF0M/UeGGWUqnQxI/AAAAAAAAAGM/eQLZsXVYt2A/s400/s_john_cross09.jpg" width="294" /></a>In the affective manner with which this soul proceeds there appear to be five defects manifesting a lack of the good spirit.</div>
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First, it seems she bears within herself a great fondness for possessing things, whereas the good spirit is always very detached in its appetites.</div>
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Second, she is too secure in her spirit and has little fear of being inwardly mistaken. Where this fear is absent, the spirit of God is never present to preserved the soul from harm, as the Wise Man says [Prv. 15:27].</div>
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Third, it seems she has the desire to persuade others that her experiences are good and manifold. Persons of a genuine spirit do not desire to do this, <b>but, on the contrary, desire that their experiences be considered of little value and despised, <span style="color: #3d85c6;">and this they do themselves.</span></b></div>
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Fourth-and this is the main fault-the effects of humility are not manifest in her attitude. When favors are genuine, as she says here that hers are, they are ordinarily never communicated to a soul without first undoing and annihilating it in the inner abasement of humility. And if these favors had produced this effect in her, she would not have failed to say something about it here, and even a great deal. For the first thing the soul esteems and is eager to speak of are the effects of humility, which, certainly, are so strong that they cannot be disguised. For although they may not be so noticeable in all the apprehensions of God, still, these apprehensions that she here calls union are never present without them: 'Before the soul is exalted, it is humbled' [Prv. 18:12] and, 'It is good for me that you have humbled me' [Ps. 119:71].</div>
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Fifth, her style and language don't seem to come from the spirit she claims, for the good spirit itself teaches a simpler style, one without the affectation or exaggeration she uses. And all this about what she said to God and God said to her seems to be nonsense.</div>
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<b>I would advise that they should not command or allow her to write anything about this, and her confessor should not show willingness to hear of it, other than to hold it in little esteem and contradict it.</b> Let them try her in the practice of sheer virtue, especially in self-contempt, humility, and obedience; and by the sound of the metal when tapped the quality of soul caused by so many favors will show itself. And the tests must be good ones, for there is no devil that will not suffer something for his honor.<br />
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<b>From:</b><br />
The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross<br />
Translated by Fathers Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD</div>
Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-13627751333251848692012-12-07T19:53:00.002+08:002012-12-25T02:56:59.118+08:00Sexual Pleasure and Lust Within Marriage<span style="line-height: 120%;">by <b>Catholic-Saints.net</b></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 120%;"><i style="line-height: 120%;"><br /></i></span>
<span style="line-height: 120%;"><i style="line-height: 120%;">Note: I don't agree in everything that website contains so be careful in visiting it. But the following is worth reading. You may or may not agree with some of the explanations besides the Declarations of the Popes, Saints and the Revelations of St. Bridget approved by Cardinal Torquemada:</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cXcYXVI3bBA/UMMBZcvxkNI/AAAAAAAAAFs/VuF01SIqOWM/s1600/s_bridget001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cXcYXVI3bBA/UMMBZcvxkNI/AAAAAAAAAFs/VuF01SIqOWM/s320/s_bridget001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="Quieting-vs-inflaming-concupiscence"></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 120%;"><u>Quieting
vs Inflaming Concupiscence<o:p></o:p></u></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Pope
Pius XI, <i>Casti Connubii </i>(# 17), Dec. 31, 1930: “<b><u>THE PRIMARY END OF
MARRIAGE IS THE PROCREATION AND THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN</u></b>... For in
matrimony as well as in the use of matrimonial rights there are also secondary
ends, such as mutual aid, the cultivation of mutual love, and the <b><i><u>quieting
of concupiscence</u></i></b> which husband and wife <b><i><u>are not forbidden
to consider</u></i></b>, <b><u>so long as they are subordinated to the primary
end</u></b> and so long as the intrinsic nature of the act is preserved.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">A
husband and wife are allowed to quiet concupiscence as a secondary motive after
the first motive of procreation. This is a dogma proclaimed by Pope Pius XI
above. This means to put down the flames of concupiscence, and not to inflame
it in any way. The goal is to get the spouse to Heaven, to glorify God, and
sanctify one self, and not primarily about pleasure. The gravity of sin, when
inflaming concupiscence, depends on the thoughts and actual deeds that a couple
consent to during the act of marriage. But husband and wife are never allowed
to prevent the conception of a child in any way, either through contraceptives,
or by withdrawal... Further, doing acts above what is
necessary in the marital act, can be a mortal sin, but if the act is natural,
yet done for the sake of lust only, it seems to be at least a venial fault or
defect, as the following Church teaching affirms:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Various
Errors on Moral Subjects, Condemned in a decree of the Holy Office, March 4,
1679</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">: “THE ACT OF MARRIAGE EXERCISED FOR <u>PLEASURE
ONLY</u> IS ENTIRELY <u>FREE OF ALL FAULT AND VENIAL DEFECT</u>.” (Denz. 1159)
-<b>Condemned by Pope Innocent XI.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">As
we can see above, it is at least a fault or venial defect to have relations
only for lustful motives. From this can be learned that a couple must have a
reason for coming together during the marital act. Thus, they may not just come
together for whatever lustful reason they may come to think of, for that would
be (at least) a venial defect, according to Catholic teaching. Faults or venial
defects open up the soul to graver sins and that is why one must always guard
oneself very carefully from falling into faults and defects. A couple can only
lawfully participate in the marital act (without any sin or defect) if it's
done for the primary purpose of having children, and the secondary purpose of
quieting the concupiscence. The secondary motive of quieting concupiscence can
follow the primary motive if the spouses choose this, but the secondary motive
is not needed to lawfully complete the marital act in the same way as the
primary motive of raising children, nor is it meritorious even though it is
allowed:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Pope
Pius XI, <i>Casti Connubii </i>(# 17), Dec. 31, 1930: “<b><u>THE PRIMARY END OF
MARRIAGE IS THE PROCREATION AND THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN</u></b>... For in
matrimony as well as in the use of matrimonial rights there are also secondary
ends, such as mutual aid, the cultivation of mutual love, and the <b><i><u>quieting
of concupiscence</u></i></b> which husband and wife <b><i><u>are not forbidden
to consider</u></i></b>, <b><u>so long as they are subordinated to the primary
end</u></b> and so long as the intrinsic nature of the act is preserved.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Since
many couples today, and especially those who call themselves by the name of
Catholic, inflame their lust to the fullest both before, during and after the
procreative act...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Notice
the words of Pope Pius XI: “<b><i><u>quieting of concupiscence</u></i></b>”.
Those who thus commit acts which are not necessary for the completion of the
marital act absolutely commit sin, since they inflame their flesh in a totally
sinful way. Therefore, the inflaming of concupiscence is condemned as sinful
because it subordinates the secondary end (or purpose) of marriage and the
marriage act (the quieting of concupiscence) to other ends. It subordinates the
secondary end of marriage to other things, by deliberately attempting to avoid
the normal procreative act as their first or only act of marriage, to other
things while having marital relations. The inflaming of concupiscence therefore
inverts the order established by God Himself. It does the very thing that Pope
Pius XI solemnly teaches may not lawfully be done. And this point destroys all
of the arguments made by those who defend unnatural, unlawful, non-procreative
forms of fore-or-after-play outside of normal intercourse; because all of the
arguments made by those who defend inflaming the flesh, focus on the
concupiscence and lust within the marriage act itself, and not on the primary
or secondary ends of lawful intercourse (the procreation and education of
children; and the quieting of concupiscence).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">So
what these lustful couples then do by enhancing their pleasure during the
marital act, is <u>not</u> the only lawful <i>quieting of concupiscence</i>
that Pope Pius XI spoke about, but is the exact opposite, since they first
inflame their lust and concupiscence before putting it out, and are therefore
then, without a doubt, committing sin (probably even a mortal sin depending on
what they thought, did or consented to during their impure act). If such a lust
seeking couple is not guilty of mortal sin, then they are guilty of venial sin.
For if coming together only for normal lustful motives is at least a venial
fault or defect according to Catholic teaching, what then would those unnatural
and unnecessary acts be that these lustful people live out during the heat of
their shameful lust?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Various
Errors on Moral Subjects, Condemned in a decree of the Holy Office, March 4,
1679</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">: “THE ACT OF MARRIAGE EXERCISED FOR <u>PLEASURE
ONLY</u> IS ENTIRELY <u>FREE OF ALL FAULT AND VENIAL DEFECT</u>.” (Denz. 1159)
-<b>Condemned by Pope Innocent XI.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Although
a venial fault does not separate us from God as does a mortal sin, a venial
defect can still (if practiced unto death) lead a person to Hell since it might
lead him into committing other sins, and since he did not care to stop doing
what he knew was a danger to his soul, and even took great delight in it,
though he knew it was offending God. To consent to faults and defects, or
deliberate venial sins, is of course very bad. We can learn this truth from
Jesus Christ himself:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“<b><u>Moreover,
know that just as all mortal sins are very serious, so too a venial sin is made
mortal if a human being delights in it with the intention of persevering</u></b>.”
<i>(Jesus speaking to St. Bridget, Book 7, Chapter 27).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">So,
to deliberately live in faults and defects are truly a gateway into committing
more grave sins. An even more clearer demonstration of this can be seen in
another chapter of St. Bridget's revelations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">The Son of God speaks to the bride (St.
Bridget):</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;"> “What are you
worried and anxious about?" She answered: "I am afflicted by various
useless thoughts that I cannot get rid of, and hearing about your terrible
judgment upsets me." The Son answered: "This is truly just. Earlier
you found pleasure in worldly desires against my will, but now different
thoughts are allowed to come to you against your will.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 12.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“But have a prudent fear of God, and put great
trust in me, your God, knowing for certain that when your mind does not take
pleasure in sinful thoughts but struggles against them by detesting them, then
they become a purgation and a crown for the soul. <b><u>But if you take
pleasure in committing even a slight sin, which you know to be a sin, and you
do so trusting to your own abstinence and presuming on grace, without doing
penance and reparation for it, know that it can become a mortal sin</u></b>.
Accordingly, if some sinful pleasure of any kind comes into your mind, you
should right away think about where it is heading and repent...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 12.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“...<b><u>God hates nothing so much as when you
know you have sinned but do not care</u></b>, trusting to your other
meritorious actions, <u>as if, because of them, God would put up with your sin</u>,
as if he could not be glorified without you, <u>or as if he would let you do
something evil</u> with his permission, seeing all the good deeds you have
done, since, even if you did a hundred good deeds for each wicked one, you
still would not be able to pay God back for his goodness and love. So, then,
maintain a rational fear of God and, even if you cannot prevent these thoughts,
then at least bear them patiently and use your will to struggle against them.
You will not be condemned because of their entering your head, unless you take
pleasure in them, since it is not within your power to prevent them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 12.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“Again, maintain your fear of God in order not
to fall through pride, even though you do not consent to the thoughts. Anyone
who stands firm stands by the power of God alone. Thus fear of God is like the
gateway into heaven. Many there are who have fallen headlong to their deaths,
because they cast off the fear of God and were then ashamed to make a
confession before men, although they had not been ashamed to sin before God.
Therefore, I shall refuse to absolve the sin of a person who has not cared
enough to ask my pardon for a small sin. In this manner, sins are increased
through habitual practice, and a venial sin that could have been pardoned
through contrition becomes a serious one through a person's negligence and
scorn, as you can deduce from the case of this soul who has already been
condemned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 12.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“<b><u>After having committed a venial and
pardonable sin, he augmented it through habitual practice, trusting to his
other good works, without thinking that I might take lesser sins into account.
Caught in a net of habitual and inordinate pleasure, his soul neither corrected
nor curbed his sinful intention, until the time for his sentencing stood at the
gates and his final moment was approaching</u>.</b> This is why, as the end
approached, his conscience was suddenly agitated and painfully afflicted
because he was soon to die and he was afraid to lose the little, temporary good
he had loved. <b><u>Up until a sinner's final moment God abides him, waiting to
see if he is going to direct his free will away from his attachment to sin</u></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 12.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“<b><u>However, if a soul's will is not
corrected, that soul is then confined by an end without end. What happens is
that the devil, knowing that each person will be judged according to his
conscience and intention, labors mightily at the end of life to distract the
soul and turn it away from rectitude of intention, and God allows it to happen,
since the soul refused to remain vigilant when it ought to have</u></b>...” <i>(The
Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden, Book 3, Chapter 19).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">So,
what does God think of couples who come together during the act of marriage in
sinful lust and concupiscence, and about a couple who works on the inflaming of
lust (rather than the quieting of their lust)?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“<b><u>They
seek the warmth and sexual lust that will perish and love the flesh that will be
eaten by worms</u></b>... <b><u>When the couple comes to bed, my Spirit leaves
them immediately and the spirit of impurity approaches instead because they
only come together for the sake of lust and do not discuss or think about
anything else with each other</u></b>. But my mercy is still with them if they
will be converted to me. Because of my great love, I place a living soul
created by my power into their seed. Sometimes I let evil parents give birth to
good children, but more often, evil children are born of evil parents, <b><u>since
these children imitate the evil and unrighteous deeds of their parents as much
as they are able</u></b> and would imitate it even more if my patience allowed
them. <b><u>Such a married couple will never see my face unless they repent</u></b>.
<b><i><u>For there is no sin so heavy or grave that penitence and repentance
does not wash it away</u></i></b>.” <i>(St. Bridget's Revelations, Book 1,
Chapter 26).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">A
couple may therefore then not do anything before, during or after the
procreative act that is against the primary or secondary purpose of marriage,
the begetting of children and the quieting of concupiscence. So, contrary to
modern day notion and common opinion (even amongst those who dare to call
themselves Catholic), a husband and a wife are never allowed to help themselves
with their hands or do other things to enhance their lust, or in this way make
themselves “ready” before the act (as they so call it and their sinful excuse
is). If a couple really believes in God, they should pray to God before coming
together, and God would hear their prayers and make them ready, without any
further need by the couple to inflame their lust in a sinful way. Lubricants
are of course also acceptable and the non sinful way to use if there is a
problem to complete the marital act. However, lubricants that increase the
sexual pleasure and that now are being manufactured and sold are of course
totally unacceptable. Likewise, if a woman was not able to quiet her
concupiscence before the fulfillment of the procreative act, it is unlawful for
her (or her husband) to help herself afterwards. If husband and wife engage in
unlawful activities such as masturbation or any other unnecessary act, they
committed a mortal sin. Barren couples and people with defects or old age still
fulfills the primary end of marriage through normal intercourse by wishing for
children and by not being against conception if it should occur. Husband and
wife are forbidden to indulge in unnecessary acts, e.g. to masturbate
themselves or their spouse during the procreative act and in this way enhance
their lust. Masturbation is as forbidden during the procreative act as it is at
any other time for any person. To avoid falling into mortal sin, a couple need
to learn to pray to God for relief in their concupiscence and lust. If you
really want help from God, He will help you and remove the concupiscence and
lust from you. It would also help very much to offer up penances to God like
fasting and eating less tasty food in order to acquire this goal. These small
penances coupled with spiritual reading and prayer will help a couple stem
sinful inclinations as long as they stay out of mortal and venial sin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">It
is of greatest importance that husband and wife are not influenced by the evil
demonic teachings that is rampant in the secular world and even amongst those
who call themselves "Catholic" or even traditional
"Catholic". These people will tell you things such as: <i>“That
almost nothing is wrong in the marital act so long as the primary purpose of
the act was achieved at some point. Whatever happens before, during or
afterwards, was part of that act and therefore licit and permitted</i>.<i>”</i>
This is clearly false, and have been refuted with Catholic Dogma (Pope Pius
XI), and Catholic teaching condemning the idea that the marital act - performed
for lust only - was without any fault or defect (quoted below). Anyone that
therefore listens to or follows these demonic peoples teachings or agrees with
them, will lose their souls, since they then reject the natural law God has
imprinted on their hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Various
Errors on Moral Subjects, Condemned in a decree of the Holy Office, March 4,
1679</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">: “THE ACT OF MARRIAGE EXERCISED FOR <u>PLEASURE
ONLY</u> IS ENTIRELY <u>FREE OF ALL FAULT AND VENIAL DEFECT</u>.” (Denz. 1159)
-<b>Condemned by Pope Innocent XI.<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="The-Demon-of-Lust"></a><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 120%;"><u>The Demon of Lust<o:p></o:p></u></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">In
Tobias, we can clearly see that there is a demon of lust, and that this demon
hath power over certain individuals who come together for various reasons
during the marital act: “<b><i>Then the angel Raphael said to him [Tobias]:
Hear me, and I will shew thee who they are, over whom the devil can prevail. <u>For
they who in such manner receive matrimony, as to shut out God from themselves,
and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust</u>, as the horse and
mule, which have not understanding, <u>over them the devil hath power</u></i></b>.”
People who thus shut God out from themselves and their hearts, and who do
things during, before or after the marital act which they normally wouldn't do
if they really believed that God were present with them, over them the devil
hath power. If concupiscence and lust is not controlled and in some sense
fought against, it will almost always end in mortal sin, because all control is
lost. <i>“Go not after thy lusts, but turn away from thy own will.” (Ecclus.
18:30)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Many
are handed over to the devil before, during, or after the marital act though,
but this is only when they do more than what is necessary to complete the
procreative act or if their only purpose is to satisfy their lust, or if they
consent to thoughts that are sinful. For we can clearly see how persons that
are living in deliberate venial sins are handed over to the devil in St.
Bridget's Revelations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Jesus
speaking to St. Bridget:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;"> “<b><u>Moreover,
know that just as all mortal sins are very serious, so too a venial sin is made
mortal if a human being delights in it with the intention of persevering</u></b>.
… Therefore, know for very certain that as often as they daub their faces with
antimony and other extraneous coloring [makeup], <b><u>some of the infusion of
the Holy Spirit is diminished in them and the devil draws nearer to them</u></b>.
In fact, as often as they adorn themselves in disorderly and indecent clothing
and so deform their bodies, <b><u>the adornment of their souls is diminished
and the devil's power is increased</u></b>.” <i>(St. Bridget's Revelations,
Book 7, Chapter 27).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Most
couples who sin in the marriage act undoubtedly also fall for the sins of
vanity, immodest clothing, and use of makeup condemned by Jesus Christ above,
since these people really are lovers of the flesh, and not of God. However, in
the above statement, we can clearly see how those people who commit deliberate
venial sins, are in fact diminishing their love of God, and beauty of soul, and
that these people in fact are handed over to the devil for their sins: “<b><i>some
of the infusion of the Holy Spirit is diminished in them and <u>the devil draws
nearer to them</u></i></b>.” This is an important point to remember. For as
often as a couple goes farther than what is licit or permitted (non-sinful) in
the procreative act, they always commit a sin (at least venially), and will
thus as a necessity be drawing closer to the devil (unless repentance is
followed). Therefore, it is of great importance that you learn to control your
lust. Risking eternal damnation for a momentary, deliberate venial or mortal
pleasure or sin is not worth it, and is a horribly bad choice to make:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Jesus
Christ speaking to St. Bridget:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">
“Therefore, two holes will be opened in him. Through the first there will enter
into him every <b><u>punishment earned for <i>his least sin up to his greatest</i></u></b><u>,
<b>inasmuch as he exchanged his Creator for his own lust</b></u>. Through the
second there will enter into him every kind of pain and shame, and no divine
consolation or charity will ever come to him, <b><u>inasmuch as he loved
himself rather than his Creator. His life will last forever and his punishment
will last forever</u></b>, for all the saints have turned away from him.' My
bride, see how miserable those people will be who despise me and <b><u>how
great will be the pain they purchase at the price of so little pleasure</u>!</b>”
<i>(St. Bridget's Revelations, Book 2, Chapter 9).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">So,
the more pleasure and sensual gratification a person seek to derive from the
sexual act, the more will the devil's power over him be increased, and the more
the sin is increased (with the intention of persevering), the more the devil's
power over him is increasing also, until what was a venial and pardonable sin,
becomes a mortal and damnable sin. Therefore, if you already understand that
you live in deliberate venial sin with respect to sexual pleasure, you need to
learn controlling your lust immediately, keeping it within the range of what is
licit and permitted within a marriage, and not by going any further...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">A
couple then, when coming together, should not be concerned about the momentary
pleasure they derive from the act, or be working on enhancing it in unusual
ways, but should rather be focusing their mind on God and to love Him and
please Him, by feeling close to Him. Consequently, if a couple wish to be
perfect, they should pray to God to keep them from sinning during the act, and
that they may produce offspring to the honor and glory of God, and that He
might minimize the amount of pleasure they will feel during the act, so that
they may not grow attached to it. God might grant this prayer to a couple if
they so wish, but if they are not granted this gift (the begetting of children
or the minimizing of pleasure), they should still be focusing their pleasure
and love towards God, and not on themselves. God demands of us to not forget
Him during the procreative act. People usually tend to forget about God when
they have too much attention on themselves, or on their spouse, or the pleasure
derived from different acts. We can read the following important points
regarding this in the book of Tobias: “<b><i><u>For they who in such manner
receive matrimony, as to shut out God from themselves, and from their mind</u>,
and to <u>give themselves to their lust</u></i>,<i> as the horse and mule,
which have not understanding, <u>over them the devil hath power</u>.</i></b>” <i>(Tobias
6:17). </i>Notice the word “<b><i><u>from their mind</u></i></b>”, in the mind
(or heart) are usually all our thoughts, and God wishes us to have Him there.
The best thing then, and which God demands of you, is to think about Him and to
love Him during the whole procreative act, and husband and wife should not be
ashamed of doing so. Is not God better or more worthy of being desired or
lusted after than your husband or wife will ever be? The more a person loves
God, the more will that person desire to be close to God, during all times. One
of the greatest mistakes many couples undoubtedly do during the procreative
act, is that they strive to be close with their spouse rather than with God
(who knows everything and sees everything), or that they rather think of
pleasing their spouse more than pleasing God (who created them and redeemed
them, yes even died for them).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="Prayer-before-Marital-Relations"></a><b><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Prayer
before Marital Relations<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“<b>Then
Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to her: Sara, arise, and let us pray to
God today, and tomorrow, and the next day: because for these three nights we
are joined to God: and when the third night is over, we will be in our own
wedlock. For we are the children of saints, and we must not be joined together
like heathens that know not God.” Tobias 8:4-5<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Jesus
tells us of the necessity of praying always (Lk 18:1). We are never to cease
praying (1 Th 5:17). Thus, Christian married couples will always have marital
relations in the context of prayer. Tobias prayer before relations with his
wife is an example of this (Tb 8:4-8). In prayer, we express our weakness and
God's power (2 Cor 12:9) to rectify sinful problems in marital relations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Praying
the Rosary before, during and after intercourse is highly recommended since it
is the most powerful prayer ever given to mankind. Granted, it might be hard to
pray during the act, at least in a worthy and proper manner, but spouses should
do their best to at least acknowledge the presence of God Almighty and His
Mother and loving them deeply during the act, by expressing loving words to God
and His Blessed Mother, supplicating Them for their help to resist sinful
inclinations. Husband and wife should not be ashamed of having recourse to the
Blessed Virgin and Our Lord during intercourse. In contrast, what better thing
can there possibly be for a couple then to always have God and the thought of
loving God in their minds during all times?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="Loving-God"></a><b><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">The importance of Loving God during intercourse
and at all times<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">We
can read the following interesting points of the importance of loving and
thinking about God during the procreative act in St. Bridget's Revelations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">The
Mother of God speaks to St. Bridget about Her parents</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">: “When an angel revealed to them that they
would give birth to the Virgin from whom the salvation of the world would come,
they would rather have died than to come together in carnal love; lust was dead
in them. I assure you that when they did come together, <b><u>it was because of
divine love and because of the angel’s message</u></b>, not out of carnal
desire, but against their will <b><u>and out of a holy love for God</u></b>. In
this way, my flesh was put together by their seed <b><u>and through divine love</u></b>.”
<i>(St. Bridget's Revelations, Book 1, Chapter 9).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Although
you will not be spared from feeling lust or concupiscence as it happened to
Anna and Joachim, this should in no way hinder you from loving and desiring God
during the procreative act, and should be the primary purpose along with love
of children for a couple, rather than desiring or lusting at your spouse. Most
couples, however, choose to think about themselves or their spouse in an
inordinate way and consequently to love themselves or their spouse during the
procreative act. Anna and Joachim, however, clearly chose the best part by
loving and thinking about God. If we think about God during the act, then our
love will be directed towards Him, which is the best part. God's love never
dies! So it's clearly a great mistake to seek love from a fleshly object that
will rot and be eaten by worms, rather than seeking it from God, who lives and
reigns forever and ever! Husband and wife should thus love their spouse, their
own, and their children's souls, and not their bodies that will rot and be
eaten by worms in the grave. This is an advice to those couples who wish to be
perfect, as Anna and Joachim were perfect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">St.
Jerome: "Do you imagine that we approve of any sexual intercourse except
for the procreation of children? <b><u>He who is too ardent a lover of his own
wife is an adulterer [of his God]</u></b>."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">As
we can see above, he who loves his wife too much, or in other words, he who
loves his wife more than he loves God, is in fact an adulterer of his God. Tell
me, dear reader, whom do you love during the act, God, or your spouse? Have the
thought of God or that he is present ever even entered your mind during
intercourse? Have this absence of God's presence in your thought also driven
you into committing shameful sins by the inflaming of concupiscence in unlawful
ways? Indeed, those couples who doesn't shut God out from themselves or their
hearts during intercourse, will less likely fall into other sins during the
act. For if it is God we love during intercourse, it is him we are seeking to
please, and not ourselves or our spouse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“He
that loveth father or mother more than me [Jesus], is not worthy of me; and he
that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">It
is also evident that the offspring of holy and devout parents will receive a
great many graces and benefits because of the parents' holiness, and that
according to many saints, lustful parents will effect their children,
inflicting sinful impulses on the child. Every parent who love their children
or their future children, should do their utmost to live in holiness, knowing
that every act they will ever do, can have an effect on their children, for
better or for worse. Only in Hell will bad parents understand how their acts
effected their children, but then it is sadly too late.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“Sometimes
I [Jesus] let evil parents give birth to good children, <b><u>but more often,
evil children are born of evil parents, since these children imitate the evil
and unrighteous deeds of their parents as much as they are able and would
imitate it even more if my patience allowed them</u></b>. <b><i><u>Such a
married couple will never see my face unless they repent</u></i></b>. For there
is no sin so heavy or grave that penitence and repentance does not wash it
away.” <i>(St. Bridget's Revelations, Book 1, Chapter 26).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="Love-is-necessary-for-Salvation"></a><b><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Love
is necessary for Salvation<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">For
a person to be Saved, he needs above all to love his God with all his mind, and
with all his strength, and with all his heart. If any person fails to do this
(in that he loves something more than God, whatever it may be or however small
it may be), he will not be Saved. Therefore, it is of the greatest importance
that people really start to do everything in their might and power to acquire
and foster the love of God in their hearts, by loving God very deeply always
and at all times, and by praying to God for help in loving Him worthily. If a
person can have deep love for their husband or wife, or for their children, by
having a desire for them constantly, then, likewise, should a person then have
no problem in growing an even greater love and longing for God in his heart, if
he only so wish and desires. We can read the following important words of
loving and desiring God in context of marriage in the wonderful Revelations of
St. Bridget of Sweden:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 12.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“For that reason, I [Jesus] wish to turn to the
spiritual marriage, the kind that is appropriate for God to have with a chaste
soul and chaste body. There are seven good things in it opposed to the evils
mentioned above[1]: First, there is no desire for beauty of form or bodily
beauty or lustful sights, <b><u>but only for the sight and love of God</u></b>.
Second, there is no desire to possess anything else than what is needed to
survive, and just the necessities with nothing in excess. Third, they avoid
vain and frivolous talk. Fourth, they do not care about seeing friends or
relatives, <b><u>but I am their love and desire</u></b>. Fifth, they desire to
keep the humility inwardly in their conscience and outwardly in the way they
dress. Sixth, they never have any will of leading lustful lives. Seventh, they
beget sons and daughters for their God through their good behavior and good
example and through the preaching of spiritual words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 12.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“They preserve their faith undefiled when they
stand outside the doors of my church where they give me their consent and I
give them mine. They go up to my altar when they enjoy the spiritual delight of
my Body and Blood in which delight they <b><u>wish to be of one heart and one
body and one will with me</u></b>, and I, true God and man, mighty in heaven
and on earth, shall be as the <b><u>third with them and will fill their heart</u></b>.
The worldly spouses begin their marriage in lustful desires like brute beasts,
and even worse than brute beasts! <b><u>But these spiritual spouses begin in
love and fear of God and do not bother to please anyone but me</u></b>. The
evil spirit fills and incites those in the worldly marriage to carnal lust
where there is nothing but unclean stench, <b><u>but those in the spiritual
marriage are filled with my Spirit and inflamed with the fire of my love that
will never fail them</u></b>.” <i>(St. Bridget's Revelations, Book 1, Chapter
26).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">So,
then, what are the seven evil fruits of a worldly marriage in comparison to the
seven good fruits of the spiritual marriage mentioned above?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">[1]
“But people in this age are joined in marriage for seven [evil] reasons: First,
because of facial beauty. Second, because of wealth. Third, because of the
despicable pleasure and indecent joy they get out of their impure intercourse.
Fourth, because of feasts with friends and uncontrolled gluttony. Fifth,
because of vanity in clothing and eating, in joking and entertainment and games
and other vanities. Sixth, for the sake of procreating children but not to
raise them for the honor of God or good works but for worldly riches and honor.
Seventh, they come together for the sake of lust and they are like brute beasts
in their lustful desires.” <i>(St. Bridget's Revelations, Book 1, Chapter 26).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Only
ungodly couples, who would want to gratify their fleshly lust to the fullest
during the act, without even once thinking about God, would want to shut God
out from their hearts or their minds. God is always present for every action we
will ever make. Let's get this concept imprinted on our minds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“I
am one God in three Persons, and one in Divinity with the Father and the Holy
Spirit. Just as it is impossible for the Father to be separated from the Son
and the Holy Spirit to be separated from them both, and as it is impossible for
warmth to be separated from fire, <b><u>so it is impossible for these spiritual
spouses to be separated from me; I am always as the third with them</u></b>.
Once my body was ravaged and died in torments, but it will never more be hurt
or die. <b><u>Likewise, those who are incorporated into me with a true faith
and a perfect will shall never die away from me; for wherever they stand or sit
or walk, I am always as the third with them</u></b>.” <i>(St. Bridget's
Revelations, Book 1, Chapter 26).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Jesus
demands of us that we love Him even more than we love ourselves or our wife or
our children:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“<b><i><u>He
that loveth father or mother more than me [Jesus], is not worthy of me; and he
that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me</u></i></b><i>.”
(Matthew 10:37)<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“<b><u>but
I alone was all their good and pleasure and perfect delight</u></b>.” <i>(St.
Bridget's Revelations, on Adam and Eve before the fall – Book 1, Chapter 26)</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">The
meaning of the passage above, wasn't that a couple couldn't delight or feel
pleasure in/from God anymore, but rather that before the fall, God was the only
delight and pleasure man ever felt and desired. After the fall, God had to
compete with human concupiscence and fleshly lust. God is a jealous God, and he
wants us to love and desire Him above everything else. So, to love God during
all times, even during intercourse, is an advice to those couples who wish to
be perfect, and for those couples who ardently longs and desires to be united
with God through ecstatic love. Consequently, those people who choose to
despise and disregard what's been covered here, seek then not to be united with
the eternal, incorruptible God (who lives and reigns forever and ever), but
with a fleshly worthless object (that will rot and be eaten by worms in a
grave).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="Relations-during-pregnancy-should-be-avo"></a><b><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Relations during pregnancy should be avoided<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Pope
Pius XI, Casti Connubii: “<b><u>Nor are those considered as acting against
nature who, in the married state, use their right in the proper manner,
although on account of natural reasons either of time or of certain defects,
new life cannot be brought forth</u></b>. For in matrimony as well as in the
use of matrimonial rights there are also secondary ends, such as mutual aid,
the cultivation of mutual love, and the <b><u>quieting of concupiscence</u></b>
which husband and wife are not forbidden to consider, <b><u>so long as they are
subordinated to the primary end</u></b> and so long as the intrinsic nature of
the act is preserved.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">The
primary end of marriage is of course the procreation and education of Children:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Pope
Pius XI, <i>Casti Connubii </i>(# 17), Dec. 31, 1930: “<b><u>The primary end of
marriage is the procreation and the education of children</u></b>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">The
only reason why relations during pregnancy is allowed is because to avoid a
greater evil, such as adultery (in deed or thought), masturbation, or spouse
rape. This is thus not something meritorious, but something that is allowed
because of concupiscence and human weakness, and because many people cannot
live chastely without otherwise falling into mortal sin. To St. Jerome, the
marital act was not something good or praiseworthy, because it only acts as a
relief valve to avoid a greater evil:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">St.
Jerome: "<b><u>Thus it must be bad to touch a woman. If indulgences is
nonetheless granted to the marital act, this is only to avoid something worse.
But what value can be recognized in a good that is allowed only with a view of
preventing something worse?</u></b>"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">The
main difference between Natural Infertility due to old age, or due to defects,
compared with the infertility during pregnancy, is that in the first two, if
God so wills, He may open the womb of the infertile due to old age, or due to
defects, as we can read happening many times in the Bible. But in the third
case, when a wife is pregnant, she cannot become pregnant again - according to
the natural order God has established - and that's really the main difference
between the two. However, it's a fact that it was ordained in the Old Testament
for couples to abstain from each other during pregnancy, and during the wife's
monthly cycles (her menstrual period). St. Augustine even thought this law
still applies to us today. The best option is of course to remain chaste during
the wife's pregnancy, since there is no chance of her becoming pregnant again.
Anne Catherine Emmerich had the following interesting points to say about
marital relations during pregnancy:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“It
was explained to me here that the Blessed Virgin was begotten by her parents in
holy obedience and complete purity of heart, and that thereafter they lived
together in continence in the greatest devoutness and fear of God. <b><u>I was
at the same time clearly instructed how immeasurably the holiness of children
was encouraged by the purity, chastity, and continence of their parents and by
their resistance to all unclean temptations; and how continence after
conception preserves the fruit of the womb from many sinful impulses</u></b><u>.
In general, I was given an overflowing abundance of knowledge about the <b>roots
of deformity and sin</b></u>.” <i>(Anne Catherine Emmerich, Life of the Blessed
Virgin Mary).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Many
lustful people will not agree with what Anne Catherine Emmerich said above, and
they may even be offended by it. This is so because these people want to
deceive themselves into thinking there's nothing wrong at all about
concupiscence (even though it's a known fact that it leads countless of souls
to Hell). It's a fact that the sexual lusts and the sexual temptations that
urges people into committing sins of the flesh, is an evil product from the
fall. In other words, it was not originally intended to happen in this way
according to God's original plan for mankind, but it ended up in that way
because of Adam's and Eve's transgression. If a person is honest with himself,
he will understand that this is true. However, most people want to deceive themselves
and therefore choose to overlook this fact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Another
instance of the truth that marital relations during pregnancy is bad can be
found in The Revelations of St. Bridget Book 9 or appendix. St. Bridget asks a
man (her husband) that is now in purgatory about the specific reasons why he
escaped eternal hell. This is the third reason why he escaped hell: <i>“The
third [reason] is that I obeyed my teacher who advised me to abstain from my
wife’s bed when I understood that she was pregnant.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Thus,
it is totally clear that those who have marital relations during pregnancy are
endangering their own and their child's spiritual welfare. However, the above
passage was not a condemnation of relations during pregnancy, but it clearly
indicates that there can be a danger spiritually in having relations during the
time of a pregnancy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1701402566055966001" name="The-evil-of-concupiscence"></a><b><u><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">The evil of concupiscence<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">St.
Augustine goes so far as to call concupiscence evil and a disease (although not
evil in the generative aspect). Yes, he even shares a point we have thought could
be true, namely, that Original Sin is transmitted through Lust:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">St.
Augustine:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;"> “Wherefore the devil
holds infants guilty [original sin] who are born, not of the good by which
marriage is good, but of the <b><u>evil of concupiscence</u></b>, which,
indeed, marriage uses aright, but at which even marriage has occasion to feel
shame.” <i>(On Marriage and Concupiscence Book 1, Chapter 27).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">St.
Augustine:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;"> “<b><u>This disease
of concupiscence</u> </b>is what the apostle refers to, when, speaking to
married believers, he says: <i>'This is the will of God, even your
sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication: that every one of you
should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor; not in the <b><u>disease
of desire</u></b>, even as the Gentiles which know not God.'</i> (1 Thessalonians
4:3-5). The married believer, therefore, must not only not use another man's
vessel, which is what they do who lust after others' wives; but he must know
that even his own vessel is not to be possessed in the <b><u>disease of carnal
concupiscence</u></b>.” <i>(On Marriage and Concupiscence Book 1, Chapter 9).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Adultery,
fornication and masturbation are examples of bad and damnable lust. Lust is
also an evil in marriage and can easily turn into something damnable if husband
and wife goes too far (as sadly happens with most couples today, even by those
who call themselves Catholic). Just because it's licit to perform the marriage
act for procreative purposes in marriage, does not make the lust caused thereof
good or praiseworthy. St. Augustine explains this point further:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“Forasmuch,
then, as the good of marriage could not be lost by the addition of this evil
[lust]... Since, therefore, marriage effects some good even out of that evil,
it has whereof to glory; but since the good cannot be effected without the
evil, it has reason for feeling shame. The case may be illustrated by the
example of a lame man. Suppose him to attain to some good object by limping
after it, then, on the one hand, the attainment itself is not evil because of
the evil of the man's lameness; nor, on the other hand, is the lameness good
because of the goodness of the attainment. So, on the same principle, <b><u>we
ought not to condemn marriage because of the evil of lust; nor must we praise
lust because of the good of marriage</u></b>.” <i>(On Marriage and
Concupiscence Book 1, Chapter 8).<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Sexual
temptations during lawful procreative relations can also be a cause of sin
since it may drive a husband and wife to go farther than what is necessary or
licit, either during, before or after the marital act, and this, of course, is
also a great evil. These temptations, as we have seen, does not turn into
something good just because a person is married, for he is still tempted into
committing sins. This is one of the very reasons that lust and sexual
temptations are bad, also in marriage, for they are still defects, and are
still occasions of sin and an evil product from the fall, a product from
original sin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Temptations
are thus <i>not</i> something good, but are truly “<i>unclean temptations</i>”
as described above by Anne Catherine Emmerich, and the “<i>evil of
concupiscence</i>” or “<i>this disease of concupiscence</i>” as stated above by
St. Augustine. If a person understands these concepts and agrees with them
(that a couple's sensual behavior during their child's pregnancy could effect
their child in a negative way, inflicting sinful impulses upon the child), will
he understand and agree with what Anne Catherine Emmerich said above. The
wisdom by Anne Catherine Emmerich is worth quoting again:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">“It
was explained to me here that the Blessed Virgin was begotten by her parents in
holy obedience and complete purity of heart, and that thereafter they lived
together in continence in the greatest devoutness and fear of God. <b><u>I was
at the same time clearly instructed how immeasurably the holiness of children
was encouraged by the purity, chastity, and continence of their parents and by
their resistance to all unclean temptations; and how continence after
conception preserves the fruit of the womb from many sinful impulses</u></b>.
In general, I was given an overflowing abundance of knowledge about <b><u>the
roots of deformity and sin</u></b>.” <i>(Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary)</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">The
sensuality that thus will be aroused during pregnancy, is a great evil that
will be affecting both husband and wife, and their future child. Relations
during pregnancy can also sometimes be dangerous to the child, and could lead
to a premature birth. So however one looks at it, the best opinion is to
practice abstinence. And if a person claims that he cannot do this, how then
will he manage when either one of the spouses dies?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">If
spouses wishes to nurture virtue, and if there is a mutual consent for
abstaining from marital relations, then both husband and wife can separate from
each other any amount of time they decide, in order to cultivate virtue and
evangelical perfection. We pray and beg that all may consider to do this from
time to time. With all these facts in consideration, the most prudent thing is
obviously to remain chaste during the whole duration of the pregnancy, in order
to nurture virtue in yourself and your future children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Finally,
consider the words of Sacred Scripture on marriage and sexuality:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Hebrews
13:4 “<b>May marriage be honorable in every way, and may the marriage bed be
immaculate. For God will judge fornicators and adulterers</b>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 120%; margin-bottom: 13.9pt; margin-left: 35.45pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 13.9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 120%; mso-ansi-language: #00FF; mso-bidi-language: #00FF; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: #00FF;">Ephesians
5:12 “<b>For the things that are done by them in secret are shameful, even to
mention</b>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">[Last Updated: December 8, 2012 - Statements against Natural Family Planning was removed.]</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 17.77777862548828px;">[Last Updated: December 10, 2012 - Statement against Vatican II was removed.]</span><br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-8031630491456612842012-12-01T16:56:00.000+08:002013-11-28T20:22:07.345+08:00Christmas Preparation of St. Rose of Lima<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8u-MW2LxRvY/Upc1GovFrYI/AAAAAAAAAIc/YVeWDyur5QQ/s1600/S_Rose_of_Lima_with_Child_Jesus_-_Anonymous_Cusco_School.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8u-MW2LxRvY/Upc1GovFrYI/AAAAAAAAAIc/YVeWDyur5QQ/s400/S_Rose_of_Lima_with_Child_Jesus_-_Anonymous_Cusco_School.jpg" width="267" /></a></div>
St. Rose, reflecting one day on the charity which St. Catherine of Siena had shown towards Jesus Christ, hidden under the form of a beggar, in depriving herself of her garments to clothe Him, thought she might imitate her by making a sort of spiritual and mysterious garment for the Infant Jesus of several acts of virtue. This is the formula, which was found in her own handwriting:</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
+ Jesus +</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“This year, 1616, by the grace of my Savior, and under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I will clothe My Divine Jesus, whom the Church will soon represent to us born naked, in a manger, exposed to all the severity of winter. I will make Him an under garment of <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">fifty Litanies</span></b>, of <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>nine hundred pair of beads</b></span>, which I will recite, and of <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>five days of abstinence from every sort of nourishment</b></span>, in honour of the adorable mystery of the Incarnation. I will compose his swaddling clothes of <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">nine visits to the most Blessed Sacrament</span></b>, of <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>nine Psalters of the Blessed Virgin</b></span><b><span style="color: #a64d79;">[1]</span></b>, and of <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>nine fasting days</b></span>, to honor the nine months during which He was enclosed in her chaste womb. His covering shall consist of <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">five days passed without eating or drinking</span></b>; of <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>five visits to the most Blessed Sacrament</b></span>, and <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">of as many Rosaries</span></b> in honor of His birth in this world. His bands shall be made of <b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">three chaplets of our Lord</span><span style="color: #a64d79;">[2]</span></b>; of <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>five days abstinence from food</b></span>, and of <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>five stations which I will make before the most Blessed Sacrament</b></span><b><span style="color: #a64d79;">[3]</span></b>. For the fringes and borders of His swaddling clothes and bands, I will make <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>thirty-three extra communions</b></span>; I will assist at <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>thirty-three Masses</b></span>; I will spend <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>thirty-three hours in mental prayer</b></span>; I will recite <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>thirty-three times the Our Father, thirty-three times the Hail Mary, Creed, Glory Be, and Hail Holy Queen, each</b></span>; I will also recite <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>thirty-three Rosaries</b></span>, I will fast <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>thirty-three days</b></span>, I will take <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>three thousand stripes of the discipline</b></span>, in honor of the thirty-three years he spent on earth. <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Lastly, I offer as a gift to my dear Jesus, my tears, my groans, and all the acts of love which I shall make. With this I offer my heart and soul, that there may be nothing in me which is not entirely consecrated to Him.</b></span>”</blockquote>
<br />
1. The Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St. Bonaventure is found at:<br />
<a href="http://www.ewtn.com/library/SOURCES/PSALTER.TXT" target="_blank">http://www.ewtn.com/library/SOURCES/PSALTER.TXT</a><br />
2. The Chaplet of Our Lord composed by Blessed Michael of Florence is at:<br />
<a href="http://www.liturgialatina.org/raccolta/jesus.htm#18" target="_blank">http://www.liturgialatina.org/raccolta/jesus.htm#18</a><br />
3. A Station consists of a Visit to the Blessed Sacrament with the following prayers:<br />
<span style="text-align: justify;">“</span>Long Live Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. And may He be loved by all.<span style="text-align: justify;">”</span><br />
Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be five times, and<br />
Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be once for the intention of the Pope.<br />
<br />
<b>From:</b><br />
The Life of Saint Rose of Lima<br />
by Father Jean Baptist Feuillet<br />
<br />Spiritual Mattershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08900332835956415535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-61210928659832401292012-07-22T14:41:00.005+08:002012-07-23T15:04:41.046+08:00Do Not Treat God Commonly<div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b>By Richard Salbato</b></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><i>[Note: This is a short version of the article.]</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">A few months back a priest came to Fatima and called me up for a meeting. He said that he came to Fatima to learn how to improve his parish and make people more prayerful, more Catholic and more interested in the life of the parish. He seemed frustrated. But to me the answer was simple because I have seen it happen over and over in many parishes. I told him that all he had to do was not treat God commonly and his parish would thrive. He did not seem to know what I meant by this so I went on to explain in three hours of conversation. It is not any great wisdom on my part but simply my observations of parishes and priests where this was done properly and where the results were more than amazing but even miraculous.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">One such example is Father Sweeney who was given a small Vietnamese parish in Santa Clara, California. The problem with the parish was that most of the homes around it were torn down to build factories, office buildings, and freeways. The total amount of actual families that lived within the parish limits was very small and going downhill every day. Father Sweeney was a terrible speaker and bored most people who listened to him and he was not that charismatic face to face. But Father built that parish up from two priests and a half full church on Sunday to 10 priests, and 10 Sunday Masses overfilled to the outside to the point that television cameras were placed outside to show the Mass to those who could not get inside. Daily Masses went from two or three people to hundreds of people. Confessions went from three of four a week to thousands per week and four or five confessors at each Sunday Mass and Confessors even at daily Mass. In fact Father Sweeney became so successful that he build a 50 foot tall statue of Our Lady so that three freeways could see Her and a large two story center for religious education of children and adults. What did this priest do? It was not his preaching - he was not good. It was not his personality - he would at times be boring. In fact, it was not what he did but what he did not do. Because of his love and understanding of who God is, Father did not treat God commonly and did not let anyone else treat God commonly either.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">When Father came into the Church he knelt down in front of the tabernacle with profound respect and not just a quick genuflection but with profound thought of who was in that Tabernacle. When he said Mass it was as if he was face to face with God in Heaven. When he held up the Eucharist it was as if he was holding the Christ Child, given to him by Our Lady.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">In spite of the great disadvantages for proper respect in the Novus Ordo Mass, Father continued to have an Altar Rail and everyone continued to kneel at the Altar Rail for communion. No one and I mean no one ever went behind the Altar Rail except priests and Altar-BOYS. When it was time to pass out communion (no matter who was saying Mass) from one to five priests would come into the church and pass out communion and only at the Altar Rail and not to anyone standing. To show the importance of the Mass, Father had from 4 to 10 altar-boys at all times even in daily Masses. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Never was Father disobedient to the liberal bishops over him. How then was he able to do what many other priests would like to do? It is simple! Father knew the laws of his Church and knew them well. There are things a bishop can recommend to a priest but when it comes to the Mass the guidelines from Rome are very plain and set in stone.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">No bishop can force the removal of an Altar Rail and no bishop can force Altar-girls and no bishop can force Extraordinary Ministers. It is not in his authority. Authority has limits in every walk of life. Parents have authority but not over life. Kings and Presidents have authority but not over freedom. Judges and police have authority but not over justice.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Treating God commonly destroys faith and religion. We will believe and have faith in the same extent in our mind as we treat God. If we treat Him as if he was no different from anyone else sitting next to us, we will end up believing Him to be no different from any other person. Having a personal relationship with God can be good if we keep it within the limits of respect, but if we try to bring him down to our level He will not be there for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b>The Angel of Fatima</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Is this respect and worship of God really necessary? After all we are in a new age where children come home from school without even greeting their own mother but just running in and out without a thought of her.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">In Revelation or Apocalypse 4 we are given a glimpse of the Throne of God (metaphorically) and the chapter not only shows the majesty and beauty of God but somewhat overwhelming and then we read that all fell down and worships Him and adored Him (Rev. 4:9-10) who is worthy of glory and honor (Rev. 4:11) and then again before the Lamb standing as it were slain (Rev. 4:6) everyone fell down and worshiped singing and praising and honoring the Lamb saying "—benediction and honor and glory and power forever". And all fell down on their faces and adored Him that liveth forever and ever. (Rev. 4:14)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">This, my friend, is the Mass as it is co-celebrated in Heaven as we celebrate it on earth. If we could see what happens around that priest at Mass we would see this description in Revelation 4. As we stand or sit or talk or walk around, what are the saints and angels of heaven doing? They are doing the same thing the Angel of Fatima did.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">In 1916 an Angel appeared to the three children of Fatima with a Chalice and Host above it dripping blood into the Chalice. Giving example to the children the angel worshiped God in the Eucharist by kneeling and then bowing down with his face in the earth and taught them a prayer that I do not need to repeat here. But the prayer was for all of us that disrespect God in the Eucharist with irreverence -- and irreverence is an outrage to God, and irreverence is a sacrilege to God, and irreverence is the great sin of indifference to God.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Before the apparition of the Angel of Fatima, Lucia, as always was picked to throw flower peddles in front of the procession of The Blessed Sacrament - the Eucharistic Procession. Jacinta, who was just a little child, asked why she does this. Lucia told her that the Child Jesus was there on that platform and that was how we honored Him. Jacinta wanted to honor the Child Jesus also in the way so she pleaded to be one of the girls to throw the flower peddles. But when they marched in the Eucharistic Procession Jacinta just looked and looked at the Monstrance with the Host in it and never threw any flower peddles. After the procession Lucia asked her why she did not throw the flowers and Jacinta said that she looked and looked but did not see the Child Jesus. It was from that point on after Lucia explained to her that Jacinta referred to the Eucharist as the "Hidden Jesus".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">He is hidden from our eyes because our eyes could not handle the sight of God, but when we look upon the Host, the Eucharist we are seeing God. God is not inside the Host, God is the Host. When we see the Host we see God. God can take on any form He wants to and when He takes on the form of a Host, it is truly God that we are looking at, not symbolic, nor representing, not a type, but the real and only God.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b>Not Just God but God Crucified</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Christ only asked us to remember one thing, His death, And so in the Catholic Church the altar of sacrifice, and not the pulpit or the choir or the organ, is the center of worship, for there is re-enacted the memorial of His Passion.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Its value does not depend on him who says it, or on him who hears it; it depends on Him who is the One High Priest and Victim, Jesus Christ our Lord. With Him we are united, in spite of our nothingness; in a certain sense, we lose our individuality for the time being; we unite our intellect and our will, our heart and our soul, our body and our blood, so intimately with Christ, that the Heavenly Father sees not so much us with our imperfection, but rather sees us , the Beloved Son in whom He is well pleased.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The Mass is for that reason the greatest event in the history of mankind; the only Holy Act which keeps the wrath of God from a sinful world, because it holds the Cross between heaven and earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">What is important at this point is that we take the proper mental attitude toward the Mass, and remember this important fact, that the Sacrifice of the Cross is not something which happened nineteen hundred years ago. It is still happening. We were not conscious of being present there on Calvary that day, but He was conscious of our presence. Blood like falling stars is still dropping upon our souls.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Calvary is renewed, re-enacted, re-presented, as we have seen, in the Mass. Calvary is one with the Mass, and the Mass is one with Calvary, for in both there is the same Priest and Victim.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">On the Cross the Savior was alone; in the Mass He is with us.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The Mass then is the communication of the Sacrifice of Calvary to us under the species of bread and wine.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">He willed to give us the very life we slew; to give us the very Food we destroyed; to nourish us with the very Bread we buried, and the very Blood we poured forth… He turned a Crucifixion into Redemption; a Consecration into a Communion; a death into life everlasting.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b>Two Commandments</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">There are really only two commandments, two stones, but these are not suggestions, these are the only way to heaven. When asked how to get to heaven Christ said "Keep the Commandments." The first commandment is divided into three sections and the second commandment is divided into seven sections. The first is first because it is the most important and it is how to relate to God. It can be summed up in "Do not treat God commonly". The second commandment might be summed up as "Do not treat anything God created badly." Do not mistreat God and do not mistreat anything God created in Heaven or on Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">God deserves worship and honor and He, not us, told us how to worship throughout the entire bible from the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden, to the symbolic sacrificed lambs, to the Last Supper, to the Crucifixion, and to the Heavenly Mass in Revelation. "Blessed are they that wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb, that they may have the right to the Tree of Life." (Rev. 22:14) The tree of life is the Mass.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b>Choices of Worship</b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The Holy Father has given many directions on devotion to God in the Eucharist and has even said that this is the heart and summit of the Church and the fountain of all grace. He has asked for Perpetual Adoration and stressed its importance. He has <strike>not</strike> made this year the year of the Eucharist. What should we do? We can follow along with the rest of the crowd so that we do not look out of place and if they are not respectful, we can say that we are just doing what everyone else is doing. We can choose receiving communion in the hand, that is our right, or we can do the better thing and treat God without disrespect. We can choose to receive God standing, that is our right, or we can choose the less disrespectful way, kneeling, as that is also our right. As you can see from above there is a wrong way to worship and a right way. Someday the right way will be the only way but for now you have a choice between the right way and a lesser than right way.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">My feeling is that the way we worship God is a direct outward sign of our love for Him. Treat Him commonly and how should He treat you? Treat Him reverently and with fear and trembling and even if your sins are as great as mountains God will forgive you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1701402566055966001.post-57465497277628878692012-07-22T13:53:00.015+08:002012-07-23T13:02:02.569+08:00The Heresy of Pluralism [& Indifferentism]<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 14pt; margin: 0in 0.2in 6pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><b>By Richard Salbato</b></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><i>[Note: This is a short version of the article.]</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">In the documents of Vatican II under the Decree on Ecumenism we read, “Every effort to avoid expressions, judgments and actions which do not represent the condition of our separated brethren with truth and fairness and so make mutual relations with them more difficult. (should be avoided). … The results will be that, little by little, the obstacles to ecclesiastical communion are overcome, all Christians will be gathered, in a common celebration of the Eucharist, into the unity of the one and ONLY Church, which Christ bestowed on His Church from the beginning. This unity, be believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time.”</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN">CATHOLIC PRINCIPLES OF ECUMENISM No. 4</span><o:p></o:p></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">It is the very change in language that has caused the ultra-Traditionalist to reject Vatican II, and the ultra-liberal to fall into indifferentism, or pluralism. Changing the language from heretic to separated brethren and from the rejection of essential truths to holding to some truths angered Traditionalists and confused liberals. Nothing changed except the language and this only to enter into a dialogue that could bring those who left back to the faith. I use the same method when evangelizing. I do not walk up and say you are a heretic and going to hell. I say you and I hold to some truths that are the same, and some that are different. The truth is that no doctrine has ever changed and <b>doctrine cannot change</b>, as is stated by Pope Benedict XV.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Pope Benedict XV, <span style="color: #3d85c6;">“</span><a href="http://www.traditionalcatholic.net/Tradition/Canon_Law/index.html" target="reference"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Codex Iuris Canonici”</span><span style="color: #558ed5;"> (1917)</span></b></a><span style="color: #558ed5;"> </span><b>The year of Fatima:</b></span><o:p></o:p></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span lang="EN">“Our Lord Jesus Christ entrusted the deposit of faith to the Church, that under the constant guidance and assistance of the Holy Spirit, she might sacredly guard and faithfully explain this divine revelation. (c. 1322).</span></b>”</blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span lang="EN">“The Church guards and explains this deposit of faith. <span style="color: #558ed5;">She does not add to it, </span>for it was completed and closed with the death of the last Apostle, Saint John.</span></b><span lang="EN"> To <i>guard</i> means to keep and defend; in doing this the Church must sometimes declare truths which are not contained in revelation but which are necessary to keep revealed truth. To <i>explain</i> means to make clear what is obscure. <b>The so-called developments of doctrine</b> through dogmatic definitions may be compared to the sharpening of the focus on a film which is projected on a screen. <b>The details which become discernible with clear focus <span style="color: #558ed5;">are not new</span>;</b> they were all in the original picture, but they are now brought out more clearly.</span>”</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span lang="EN"></span><b><span lang="EN">“All those truths must be believed</span></b><span lang="EN"> <i><span style="color: #558ed5;"><b>fide divina et catholica</b></span></i>, which are contained in the written word of God or in tradition and which the Church proposes for acceptance as revealed by God, either by solemn definition <b>or through her ordinary and universal teaching.</b> To pronounce a solemn definition is the part of an Ecumenical Council or of the Roman Pontiff speaking <i>ex cathedra</i>. No doctrine is to be considered as dogmatically defined unless this is evidently proved (c. 1323).</span>”</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span lang="EN">“It is not enough to avoid heresy, but one must also carefully shun all errors which more or less approach it; hence<b> all must observe the constitutions and decrees by which the Holy See has proscribed and forbidden opinions of that sort (c. 1324).</b></span>”</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span lang="EN"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">“One who after baptism, while remaining nominally a Christian, pertinaciously (that is, with conscious and intentional resistance to the authority of God and the Church) denies or doubts any one of the truths which must be believed de fide divina et catholica, is a <u>heretic</u>; if he falls away entirely from the Christian faith, he is an <u>apostate</u>; finally if he rejects the authority of the Supreme Pontiff or refuses communion with the members of the Church who are subject to him, he is a <u>schismatic</u> (c. 1325, §2).”</span></span></b></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Since, as I believe and the Church teaches, Vatican II could not change any doctrine of the Church, we must look at these old doctrines of the faith that we must believe in the light of Ecumenical language used to draw people into the church in a loving way but which do not take away from the deposit of faith that we must believe.</span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Pluralism is a Masonic and Charismatic belief that states all religions are the same in the eyes of God. Catholic Doctrine states that “except for invincible ignorance, there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church.” Anyone who says that any other religion is not “against the word of God” is <b>a heretic</b>.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>Fourth Lateran Council</b></span> 1215 AD (ex cathedra): “There is but one universal Church of the faithful, outside of which no one can be saved.<o:p></o:p>”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #558ed5;"><b>Unam Sanctam</b> </span>1302 (ex cathedra): “We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is <b>absolutely necessary</b> for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.<o:p></o:p>”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #558ed5;"><b>Cantate Domino</b> </span>1441 (ex cathedra): “The Most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes, and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics, can have a share in life eternal; but they will go into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. Unless before death they are joined with her; and that so important is THE UNITY OF THIS ECCLESIASTICAL BODY that only those remaining within this UNITY can profit by the sacraments of the church unto salvation ... <b>NO ONE, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, NO ONE, even if he pour out his blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the UNITY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.</b><o:p></o:p>”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">The same has been expressed in Vatican II, and can be found in 1 Tim. 2:4, Acts 4:12, Gal. 1:8, Tit. 3:10, 2 John 10, St. Ireneaus, St. Cyprian, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Fulgentius and St. John of the Cross. Nonetheless, Vatican II does express that non-Catholics (Protestants, Orthodox, Jews and Moslems) do have some truths and do have some good signs of charity. But Vatican II does not say that for that reason they will be saved or are roads to salvation. No where does Vatican II express salvation outside the Church except as she has always taught, through baptism of desire or blood. Consider what Pope Pius XI says about the outward signs of holiness and faith.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN">Pope Pius XI (1922-1939), <span style="color: #558ed5;">“<a href="http://www.traditionalcatholic.net/Tradition/Pope/Pius_XI/On_The_Promotion_of_True_Religious_Unity,_January_6,_1928.html" target="reference"><b><span style="color: #558ed5; text-decoration: none;">On The Promotion of True Religious Unity</span></b></a></span></span><span style="color: #558ed5;">”</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #558ed5;"> </span><span lang="EN">(<i>Mortalium Animos</i>, January 6, 1928):</span><o:p></o:p></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span lang="EN">“When the question of promoting unity among Christians is under consideration many are easily deceived by the semblance of good. ... Yet beneath the coaxing words there is concealed an error so great that it would destroy utterly the foundations of the Catholic Faith.</span></b><b><span lang="EN">”</span></b></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span lang="EN"></span></b><span lang="EN">“They, therefore, who profess themselves Christians cannot, we think, but believe in Christ's establishment of one Church and <b>only one.</b> Yet when one asks what that Church by the will of its Founder ought to be, then not all agree. Indeed a great many deny, for example, that Christ's Church ought to be visible - at least in the sense that it should stand forth as one body of faithful united in one identical doctrine and under one authority and rule. <b>On the contrary, by a visible Church they understand nothing but a society formed by various Christian communities, even though these adhere to different and even mutually contradictory doctrines.</b></span><b><span lang="EN">”</span></b> </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b><span lang="EN"></span></b><span lang="EN">“And here there is presented the opportunity to set forth and remove a falsity upon which, it seems, this whole question hinges, and from which is drawn the multiple effort of the non-Christians who strive, as We have said, for the confederation of the Christian churches.</span>” </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span lang="EN">“The authors of this plan are in the habit of quoting the words of Christ: That ye all may be one. ... There shall be one fold and one shepherd, (John 17, 21; 10, 16), yet in the sense that these words express a desire and a prayer of Jesus Christ which thus far has lacked all effect. They contend that the unity of faith and governance which is the sign of the true and one Church of Christ, has almost never existed up to this time, and does not exist today; that it can be wished for and perhaps sometime be obtained through common submission of the will, but meanwhile it must be considered a fiction.</span><span lang="EN">”</span> </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span lang="EN"></span><span lang="EN">“They say, moreover, that the Church by its very nature is divided into parts; that it consists of many churches or particular communities which are separated among themselves and, although they have certain points of doctrine in common, differ in others; and that at most the Church was the one Church and only Church between the Apostolic Era and the first Ecumenical Councils.</span>” </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span lang="EN">“Therefore, they say, the controversies and old differences of opinion, which to this day divide the Christian name, should be put aside, and with the remaining doctrines there should be formulated and proposed a common rule of faith, in the profession of which all can know and feel themselves brothers. United by some sort of universal covenant, the multitude of churches or communities will then be in a position to oppose fruitfully and effectively the progress of unbelief. This, Venerable Brethren, is the more general opinion.</span><span lang="EN">”</span> </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span lang="EN"></span><span lang="EN">“There are, however, some among them who assume and grant that Protestantism, as they call it, has rejected very inadvisedly certain articles of faith and certain rites of external worship that are fully acceptable and useful, which the Roman Church still preserves. But they add immediately that the Church has corrupted the early religion by adding to it and proposing for belief certain doctrines that are not only foreign to, but are opposed to, the Gospel - among which they bring forth chiefly that of the primacy of jurisdiction assigned to Peter and his successors of the Roman See.</span><span lang="EN">” <o:p></o:p></span></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">What the Holy Father was referencing above is movements in the world at the time (mostly by Masons) to create a worldwide organization that would unite all Christian religions into one church void of absolute doctrine. This became the World Council of Churches. I have no problem with these being Cultural Pluralism, or freedom of religion, but not Doctrinal Pluralism.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Doctrinal Pluralism's difficulty (and contradiction of Catholic teaching) comes when it insists on the uniform equality of all <i>religions</i>, in common with cultures and ethnicities. This claim necessarily conflicts with the Church's claim to unique truth, that she and she alone possesses and passes on the whole truth given to man by his Creator.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This statement of pluralism's tenets clearly reveals its roots in another position which has been condemned by the Church. <b>Indifferentism,</b> the idea that all religions are equally capable of saving man (in other words, that God is indifferent to the way in which He is worshipped and, indeed, to whether or not the truth about Him is believed), bears a striking similarity to pluralist doctrine.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Pluralism also shares with indifferentism the tendency to destroy all real religion within their spheres. As the popes have declared, indifferentism results in the abandonment of all substantive religion<sup>4</sup>; after all, if the particular religion by which one worships God is irrelevant, then will not God be just as well pleased by an individual worship which is minimal to the point of non-existence?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Indifferentism thereby leads its followers into a religion which requires neither morals nor worship, a religion devoid of any substantive content. Pluralism extends this tendency of indifferentism into the public sphere. The state, immediately or gradually, reaches the point where the only religious tenets it supports or even acknowledges are completely banal, or at least deprived of all significant content.<sup>5</sup><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><sup><br />
</sup></div><div class="MsoNormal">Thus, pluralism falls under the same condemnations as indifferentism,<sup>6</sup> in addition to the many which have been levied against it in its own right.<sup>7</sup> The Church has always reacted very strongly to these theories, which presume to sever the state from its true philosophical, and therefore necessarily religious, underpinnings. That is because indifferentism and pluralism necessarily involve yet another heresy, a sort of <b>liberal quietism</b>, by which faith is a personal and private matter which must never enter into one's public dealings.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Faith, however, must be lived out in action, as Our Lord Himself<sup>9</sup> and St. James<sup>10</sup> have told us. This means that faith must be lived out both by individual Catholics, by Catholic families, <i>and by the state</i>.<sup>11</sup><o:p></o:p><br />
<sup><br />
</sup></div><div class="MsoNormal">Catholics must shun pluralism just as they would any other heresy as harmful to the soul and contrary to the social teachings of the Church.<sup>2</sup><br />
<br />
The extreme, to which modernity regularly takes this otherwise reasonable proposition, is insisting that <i>all</i> cultures are <i>necessarily</i> of entirely equal value, regardless of the objective evils which that culture encourages or even requires. Catholic teaching, on the other hand, would argue that some cultures must necessarily be purified of these fundamentally immoral elements. Excellent examples are ancient Carthaginian society, <b>which regularly performed mass infant sacrifices; Canaanite society, which performed human sacrifices to Baal; and Aztec society, which sacrificed enormous numbers of people to their dark gods. Generally, however, conversion to the one true religion will rectify these faults, as is demonstrated by Spanish Mexico having become one of the most Catholic countries on God's earth.</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>This tendency of even Catholics accepting Pluralism has led Catholic theologians to accept the premise that the conscience is the ultimate arbitrator of good and evil, and that is why Pope John Paul II wrote “The Splendor of Truth</b><b>,</b><b>” to dispel this heresy. This is also why 80% of Catholics practice illegal birth control, and many have abortions. </b><br />
<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><sup>4</sup> <i>See, e.g.,</i> Pius XI, <i>Mortalium Animos</i> no. 2 (arguing that those who fall into indifferentism “in distorting the the idea of true religion . . . reject it, and little by little, turn aside to naturalism and atheism”).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><sup>6</sup> <i>See, e.g.,</i> Pius XI, <i>Mortalium Animos</i> no. 2 (declaring that the idea “which considers all religions to be more or less good and praiseworthy . . . and by which we are led to God” is a “false opinion”) and no. 9 (referring to indifferentists as “unhappily infected with these errors”). See also Pius IX, <i>The Syllabus of Errors</i> nos. 16-17, 79.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">___</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><h4><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">THE SYLLABUS OF ERRORS CONDEMNED BY PIUS IX</span></b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal">III. INDIFFERENTISM, LATITUDINARIANISM<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>15. Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true. -- Allocution "Maxima quidem," June 9, 1862; Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>16. Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation. -- Encyclical "Qui pluribus," Nov. 9, 1846.</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>17. Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ. -- Encyclical "Quanto conficiamur," Aug. 10, 1863, etc.</b><o:p></o:p><br />
<b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>18. Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion, in which form it is given to please God equally as in the Catholic Church. -- Encyclical "Noscitis," Dec. 8, 1849.</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>21. The Church has not the power of defining dogmatically that the religion of the Catholic Church is the only true religion. -- Damnatio "Multiplices inter," June 10, 1851.</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>55. The Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church. -- Allocution "Acerbissimum," Sept. 27, 1852.</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>77. In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship. -- Allocution "Nemovestrum," July 26, 1855.</b><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="MsoNormal">Venerable Brothers, it is surprising that in our time such a great war is being waged against the Catholic Church. But anyone who knows the nature, desires and intentions of the sects, whether they be called Masonic or bear another name, and compares them with the nature the systems and the vastness of the obstacles by which the Church has been assailed almost everywhere, cannot doubt that the present misfortune must mainly be imputed to the frauds and machinations of these sects.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It is from them that the synagogue of Satan, which gathers its troops against the Church of Christ, takes its strength. In the past, Our predecessors, vigilant even from the beginning in Israel, had already denounced them to the kings and the nations, and had condemned them time and time again, and even We have not failed in this duty. If those who would have been able to avert such a deadly scourge had only had more faith in the supreme Pastors of the Church! But this scourge, winding through sinuous caverns . . . deceiving many with astute frauds, finally has arrived at the point where it comes forth impetuously from its hiding places and triumphs as a powerful master. Since the throng of its propagandists has grown enormously, these wicked groups think that they have already become masters of the world and that they have almost reached their pre-established goal. Having sometimes obtained what they desired, and that is power, in several countries, they boldly turn the help of powers and authorities which they have secured to trying to submit the Church of God to the most cruel servitude, to undermine the foundations on which it rests, to contaminate its splendid qualities; and, moreover, to strike it with frequent blows, to shake it, to overthrow it, and, if possible, to make it disappear completely from the earth.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Things being thus, Venerable Brothers, make every effort to defend the faithful which are entrusted to you against the insidious contagion of these sects and to save from perdition those who unfortunately have inscribed themselves in such sects. Make known and attack those who, whether suffering from, or planning, deception, are not afraid to affirm that these shady congregations aim only at the profit of society, at progress and mutual benefit. Explain to them often and impress deeply on their souls the Papal constitutions on this subject and teach them that the Masonic associations are anathematized by them not only in Europe but also in America and wherever they may be in the whole world.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>Our Lord did not put the mighty of this century in charge, but Saint Peter, whom he entrusted not only with feeding his sheep, but also the goats; therefore no power in the world, however great it may be, can deprive of the pastoral office those whom the Holy Ghost has made Bishops in order to feed the Church of God.</b><o:p></o:p></div></h4>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com