Wine & Lilies

Image for the Day

2011-12-31T22:06:00.005-05:00

I haven't made any origami cranes in a long time.

I used the paper for Christmas presents instead. I should sit down and try to learn again, as I have forgotten how to do it. Did I ever truly know? I only made a very few.

But I wanted to make more and learn more.

However, I've been happy to experiment with origami papers. The above is a color changed version of some paper I found online that is different originally in colors.

I like how I changed them. I was trying for a silvery change of hues on a white surface, and I think while it is not quite that, It is quite fine.

If I had the time and could put in the effort, I'd make it an animated scene with the flowers and leaves blowing and rustling, and then put a little ladybug in there, and allow the computer user to move it around. Or perhaps not. People should not spend too much time staring at screens.

It's fine just to think on for a short time.

It is something that rests my mind to think about after taking just a little look at the paper. Which recalls to me a quote from a saint on resting the mind.

Here is another quote.

'You must be indifferent to all created things and especially to the impulses prompted by your self-love and your own will. This self-will He wishes you to sacrifice as often as He gives you the opportunity thereof, by breaking and thwarting it, until it is wholly destroyed and extinct, in order that the Will of His divine Heart, alone, may reign in you.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

2011-12-03T04:20:00.002-05:00

'Our prayers are so dear to God, that he has appointed the angels to present them to him as soon as they come forth from our mouths. 'The angels,' says St. Hilary, 'preside over the prayers of the faithful, and offer them daily to God.' This is that smoke of the incense, which are the prayers of saints, which St. John saw ascending to God from the hands of the angels (Apoc. 8,3); and which he saw in another place represented by golden phials full of sweet odors, very acceptable to God.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

A quote for the day from Inspirational Quotes from the Saints

There's a new book added to the books archive, 'The Golden Arrow', it's a great book. Truly a secret to happiness.

Also soon will be added 'The Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph'... Another very special book.

There is a book study on it ongoing.

If we want to make Heaven happy, and find some of Heaven's happiness here below, we can simply pray good prayers.

Image for the Day

2011-04-04T08:33:00.000-04:00

2010-10-14T06:59:00.002-04:00

Saints' Books has received some major updates of late.

More great holy book editions for download.. and now excerpts from every book available posted for previewing in the main library index.

Books such as:

St. Francis de Sales - Mystical Flora or the Christian Life under the Emblem of Plants
'Come, let us trudge on through these lowly valleys of humble little virtues, and we shall find the rose amongst thorns, charity which shines forth in the midst of afflictions from within and without, the lily of purity, the violet of mortification, and many more than I can tell. But, above all, I love these three little virtues sweetness of heart, poverty of spirit, and simplicity of life; and these great exercises of charity visiting the sick, helping the poor, consoling the afflicted; but all without flurry, and with true liberty. Our arms, as yet, are not long enough to reach to the cedars of Lebanon; let us content ourselves with the hyssop of the valley.'

PDF Download

Discussions on the forums are going splendidly too. Various book studies or short excerpt studies, fun conversations, riddles and jokes and a daily cup of coffee or tea.

It truly is a friendly forum instead of a conflict/debate oriented place. Good folks.

A Quote for the Day

2010-09-14T15:10:00.003-04:00

'Take up your abode in the lovable Heart of Jesus, and you will find therein imperturbable peace and the strength to carry out the good desires He gives you. Bring to this divine Heart all your troubles and afflictions, for whatever emanates from the Sacred Heart is sweet: It changes everything into love.'

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

The Saints' Discussion Forums are going along beautifully. . .

If you had not had a chance yet, try reading Saint Philomena the Wonder-Worker by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan, O.P., E.D.M.

2010-04-16T03:41:00.001-04:00

'A resolute will triumphs over everything with the help of God, which is never wanting.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

And so, we must pray to God for a resolute will in His service, and do our part.

Service Restoration

2010-02-28T19:49:00.003-05:00

The service is down for a second time, did you notice the first? This should be brief as well. Neither should have happened, as I notified the hosting service, and have theoretically 'unlimited service'.

The site should be restored in a few hours as soon as one of the tech people notices the 'high' priority ticket.

Saints' Books received a donation during this, which is very kind and very appreciated. We need donations, more than I can say.

The new forum has been working out productively, and some of the newest news and updates are available on there. The emphasis on the forum is on friendliness, good humor, communion, and debates and agitation type posts are not what it is for, so it works very well.

I've put up some volunteer work posts on the forums, if you ever thought of working with the writings of the saints to help others, the benefits of this kind of activity are great for souls.

And there are few more pleasant activity than preparing books written by the saints and gathering extracts of these for people to read.

I highly recommend it.. there are no requirements for time.. you do as little or as much as you like when you like it, and it is quite simple to do. :) So check out the forums if you are interested, and the posts in the 'Submissions' forum on how to volunteer.

'During our sojourn in this world, we should learn from the saints now in heaven, how to love God. The pure and perfect love of God they enjoy there, consists in uniting themselves perfectly to his will. It would be the greatest delight of the seraphs to pile up sand on the seashore or to pull weeds in a garden for all eternity, if they found out such was God's will. Our Lord himself teaches us to ask to do the will of God on earth as the saints do it in heaven: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Because David fulfilled all his wishes, God called him a man after his own heart: "I have found David. . . a man according to my own heart, who shall do all my wills."'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Traffic

2010-02-18T13:19:00.002-05:00

No.. not the cars and trucks kind..

But some prominent blogs mentioned Saints' Books and there's a good deal going there.

:)

If anything goes down.. I will do my best to get it back up again as soon as possible.

Updates

2010-02-02T04:17:00.003-05:00

The Saints' Discussion Forums have opened, and we're into the third week.

It is a happy and wonderful surprise, a good atmosphere, a if I may even say so, holy place.

The Saints' Prayer Book, after long delay, is near ready for upload. After this, I hope to make only a few more feature modifications before removing the construction sign.

Hopefully too, this will occur before long for Saints' Books.

A quote for the day. . .

'From what Abba Serapion said, we can learn that we shall be granted the gift of true discrimination when we trust, no longer in the judgments of our own mind, but in the teaching and rule of our fathers. The devil brings the monk to the brink of destruction more effectively through persuading him to disregard the admonitions of the fathers and follow his own judgment and desire, than he does through any other fault. We should learn from examples provided by human arts and sciences. If we cannot accomplish anything in them by ourselves - in spite of the fact that they deal with things we can touch with our hands, see with our eyes and hear with our ears - but still need someone who will instruct us well and guide us, how can it be anything but foolish to think that the spiritual art, the most difficult of all the arts, has no need of a teacher? It is an invisible, hidden art which is understood only through purity of heart, and failure in it brings, not temporary loss, but the soul's destruction and eternal death.'

St. John Cassian

Meditations

2010-01-17T15:58:00.003-05:00

The new meditations series is uploaded.

Meditations for Lent, Advent, and all times are uploaded -- I recommend ignoring the times and making use of all of them at any time, normally, and then especially using the timely ones when the seasons roll around.

Meditations are like good food that you think looks unappetizing. People who love candy and hate anything suspicious will never try it, and lose their health. But if you try these meditations you'll find them sweeter than candy, and they will improve your spiritual health magnificently, so that you will wonder how you ever lived without them.

The two different 'How to Meditate' instructions I will add to further, but no more than one is truly needed, they are some of the simplest best instructions out there, that unlike modern ones, truly inform you how to do it in a way that is easy to understand.

Here is a sample of the meditations.

The Heart of the Infant Jesus, Our Coming Light

from the book 'Meditations for Advent & Easter'

"Behold, the Lord cometh, and all His saints with Him; and in that day there shall be a great light." All. Ant. at Lauds.

"And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord shall bind up the wound of His people, and shall heal the stroke of their wound." (Is. xxx. 26.)

1st Prelude. - Represent to yourself the Heart of the Infant Jesus in the womb of Mary as a flame of clear and beautiful light coming to enlighten all nations. Represent also to yourself the terrible light of the second coming, which will be open and manifest to all.

2nd Prelude. - Pray that you may be so enlightened by the light of the first coming, that you may not be terrified by the light of the second coming.

1st Point. - Look at the Heart of the Infant Jesus. It lies hidden in the womb of Mary, even as his blessed Humanity will be hidden hereafter in the tabernacle. Oh, what a holy, beautiful, peaceful light is the light of the Infant Heart of Jesus! How it longs to come forth and manifest itself to all, to console, to instruct, to illuminate! Are we, also, longing to receive this light? Are we praying with our whole hearts that it may come to us, and that we may be prepared to receive it? However great our spiritual enlightenment may be, we are still, in some measure, "sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death." But the light is coming; already we can see the dawn upon the mountain. When Mary was born, the first ray of light tinged the eastern sky; when Jesus was born, the light of this mystic moon was as the light of the true sun, because of her perfect union with Him; and the light of the sun was sevenfold, as the light of seven days. The light was sevenfold; that is, the light was perfect, for it was the light of God.

2nd Point. - Let us beseech the Infant Jesus to enlighten us in that particular way in which we most need light. We are all "born blind" through the sin of our parents; and, unhappily, though we have obtained light in the waters of baptism, we too often, by our own fault, relapse into blindness more or less intense. Sometimes we do not wish to see the sin we should forsake, or the virtue we should practise, because it would cost us something to act upon this light; sometimes we profit so little by the light, that it is withdrawn from us, or it is not imparted in the fullness and brightness with which more faithful souls are favoured. There are souls in whom the light of God shines so brightly, that they cannot commit the shadow of an imperfection without perceiving it immediately; there are souls in whom that light shines so resplendently, that they see even the shadow of an imperfect motive in the best action they perform. Why should we not be thus favoured? It is not because the light is unwilling to come, but because we are unwilling to receive it.

3rd Point. - What shall we do to obtain this great grace? Let us go to Mary. Let us devote our Advent to Mary. Let us consecrate every thought, word, and action to Mary during this holy season; and then, on the blessed Christmas morning, she will herself place her Infant in our arms; nay, rather, she will lay Him down to rest in our hearts; and He is so obedient to His sweet mother, that He will never stir from the heart wherein she places Him, unless she comes to take Him away. Surely we will not oblige her to do so? Advent should be a time of special devotion to Mary. Jesus again lies mystically in her womb. Again she pleads unweariedly for her people, as she pleaded in that blessed Advent when He took flesh of her flesh, and bone of her bone. Oh, let us kneel before her now as we would have knelt before her then, and implore her to intercede for us with Jesus, to obtain for us that He may indeed be our light, and that we may never be of the number of those who prefer darkness. Then, indeed, may we hope that the light of His second coming will be a light of glory to us, and not a light of condemnation.

Aspiration. - Come and enlighten us, O sweet Infant Jesus.

Form your resolution, and place it in the Heart of the Infant Jesus. Examen of Meditation.

Proceed to the next meditation.

I will be I pray making many more meditations available before long, of similar quality.

As He...

2010-01-13T22:36:00.002-05:00

My thought for the day:

God desires people to love Him as He should be loved.

We need to love Him as He should be loved.

'He who labors as he prays lifts his heart to God with his hands.'

St. Benedict

Meditations

2010-01-13T00:20:00.002-05:00

I have a good gathering of Sermon and Meditation books which I am now previewing and reading through to see which are worth uploading and which can be used for new selections for the Meditations section of 'Saints Prayers'.

I've been adding new Meditations to it that have not yet been uploaded to the point where we have four series so far, before the next lot.

This I think, along with the books themselves will be very helpful to everyone. How many people find it difficult to meditate? I think, that most everyone will answer, "I do!" and yet, we are told how important meditation is, how it is a key to the spiritual life. For people who have not yet begun, for people struggling, for people who have given up and yet feel they need to start again..

These books will be the aids many have long been looking for, or would have looked for if they knew.

In these times, few books are produced that are worthwhile. But these meditation books from the past will last forever.

One of the more unusual and strict meditation books, 'Considerations and Devout Meditations for Every Day During the Holy Season of Lent' is on Saints' Books' Index already. Lent, the Sacred Heart, St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori.. .

There will be a bright future for meditation ahead.

Leaps. . .

2010-01-06T14:45:00.003-05:00

Saints' Quotes has seen two great leaps forwards recently.. if you will pardon the often misused expression.

Two books of quotations of the saints in the public domain have been added.. Normally progress is regular but slow, 5 or 10 quotes one day, perhaps 20 or 30 the next as I take quotations from the various books of the saints (or good old Lolly contributes a quote), then a pause as I turn to one of the other two sites..

But now and then I find an entire book of quotations of saints and I quickly go through it, normally putting in all or almost all the quotations, and then the database leaps forwards.

Of all the sites Saints' Prayers is in third place in construction progress.. or second, since Saints' Quotes truly is not under major construction anymore, though still awaiting some further features such as 'Selections' for meditation and reference on various subjects. I.E. if you're looking for everything that many saints have had to say on purity, the fewness of the saved, etc. a list of quotations on the topic.

But I have stalled on the Saints' Prayers prayerbook, and it is much more difficult to enter prayers in Saints' Prayers than it is to enter quotations in Saints' Quotes, as there tends to be much more formatting necessary for each prayer.

And the new prayerbook to replace (yes other one will be removed) the old is taking far more time than I anticipated for me to feel it is truly ready.

However, Saints' Prayers just received the entire Psalter of Mary into its database, all 160 Psalms of St. Bonaventure, edited and prepared. I looked and looked for the Latin to include but could not find it. It anyone finds it, let me know, I will make it available alongside the English.

This addition has outweighed the relatively small database of Saints' Prayers, so the Psalter frequently appears. I don't know whether to be pleased or concerned. Actually, I am both. I love the consistent Marian theme, I do however want a good representation of other prayers.

I can perform some tricks to make them appear more often (right now, not accounting for Providence's more direct nudges, each has an even chance), but will hold off for the moment.

Perhaps I will include the entire Psalms of the Scriptures in Latin and English. I wish Jerusalem Bible or some later edition of the Psalms were public domain. The Douay-Rheims is the best translation for content, but we could use some slightly updated language for the Psalms in some cases at least.

Yes, I think I will do this next. The Douay-Rheims Psalms and Clementine Vulgate would likely be a very fine addition. And then when I have finished the prayerbook, along with the entire prayer database, and explanations of various devotions (scapulars, etc.) it will be uploaded.

New Fix

2010-01-04T11:58:00.002-05:00

The difficulties of dual webbrowsers strike again.

Hot-link protection software which I activited malfunctioned and made Internet Explorer downloads fail for Saints' Books for that browser. Firefox, the browser I use to edit the pages and test them mainly, worked fine.

I have now turned off this software, and am searching for alternative hot-link protection or a fix for the software.

Until I have PHP downloads enabled to force the save dialog, I continue to remind users to right-click and 'save as' for their downloads. The larger PDF files will not load in your web-browser, there is a bug that causes PDF files loaded that way to fail if they do not download in a certain swift time limit, which larger files do not.

I am going to spend the next few days testing further technical solutions and the reliability of the sites in general.

Edited & Fixed

2010-01-04T04:16:00.002-05:00

To my surprise I found the version of 'Hell' by Fr. F.X. Schouppe, S.J. (a tremendous author, whose books change the lives and salvation of souls) was an incomplete and partially edited copy.

I vaguely recalled meaning to fix it, and could not remember if I had in fact done so and during site maintenance actually uploaded an old copy, or if I had forgotten and never done so.

I took a look at what I had, and decided I did not have a good enough complete copy to upload.

So now, 'Hell' is available for download in full, revised and edited for type. It is much more readable, and complete.

Tan Books publishes a version of this book, with additions not available here from other authors on the subject, and I recommend it.

Fr. F.X. Schouppe's 'Purgatory' is one of the best books for any soul to read, his book 'Hell' is shorter and starker. If you have not yet read 'Purgatory', read it first, and then proceed on to 'Hell' next.

We could only wish that Fr. Schouppe had also collected a similar book of excerpts from the lives of the saints about Heaven.

It is true however "Eye has not seen. . ."

If in my time working on Saints' Quotes I come up with sufficient material, I will try to make a similar effort to that which Fr. Schouppe has so far.

If you like 'Hell' you should consider donating to Saints' Books. There are some other good works on the subject that if we could afford to acquire them, we would make available to you and all.

Because some of these old works are rare and antiquarian it is not always a slight expense to make them available.

Saints' Books - Donation Received!

2009-12-30T01:11:00.004-05:00

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

2009-12-25T02:12:00.004-05:00

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. . .

2009-12-21T11:50:00.004-05:00

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. :)

2009-12-10T16:42:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-12-08T11:19:00.000-05:00

'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

2009-12-03T03:24:00.002-05:00

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

2009-12-02T02:37:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-24T21:25:00.005-05:00

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

2009-11-20T08:43:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-11T06:57:00.001-05:00

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

2009-10-24T17:44:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-13T23:37:00.003-04:00

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

2009-08-29T09:41:00.004-04:00

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

2009-08-25T19:06:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-19T23:23:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-18T01:49:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-08T22:08:00.003-04:00

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

2009-07-28T18:14:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-07-17T05:21:00.004-04:00

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

2009-07-16T02:16:00.004-04:00

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

2009-07-13T00:34:00.005-04:00

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.

2009-07-07T19:57:00.001-04:00

'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

2009-07-07T16:19:00.002-04:00

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

2009-06-25T23:32:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-22T11:20:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-15T13:23:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-31T12:54:00.001-04:00

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

2009-03-11T09:24:00.000-04:00

'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

2009-03-07T03:15:00.000-05:00

'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.

2009-03-03T23:57:00.002-05:00

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

2009-02-15T22:12:00.004-05:00

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

2009-01-18T18:59:00.000-05:00

'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

And Along the Way

2009-01-10T23:56:00.002-05:00

'Far be it from us to desert the law and the ordinances. We will not obey the king's words by turning aside from our religion to the right hand or to the left.'

1 Maccabees 2:21-22

Today the thought came to me that lack of Faith is something more significant than we normally consider, even in our lives as people of faith. If we had true faith in our immortality and Heavenly life, how much differently would we live today? Would our lives not be extraordinarily different?

At the same time I can see how much habit gets in the way of this, and so 'the world, the flesh, and the devil' the three archenemies of a holy soul. How does a person change from someone who is like other people in his satisfactions, to someone who isn't?

I have of course considered this before, but what is on my mind at the moment is basically 'what it takes to sustain a person' in doing things differently. A worldly person lives for his comforts, his comfortable house, his friends, his three meals a day, his entertainments and amusements. . . Now, how does a person who wishes to give up everything for God live, and still live happily?

There are rewards from God that enable this, and I have heard of them, and have a tiny knowledge of some of them -- but I would like to know more.

But perhaps that is too easy, perhaps that is not 'Faith', where one gives up and walks into a Vale of Tears, not expecting anything but whatever God should choose to give.

I simply do not know, neither being a saint, nor someone free from all these worldly cares. But I would like to know.

There too is the difference between knowing and living.

2008-12-24T21:07:00.002-05:00

It will all be done in the Lord's time, I console myself with that thought.

A Merry Christmas to all!

'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, scorchëd 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'

Fewer

2008-12-20T13:54:00.002-05:00

I think there can be few more pleasant tasks than reading through one's library in the search of quotes by the saints.

The statue below it seems is somewhat delayed, as the place I ordered it from sent me a statue of the Infant of Prague, but not the statue depicted, instead an altogether inferior rendition of the subject. So I have since returned it and am waiting for the refund.

It may be a bit before I am able to purchase the one pictured below as the price was very, very reasonable, and I have not seen it available elsewhere so inexpensively. I also have to make sure that other sellers aren't repeating the mistake of the one I encountered.

There are a great deal of to put it kindly, not very well done, statues out there so -- until I find one of this type or on its level, I will have to wait.

Statue of the Infant of Prague

2008-11-21T06:11:00.004-05:00

A new addition to my home. Due appreciation for this beautiful piece of Our Lord!

.. And now it's gone! They sent the wrong statue and I can't get the proper replacement.

Three Archangels, Michael of the Morning. . .

2008-09-29T13:35:00.000-04:00

Today is the feast day of the three archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, & St. Raphael. Since I have a special devotion to the angels, this will be a multi-part entry.

For the beginning, I want to record an article I found yesterday. I was looking for something else, unrelated to angels, and then I found this. I took note of it, then checked the calendar, and the timing is perfect. Divine Providence. So here is something for you all, about angels and marines.

Perhaps most people reading this story are too young to remember the Korean War and might be curious about it. It is a war to be remembered, because the Koreans then weren't any better than they are now, if you wonder why there's antagonism, perhaps I shall write more later on about exactly what it is like to live in North Korea, and what happens there to the people because of the Communists.

The Story of Michael, The Tallest of All Marines

Below you will find a letter written by a young marine to his mother after being wounded on a Korean battlefield in 1950. The Navy chaplain, Father Walter Muddy, to whom the letter was shown, thoroughly checked the facts with the young Marine and the sergeant in whose patrol he had served. Having concluded that that the facts mentioned in the letter had actually occurred, Father Muddy made the letter public in 1951 before a gathering of 5,000 Marines at the Naval base in San Diego, California. Since then the letter has been published in newspapers and magazines, read on the radio and television, all over the world:

Dear Mom,

I wouldn't dare write this letter to anyone but you because no one else would believe it. Maybe even you will find it hard but I have got to tell somebody. First off, I am in a hospital. Now don't worry, ya hear me, don't worry. I was wounded but I am okay you understand. Okay. The doctor says that I will be up and around in a month.

But that is not what I want to tell you. Remember when I joined the Marines last year; remember when I left, how you told me to say a prayer to St. Michael every day. You really didn't have to tell me that. Ever since I can remember you always told me to pray to St. Michael the Archangel. You even named me after him. Well I always have.

When I got to Korea, I prayed even harder. Remember the prayer that you taught me?
"Michael, Michael of the morning fresh crop of Heaven adorning," you know the rest of it. Well I said it everyday. Sometimes when I was marching or sometimes resting. But always before I went to sleep. I even got some of the other fellas to say it.

Well, one day I was with an advance detail way up over the front lines. We were scouting for the Commies. I was plodding along in the bitter cold, my breath was like cigar smoke.
I thought I knew every guy in the patrol, when along side of me comes another Marine I never met before. He was bigger than any other Marine I'd ever seen. He must have been 6' 4" and built in proportion. It gave me a feeling of security to have such a body near.

Anyway, there we were trudging along. The rest of the patrol spread out. Just to start a conversation I said, "Cold ain't it." And then I laughed. Here I was with a good chance of getting killed any minute and I am talking about the weather. My companion seemed to understand. I heard him laugh softly.

I looked at him, "I have never seen you before, I thought I knew every man in the outfit."
"I just joined at the last minute", he replied. "The name is Michael."
"Is that so," I said surprised. "That is my name too."
"I know," he said and then went on, "Michael, Michael of the morning . . ."
I was too amazed to say anything for a minute. How did he know my name, and a prayer that you had taught me? Then I smiled to myself, every guy in the outfit knew about me. Hadn't I taught the prayer to anybody who would listen. Why now and then, they even referred to me as St. Michael.
Neither of us spoke for a time and then he broke the silence. "We are going to have some trouble up ahead."

He must have been in fine physical shape or he was breathing so lightly I couldn't see his breath. Mine poured out in great clouds. There was no smile on his face now. Trouble ahead, I thought to myself, well with the Commies all around us, that is no great revelation.
Snow began to fall in great thick globs. In a brief moment the whole countryside was blotted out. And I was marching in a white fog of wet sticky particles. My companion disappeared.
"Michael, " I shouted in sudden alarm.

I felt his hand on my arm, his voice was rich and strong, "This will stop shortly."
His prophecy proved to be correct. In a few minutes the snow stopped as abruptly as it had begun. The sun was a hard shining disc.

I looked back for the rest of the patrol, there was no one in sight. We lost them in that heavy fall of snow. I looked ahead as we came over a little rise. Mom, my heart stopped. There were seven of them. Seven Commies in their padded pants and jackets and their funny hats. Only there wasn't anything funny about them now. Seven rifles were aimed at us.
"Down Michael, "I screamed and hit the frozen earth.

I heard those rifles fire almost as one. I heard the bullets. There was Michael still standing. Mom, those guys couldn't have missed, not at that range. I expected to see him literally blown to bits. But there he stood, making no effort to fire himself. He was paralyzed with fear. It happens sometimes, Mom, even to the bravest. He was like a bird fascinated by a snake.

At least, that was what I thought then. I jumped up to pull him down and that was when I got mine. I felt a sudden flame in my chest. I often wondered what it felt like to be hit, now I know. I remember feeling strong arms about me, arms that laid me ever so gently on a pillow of snow. I opened my eyes, for one last look. I was dying. Maybe I was even dead, I remember thinking well, this is not so bad.

Maybe I was looking into the sun. Maybe I was in shock. But it seemed I saw Michael standing erect again only this time his face was shining with a terrible splendor. As I say, maybe it was the sun in my eyes, but he seemed to change as I watched him. He grew bigger, his arms stretched out wide, maybe it was the snow falling again, but there was a brightness around him like the wings of an Angel. In his hand was a sword. A sword that flashed with a million lights.

Well, that is the last thing I remember until the rest of the fellas came up and found me. I do not know how much time had passed. Now and then I had but a moment's rest from the pain and fever. I remember telling them of the enemy just ahead.
"Where is Michael," I asked.

I saw them look at one another. "Where's who?" asked one. "Michael, Michael that big Marine I was walking with just before the snow squall hit us."

"Kid," said the sergeant, "You weren't walking with anyone. I had my eyes on you the whole time. You were getting too far out. I was just going to call you in when you disappeared in the snow."

He looked at me, curiously. "How did you do it kid?"
"How'd I do what?" I asked half angry despite my wound. "This marine named Michael and I were just . . ."

"Son, " said the sergeant kindly, "I picked this outfit myself and there just ain't another Michael in it. You are the only Mike in it."

He paused for a minute, "Just how did you do it kid? We heard shots. There hasn't been a shot fired from your rifle. And there isn't a bit of lead in them seven bodies over the hill there."

I didn't say anything, what could I say. I could only look open-mouthed with amazement. It was then the sergeant spoke again, "Kid," he said gently, "everyone of those seven Commies was killed by a sword stroke."

That is all I can tell you Mom. As I say, it may have been the sun in my eyes, it may have been the cold or the pain. But that is what happened.

Love, Michael

PRAYER IN TIME OF WAR

O God, Who brings an end to wars and defeats the assailants of those who hope in Thee, help us when we turn to Thee, and grant us that the cruelty of our enemies may be crushed, and we, in turn, may praise Thee in unending Thanksgiving. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

The Role of St. Michael

St. Michael is the guardian and protector of God's people, the general of Heaven, Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, patron of all knights, and the angel who calls men from earth and brings' men's souls to judgement. He is also reknown for his care for the sick.

His name is the war cry of Heaven, St. Michael, in Hebrew means, 'Who is like God?' the answer -- to the pride of Lucifer.

Of all the saints, with the sole exception of Our Lady, he is the greatest enemy of Satan. At the end of the world, Michael will cast Satan into Hell forever. In the meantime, St. Michael is often invoked to defend Christians against the depredations of the devil and fallen angels, in the Prayer of St. Michael.

In the Holy Mass, St. Michael presides over the worship of adoration rendered to the Most High and offers to God the prayers of the faithful, represented by incense. He is an intercessor for mankind, the bearer of the Church's prayers before the throne of God, standing at the forefront of the innumerable hosts of angels in this service.

Quotes Regarding St. Michael:

"Behold I will send my Angel who shall go before thee, and keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have prepared. Take notice of him, and hear his voice, and do not think him one to be contemned, for he will not forgive when thou hast sinned, and my name is in him. But if thou wilt hear his voice, and do all that I speak, I will be an enemy to thy enemies, and will afflict them that afflict thee." Exodus 23:22-23

"Deliver them from the lion's mouth, that hell engulf them not, that they fall not into darkness; but let Michael, the holy standard-bearer, bring them into the holy light."- From the Mass of the Departed

When I heard the sound of his voice, I fell face forward in a faint.

But then a hand touched me, raising me to my hands and knees. "Daniel, beloved," he said to me, "understand the words which I am speaking to you; stand up, for my mission now is to you."
When he said this to me, I stood up trembling. "Fear not, Daniel," he continued; "from the first day you made up your mind to acquire understanding and humble yourself before God, your prayer was heard.

Because of it I started out, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia stood in my way for twenty-one days, until finally Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. I left him there with the prince of the kings of Persia, and came to make you understand what shall happen to your people in the days to come; for there is yet a vision concerning those days." While he was speaking thus to me, I fell forward and kept silent. Daniel 10:11-15

"Veneration of St. Michael is the greatest remedy against despising the rights of God, against insubordination, skepticism and infidelity." St. Francis de Sales

Prayer to St. Michael (short form)

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host - by the power of God - thrust into hell, satan and all the evil spirits, who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Prayer to St. Michael (long form)

O Glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be our defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against principalities and Powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, spirits of evil. Come to the aid of man, whom God created immortal, made in his own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil.

Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of his Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered.

Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and Patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the most High, so that they may quickly conciliate the mercies of the Lord; and beating down the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.

Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.
The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, the root of David.
Let thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.
As we have hoped in thee.
O Lord, hear my prayer.
And let my cry come unto thee.
Let us pray.

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon thy holy name, and as suppliants we implore thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel St. Michael, thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls.

Amen.

There is more to write on this subject, but I may continue later on tomorrow rather than finish today.

Thoughts on the Attack from Without & Within

2008-09-21T14:56:00.004-04:00

When one tries to consider the primary ways in which the Church is being attacked today, one immediately feels a certain helplessness -- In what was is she not?

Yet it is perfectly true certain attacks are far and above where the battle needs to be met. These attacks, part of 'the spirit of the age' (no clean spirit), are obvious and seen within society as well as in the harm they have wrought within the Church.

It is to be noted that discipline has collapsed, and therefor observance even of serious moral law followed.

It is to be noted that men and women have exchanged roles, that men no longer know how to be men, nor women even know how to be women, and so neither is happy and license abounds in a free wheeling search for happiness that is hopeless.

It is to be noted that Communism, with its antecedent errors (atheism, feminism, class warfare, the end of individual property rights, false Utopian ideals) can be see to be at the root of most of the errors now spread throughout the Church. This of course, was predicted at Fatima, and revealed explicitly in the infiltration of the seminaries by Communist agents so often revealed through the openings of KGB files, and yet ignored with lack of comment from the Vatican.

The recent scandals regarding homosexuals preying upon young teenagers, in the seminaries can be partially traced to the Sexual Revolution, which marched hand in hand with Communism.

So the flaws all have their root in the spirit behind Communism, and its particular tendencies and immoralities. Every unclean spirit has its own particular sin, the sin which it denied God for the sake of. By understanding where the attack is, we can understand the flaws of the age, and our own flaws as well, should we have succumbed unknowingly (as a fish in water almost must) to these flaws.

Highlight

2008-09-21T14:55:00.002-04:00

In a brief and surprising change to apologetics, which I have not practiced much in years, here is a homily I wish to highlight from, Sensus Traditionis, by Fr. Chad Ripperger, Ph.D., F.S.S.P.

This particular homily focuses on 'Once Saved, Always Saved', 'Accept Jesus Christ as Your Personal Savior', and 'Sola Fide - By Faith Alone'.

It describes how these errors have led many souls to Hell.

2008-09-16T17:17:00.005-04:00

The Communism of today, more emphatically than similar movements in the past, conceals in itself a false messianic idea. A pseudo-ideal of justice, of equality and fraternity in labor impregnates all its doctrine and activity with a deceptive mysticism, which communicates a zealous and contagious enthusiasm to the multitudes entrapped by delusive promises. This is especially true in an age like ours, when unusual misery has resulted from the unequal distribution of the goods of this world. This pseudo-ideal is even boastfully advanced as if it were responsible for a certain economic progress. As a matter of fact, when such progress is at all real, its true causes are quite different, as for instance the intensification of industrialism in countries which were formerly almost without it, the exploitation of immense natural resources, and the use of the most brutal methods to insure the achievement of gigantic projects with a minimum of expense. - Pope Pius XI, Divini Redemptoris

Three audio talks by from Audio Sancto on the subject of Communism ('The Errors of Russia') and their spread into American society, often under other pretended auspices, and their complete condemnation.

Cites various Popes, Communists, and other historical figures. Places this in the context of Our Lady of Fatima's prophecies regarding Communism and World War I & II.

Focuses on how Communism has been responsible for the spread of Feminism, the Sexual Revolution, Atheism, and the destruction of the family. These talks cannot of course cover the complete destruction of human life, theft of property, and tyrannical control and influence over children and adults through education and media that Communism and its associated Left wing movements have caused.

Our Lady of Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima appeared to three shepherd children in the year 1917 during World War I. The three children were Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins, siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto. These appearances took place at Fátima, Portugal on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on May 13th.

"Lúcia described seeing the lady as "brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than a crystal ball filled with the most sparkling water and pierced by the burning rays of the sun." According to Lúcia's account, the lady confided to the children three secrets, known as the Three Secrets of Fátima. She exhorted the children to do penance and to make sacrifices to save sinners. The children wore tight cords around their waists to cause pain, abstained from drinking water on hot days, and performed other works of penance. Most important, Lúcia said that the lady asked them to say the Rosary every day, reiterating many times that the Rosary was the key to personal and world peace. Many young Portuguese men, including relatives of the visionaries, were then fighting in World War I.

Thousands of people flocked to Fátima and Aljustrel in the ensuing months, drawn by reports of visions and miracles. On August 13, 1917, the provincial administrator and anticlerical Freemason, Artur Santos (no relation), believing that the events were politically disruptive, intercepted and jailed the children before they could reach the Cova da Iria that day. Prisoners held with them in the provincial jail later testified that the children, while upset, were consoled by the inmates, and then led the inmates in praying the Rosary. The administrator interrogated the children and unsuccessfully attempted to get them to divulge the content of the secrets. In the process, he tried to convince the children that he would boil them one by one in a pot of oil unless they confessed the secrets. The children, however, resisted. That month, instead of the usual apparition in the Cova da Iria on the 13th, the children reported that they saw the Lady on August 19 at nearby Valinhos.

As early as July the Lady had promised a miracle for the final apparition, on October 13, so that all would believe. What transpired became known as "Miracle of the Sun". A crowd believed to be approximately 70,000 in number, including newspaper reporters and photographers, gathered at the Cova da Iria. The incessant rain had finally ceased and a thin layer of clouds cloaked the silver disc of the sun such that it could be looked upon without hurting one’s eyes. Lúcia called out to the crowd to look at the sun. Sometime while Lucia was pointing towards the sun and seeing various religious figures in the sky, the sun appeared to change colors and rotate, like a fire wheel. For some, the sun appeared to fall from the sky before retreating, for others, it zig-zagged. The phenomenon was witnessed by most in the crowd as well as people many miles away.

Columnist Avelino de Almeida of O Século (Portugal's most influential newspaper, which was pro-government in policy and avowedly anti-clerical), reported the following "Before the astonished eyes of the crowd, whose aspect was biblical as they stood bare-headed, eagerly searching the sky, the sun trembled, made sudden incredible movements outside all cosmic laws - the sun 'danced' according to the typical expression of the people." Eye specialist Dr. Domingos Pinto Coelho, writing for the newspaper Ordem reported "The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceeding fast and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat". The special reporter for the October 17, 1917 edition of the Lisbon daily, O Dia, reported the following, "...the silver sun, enveloped in the same gauzy grey light, was seen to whirl and turn in the circle of broken clouds...The light turned a beautiful blue, as if it had come through the stained-glass windows of a cathedral, and spread itself over the people who knelt with outstretched hands...people wept and prayed with uncovered heads, in the presence of a miracle they had awaited. The seconds seemed like hours, so vivid were they."

No movement or other phenomenon of the sun was registered by scientists at the time. According to contemporary reports from poet Afonso Lopes Vieira and schoolteacher Delfina Lopes with her students and other witnesses in the town of Alburita, the solar phenomena were visible from up to forty kilometers away.

- Wiki

The Vision of Hell

"Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repulsive likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror."

To Save Souls from Hell

"You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end: but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the Pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that he is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she shall be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world."

Quotes from Our Lady of Fatima to Jacinta Marta

between Dec. 1919 – Feb. 1920.

"The sins of the world are very great ... If men only knew what eternity is, they would do everything in their power to change their lives.”

"You must pray much for sinners and priests and religious.”

"Priests must be pure, very pure. They should not busy themselves with anything except what concerns the Church and souls. The disobedience of priests and religious to their superiors and to the Holy Father gravely displeases Our Lord.”

"Fly from riches and luxury; love poverty and silence; have charity, even for bad people.”

"More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason.”

"Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much.”

"The Mother of God wants more virgin souls bound by the vow of chastity.”

"Woe to women who are not modest.”

"Confession is a sacrament of mercy and we must confess with joy and trust.”

"Many marriages are not of God and do not please Our Lord.”

"Let men avoid greed, lies, envy, blasphemy, impurity.”

"Never speak ill of anyone. Never complain or murmur. Be very patient, for patience leads us to Heaven.”

"Our Lady can no longer uphold the arm of her Divine Son which will strike the world. If people amend their lives, Our Lord will even now save the world, but if they do not, punishment will come.”

"If the government of a country leaves the Church in peace and gives liberty to our Holy Religion, it will be blessed by God.”

"Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to her."

Thought for the Day: The Last Judgement

2008-09-16T10:03:00.001-04:00

Thoughts for the day.

During the Last Judgement. . .

All the theologians teach that all sins, forgiven and unforgiven, of both the just and the wicked, will be made manifest before all mankind. There will be no secret sins, not even of the saints.

This means that every single sin in your life will be made public, before all of mankind.

Perhaps today now, you will think a little more about not sinning and instead striving for virtue.

Why a public judgement? Because God has the right to have all crimes against Himself revealed, as well as His justice and mercy, the manner and fairness with which he delt with each and every man -- all will reveal the more His glory.

A man who has repented, changed and would no longer dream of committing a sin, has little to fear from revelations of the past -- compared to a person unforgiven, unrepetant, still attached to sin. This is one of the differences in repentance and holiness compared to the sinner still attached to sin and every base desire. A man who is forgiven and changed, can look back with happy tears, a man who is not -- can only be ashamed and wish for darkness that no longer exists nor ever will.

And so, men either ascend into the clear light of Heaven, or fall into the pit of Hell, fleeing from God as far as they can, yet justice cannot ultimately be escaped. There is Heaven, there is Hell, and there is judgement.

Today is the day to change, for tomorrow may be too late.

Texts on Discrimination in Respect to Passions

2008-06-11T23:39:00.000-04:00

1. Of the demons opposing us in the practice of the ascetic life, there are three groups who fight in the front line: those entrusted with the appetites of gluttony, those who suggest avaricious thoughts, and those who incite us to seek the esteem of men. All the other demons follow behind and in their turn attack those already wounded by the first three groups. For one does not fall into the power of the demon of unchastity, unless one has first fallen because of gluttony; nor is one's anger aroused unless one is fighting for food or material possessions or the esteem of men. And one does not escape the demon of dejection, unless one no longer experiences suffering when deprived of these things. Nor will one escape pride, the first offspring of the devil, unless one has banished avarice, the root of all evil, since poverty makes a man humble, according to Solomon (cf. Prov. 10:4. LXX). In short, no one can fall into the power of any demon, unless he has been wounded by those of the front line. That is why the devil suggested these three thoughts to the Savior: first he exhorted Him to turn stones into bread; then he promised Him the whole world, if Christ would fall down and worship him; and thirdly he said that, if our Lord would listen to him, He would be glorified and suffer nothing in falling from the pinnacle of the temple. But our Lord, having shown Himself superior to these temptations, commanded the devil to 'get behind Him'. In this way He teaches us that it is not possible to drive away the devil, unless we scornfully reject these three thoughts (cf. Matt. 4:1-10).

2. All thoughts inspired by the demons produce within us conceptions of sensory objects; and in this way the intellect, with such conceptions imprinted on it, bears the forms of these objects within itself. So, by recognizing the object presented to it, the intellect knows which demon is approaching. For example, if the face of a person who has done me harm or insulted me appears in my mind, I recognize the demon of rancor approaching. If there is a suggestion of material things or of esteem, again it will be clear which demon is troubling me. In the same way with other thoughts, we can infer from the object appearing in the mind which demon is close at hand, suggesting that object to us. I do not say that all thoughts of such things come from the demons; for when the intellect is activated by man it is its nature to bring forth the images of past events. But all thoughts producing anger or desire in a way that is contrary to nature are caused by demons. For through demonic agitation the intellect mentally commits adultery and becomes incensed. Thus it cannot receive the vision of God, who sets us in order; for the divine splendor only appears to the intellect during prayer, when the intellect is free from conceptions of sensory objects.

3. Man cannot drive away impassioned thoughts unless he watches over his desire and incensive power. He destroys desire through fasting, vigils and sleeping on the ground, and he tames his incensive power through long-suffering, forbearance, forgiveness and acts of compassion. For with these two passions are connected almost all the demonic thoughts which lead the intellect to disaster and perdition. It is impossible to overcome these passions unless we can rise above attachment to food and possessions, to self-esteem and even to our very body, because it is through the body that the demons often attempt to attack us. It is essential, then, to imitate people who are in danger at sea and throw things overboard because of the violence of the winds and the threatening waves. But here we must be very careful in case we cast things overboard just to be seen doing so by men. For then we shall get the reward we want; but we shall suffer another shipwreck, worse than the first, blown off our course by the contrary wind of the demon of self-esteem. That is why our Lord, instructing the intellect, our helmsman, says in the Gospels: 'Take heed that you do not give alms in front of others, to be seen by them; for unless you take heed, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.' Again, He says: 'When you pray, you must not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in synagogues and at street-corners, so as to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they get the reward they want. . . Moreover when you fast, do not put on a gloomy face, like the hypocrites; for they disfigure their faces, so that they may be seen by men to be fasting. Truly I say to you, they get the reward they want' (cf. Matt. 6: 1-18). Observe how the Physician of souls here corrects our incensive power through acts of compassion, purifies the intellect through prayer, and through fasting withers desire. By means of these virtues the new Adam is formed, made again according to the image of his Creator - an Adam in whom, thanks to dispassion, there is 'neither male nor female' and, thanks to singleness of faith, there is 'neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all' (Gal. 3:28; Col. 3: 10:11).

Evagrios the Solitary, Text on Discrimination in Respect of Passions & Thoughts

Just as the eye cannot see a grain of wheat unless the eyelids are open, so the practical intellect cannot see its own nature unless stripped of the attachment to sensible things that obscures its vision.

When bitten by some wild animal, a deer runs swiftly to earthly springs of water; a soul wounded by the most tender arrow of prayer hastens towards the light of incorporeal realities.

The inner principles of corporeal realities are concealed like bones within objects apprehended by the senses: no one who has not transcended attachment to sensible things can see them.

When the stage of ascetic practice has been fulfilled, spiritual visions flood the intellect like the sun's rays coming over the horizon; even though they are native to it, and embrace it because of its purity, they appear to come from outside.

Ilias the Presbyter

If you give in and are defeated when a swarm of evil thoughts rises up against you in your mind, you should know that for a time you have been cut off from the grace of God, and by His just sentence abandoned to your fate. Make every effort, then, never through your own negligence to be deprived of grace, even for a single moment. If you manage to avoid falling, if you succeed in leaping over the barrier formed by impassioned thoughts, and if you overcome the unclean provocations that the enemy in his ingenuity continually suggests to you, do not ignore the gift conferred on you from above. As the Apostle says, 'It was not I but the grace of God which was with me' (1Cor. 15:10) that won this victory, raising me above the impure thoughts that assailed me. It was His grace that 'delivered me from the wicked man' (cf. Ps. 18:48. LXX), that is, from the devil and from the 'old man' within me (cf. Rom. 6:6). Lifted by the wings of the Spirit and freed from the weight of my body, I was able to soar above the predatory demons, who catch man's intellect with the bird-lime of sensual indulgence, tempting it in a forcible and violent manner. It was God who brought me out from the land of Egypt, that is, from the soul-destructiveness of the world; it was God who fought on my behalf and with His unseen hand put Amalek to flight (cf. Exod. 17:8-16), thus giving me cause to hope that He will also drive out the other tribes of impure passions before me. He is our God, and will give us both 'wisdom and power' (Dan. 2:23); for some have received wisdom but not the power of the Spirit to defeat their enemies. He will 'lift up your head above your enemies' (cf. Ps. 27:6);

St. John of Karpathos

Seeing, therefore, that we are the portion of the Holy One, let us do all those things which pertain to holiness, avoiding all evil-speaking, all abominable and impure embraces, together with all drunkenness, seeking after change, all abominable lusts, detestable adultery, and execrable pride. "For God," saith [the Scripture], "resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." Let us cleave, then, to those to whom grace has been given by God. Let us clothe ourselves with concord and humility, ever exercising self-control, standing far off from all whispering and evil-speaking, being justified by our works, and not our words. For [the Scripture] saith, "He that speaketh much, shall also hear much in answer. And does he that is ready in speech deem himself righteous? Blessed is he that is born of woman, who liveth but a short time: be not given to much speaking." Let our praise be in God, and not of ourselves; for God hateth those that commend themselves. Let testimony to our good deeds be borne by others, as it was in the case of our righteous forefathers.

St. Clement, to the Corinthians

For our Lord was made man; He was condemned that He might impart compassion; He was bound that He might set free; He was apprehended that He might liberate; He suffered that He might heal our sufferings; He died to restore life to us; He was buried to raise us up. For when our Lord suffered, His humanity suffered, that which He had like unto man; and He dissolves the sufferings of him who is His like, and by dying He hath destroyed death. It was for this cause that He came down upon earth, that by pursuing death He might kill the rebel that slew men. For one underwent the judgment, and myriads were set free; one was buried, and myriads rose again. He is the Mediator between God and man; He is the resurrection and the salvation of all; He is the Guide of the erring, the Shepherd of men who have been set free, the life of the dead, the charioteer of the cherubim, the standard-bearer of the angels, and the King of kings, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

... And besides the pious opinion concerning the Father and the Son, we confess to one Holy Spirit, as the divine Scriptures teach us; who hath inaugurated both the holy men of the Old Testament, and the divine teachers of that which is called the New. And besides, also, one only Catholic and Apostolic Church, which can never be destroyed, though all the world should seek to make war with it; but it is victorious over every most impious revolt of the heretics who rise up against it. For her Goodman hath confirmed our minds by saying, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." After this we know of the resurrection of the dead, the first-fruits of which was our Lord Jesus Christ, who in very deed, and not in appearance merely, carried a body, of Mary Mother of God, who in the end of the world came to the human race to put away sin, was crucified and died, and yet did He not thus perceive any detriment to His divinity, being raised from the dead, taken up into heaven, seated at the right hand of majesty.

These things in part have I written in this epistle, thinking it burdensome to write out each accurately, even as I said before, because they escape not your religious diligence. Thus do we teach, thus do we preach. These are the apostolic doctrines of the Church, for which also we die, esteeming those but little who would compel us to forswear them, even if they would force us by tortures, and not casting away our hope in them.

St. Alexander of Alexandria, d. 326 A.D.

Readings for Today from the Breviary

2008-05-19T07:24:00.002-04:00

Psalm 49 (50)
To the sinner, God has said this:

Why do you recite my statutes?
Why do you dare to speak my covenant?
For you hate what I teach you,
and reject what I tell you.

The moment you saw a thief, you joined him;
you threw in your lot with adulterers.
You spoke evil with your mouth,
and your tongue made plans to deceive.
Solemnly seated, you denounced your own brother;
you poured forth hatred against your own mother’s son.

All this you did, and I was silent;
so you thought that I was just like you.
But I will reprove you –
I will confront you with all you have done.

Understand this, you who forget God;
lest I tear you apart, with no-one there to save you.
Whoever offers up a sacrifice of praise gives me true honour;
whoever follows a sinless path in life will be shown the salvation of God.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.

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Reading Ecclesiastes 2:1 - 26

I thought to myself, ‘Very well, I will try pleasure and see what enjoyment has to offer.’ And there it was: vanity again! This laughter, I reflected, is a madness, this pleasure no use at all. I resolved to have my body cheered with wine, my heart still devoted to wisdom; I resolved to embrace folly to see what made mankind happy, and what men do under heaven in the few days they have to live.
My reflections then turned to wisdom, stupidity, folly. For instance, what can the successor of a king do? What has been done already. More is to be had from wisdom than from folly, as from light than from darkness; this, of course, I see:

The wise man sees ahead,
the fool walks in the dark.

No doubt! But I know, too, that one fate awaits them both. ‘The fool’s fate’ I thought to myself ‘will be my fate too. Of what use my wisdom, then? This, too,’ I thought ‘is vanity.’ Since there is no lasting memory for wise man or for fool, and in the days to come both will be forgotten; wise man, alas, no less than fool must die. Life I have come to hate, for what is done under the sun disgusts me, since all is vanity and chasing of the wind. All I have toiled for and now bequeath to my successor I have come to hate; who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master of all the work into which I have put my efforts and wisdom under the sun. That, too, is vanity.

And hence I have come to despair of all the efforts I have expended under the sun. For so it is that a man who has laboured wisely, skilfully and successfully must leave what is his own to someone who has not toiled for it at all. This, too, is vanity and great injustice; for what does he gain for all the toil and strain that he has undergone under the sun? What of all his laborious days, his cares of office, his restless nights? This, too, is vanity.

There is no happiness for man but to eat and drink and to be content with his work. This, too, I see as something from God’s hand, since plenty and penury both come from God; wisdom, knowledge, joy, he gives to the man who pleases him; on the sinner lays the task of gathering and storing up for another who is pleasing to God. This, too, is vanity and chasing of the wind.

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Reading A sermon on Ecclesiastes by St Gregory of Nyssa

Christ is our head, and the wise man keeps his eyes upon him.

We shall be blessed with clear vision if we keep our eyes fixed on Christ, for he, as Paul teaches, is our head, and there is in him no shadow of evil. Saint Paul himself and all who have reached the same heights of sanctity had their eyes fixed on Christ, and so have all who live and move and have their being in him.

As no darkness can be seen by anyone surrounded by light, so no trivialities can capture the attention of anyone who has his eyes on Christ. The man who keeps his eyes upon the head and origin of the whole universe has them on virtue in all its perfection; he has them on truth, on justice, on immortality and on everything else that is good, for Christ is goodness itself.

The wise man, then, turns his eyes toward the One who is his head, but the fool gropes in darkness. No one who puts his lamp under a bed instead of on a lamp-stand will receive any light from it. People are often considered blind and useless when they make the supreme Good their aim and give themselves up to the contemplation of God, but Paul made a boast of this and proclaimed himself a fool for Christ’s sake. The reason he said, We are fools for Christ’s sake was that his mind was free from all earthly preoccupations. It was as though he said, “We are blind to the life here below because our eyes are raised toward the One who is our head”.

And so, without board or lodging, he travelled from place to place, destitute, naked, exhausted by hunger and thirst. When men saw him in captivity, flogged, shipwrecked, led about in chains, they could scarcely help thinking him a pitiable sight. Nevertheless, even while he suffered all this at the hands of men, he always looked toward the One who is his head and he asked: What can separate us from the love of Christ, which is in Jesus? Can affliction or distress? Can persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger or death? In other words, “What can force me to take my eyes from him who is my head and to turn them toward things that are contemptible?”

He bids us follow his example: Seek the things that are above, he says, which is only another way of saying: “Keep your eyes on Christ”.

Begin Again, Begin Anew

2008-04-27T19:50:00.001-04:00

'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

'God, our Father, we are exceedingly frail and indisposed to every virtuous and gallant undertaking. Strengthen our weakness, we beseech you, that we may do valiantly in this spiritual war; help us against our own negligence and cowardice, and defend us from the treachery of our unfaithful hearts; for Jesus Christ's sake.'

Thomas a Kempis

Why not hurry now to Confession, without which to make a new start of a day is all the harder?

At the least make an act of contrition, and then penance so as to start again all the more reconciled with God?

The truth is you neglect to spend both the time and the effort to love God the way He desires. You do not exercise your virtues and the gifts He has given you for that purpose. Stop wasting time! For. . .

'Every moment comes to us pregnant with a command from God, only to pass on and plunge into eternity, there to remain forever what we have made of it.'

St. Francis de Sales

'God desires the least degree of obedience and submissiveness more than all those services you think of rendering him.'

St. John of the Cross

'A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase of the choicest contemplation.'

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

'Let us, then, come back from that table like lions breathing out fire, thus becoming terrifying to the Devil, and remaining mindful of our Head and of the love he has shown for us. . . This Blood, when worthily received, drives away demons and puts them at a distance from us, and even summons to us angels and the Lord of angels. . . This Blood, poured out in abundance, has washed the whole world clean. . . This is the price of the world; by it Christ purchased the Church... This thought will check in us unruly passions. How long, in truth, shall we be attached to present things? How long shall we remain asleep? How long shall we not take thought for our own salvation? Let us remember what privileges God has bestowed on us, let us give thanks, let us glorify him, not only by faith, but also by our very works.'

St. John Chrysostom

Today I Want to Talk About Authentic Catholicism

2008-04-26T21:49:00.001-04:00

Because it is so necessary.

There are a great number of great Catholic apologists and converts out there today, and many of them, as well as many cradle Catholics have certain fundamental misunderstandings about Catholicism that pervade their otherwise stellar work. But these fundamental misunderstandings, like all fundamental problems put a fatal flaw throughout what they do, whether it is revealed or not.

The flaw I want to talk about is in regards to tradition. No, not tradition as a movement, the 'traditional Catholic' movement, nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with movements. Tradition, simply understanding what it is, and how it works, and how it relates to doctrine and everything within Catholicism.

Most of the Catholics I see writing today approach Catholicism from the perspective of deductive logic. Deductive logic is wonderful, deductive logic is one of the main tools for understanding so much. Deductive logic cannot be applied to certain parts of Catholicism.

What? Where? You might ask.

In regards to how we derive certain truths and pieces of knowledge. In regards to tradition, in regards to the writings of the saints.

What happens with these 'deductive logic' Catholics, I recall once a friend saying, Scott Hahn had a very Protestant approach to Catholicism, and that this showed in the flaws in his writings (which after being rather good for awhile went off the deep end). The flaw let him go only so far, and then a combination of lack of humility and the belief that he could forge brand new truths of the faith with only his pen, a little thought, and some tying together of this that and another. . .

This problem occurs in even the best of places, such as Catholic Answers. I've seen them handle spiritual subjects very poorly, simply because they were too soaked into the secular and deductive logic approach and had not paid attention to the writings of the saints on the spiritual matters discussed.

The problem with deductive logic is that miss one little thing, and it all falls apart -- and that thing you are missing might be impossible for you to find.

Apologists use deductive logic in their rhetoric a great deal because it serves its purpose well there for arguements -- but, its flaws remain even in this sphere. It teaches, but it also has the flaw of often being too much pure conjecture.

That is why Catholicism is Revelation, it is not something the philosophers arrived at.

There are scriptural quotes about human wisdom. They speak about its utter failure in the face of the wisdom of God, who takes foolishness and raises it above.

What is this foolishness? It is tradition. It is revelation.

How does a Catholic learn about the faith if he cannot rely on deductive logic, though it is useful, definitely greatly so.

He does so by learning what tradition is. But how does he do this?

He reads the writings of the saints. The writings of the saints are where all of tradition is most securely found.

They may be relied upon, and when anything is doubtful, if two or three agree -- There you are, all the more secure.

Certainly everything has its limits, but let us not talk too much of limitations in regards to the saints when we are not. Far from it, let us humble ourselves and approach the saints with the belief that if only we were more humble, if we took more time and prayed for more mercy, we would see such hidden truths that would shake the foundations of our souls.

For that is perfectly true. Perfectly true.

The life of a Catholic is nourished by reading the writings of the saints.

So I must say to all people striving to be authentically Catholic -- Do you, read your apologists, do your bearing witness of the good news, live your Faith, but above all else but prayer -- Read, read, read the works of the saints.

In these times in particular where there is so much ignorance of Catholicism even in the highest circles of the Church without the saints you will not know the fundamentals of your faith, because of that particular blindness the secular humanist culture of these times casts over all that is spiritual and the approach to God.

I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Words fail to express how essential it is for your salvation that you do this.

Consider Hell, consider Heaven, consider how ignorance of how simple a thing of the deadliness of gravity can kill a toddling child as he tumbles down some stairs. Do not be ignorant of the fundamentals, learn from your parents the saints before the laws of this spiritual as well as physical reality intervene.

You will find new splendor within, the splendor of the hidden truths of God.

The Beginning

2008-04-26T20:52:00.001-04:00

May St. Joseph, St. Michael, St. Sebastian, St. John of the Cross, St. John, St. Peter, St. Paul, Sts. Catherine, St. Margaret Mary, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Alphonsus Marie Ligouri, St. Philomena, St. Jean Vianney, St. Joan of Arc, St. Felicity, St. Perpetua, St. Ignatius, St. Benedict, St. Basil, Sts. Dominic, Sts. Francis, the Nine Choirs of Angels, the Holy Souls & Many Others pray for mankind, and for his communications, especially today over the new medium of the Internet, and for blogs, and may God please bless this blog in particular and the visitors thereof, with especial graces. Amen.

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