In going to meditation, never propose to yourself your own pleasure and satisfaction, but only to please God, and to learn what He wishes you to do. And, for this purpose, pray always that God may make known to you His will, and that He may give you strength to fulfill it. All that we ought to seek in mental prayer is, light to know, and strength to accomplish, the will of God in our regard.
#stalphonsus #prayer #reading
#stalphonsus #prayer #reading
MENTAL PRAYER
according to St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
Chapter 6. The Manner of Making Mental Prayer
II. THE MEDITATION
Mental prayer contains three parts: the preparation, the meditation, and the conclusion
When you make meditation privately you may always use some book, at least at the commencement, and stop when you find yourself most touched.
St. Francis de Sales says that in this we would do as the bees that stop on a flower as long as they find any honey on it, and then pass on to another. St. Teresa used a book for seventeen years; she would first read a little, then meditate for a short time on what she had read. It is useful to meditate in this manner, in imitation of the pigeon that first drinks and then raises its eyes to Heaven.
When mental prayer is made in common, one person reads for the rest the subject of meditation and divides it into two parts: the first is read at the beginning, after the preparatory acts; the second, towards the middle of the half hour, or after the Consecration if the meditation is made during the Mass. One should read in a loud tone of voice, and slowly, so as to be well understood.
It should be remembered that the advantage of mental prayer consists not so much in meditating as in making affections, petitions, and resolutions: these are the three principal fruits of meditation. "The progress of a soul," says St. Teresa, "does not consist in thinking much of God, but in loving Him ardently; and this love is acquired by resolving to do a great deal for Him."
Speaking of mental prayer, the spiritual masters say that meditation is, as it were, the needle which, when it has passed, must be succeeded by the golden thread, composed, as has been said, of affections, petitions, and resolutions; and this we are going to explain.
#reading #stalphonsus #mentalprayer
according to St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
Chapter 6. The Manner of Making Mental Prayer
II. THE MEDITATION
Mental prayer contains three parts: the preparation, the meditation, and the conclusion
When you make meditation privately you may always use some book, at least at the commencement, and stop when you find yourself most touched.
St. Francis de Sales says that in this we would do as the bees that stop on a flower as long as they find any honey on it, and then pass on to another. St. Teresa used a book for seventeen years; she would first read a little, then meditate for a short time on what she had read. It is useful to meditate in this manner, in imitation of the pigeon that first drinks and then raises its eyes to Heaven.
When mental prayer is made in common, one person reads for the rest the subject of meditation and divides it into two parts: the first is read at the beginning, after the preparatory acts; the second, towards the middle of the half hour, or after the Consecration if the meditation is made during the Mass. One should read in a loud tone of voice, and slowly, so as to be well understood.
It should be remembered that the advantage of mental prayer consists not so much in meditating as in making affections, petitions, and resolutions: these are the three principal fruits of meditation. "The progress of a soul," says St. Teresa, "does not consist in thinking much of God, but in loving Him ardently; and this love is acquired by resolving to do a great deal for Him."
Speaking of mental prayer, the spiritual masters say that meditation is, as it were, the needle which, when it has passed, must be succeeded by the golden thread, composed, as has been said, of affections, petitions, and resolutions; and this we are going to explain.
#reading #stalphonsus #mentalprayer
MENTAL PRAYER
according to St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
Chapter 6. The Manner of Making Mental Prayer
Mental prayer contains three parts: the preparation, the meditation, and the conclusion
I. THE PREPARATION
Begin by disposing your mind and body to enter into pious recollection.
Leave at the door of the place where you are going to converse with God all extraneous thoughts, saying, with St. Bernard, O my thoughts! wait here: after prayer we shall speak on other matters. Be careful not to allow the mind to wander where it wishes; but should a distracting thought enter, act as we shall tell you in Chapter 7.
The posture of the body most suitable for prayer is to be kneeling; but if this posture becomes so irksome as to cause distractions, we may, as St. John of the Cross says, make our meditation while modestly sitting down.
The preparation consists of three acts: 1. Act of faith in the presence of God; 2. Act of humility and of contrition; 3. Act of petition for light. We may perform these acts in the following manner:
Act of Faith in the Presence of God, and Act of Adoration
"My God, I believe that Thou art here present, and I adore Thee with my whole soul".
Be careful to make this act with a lively faith, for a lively remembrance of the Divine presence contributes greatly to remove distractions. Cardinal Carracciolo, Bishop of Aversa, used to say that when a person is distracted in prayer there is reason to think that he has not made a lively act of faith.
Act of Humility and of Contrition
"Lord, I should now be in Hell in punishment of the offenses I have given Thee. I am sorry for them from the bottom of my heart; have mercy on me."
Act of Petition for Light
"Eternal Father, for the sake of Jesus and Mary, give me light in this meditation, that I may draw fruit from it."
We must then recommend ourselves to the Blessed Virgin by saying a "Hail Mary," to St. Joseph, to our Guardian Angel, and to our holy Patron.
These acts, says St. Francis de Sales, ought to be made with fervor, but should be short that we may pass immediately to the meditation.
#stalphonsus #mentalprayer #reading
according to St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
Chapter 6. The Manner of Making Mental Prayer
Mental prayer contains three parts: the preparation, the meditation, and the conclusion
I. THE PREPARATION
Begin by disposing your mind and body to enter into pious recollection.
Leave at the door of the place where you are going to converse with God all extraneous thoughts, saying, with St. Bernard, O my thoughts! wait here: after prayer we shall speak on other matters. Be careful not to allow the mind to wander where it wishes; but should a distracting thought enter, act as we shall tell you in Chapter 7.
The posture of the body most suitable for prayer is to be kneeling; but if this posture becomes so irksome as to cause distractions, we may, as St. John of the Cross says, make our meditation while modestly sitting down.
The preparation consists of three acts: 1. Act of faith in the presence of God; 2. Act of humility and of contrition; 3. Act of petition for light. We may perform these acts in the following manner:
Act of Faith in the Presence of God, and Act of Adoration
"My God, I believe that Thou art here present, and I adore Thee with my whole soul".
Be careful to make this act with a lively faith, for a lively remembrance of the Divine presence contributes greatly to remove distractions. Cardinal Carracciolo, Bishop of Aversa, used to say that when a person is distracted in prayer there is reason to think that he has not made a lively act of faith.
Act of Humility and of Contrition
"Lord, I should now be in Hell in punishment of the offenses I have given Thee. I am sorry for them from the bottom of my heart; have mercy on me."
Act of Petition for Light
"Eternal Father, for the sake of Jesus and Mary, give me light in this meditation, that I may draw fruit from it."
We must then recommend ourselves to the Blessed Virgin by saying a "Hail Mary," to St. Joseph, to our Guardian Angel, and to our holy Patron.
These acts, says St. Francis de Sales, ought to be made with fervor, but should be short that we may pass immediately to the meditation.
#stalphonsus #mentalprayer #reading
an_open_letter_to_confused_cath_archbishop_marcel_lefebvre_pd_1.pdf
610.8 KB
An open letter to confused Catholics
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
One had the faith - or perhaps had lost it - or had never had it. But he who had it - who had entered the Church through baptism, who had renewed
his baptismal promises around the age of twelve and had received the Holy Ghost on the day of his confirmation - such a person knew what he had to believe and what he had to do.
Many today no longer know. They hear all sorts of astonishing statements in the
churches, they read things contrary to what was always taught, and doubt has crept into their minds.
#reading #lefebvre #church #vatican2
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
One had the faith - or perhaps had lost it - or had never had it. But he who had it - who had entered the Church through baptism, who had renewed
his baptismal promises around the age of twelve and had received the Holy Ghost on the day of his confirmation - such a person knew what he had to believe and what he had to do.
Many today no longer know. They hear all sorts of astonishing statements in the
churches, they read things contrary to what was always taught, and doubt has crept into their minds.
#reading #lefebvre #church #vatican2
https://sensusfidelium.com/apologetics/the-catholic-controversy-st-francis-de-sales/
Online read
The Catholic Controversy by Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622), Bishop and Doctor of the Church
(originally published by Burns and Oates, London 1886)
Translated by Rev. Henry Benedict Mackey, O.S.B.
After being repeatedly rebuffed in his attempts to re-evangelize Calvinist Protestants who would not listen to Catholic preaching for fear of reprisals, St. Francis turned to writing leaflets and inserting them into copies of his sermons, which he then posted on walls, slipped under doors and handing to whomever he could. Four years later, almost 72,000 had returned to the ancient Catholic Faith! These tracts have been compiled into a book and given the title The Catholic Controversy. The works are still as fresh and powerful today as they were then, and give some of the most compelling arguments against Protestantism that have ever been written, presenting a defense of the Catholic Faith that in some respects has never been equaled.
#reading #francisdesales
Online read
The Catholic Controversy by Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622), Bishop and Doctor of the Church
(originally published by Burns and Oates, London 1886)
Translated by Rev. Henry Benedict Mackey, O.S.B.
After being repeatedly rebuffed in his attempts to re-evangelize Calvinist Protestants who would not listen to Catholic preaching for fear of reprisals, St. Francis turned to writing leaflets and inserting them into copies of his sermons, which he then posted on walls, slipped under doors and handing to whomever he could. Four years later, almost 72,000 had returned to the ancient Catholic Faith! These tracts have been compiled into a book and given the title The Catholic Controversy. The works are still as fresh and powerful today as they were then, and give some of the most compelling arguments against Protestantism that have ever been written, presenting a defense of the Catholic Faith that in some respects has never been equaled.
#reading #francisdesales
Saint Padre Pio on Guardian Angels
Send me your Guardian Angel:
“If you need me and cannot come to visit me, enter in a church, kneel at the Blessed
Sacrament, and send me your Guardian Angel.”
Guardian Angel lifetime companion:
“My guardian Angel has been my faithful companion since my infancy.”
“When we die, our Guardian Angel will take our soul to heaven.”
“From cradle to grave our Guardian Angel never leaves us alone; not even when we sin, even when we are disgusting God with our behavior.”
“Oh if all men could understand this great gift that God assigned to us; this celestial spirit. “
“What consolation when, at the moment of death, you will see this Angel, who accompanied you through life and was so liberal in maternal care. “
Guardian Angel on duty:
“The duty of the Guardian Angel is not only of spiritual guidance. He also prevents bodily harm for us.”
“Let’s confide to Our Guardian Angel our pains and sorrows. He is like a friend, like a brother.”
“The angels envy us for one thing only: they cannot suffer for God.”
“Your Guardian Angel prays for you constantly; offers to God all the good works you accomplish; your holy and pure desires.”
“When you seem to be alone here a friendly soul to whom you can unburden yourself and in whom you can confide your sorrows.Do not forget this invisible companion, always present to listen to you; always ready to console you.”
“Often remember his presence; thank him; pray to him; Respect him; be in constant fear of offending the purity of his gaze.”
“The mission of my Guardian Angel Includes explaining me other languages.”
#reading #padrepio #angels
Send me your Guardian Angel:
“If you need me and cannot come to visit me, enter in a church, kneel at the Blessed
Sacrament, and send me your Guardian Angel.”
Guardian Angel lifetime companion:
“My guardian Angel has been my faithful companion since my infancy.”
“When we die, our Guardian Angel will take our soul to heaven.”
“From cradle to grave our Guardian Angel never leaves us alone; not even when we sin, even when we are disgusting God with our behavior.”
“Oh if all men could understand this great gift that God assigned to us; this celestial spirit. “
“What consolation when, at the moment of death, you will see this Angel, who accompanied you through life and was so liberal in maternal care. “
Guardian Angel on duty:
“The duty of the Guardian Angel is not only of spiritual guidance. He also prevents bodily harm for us.”
“Let’s confide to Our Guardian Angel our pains and sorrows. He is like a friend, like a brother.”
“The angels envy us for one thing only: they cannot suffer for God.”
“Your Guardian Angel prays for you constantly; offers to God all the good works you accomplish; your holy and pure desires.”
“When you seem to be alone here a friendly soul to whom you can unburden yourself and in whom you can confide your sorrows.Do not forget this invisible companion, always present to listen to you; always ready to console you.”
“Often remember his presence; thank him; pray to him; Respect him; be in constant fear of offending the purity of his gaze.”
“The mission of my Guardian Angel Includes explaining me other languages.”
#reading #padrepio #angels
Let Us Shut Out the Fear of Death and Meditate upon Immortality
Our obligation is to do God’s will, and not our own. We must remember this if the prayer that our Lord commanded us to say daily is to have any meaning on our lips. How unreasonable it is to pray that God’s will be done, and then not promptly obey it when he calls us from this world! Instead we struggle and resist like self-willed slaves and are brought into the Lord’s presence with sorrow and lamentation, not freely consenting to our departure, but constrained by necessity. And yet we expect to be rewarded with heavenly honours by him to whom we come against our will! Why then do we pray for the kingdom of heaven to come if this earthly bondage pleases us? What is the point of praying so often for its early arrival if we would rather serve the devil here than reign with Christ.
The world hates Christians, so why give your love to it instead of following Christ, who loves you and has redeemed you? John is most urgent in his epistle when he tells us not to love the world by yielding to sensual desires. Never give your love to the world, he warns,or to anything in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time. All that the world offers is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and earthly ambition. The world and its allurements will pass away, but the man who has done the will of God shall live for ever. Our part, my dear brothers, is to be single-minded, firm in faith, and steadfast in courage, ready for God’s will, whatever it may be. Banish the fear of death and think of the eternal life that follows it. That will show people that we really live our faith.
We ought never to forget, beloved, that we have renounced the world. We are living here now as aliens and only for a time. When the day of our homecoming puts an end to our exile, frees us from the bonds of the world, and restores us to paradise and to a kingdom, we should welcome it. What man, stationed in a foreign land, would not want to return to his own country as soon as possible? Well, we look upon paradise as our country, and a great crowd of our loved ones awaits us there, a countless throng of parents, brothers and children longs for us to join them. Assured though they are of their own salvation, they are still concerned about ours. What joy both for them and for us to see one another and embrace! O the delight of that heavenly kingdom where there is no fear of death! O the supreme and endless bliss of everlasting life!
There, is the glorious band of apostles, there the exultant assembly of prophets, there the innumerable host of martyrs, crowned for their glorious victory in combat and in death. There in triumph are the virgins who subdued their passions by the strength of continence. There the merciful are rewarded, those who fulfilled the demands of justice by providing for the poor. In obedience to the Lord’s command, they turned their earthly patrimony into heavenly treasure.
My dear brothers, let all our longing be to join them as soon as we may. May God see our desire, may Christ see this resolve that springs from faith, for he will give the rewards of his love more abundantly to those who have longed for him more fervently.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
From the treatise of St Cyprian on mortality
#reading #fourlastthings
Our obligation is to do God’s will, and not our own. We must remember this if the prayer that our Lord commanded us to say daily is to have any meaning on our lips. How unreasonable it is to pray that God’s will be done, and then not promptly obey it when he calls us from this world! Instead we struggle and resist like self-willed slaves and are brought into the Lord’s presence with sorrow and lamentation, not freely consenting to our departure, but constrained by necessity. And yet we expect to be rewarded with heavenly honours by him to whom we come against our will! Why then do we pray for the kingdom of heaven to come if this earthly bondage pleases us? What is the point of praying so often for its early arrival if we would rather serve the devil here than reign with Christ.
The world hates Christians, so why give your love to it instead of following Christ, who loves you and has redeemed you? John is most urgent in his epistle when he tells us not to love the world by yielding to sensual desires. Never give your love to the world, he warns,or to anything in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time. All that the world offers is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and earthly ambition. The world and its allurements will pass away, but the man who has done the will of God shall live for ever. Our part, my dear brothers, is to be single-minded, firm in faith, and steadfast in courage, ready for God’s will, whatever it may be. Banish the fear of death and think of the eternal life that follows it. That will show people that we really live our faith.
We ought never to forget, beloved, that we have renounced the world. We are living here now as aliens and only for a time. When the day of our homecoming puts an end to our exile, frees us from the bonds of the world, and restores us to paradise and to a kingdom, we should welcome it. What man, stationed in a foreign land, would not want to return to his own country as soon as possible? Well, we look upon paradise as our country, and a great crowd of our loved ones awaits us there, a countless throng of parents, brothers and children longs for us to join them. Assured though they are of their own salvation, they are still concerned about ours. What joy both for them and for us to see one another and embrace! O the delight of that heavenly kingdom where there is no fear of death! O the supreme and endless bliss of everlasting life!
There, is the glorious band of apostles, there the exultant assembly of prophets, there the innumerable host of martyrs, crowned for their glorious victory in combat and in death. There in triumph are the virgins who subdued their passions by the strength of continence. There the merciful are rewarded, those who fulfilled the demands of justice by providing for the poor. In obedience to the Lord’s command, they turned their earthly patrimony into heavenly treasure.
My dear brothers, let all our longing be to join them as soon as we may. May God see our desire, may Christ see this resolve that springs from faith, for he will give the rewards of his love more abundantly to those who have longed for him more fervently.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
From the treatise of St Cyprian on mortality
#reading #fourlastthings
Papacy and Freemasonry
Speech by Monseigneur Jouin, December 8, 1930
http://traditionalcatholic.net/Tradition/Information/Papacy_and_Freemasonry.html
#pope #freemasonry #reading
Speech by Monseigneur Jouin, December 8, 1930
http://traditionalcatholic.net/Tradition/Information/Papacy_and_Freemasonry.html
#pope #freemasonry #reading
"Liberalism is a sin"
by Dr. Don Felix Sarda Y Salvany
Preface
Liberalism is the root of heresy, the tree of evil in whose branches all the harpies of infidelity find ample shelter; it is today the evil of all evils. (Ch. 4).
"The theater, literature, public and private morals are all saturated with obscenity and impurity. The result is inevitable; a corrupt generation necessarily begets a revolutionary generation. Liberalism is the program of naturalism. Free-thought begets free morals, or immorality. Restraint is thrown off and a free rein given to the passions. Whoever thinks what he pleases will do what he pleases. Liberalism in the intellectual order is license in the moral order. Disorder in the intellect begets disorder in the heart, and vice-versa. Thus does Liberalism propagate immorality, and immorality Liberalism."
Liberalism "is, therefore, the radical and universal denial of all divine truth and Christian dogma, the primal type of all heresy, and the supreme rebellion against the authority of God and His Church. As with Lucifer, its maxim is, 'I will not serve.'" (Ch. 3).
"Liberalism, whether in the doctrinal or practical order, is a sin. In the doctrinal order, it is heresy, and consequently a mortal sin against faith. In the practical order, it is a sin against the commandments of God and of the Church, for it virtually transgresses all commandments. To be more precise: in the doctrinal order, Liberalism strikes at the very foundations of faith; it is heresy radical and universal, because within it are comprehended all heresies. In the practical order it is a radical and universal infraction of the divine law, since it sanctions and authorizes all infractions of that law." (Ch. 3).
http://www.saintsbooks.net/books/Dr.%20Don%20Felix%20Sarda%20Y.%20Salvany%20-%20Liberalism%20is%20a%20Sin.htm
#reading #liberalism
by Dr. Don Felix Sarda Y Salvany
Preface
Liberalism is the root of heresy, the tree of evil in whose branches all the harpies of infidelity find ample shelter; it is today the evil of all evils. (Ch. 4).
"The theater, literature, public and private morals are all saturated with obscenity and impurity. The result is inevitable; a corrupt generation necessarily begets a revolutionary generation. Liberalism is the program of naturalism. Free-thought begets free morals, or immorality. Restraint is thrown off and a free rein given to the passions. Whoever thinks what he pleases will do what he pleases. Liberalism in the intellectual order is license in the moral order. Disorder in the intellect begets disorder in the heart, and vice-versa. Thus does Liberalism propagate immorality, and immorality Liberalism."
Liberalism "is, therefore, the radical and universal denial of all divine truth and Christian dogma, the primal type of all heresy, and the supreme rebellion against the authority of God and His Church. As with Lucifer, its maxim is, 'I will not serve.'" (Ch. 3).
"Liberalism, whether in the doctrinal or practical order, is a sin. In the doctrinal order, it is heresy, and consequently a mortal sin against faith. In the practical order, it is a sin against the commandments of God and of the Church, for it virtually transgresses all commandments. To be more precise: in the doctrinal order, Liberalism strikes at the very foundations of faith; it is heresy radical and universal, because within it are comprehended all heresies. In the practical order it is a radical and universal infraction of the divine law, since it sanctions and authorizes all infractions of that law." (Ch. 3).
http://www.saintsbooks.net/books/Dr.%20Don%20Felix%20Sarda%20Y.%20Salvany%20-%20Liberalism%20is%20a%20Sin.htm
#reading #liberalism