Saints' Books - Donation Received!

Today Saints' Books received another donation. I feel so heartened by this I am in fact quite surprised at the extent of my happiness.

I keep thinking of the good books I am more able to acquire for the site through such donations.

I am very thankful for the kindness of each person who contributes to this work.

I find it interesting that so far, Saints' Books is the site that is receiving donations. Saints' Prayers is the least finished of the sites, and Saints' Quotes the most. And Saints' Books right in the middle.

I am almost ready to take the construction sign down off of Saints' Books. What it requires is, of course, besides some further volumes -- there will always be continually added further volumes, revising, and so, the sites are only 'finished' in the sense that the main construction work is finally done -- besides some further volumes, that the extracts be extended.

That is, on the front page, they be multiplied into a more comprehensive series of readings, several especially worth reading from each book.

Other than this I may put some chapter extracts in front in a series of set 'Selections', I am not certain, I feel as if there is something more to do but not quite what it is. Of course there are more complicated things one -might- do, that I simply cannot do because of the unnecessary complexity it adds to the maintenance, visit, etc. The sites will always be simple in nature.

Site maintenance can be a mortifying experience. Recently, I discovered that Internet Explorer treated the Master Book List completely differently than Firefox, and shoved a great deal of text off in the wrong place. How long it had been that way, I did not know.

I shall be adding a very large number of quotes from St. Paul of the Cross to the Saints' Quote site in the next few days, as soon as the reviewing and editing is finished. Saints' Prayers has seen some additional prayers, Latin and English, and should have further meditations prepared before long.

I have ordered some books to draw from, for Christmas, but the huge ones still have to wait they are too great expenses. One step closer. . . Step by step.


Hearken, O Lord
Attende Domine

Crying, we raise our eyes to Thee, Sovereign King, Redeemer of all. Listen, Christ, to the pleas of the supplicant sinners.

Ad te Rex summe, omnium redemptor, oculos nostros sublevamus flentes: exaudi, Christe, supplicantum preces.

O Christ keep safe those whom Thou hast redeemed.

Quos redemisti, tu conserva, Christe.

Merry Christmas

All three websites have been updated. Saints' Quotes with further quotes, Saints' Prayers with meditations, Saints' Books with many new books.

I next hope to work on a series of quotations for Saints' Quotes selected for the purposes of meditation, as well as per the norm of continually adding to the database.

I have finished moving (for the nonce, much is still at its previous location for the winter).

Please remember this time, the infancy of Christ, and hold the Christ Child in your heart these days and in eternity.

Merry Christmas!

'As I in hoary winter's night stood shivering in the snow,
Surprised I was with sudden heat which made my heart to glow;
And lifting up a fearful eye to view what fire was near,
A pretty babe all burning bright did in the air appear;
Who, scorched with excessive heat, such floods of tears did shed
As though his floods should quench his flames which with his tears were fed.
Alas, quoth he, but newly born in fiery heats I fry,
Yet none approach to warm their hearts or feel my fire but I!
My faultless breast the furnace is, the fuel wounding thorns,
Love is the fire, and sighs the smoke, the ashes shame and scorns;
The fuel justice layeth on, and mercy blows the coals,
The metal in this furnace wrought are men's defiled souls,
For which, as now on fire I am to work them to their good,
So will I melt into a bath to wash them in my blood.
With this he vanished out of sight and swiftly shrunk away,
And straight I called unto mind that it was Christmas day.'

St. Robert Southwell, 'St. Peter's Complaint', 'The Burning Babe'

Our Lady of the Holy Face Pray for Us

Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day;
Mary the gate, Christ the Heavenly Way!

Mary the root, Christ the Mystic Vine;
Mary the grape, Christ the Sacred Wine!

Mary the wheat, Christ the Living Bread
Mary the stem, Christ the Rose blood-red!

Mary the font, Christ the Cleansing Flood;
Mary the cup, Christ the Saving Blood!

Mary the temple, Christ the temple's Lord; Mary the shrine, Christ the God adored!
Mary the beacon, Christ the Haven's Rest; Mary the mirror, Christ the Vision Blest!
Mary the mother, Christ the mother's Son; By all things blest while endless ages run.

[Edit: Update]

Most likely no one noticed yet, as it has hardly been a day, but Fr. Martin Cochem's 'Explanation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass' download was missing a few pages. This has been corrected. :)

Upgrades. . .

Are are in progress. . .

The most publicly noticeable so far has been the addition of Meditations to Saints' Prayers.

Just in time for Christmas.

Meditation is the opposite of the method of worldly people, it requires a forced, strong and direct attention span. Many people feel very urged to turn away and ignore meditation. But it is absolutely a very great gift and very essential and beneficial.

So, I urge everyone, take up couple of these meditations.. discover how good they are.. then complete all of them.

The difference will be seen not only here, but also by you in eternity. :)

Meditations authored by a saint are certain to be worth it. :)

I am currently in the middle of moving and have been unable to update the sites for the past few weeks.

However, there's a lot of work that's been done that's ready to be uploaded.

I hope to have finished the move at worst in one and a half weeks.

So, around then we should have some major uploads of new quotes, prayers, and some expansions including meditations.

Patience!

'We should not wish to see or do anything which could not be done in the presence of God and His creatures, and we shall thus imagine that we are always in His presence.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

'Pray in peace and serenity, sing intelligently and in a good state - and you will be like a young eagle soaring high in the sky.'

St. Nilus of Sinai

'The Church is thy hope, the Church is thy salvation, the Church is thy refuge.'

St. John Chrysostom

I am beginning to feel the Christmas spirit.. I am going to start listening to the music and that will be the trick.

My two favorite seasons are Christmas and Lent. . Of course it is not Christmas yet. . But it is nearer and nearer.

I doubt I will have time to be able to gather as many quotations as I would like especially for this season, but I will try.

I have some modernly updated quotations of St. Robert Southwell already long used, but today.. a treat.

Older English.. Some of it Christmas poetry. . .

St. Peter's Complaint

Launch forth, my soule, into a maine of teares,
Full fraught with griefe, the trafficke of thy mind;
Torn sailes will serue, thoughts rent with guilty feares:
Giue Care the sterne, vse sighs in lieu of wind:
Remorse, thy pilot; thy misdeede thy card ;
Torment thy hauen, shipwrack thy best reward.

Shun not the shelfe of most deserued shame;
Sticke in the sands of agonizing dread;
Content thee to be stormes' and billowes' game;
Diuorct from drace, thy soule to pennace wed;
Fly not from forraine euils, fly from thy hart;
Worse then the worst of euils is that thou art.

Give vent vnto the vapours of thy brest,
That thicken in the brimmes of cloudie eyes;
Where sinne was hatcht, let teares now wash the nest;
Where life was lost, recouer life with cryes.
Thy trespasse foule, let not thy teares be few,
Baptize thy spotted soule in weeping dew.

... And later. . .

The Burning Babe

As I in hoary Winter's night stood shiveringe in the snowe,
Surpris'd I was with sodayne heat, which made my hart to glowe;
And liftinge upp a fearefull eye to vewe what fire was nere,
A prety Babe all burninge bright, did in the ayre appeare;
Who scorched with excessive heate, such floodes of teares did shedd,
As though His floodes should quench His flames which with His teares were fedd;

Alas! quoth He, but newly borne, in fiery heates I frye,
Yet none approch to warme their hartes or feele my fire but I!
My faultles brest the fornace is, the fuell woundinge thornes,
Love is the fire, and sighes the smoke, the ashes shame and scornes;
The fuell Justice layeth on, and Mercy blowes the coales,
The mettall in this fornace wrought are men's defiled soules,
for which, as nowe on fire I am, to worke them to their good,

So will I melt into a bath to washe them in My bloode:
With this He vanisht out of sight, and swiftly shroncke awaye,
And straight I called unto mynde that it was Christmas daye.

Nine Offices of the Sacred Heart

I am endeavoring to find the book or pamphlet detailing the Nine Offices of the Sacred Heart. . .


“The peace of all things lies in the tranquility of order; and order is the disposition of equal and unequal things in such a way as to give to each its proper place.”

St. Augustine

"In every danger, 'as the dove when frightened flies for refuge to the hollows of the rock, so will the Christian soul seek protection in the cleft of the mystical rock, the Wounded Side of the Redeemer."

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

"I am filled with comfort, I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulations;"

2 Corinthians 7: 4

O holy Heart of Jesus, dwell hidden in my heart, so that I may live only in You and only for You, so that, in the end, I may live with You eternally in heaven.

St. Claude de la Colombiere

Blessed Elzear, Comte d'Arian, in Provence, having, says St. Francis de Sales, been long absent from his devout and chaste Delphina, she sent a messenger to him to inquire expressly for his health. Behold the reply she received: "I am very well, my dear wife; but if you wish to see me, seek me in the wound of the side of our sweet Jesus: for it is there that I dwell, and there you will find me. Elsewhere you will seek me in vain." This was a Christian chevalier indeed.

- E.B.

Papal Quotes

I have read some interesting papal quotes recently. . .

Here we have a condemnation of co-education, and so-called 'sexual education' which I agree with him about how distasteful a terminology it is.

"Surely, equally false and harmful to Christian education is that method of instructing youth, which is commonly called "coeducation." Both the sexes have been established by God's wisdom for this purpose, that in the family and in society they may complement each other, and may aptly join in any one thing; for this reason there is a distinction of body and of soul by which they differ from each other, which accordingly must be maintained in education and in instruction, or, rather ought to be fostered by proper distinction and separation, in keeping with age and circumstances. Such precepts in accord with the precepts of Christian prudence are to be observed at the proper time and opportunely not only in all schools, especially through the disturbed years of youth, upon which the manner of living for almost all future life entirely depends, but also in gymnastic games and exercises, in which special care must be taken for the Christian modesty of girls, inasmuch as it is especially unbecoming for them to expose themselves, and to exhibit themselves before the eyes of all."

". . . much more pernicious are those opinions and teachings regarding the following of nature absolutely as a guide. These enter upon a certain phase of human education which is full of difficulties, namely, that which has to do with moral integrity and chastity. For here and there a great many foolishly and dangerously hold and advance the method of education, which is disgustingly called "sexual," since they foolishly feel that they can, by merely natural means, after discarding every religious and pious aid, warn youth against sensuality and excess, by initiating and instructing all of them, without distinction of sex, even publicly, in hazardous doctrines; and what is worse, by exposing them prematurely to the occasions, in order that their minds having become accustomed, as they say, may grow hardened to the dangers of puberty."

You can read more of the above in his Encyclical, "Divini illius magistri"

Pope St. Pius X's quotation in the database, puts it all much more succinctly:

'Obviously the need of this Christian instruction is accentuated by the decline of our times and morals. It is even more demanded by the existence of those public schools, lacking all religion, where everything holy is ridiculed and scorned. There both teachers' lips and students' ears are inclined to godlessness. We are referring to those schools which are unjustly called neutral or lay. In reality, they are nothing more than the stronghold of the powers of darkness.'

Pope Leo XIII, and Bl. Pope Pius IX, amongst others sound the same notes.

Rarities

I received my first donation to Saints' Books the other day and it is still on my mind.

It was a great happiness to receive. Small, but more than might be expected and a great start and seed. Thanks be to God and His those He inspires.

Someday perhaps I'll be able to cover the costs of these sites through donations. And begin the further projects.

There are some very rare treasures out there, some that may never be recoverable if they aren't purchased soon -- I am speaking of antiquarian prayer books, catechisms, etc. and recent books of very limited printing of the works of the saints in English. You sometimes see a few at high prices for auctions.. and then a particular work may not appear again.

I know the spiritual treasure in many of them is infinite..

There's the Evergetinos which is about $120.00, a rare treasure with a limited printing run, full of hither to untranslated writings of the saints.

There's Fr. Furniss, Redemptorist from 1800's works, which are so rare you cannot find them anywhere at all, except a single compilation of much of his work for $350.00 at an antiquarian book seller's. If that disappears, I may never be able to acquire his writings and redistribute them.

So I pray that there are people inspired by the thought of the Heavenly treasure they receive from donating and helping share the works of the saints.

Saints' Works

I have established a new core website to run the entire Saints' series of websites from, the php, the file storage, etc.

I am not certain if the site itself will see much public use however, merely being more of a backbone site to run and hold the essentials of all the other sites.

The website is (and there is nothing there yet) www.saintsworks.net

Up till now I have been running the php and such from my old programming website, which I had intended to use to launch some entertainment oriented games for sale. There is a great lack of entertainment in these times with a Catholic moral compass, and I hoped to provide something there.

However, the artwork and other aspects proved quite difficult to finish, I had people come into the projects and bow out, leaving them without the essentials. I can program, I can write stories for entertainment, but the visual artistic content side is something I lack enough talent for. And relying on outside help means sometimes the help doesn't work out. I've finally decided to take down that site, and move on to other things. I still do work on some of these projects, but they're being put off the stove, no longer even on the backburner.

I may put up a random showcase generator on Saints' Works to showcase the other sites, or simply put up a static site with information about the others.

My previous provider, Fortune City was acquired by another host and made the transfer poorly. So the new provider will be WebhostingPad.com and we shall see how well this works. The company, they say is hiring new people and doing well, and it shows up in the mainstream review sites top ten lists. It has been in business since 2005.

The price, as they say, cannot be beat. Right now 'unlimited hosting' is a popular term (not quite but that is the advertisement). This will be helpful for storing far more volumes on Saints' Books than we were able to in the construction period, where we had limited storage available.

This is all good news. :)

Prayers, New and Old

Seven Ave Maria's and Seven Sancta Mater's
favored by Pope Pius VII

Sancta Mater

Holy Mother, pierce me through;
In my heart each wound renew
Of thy Saviour crucified.

Sancta Mater istud agas,
Crucifixi fige plagas
Cordi meo valide.

Ave Maria

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae.

Hail Mary, Full of Sorrows
favored by Bl. Pope Pius IX

Hail Mary, full of sorrows, the Crucified is with thee: tearful art thou amongst women, and tearful is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of the Crucified, grant tears to us crucifiers of thy Son, now and at the hour of our death.

Ave Maria doloribus plena, Crucifixus tecum: lacrymabilis te in mulieribus, et lacrymabilis fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Crucifixi: lacrymas impertire nobis crucifixoribus Filii tui, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae.

Bl. Pope Pius IX desired this prayer to be said with contrite heart in honour of the most holy Virgin in her desolation.

O Mary, Mother of Mercy
by Pope Bl. Pius IX

O Mary, mother of mercy and refuge of sinners! we beseech thee to look with pitying eyes on heretical and schismatical nations. Do thou, who art the seat of wisdom, illumine their minds, wretchedly involved in the darkness of ignorance and sin, that they may know the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman Church to be the only true Church of Jesus Christ, outside of which no sanctity or salvation can be found. Finally, complete their conversion by obtaining for them the grace to believe every truth of our Holy Faith, and to submit to the Sovereign Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Jesus Christ on Earth, that thus, being soon united to us by the bonds of divine charity, they may make with us but one fold under one and the same pastor, and that we may thus, O glorious Virgin! all sing exultingly forever: 'Rejoice, O Virgin Mary! alone thou hast destroyed all heresies in the whole world.'

In peace I shall both lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me secure. Psalm 4:9

When you lie down, you need not be afraid, when you rest, your sleep will be sweet. Proverb 3:24

Arising from Sleep

Arising from sleep I give thee thanks, O Holy Trinity, for in thy great goodness and long suffering thou wert not angered with me, the slothful and sinful one, nor didst thou condemn me with my transgressions; but thou didst show thy love of man, as is thy wont, and didst lift me out of my desperation, to rise and glorify thy power. Enlighten now the eyes of my thought, open my mouth, that I may engage in thy word, and do thy will, and sing to thee in the confession of my heart, and praise thy most holy name, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now, and always, and forever and ever.

Prayer to St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael

Most Holy Trinity, I thank Thee for having formed the hosts of Thy ministers in Heaven so marvelously, and for having adorned their leader so magnificently. Be Thou adored and loved in the beauty and grandeur of Thy ministers: be Thou praised in their jubilant songs of praise and thanksgiving, through all eternity. Amen

O holy princes of Heaven, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, I praise you for the love with which the Most High has loved you and placed you so near to His own throne. Be mindful of our necessities, and at the head of the Holy Angels, do battle for the Church of God upon earth, that Satan may be forced to yield ever more, and the Kingdom of light and grace, virtue and the holy love of God, may flourish in splendor, and its beauty be acknowledged by all.


Prayer 'O my Jesus, look not on my ingratitude to Thee. . .'
by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori from 'The True Spouse of Jesus Christ'

O my Jesus, look not on my ingratitude to Thee, after all Thy mercies, but turn Thy eyes to Thy own merits, and to the pains that Thou hast suffered for me, from the crib of Bethlehem to the cross of Calvary. I repent, with my whole soul, of all the offences that I have offered to Thee. From this moment I consecrate to Thee my life, which I desire to spend in doing all that I can to obey and to love Thee. I love Thee, O my Redeemer, but I love Thee too little; for Thy mercy's sake, increase in my soul Thy love. Hear my prayer O Jesus, and make me, by Thy grace, continue to repeat this prayer. O love of my soul, O that my heart may burn continually with Thy love. I have offended Thee grievously; but for the future I desire to love Thee intensely. I desire to love Thee alone, because Thou alone deservest to be loved above all things; and I desire to love Thee for no other reason than because Thou art worthy of all love.

O Mary, my mother and my hope, assist me.

Just Beginning

I am just beginning to explore a potential vocation to the Carthusian order.

In this beginning I will try to live more the charism of the order while I am outside of it, seeing if I could accustom myself to the routine.

Meanwhile, there have been further updates and typographical corrections to Saints' Quotes.

Also, there is news on Saints' Books.

I am considering making available parallel versions of various works of the saints in English and Latin. This is a considerable piece of work, but I feel there is a great need for it.

There is also a great need to have many of the works of the saints' translated into other languages. Included in this is the quotations of the saints especially, so that the great wisdom contained in them may be shared with those who do not have access to so much of the writings of the Church.

Some of this can only be accomplished in a timely fashion with the help of donations and volunteers.

Interesting Additions

There have been some interesting additions to Saints' Quotes lately. . .

And soon some further.


"I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart."

"Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; and forget thy people and thy father's house."

"You have not chosen Me; but I have chosen you, and have appointed you, that you should go, and should bring forth fruit, and your fruit should remain."

"If any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given to him."

Bl. Giles of Assisi & St. Louis de Montfort

I have added some quotes from Bl. Giles of Assisi, a first, and am increasing the St. Louis de Montfort quotes among others.


'Poor men and women who are sinners, I, a greater sinner than you, wish to give you this rose, a crimson one, because the precious blood of our Lord has fallen upon it. Please God that it may bring true fragrance into your lives - but above all, may it save you from the danger that you are in. Every day unbelievers and un-repentant sinners cry, "Let us crown ourselves with roses." But our cry should be, "Let us crown ourselves with the roses of the holy Rosary."

How different are theirs from ours! Their roses are pleasures of the flesh, worldly honours and passing riches which wilt and decay in no time, but ours, which are the Our Father and Hail Mary which we have said devoutly over and over again, and to which we have added good penitential acts, will never wilt or die, and they will be just as exquisite thousands of years from now as they are today.'

'Because Mary remained hidden during her life she is called by the Holy Spirit and the Church "Alma Mater", Mother hidden and unknown. So great was her humility that she desired nothing more upon earth than to remain unknown to herself and to others, and to be known only to God. In answer to her prayers to remain hidden, poor and lowly, God was pleased to conceal her from nearly every other human creature in her conception, her birth, her life, her mysteries, her resurrection and assumption. Her own parents did not really know her; and the angels would often ask one another, "Who can she possibly be?", for God had hidden her from them, or if he did reveal anything to them, it was nothing compared with what he withheld.'

'According to St. Bonaventure, all the angels in heaven unceasingly call out to her: "Holy, holy, holy Mary, Virgin Mother of God." They greet her countless times each day with the angelic greeting, "Hail, Mary", while prostrating themselves before her, begging her as a favour to honour them with one of her requests. According to St. Augustine, even St. Michael, though prince of all the heavenly court, is the most eager of all the angels to honour her and lead others to honour her. At all times he awaits the privilege of going at her word to the aid of one of her servants.'

'They shall be true disciples of Jesus Christ, treading the narrow way of God in pure truth; sparing, fearing, and listening to no mortal, however influential he may be. . . They shall carry on their shoulders the bloody standard of the Cross, the Crucifix in their right hand and the Rosary in their left, the sacred names of Jesus and Mary in their hearts.'

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

'Let me lie on the ground, for if I do not rise, I shall not be able to fall!'

Bl. Giles of Assisi

'Dearest brothers, marvel not, if he spoke nothing to me nor I to him; for as soon as we embraced each other, the light of divine wisdom revealed his heart to me and mine to him, and whatsoever he had thought to say to me and I to him, we heard better without the sound of words or lips or tongue than if we had conversed with our lips. And had we desired to explain by means of voice those things which we felt within ourselves, our speech would have tended rather to desolation than to consolation. Wherefore be you sure that the king went away marvellously comforted.'

Bl. Giles of Assisi, after meeting St. Louis

Site News

I am wondering when I will be able to finish up the last details of the latest version of the prayerbook, it is taking time.

I have decided to make some further updates to the websites. I am preparing new email addresses for contacts, and preparing contact submission forms, and a monthly email letter.

I wish to quickly move the sites forwards to the point where I no longer have 'under construction' notices on two of them.

I am in the middle of preparing to ditch my old email addresses and update to new ones, and so am preparing the websites to be as spam resistant in regards to email contact as possible.

At once time I started user forum for a different project of mine. A few years later I had over ten thousand members of the forum, all of whom were spambots. Fighting spam is a big issue, and it is one which I have long wished attornies general would take up more seriously. There are many areas the government should keep out of in regards to the Internet, but this basic law enforcement is not one of them. Spam is like litter, is should be fined and put an end to.

I decided on the email letter because there is a need for a greater level of user participation in the sites, and I think having something like an email letter to bring the users together and start a registration program will help that.

The letter will simply consist of the newest and most notable quotes, prayers, and book excerpts for a once a month additional inspiration. So, as for the content, it will be simple and little additional work to maintain.

Being of the Carthusian bent of spirituality, and one of my goals being to keep my own self out of my work and leave it to the holy ones, this suits my purpose.

Why once a month? Why not twice? Or three or four times? Or some other period? Once a month is simply the most manageable, it is not so often as to fill up users mailboxes, it is not so rare that users forget the sites exist and all the benefits of the content.

If anyone who receives the newsletter actually fully implements even one of the quotations in a single month, it will be a tremendous achievement. I heartily advise striving to attain it.

Updates

I anticipated uploading the new prayer book sooner, the trip was productive but less so than I thought it would be in that area.

I have this 'continual improvement' going on, where I keep on thinking of what I can do to make the prayer book better, and this keeps delaying the next edition. The other day, I had some very fine ideas, that would take some time and additional antique prayer books for reference to realize (a monetary issue as well as time issue). I have also wanted to take down the old prayer book for some time now, for various relatively minor reasons and replace it. It is in many ways simply very old and from the beginning of my faith journey, I am far away from some of it and see changes that should be made to make it a more solid collection.

Hopefully I will have the prayer book up in the coming week or two. It will not be quite where I would prefer, but what ever is as perfect as we wish?

It will simply be the case that instead of being as final an update as I hoped, this will be simply a next major step.

I am feeling quite under the weather, so to speak this past day and hope I improve quickly, I am not usually so discomfited by this as I am.

I continue to sort through my old programming code and see what can be used today. I felt quite nostalgic pulling out my old project that failed because artist after artist, after signing on, abandoned it, and eventually I simply did not have the will to continue seeking them and set it aside for a later time. I wondered, looking at it, would that time ever come again, with what I have learned now? The music for the project was truly inspired.

Tonight's Work

Tonight's work is spot checking the book, 'Breviary Hymns of Old Uses with an English Rendering' by Adrian Fortescue (of great fame).

Here is what I have to do. I take the book, which has already been scanned and OCRed from the Internet Archive (archive.org).

I pull up the PDF of the document, and then the OCR. The OCR, as is typical is quite poor with typos common. I then take the Latin and English, and read each line from the PDF, and compare it with the text file. The Latin is especially to be taken care with, repeated scans necessary.

Then I retype where necessary and correct.

Eventually this will become both a corrected download on Saints' Books and add a number of hymns to the prayers on Saints' Prayers.

The decision to add hymns and not only spoken/mental prayers to Saints' Prayers was made by this book, because of the quality of the hymns when translated being sufficient so that, without music, they could be read and appreciated both for the depth of meaning (and so prayed) and for their poetic nature.

There is no lack of good music in the Catholic Church, there is simply an apostasy from her which is within the hierarchy and the people, or musicians would be taking these hymns and making use of them. Though, from what I understand, properly, the liturgy does not truly interrupt for hymns, but the music is a part of the liturgy itself and so setting it to sacred, Gregorian or near Gregorian notation. And so hymns would be outside of the liturgy, at other times.

And the above, OCR, retyping work is what I need volunteers for, amongst other matters (translation the foremost).

When one runs a website one is accustomed to get few emails from the visitors, and most of these troubleshooting. Donations, thank yous, help -- This is the rarest communication.

When one receives nothing, one is thankful for the greater reward hoped for in the hearafter. But one does still need human help to make one's work as successful as can be.

Some things I can do, some things I can do slowly, and some things I cannot do -- which includes properly translating a good deal of these sites to reach broader audiences. And so -- Donations or volunteers, I have to hope for these.

Return

I have returned from my trip and am just beginning to catch up on keeping in touch with everyone, updating the sites, etc.

I have fixed an issue with Saints' Books that prevented some downloads. It was a curious issue that shows how different Internet browsers have to be tested. Firefox and Internet Explorer are the two main browsers, and both handled the problem differently, and the first fix, fixed the problem for one but not the other. In fact I still do not understand why Internet Explorer could not download the files, but suspect it had something to do with there being too many spaces or periods in the filenames for it to handle in relation to the file server. Firefox could handle it. Internet Explorer could not. On the other hand, Firefox insisted on downloading truncated PDF files when the links were bad instead of reporting that the links were badly named and not linking to any files whatsoever.

A reader of Saints' Books, which is still under construction I must note, let me know that his brother had died. I ask all the readers of this blog to join me in prayers for his soul (Thomas P.), and for the family for their loss.

It is hardest to accept the losses of our relatives, but I am remembering a quote by St. Elizabeth on the death of her husband, in which she states that she loved him above all else, but since the Lord pleased to take him from her, His will be done. This is the way to have peace and perhaps grief and consolation together.

We properly love all people for the Lord that we find in them, and so, when they go, it is the Lord's own decision, and we must know we still have the Lord in the ways He chooses to be with us, and will care for that person perfectly -- whom we can offer our prayers for.

I found the book, 'An Infinity of Little Hours: Five Young Men and Their Trial of Faith in the Western World's Most Austere Monastic Order' waiting for me and have just opened the cover and begun it. It is about the Carthusians, I found it being discussed on a mailing list for their Third and Secular order, which I joined to learn more about them.

One may recall them from the movie 'The Great Silence', and their founder, St. Bruno.

'The Lord created all mortals in the light, offering the supreme joys of heaven according to their merits.

Blessed is the one who without straying directs his soul toward those heights and is vigilant to preserve himself from all evil.

Blessed again is the one who repents after sinning and often weeps because of his fault.

Alas! People live as though death did not follow life, as if hell were only an unfounded fable, though burning embrace.

Mortals, have a care that you live, all of you, in such a way that you do not have to fear the lake of hell.'

St. Bruno

'If you take little account of yourself, you will have peace, whereever you live.'

St. Poemen

I am in the middle of my trip with limited Internet access (a library computer).

It is of course the time for all the problems I overlooked or missed to manifest themselves on the websites, typographical errors, download errors, and suchlike. Thanks be to God.

I certainly have a good list being prepared for fixing when I return.

In the meantime, I can do nothing, and so pray let it be.

I have while away picked up a Chinese-English dictionary at the library book sale, though I am trying to get rid of books, especially references, this is the type of reference that is a keeper.

I shall need all my best, light, foreign-language skills when the time comes to translate the websites and I have to work with people to proof them. I of course, will not be able to do anything more than a little that way but having a basic ability to look up the words used and understand a little bit of the grammar will go a long way to making certain I keep an eye over things.

I have settled on needing at least two people of each language translated -- a volunteer with bi-lingual skills for proofreading, and either a professional translator, or sufficiently motivated volunteer also sufficiently skilled for translation. While the professional need not be religious it is preferrable that at least one be if possible, and so I will attempt to find people in various Catholic circles with bi-lingual skills to help in these matters.

If you, or you know anyone who might be interested in helping translate portions of the Saints' websites, please pray and consider lending that aid.

Well I have a trip that will take me away for two weeks, I will try to do some last updates and responses before I leave.

St. Poemen's quotations will be entered into Saints' Quotes before I go. He has quite a few.

He is one of the early desert fathers.

I wish at this time that I could afford the Evergetinos, I would like to add some quotations from it.


'My thought was with Saint Mary, the Mother of God, as she wept by the cross of the Saviour. I wish I could always weep like that.'

St. Poemen

'The demons fight against you? They do not fight against us at all as long as we are doing our own will. For our own wills become the demons, and it is these which attack us in order that we may fulfil them. But if you want to see who the demons really fight against, it is against Moses and those who are like him.'

St. Poemen

'Just as smoke drives the bees away and also takes the sweetness out of their work, so bodily ease drives the fear of God from the soul and dissipates all its activity.'

St. Poemen

'The beginning of evil is the lack of vigilance.'

St. Poemen

Saints' Prayers, and the Future

I have added a 'short form' and 'long form' link to Saints' Prayers so that if you wish to read more of the prayers before having to scroll the screen, you may do so. I certainly like to.

I have at various times contemplating doing more than merely Saints' Books, Prayers, and Quotes.

There are other potential types of websites of this style that could be done. I have prayed and thought about it, and perhaps shall do it.

The two kinds would be these. Saints' Music, and Saints' Images.

There are two little difficulties with these sites, the first is, most musicians and artists aren't saints. In fact, those fields tend to produce more people headed down than up in greater numbers than already sad average.

So, the material for the sites would either take some gathering, or I would have to be more liberal in my requirements for the artists, simply taking the stance of judging each piece of music or art without reference to the artist -- or perhaps an inbetween, a medium of that method and the other. I haven't quite found the balance suitable yet, and so have not yet proceeded.

I tend to suddenly see the benefits for the older habit of artists not to sign their works, acknowledging when it is good, the grace of God, and keeping their own selves out of the matter.

The other problem is the civil law and copyrights, which are clear on quotations and out of print books, but a bit murkier on pictures of fine art, which can be shared liberally but technically not be as allowed despite first sharer's liberality, and even worse with music, restricting a great deal of work that simply deserves to be unrestricted. There are thankfully some good repositories of so-called 'open music' out there to choose from, but it is a smaller field than one would like, with the quality not as high as one would like generally.

I have no intention of operating any royalty paying radio-station type site. That would be too much for me, a single individual.

I have also contemplating a 'Saints' Tracts' site, which would consist of tracts of the kind that can be forwarded in emails, or handed out, on various topics -- but again, a good deal of work to prepare the content for this, especially. It is far easier to excerpt quotes, and to correct and prepare old books, than to either create new tracts or gather sufficient old ones. I lack the material to launch this as of yet.

I used to run the 'Spiritual Guidebook' website, it received a large amount of traffic before its end. At times I contemplate resurrecting it, but being a different person am not certain how to go about rewriting it. It was in a fashion a precursor to how I operate today -- mainly quotations from others, myself attempting to be less present, something which I have far more perfected today in the current websites.

I sometimes contemplate myself, as a monk, running away and hiding from people, until forced to by some moral rule or another to actually speak. I like the picture more than a little. I would like to, myself, meet someone like that. I am getting better at picturing the way various kinds of people could live holy and saintly lives as time goes by.

One of my favorite saints, I must say, by the way, is St. Christina the Astonishing. Though it is almost unfair to say 'favorite' of so many differently graced in beautiful ways, people, each showing forth Christ in some way or another.

I have yet to launch my appeal for funds for translators, but it will be out there. I also have to do some more advertising for the sites, to get greater traffic. One of my hoped for 'big links' from a major site has not come through, and it appears may not ever.

We shall see how it goes. As the Lord wills, let it be. :)

Saints' Prayers

I have added a significant number of prayers to the Saints' Prayers site, but it is still far behind Saints' Quotes, I have some more to pray and type.

An enjoyable task beyond all measure.

I intend to, God willing, put up the new book of compilation of prayers for download at the end of the month. This, if I can finish editing the devotions and texts that should be added to it before its first version is finished.

Some of the new prayers:

Guardian Angel Prayer
by St. Gertrude the Great

O most holy angel of God, appointed by God to be my guardian, I give you thanks for all the benefits which you have ever bestowed on me in body and in soul. I praise and glorify you that you condescended to assist me with such patient fidelity, and to defend me against all the assaults of my enemies. Blessed be the hour in which you were assigned me for my guardian, my defender and my patron. In acknowledgement and return for all your loving ministries to me, I offer you the infinitely precious and noble heart of Jesus, and firmly purpose to obey you henceforward, and most faithfully to serve my God.

Act of Contrition

HAVE mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy great mercy: and according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. O who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, that, day and night, I may bewail my sins? O that I had never offended so good a God! O that I had never sinned! Happy those souls that have always perserved their baptismal innocence! Lord, be merciful to me a sinnner; Holy Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy upon me.

Act of Reparation
by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

O kind and merciful Savior, from my heart I earnestly desire to return Thee love for love. My greatest sorrow is that Thou art not loved by men, and, in particular, that my own heart is so cold, so selfish, so ungrateful. Keenly aware of my own weakness and poverty, I trust that Thy own grace will enable me to offer Thee an act of pure love. And I wish to offer Thee this act of love in reparation for the coldness and neglect that are shown to Thee in the sacrament of Thy love by Thy creatures. O Jesus, my supreme good, I love Thee, not for the sake of the reward which Thou hast promised to those who love Thee, but purely for Thyself. I love Thee above all things that can be loved, above all pleasures, and above myself and all that is not Thee, promising in the presence of heaven and earth that I will live and die purely and simply in Thy holy love, and that if to love Thee thus I must endure persecution and suffering I am completely satisfied, and I will ever say with Saint Paul: Nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God." 0 Jesus, supreme master of all hearts, I love Thee, I adore Thee, I praise Thee, I thank Thee, because I am now all Thine own. Rule over me, and transform my soul into the likeness of Thyself, so that it may bless and glorify Thee forever in the abode of the saints.

Before Starting on a Journey

My holy Angel Guardian, ask the Lord to bless the journey which I undertake, that it may profit the health of my soul and body; that I may reach its end, and that, returning safe and sound, I may find my family in good health. Do thou guard, guide and preserve us.

Salutation to Mary
by St. John Eudes

Hail Mary! Daughter of God the Father,
Hail Mary! Mother of God the Son,
Hail Mary! Spouse of God the Holy Ghost,
Hail Mary! Temple of the Most Blessed Trinity,
Hail Mary! Celestial Rose of the ineffable love of God.
Hail Mary! Virgin pure and humble, of whom the King of Heaven willed to be
born and with thy milk to be nourished.
Hail Mary! Virgin of virgins,
Hail Mary! Queen of Martyrs, whose soul a sword transfixed,
Hail Mary! Lady most Blessed! unto whom all power in Heaven and earth is given,
Hail Mary! my Queen and my Mother! my Life, my Sweetness, and my Hope,
Hail Mary! Mother most Amiable,
Hail Mary! Mother most Admirable,
Hail Mary! Mother of Divine Love,
Hail Mary! IMMACULATE; Conceived without sin!
Hail Mary! Full of Grace! the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women! And blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, JESUS!
Blessed by thy Spouse, St. Joseph,
Blessed by thy Father, St. Joachim,
Blessed by thy Mother, St. Anne,
Blessed by thy Guardian, St. John,
Blessed by thy Holy Angel, St. Gabriel,
Glory be to God the Father, who chose thee,
Glory be to God the Son, who loved thee,
Glory be to God the Holy Ghost, who espoused thee,
Glorious Virgin Mary, may all men love and praise thee,
Holy Mary, Mother of God! pray for us and bless us, now and at death in the Name of JESUS, thy Divine Son!

A copy of this prayer was found in a book belonging to St. Margret Mary after her death.

"This Salutation is so beautiful! Recite it daily. From her throne in Heaven the Blessed Virgin will bless you, and you must make the sign of the Cross. Yes! Yes! if only you could see - Our Lady blesses you. I know it."

"Offered for the conversion of a sinner it would be impossible not to be granted."

Pere Paul de Moll, O.S.B. (1824 - 1896)

To the Holy Archangel Who Strengthened Our Lord in His Agony

I salute thee, holy Angel who didst comfort my Jesus in His agony, and with thee I praise the most holy Trinity for having chosen thee from among all the holy Angels to comfort and strengthen Him who is the comfort and strength of all that are in affliction. By the honor thou didst enjoy and by the obedience, humility and love wherewith thou didst assist the sacred Humanity of Jesus, my Savior, when He was fainting for very sorrow at seeing the sins of the world and especially my sins, I beseech thee to obtain for me perfect sorrow for my sins; deign to strengthen me in the afflictions that now overwhelm me, and in all the other trials, to which I shall be exposed henceforth and, in particular, when I find myself in my final agony.

Prayer to Be Said at the Priest's Communion

O Lord, may Thou find shelter and rest gently within the heart of Thy priest. Make him, O Lord, a priest according to Thy Heart: meek, humble, zealous, so that all he does will be for Thine honor and glory. Mold him into a man of prayer and labor, insensible to earthly things and sensible only to Thy love and to the graces of the Holy Ghost.

Prayer of Self Dedication
from the Sacramentary

Lord Jesus Christ, take all my freedom,
my memory, my understanding, and my will.
All that I have and cherish
you have given me.
I surrender it all to be guided by Your will.
Your grace and Your love
are enough for me.
Give me these, Lord Jesus,
and I ask for nothing more.

'Those pursuing the spiritual way must always keep the mind free from agitation in order that the intellect, as it discriminates among the thoughts that pass through the mind, may store in the treasuries of its memory those thoughts which are good and have been sent by God, while casting out those which are evil and come from the devil. When the sea is calm, fishermen can scan its depths and therefore hardly any creature moving in the water escapes their notice. But when the sea is disturbed by the winds, it hides beneath its turbid and agitated waves what it was happy to reveal when it was smiling and calm; and then the fishermen's skill and cunning prove vain. The same thing happens with the contemplative power of the intellect, especially when it is unjust anger which disturbs the depths of the soul.'

St. Diadochos of Photiki

'Be gentle and kind with every one, and severe with yourself.'

St. Teresa of Jesus

'That you may have pleasure in everything, seek your own pleasure in nothing. That you may know everything, seek to know nothing. That you may possess all things, seek to possess nothing. That you may be everything, seek to be nothing. . . Desire to be empty and poor for Christ's sake. This state must be embraced with a perfect heart and you must really want it. If your heart is truly engaged in these efforts you shall speedily attain to great joy and consolation. Be continually careful and earnest in imitating Christ in everything, making your life conform to His.'

St. John of the Cross

'Let us so live that we may be admitted with profit to frequent and even daily Communion; in a word, let us perfect ourselves in order to receive Communion worthily and let us live with a constant view to Communion.'

St. Peter Julian Eymard

'What shall we then do, my brethren? Do you not see that God is angered? He can no longer bear with us. The Lord is angry. Do you not behold the scourges of God increasing every day? Our sins increase, says St. John Chrysostom, and our scourges increase likewise. God, my brethren, is wrathful: but with all his anger he has commanded me to say, what he formerly commanded to be said by the prophet Zachary: And thou shall say to them, Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Turn to Me says the Lord of Hosts, and I will turn to you says the Lord of Hosts. Sinners, says the Lord, you have turned your backs upon me, and therefore have constrained me to deprive you of my grace. Do not oblige me to drive you forever from my face, and punish you in hell without hope of pardon. Have done with it: abandon sin, be converted to me, and I promise to pardon you all your offences, and once more to embrace you as my children.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

'Without temptation, no one can be saved. . . Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.'

St. Anthony of Egypt

'Since the Old Testament is a symbol of the practice of the virtues, it brings the body's activity into harmony with that of the intellect. Since the New Testament confers contemplation and spiritual knowledge, it illumines with divine intellections and gifts of grace the intellect that cleaves to it mystically. The Old Testament supplies the man of spiritual knowledge with the qualities of virtue; the New Testament endows the man practicing the virtues with the principles of true knowledge.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

If I may take a break for a moment to say so. . .

It is such a pleasure to get rid of things.

It is such a pleasure. It is so good, to have fewer things. To get rid of thing after thing, until one has as little as possible.

As much as is necessary. What is necessary also becomes less and less, the less one has.

It would be good to have nothing.

St. Anthony of Padua

A new book by Joseph A. Keller has been added to Saints' Books, called 'The Miracles of St. Anthony of Padua'. It's good reading, and has been especially edited and formatted for Saints' Books, to improve its readibility.

St. Anthony is well known for helping people everywhere to find what they have lost. . . In the book are recounted the original 'lost' miracle, and a miracle involving St. Anthony finding a truly precious belonging. . . 'faith' for a man who had lost it.

It is well worth reading and the kind of book that is a joy to have on Saints' Books, not only because of the contents -- it is also of a very small size, being in RTF form instead of PDF. The ideal books for download are in either a small sized, reformatted PDF, or RTF (rich text) format.

There are a number of very large sized PDF files in their original scans, that need to be reformatted so there is more space for more books.

This is the kind of help that is truly needed. If you have OCR software, and the time, think about it.

'Consider every day that you are then for the first time beginning; and always act with the same fervor as on the first day you began.'

St. Anthony of Padua

'Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves. It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his actions. But the apostles "spoke as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech." Happy the man whose words issue from the Holy Spirit and not from himself! We should speak, then, as the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of speech. Our humble and sincere request to the Spirit for ourselves should be that we may bring the day of Pentecost to fulfillment, insofar as he infuses us with his grace, by using our bodily senses in a perfect manner by keeping the commandments. Likewise we shall request that we may be filled with a keen sense of sorrow and with fiery tongues for confessing the faith so our deserved reward may be to stand in the blazing splendor of the saints and to look upon the triune God.'

St. Anthony of Padua

The Horror... of Suffering

On Fr. Chad Ripperger, Ph.D.'s website are two audio talks on the subject of 'the Horror of Suffering'. (under #6 and #8)

My vague and unfortunate impression is that some readers will react to the title of the above thinking it will be a series on how terribly some people have suffered and how we should be horrified about it.

On the contrary, it is a truly Catholic talk, and the horror of suffering it describes is the internal defect in mankind since the fall, that makes our bodies and selves recoil in horror at the thought of suffering, and how this horror can imperil our eternal salvation and sanctity.

'The horror of suffering is a great impediment to sanctification.'

... We have over two thousand one hundred saints' quotes now on Saints' Quotes, with new additions and new saints such as St. Lawrence Justinian, St. Margaret of Cortona, and St. Gregory the Wonderworker.

I intend to, shortly, to publish an appeal for aid for the translation of saints' quotations to other languages. Have you ever considered how many languages people do not have many works of the saints' translated into? And how great a catechesis this could be? In fact the catechesis par excellence?

There is a great need for this to be done, and through donations and volunteer work it can be done. The rewards outstrip by far what comparatively small effort must be done.

So, even before the main appeal is published, consider if you are of a capacity to help.

The Saints' Prayers website will be receiving a major update soon, and its 'under construction' notification will disappear not long after that.

Returning to the 'horror of suffering', we are very much an effeminate society in which any suffering or natural evil, is seen as a moral evil. But all Christians have to embrace the cross. So we see already the direct conflict between the world and Christianity. And how easily this conflict can be one where the victory is the world, the flesh, and the devil, because all three will inspire us with a horror of suffering, and justify it with many arguments.

But Christ has told us that we must bear our cross. In fact we must embrace it. So we must pray to overcome the horror of suffering and instead have a thirst to bear these pains, knowing the great rewards that come from it, and the great necessity of it for the salvation of our own soul.

But how can one suffer properly? In such a way that it does not disorder one's interior life rather than improve it?

There are ways to approach suffering which are good and ones which are not. . .

So introspection and prayer, and taking on of suffering for the sake of God purely are the starting points for a proper approach to suffering.

The saints prefer suffering to pleasure. When our wills are too turned this way, then we can be the more hopeful of our home in Heaven.

As long as they are not we should tremble. . . how unlike Christ we are.

'It was my desire to be silent, and not to make a public display of the rustic rudeness of my tongue. For silence is a matter of great consequence when one's speech is mean. And to refrain from utterance is indeed an admirable thing, where there is lack of training; and verily he is the highest philosopher who knows how to cover his ignorance by abstinence from public address.'

St Gregory the Wonderworker

'Ask of God much suffering; in giving it to you, He will do you a great favor, for in this single gift are countless blessings.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

'Whether we will or no, we must suffer. There are some who suffer like the good thief, and others like the bad thief.'

'The saints suffered everything with joy, patience, and perseverance, because they loved. As for us, we suffer with anger, vexation, and weariness, because we do not love. If we loved God, we should love crosses, we should wish for them, we should take pleasure in them. . . We should be happy to be able to suffer for the love of Him who lovingly suffered for us.'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

'Brother, I am most grateful for the kindness you wished to do me. I appreciate it very highly; but, if God has given me the great sufferings I am enduring, why wish to soothe and lessen them by music? For the love of Our Lord, thank those gentlemen for the kindness they had wished to do me: I look upon it as having been done. Pay them, and send them away, for I wish to endure without any relief the gracious gifts which God sends me in order that, thanks to them, I may the better merit.'

St. John of the Cross

Today eighty four quotes from St. Theodore the Studite were added to the Saints' Quotes database.

Of a pleasant and joyful temperament throughout, his words should be an uplifting addition to the chorus of the Communion of saints.

Like St. Basil, one of my favorite quotes of his has to do with vegetables, but this like many of the other jewels have to be found on www.saintsquotes.net.

Here follow some quotes by St. Theodore.

'Oh, what unfathomable goodness! And oh, what an incomparable gift! How then can we fail to love him? How fail to cherish him? How fail to cling to him unceasingly? So that if we were not so disposed, heaven would instantly cry out against us, earth would groan, the very stones would condemn our utter insensibility.'

St. Theodore the Studite

'But what are the things he commanded? According to the old covenant, to summarise, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness. According to the new, things that are higher and more precise. For Scripture says, it was said to those of old, You shall not murder ; whoever commits murder will be liable to judgement. But I say to you, everyone who is angry with their brother without good cause will be liable to judgement. Again, it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Again, it was said, You shall not commit perjury. But I say to you, you are not to swear at all. Again, it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate you enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you. Do you see how great the difference is between the two covenants? The one forbids the acts themselves, while the other the impulses from which the acts come, so that sin may not put down roots from there. If then we are found to be living in accordance with neither law nor Gospel, but rather, as one might say, with paganism, what shall we suffer on that day? Do not be led astray, Scripture says, neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor Sodomites nor thieves nor extortioners nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.'

St. Theodore the Studite

'What are the fruits? Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-mastery [Gal. 5:22]. By these he is nourished, by these he is entertained. And blest the one who nourishes him, because he will be nourished by him with eternal good things; and blest the one who receives him as his guest, because he will be received by him as his guest in the kingdom of heaven! Indeed! So if someone is to receive a king as his house guest, he rejoices and is extremely glad; how much more then someone who receives the King of kings and Lord of lords as his house guest. That he is received is clear from what he himself has said: I and my Father will come and make our abode with him [John 14:23]. And again: One who has my commandments and keeps them, is the one who loves me; the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and manifest myself to him [John 14:21].'

St. Theodore the Studite

'Yes, I exhort, yes, I implore, my brothers, make my joy complete, as the Apostle again says, be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or vainglory; but in humility think of others as better than yourselves [Phil 2,2-3.]. Let us secure our senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, through them death enters. Let us bridle our mind not to be carried off to things it should not, not to step into the pitfall of unseemly things, not to picture to ourselves evil images nor to conceive sinful desires, from which we gain no profit or pleasure; on the contrary we are pained and crushed accomplishing nothing useful. There is one repose then and one pleasure, to cleanse the soul and to look towards dispassion. And let us not grow despondent when called to repose and the joy of dispassion, but let us hasten and press forward intently with diligence to right every defect; and God is our helper; for the Lord is near those who wait for him. And by living thus may we reach the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and might with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.'

St. Theodore the Studite

'And so, my brothers, let us rejoice and be glad as we repudiate every pleasure. All flesh is grass, and all human glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withered and the flower faded, but the work of virtue endures for ever.'

St. Theodore the Studite

Divine Praises & Prayers

The Divine Praises
Laudes Divinae
from the Raccolta (favored by Pope Pius VII and Pope Pius IX)

Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, the most holy Mary.
Blessed he her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His holy angels and in His saints.

Benedictus Deus.
Benedictum Nomen Sanctum eius.
Benedictus Iesus Christus, verus Deus et verus homo.
Benedictum Nomen Iesu.
Benedictum Cor eius sacratissimum.
Benedictus Sanguis eius pretiosissimus.
Benedictus Iesus in sanctissimo altaris Sacramento.
Benedictus Sanctus Spiritus, Paraclitus.
Benedicta excelsa Mater Dei, Maria sanctissima.
Benedicta sancta eius et immaculata Conceptio.
Benedicta eius gloriosa Assumptio.
Benedictum nomen Mariae, Virginis et Matris.
Benedictus sanctus Ioseph, eius castissimus Sponsus.
Benedictus Deus in Angelis suis, et in Sanctis suis.

On the Loveliness of Mary
by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Raise your voices, vales and mountains,
Flowery meadows, streams and fountains,
Praise, oh, praise the loveliest Maiden
Ever the Creator made.
Murmuring brooks, your tribute bringing,
Little birds with joyful singing,
Come with mirthful praises laden
To your Queen be homage paid.

Say, sweet Virgin, we implore thee,
Say, what beauty God sheds o'er thee:
Praise and thanks to him be given,
Who in love created thee.
Like a sun with splendour glowing,
Gleams thy heart with love o'erflowing;
Like the moon in starry heaven,
Shines thy peerless purity.

Like the rose and lily blooming,
Sweetly heaven and earth perfuming,
Stainless, spotless, thou appearest

Queenly beauty graces thee.
But, to God, in whom thou livest,
Sweeter joy and praise thou givest,
When to him in beauty nearest,
Yet, so humble thou canst be.

Three Quotes of the Day

'The King of Heaven deigned to be born in a stable, because He came to destroy pride, the cause of man's ruin.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

'I will go peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church: for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where true Faith first began, seek it among those who received it from God Himself.'

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

'True Christian prudence makes us submit our intellect to the maxims of the Gospel without fear of being deceived. It teaches us to judge things as Jesus Christ judged them, and to speak and act as He did.'

St. Vincent de Paul

Quote for the Day

'Above all we ought at least to know that there are three origins of our thoughts, i.e., from God, from the devil, and from ourselves. . . We ought then carefully to notice this threefold order, and with a wise discretion to analyse the thoughts which arise in our hearts, tracking out their origin and cause and author in the first instance, that we may be able to consider how we ought to yield ourselves to them. . .'

St. Moses the Black Hermit

Unread, written on a mountain top. The sky, and empty space.

Unread, written on a mountain top. The sky, and empty space.

Activity and passivity, the faculties and their reactions to influences in different states.

To share a breath of this rarified atmosphere.

"All manner of bodily thing is without thy soul and beneath it in nature, yea! the sun and the moon and all the stars, although they be above thy body, nevertheless yet they be beneath thy soul.

All angels and all souls, although they be confirmed and adorned with grace and with virtues, for the which they be above thee in cleanness, nevertheless, yet they be but even with thee in nature.

Within in thyself in nature be the powers of thy soul: the which be these three principal, Memory, Reason, and Will; and secondary, Imagination and Sensuality.

Above thyself in nature is no manner of thing but only God.

Evermore where thou findest written thyself in ghostliness, then it is understood thy soul, and not thy body. And then all after that thing is on the which the powers of thy soul work, thereafter shall the worthiness and the condition of thy work be deemed; whether it be beneath thee, within thee, or above thee."

- The Cloud

Quotations

We are currently at over 1200 quotes on Saints' Quotes and as time has allowed I have also been improving Saints' Prayers diversity of offerings, though I do not consider it time to take down the construction sign from the latter site as there are further prayers to add and other improvements.

There are also more surprises in store for the future.

Saints' Quotes should continue to grow quickly in its amount and variety of quotations, God willing. I said I would celebrate and give thanks upon reaching the 1000 mark, and the next time to rest and give a large thanksgiving will be the 10,000 mark.

I cannot be thankful enough for the privilege to work on this site. A full orchestra of angels singing whilst the light of Heaven shone over them would not suffice, I tremble to state.

I am looking to working on St. Ignatius of Antioch more thoroughly soon, and extracting portions of his works for the program.

I also have a book by St. Claude de la Colombiere and one by St. Peter Julian Eymard, but there are so many further too.

I pray that everyone who visits the site will benefit -- I know everyone who does can benefit, all it takes is a prayer and a bit of heart to take the words and put them into oneself and one's actions and life.

Then those who come will all participate in the blessed sunshine of the smile of God together.

The Holiness of the Bitter Sea

'As Jesus is called the King of sorrows and the King of martyrs, because He suffered during, His life more than all other martyrs; so also is Mary with reason called the Queen of martyrs, having merited this title by suffering the most cruel martyrdom possible after that of her Son. Hence, with reason, was she called by Richard of Saint Lawrence, "the Martyr of martyrs"; and of her can the words of Isaias with all truth be said, "He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation;" that is to say, that that suffering itself, which exceeded the suffering of all the other martyrs united, was the crown by which she was shown to be the Queen of martyrs. That Mary was a true martyr cannot be doubted, as Denis the Carthusian, Pelbart, Catharinus, and others prove; for it is an undoubted opinion that suffering sufficient to cause death is martyrdom, even though death does not ensue from it. Saint John the Evangelist is revered as a martyr, though he did not die in the caldron of boiling oil, but he came out more vigorous than he went in. Saint Thomas says, "that to have the glory of martyrdom, it is sufficient to exercise obedience in its highest degree, that is to say, to be obedient unto death." "Mary was a martyr," says Saint Bernard, "not by the sword of the executioner, but by bitter sorrow of heart." If her body was not wounded by the hand of the executioner, her blessed heart was transfixed by a sword of grief at the passion of her Son; grief which was sufficient to have caused her death, not once, but a thousand times. From this we shall see that Mary was not only a real martyr, but that her martyrdom surpassed all others; for it was longer than that of all others, and her whole life may be said to have been a prolonged death.

"The passion of Jesus," as Saint Bernard says, "commenced with His birth". So also did Mary, in all things like unto her Son, endure her martyrdom throughout her life. Amongst other significations of the name of Mary, as Blessed Albert the Great asserts, is that of "a bitter sea." Hence to her is applicable the text of Jeremias: "great as the sea is thy destruction." For as the sea is all bitter and salt, so also was the life of Mary always full of bitterness at the sight of the passion of the Redeemer, which was ever present to her mind. "There can be no doubt, that, enlightened by the Holy Ghost in a far higher degree than all the prophets, she, far better than they, understood the predictions recorded by them in the sacred Scriptures concerning the Messias." This is precisely what the angel revealed to Saint Bridget; and he also added, "that the Blessed Virgin, even before she became His Mother, knowing how much the Incarnate Word was to suffer for the salvation of men, and compassionating this innocent Saviour, who was to be so cruelly put to death for crimes not His own, even then began her great martyrdom."'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori