Category: QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the SUN of JUSTICE, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on ANGELS, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, QUOTES on WATCHING, The HEART, The SECOND COMING, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 15 July – Being “Watchers.”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 15 July – “The Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Ecclesiasticus 31:8-11, Luke 12:35-40 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Watch” over your life. …
Sheep will turn into wolves
and love into hatred.
With the increase of iniquity,
people will hate, persecute
and betray each other.
Then the world deceiver
will appear in the disguise of God’s Son.
He will work “signs and wonders”
and the earth will fall into his hands.
He will commit outrages
such as have never occurred before.
Then humankind will come
to the “fiery trial“
and many will fall away” and perish.”

Unknown 1st Century Author [ACW-
Ancient Christian Writer] (Didache 16)

“Blessed are those servants
whom the Master, on His return,
shall find watching.”
Luke 12:37

“Blessed are those who watch for Him
and so, make themselves like the Angels,
whom we call “Watchers.”
A man asleep is worth nothing,
no more than if he were dead.
But, whoever has the light, keeps watch
and “darkness does not overcome him” (Jn 1:5)
neither does sleep. Whoever has been illumined is, therefore, wakened to God and such a person is alive, “for what came to be in him was life.” (Jn 1:4)
“Happy the man,” says Wisdom,
“who obeys me and happy those who keep my ways, happy the man watching daily at my gates,
waiting at my doorposts” (Pr 8:34).”

St Clement of Alexandria (c150- c215)
Father of the Church,

“She did not leave the temple,
serving with fastings and prayers,
night and day.”
Luke 2:37

“If, in holy Scripture,
Christ is the true Sun and the true Day,
there is no hour when Christians
should not adore God frequently and constantly,
so that we, who are in Christ, that is,
in the true Sun and true Day,
should be persevering, throughout the whole day,
in our petitions and prayer.
And when, in the course of time,
the revolving night returns,
there can be no harm from the nocturnal shades,
for those who pray because, to the sons of Light (1 Thes 5:5),
even in the night there is day!
For when is he without light who has Light in his heart?
Or when does he not have sun and day
to whom Christ is Sun and Day?”

St Cyprian of Carthage (200-258)
Martyr, Father of the Church

Posted in "Follow Me", CHARITY - Fr Richard Clarke SJ, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, THEOLOGICAL

Thought for the Day – 13 July – The Definition of Charity ‘What is Charity?’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 13 July – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)
Today we begin a new seriest with Fr Clarke having completed “Patience.” I believe we still have a week or so of “Humility” to complete.

CHARITY
Meditations for a Month

The Definition of Charity
What is Charity?

Charity is an infused virtue, by which we love God for His own sake and above all things and our neighbour as ourselves, for the love of God.
It is the best gift which God Himself can give, the gift compared to which, all other gifts are insignificant and worthless. It is the end and aim, the perfection and the crown of the Christian life. If we possess it, we have all things; if we possess it not, we have nothing; we are miserable and wretched and poor and blind and naked before God.
Pray that God may teach you to know and to love His Divine gift.

Charity is called an infused virtue, because we can only obtain it, if God shall please to pour it into our soul. No amount of practice can make it ours. No natural benevolence will develop into charity, unless God adds that supernatural character which alone can render it pleasing in His sight and meritorious of eternal life.
We must carefully distinguish natural from supernatural charity and we must beware of being satisfied with the former.

Charity is one of the virtues called “Christian virtues,” inasmuch, as their model and type, is the Life of Christ upon earth because, they unite us to Christ and make us like unto Him.
It is true that charity is, in itself, pre-eminently the Christian virtue and when Saint Paul says, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14), he refers alone to the virtue of charity, with which we must be clothed, if we are to be the servants and followers of our Lord. Can I say I am clothed with charity, so all around me see it? Do they not too often detect in me, a lamentable want of this virtue?

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, INDULGENCES, Our MORNING Offering, PAPAL PRAYERS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SACRED HEART PRAYERS, The WILL of GOD

Our Morning Offering – 16 June – O Jesus, Mary’s Son!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 16 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart” – The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

O Good Jesus, Make Me
Live in Thee and for Thee
By Pope Benedict XV (1854-1922)

O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus!
O fount of every good!
I adore Thee, I love Thee
and sincerely repenting of my sins
I present to Thee my poor heart.
Give it back to me
humble, patient,
pure and in everything,
conformed to Thy wishes.
Make me, O good Jesus,
live in Thee and for Thee.
Protect me in dangers,
comfort me in afflictions,
grant me health of body,
succour in my temporal needs,
Thy blessing in all my works
and the grace of a holy death.
Amen

Posted in GOD ALONE!, Our MORNING Offering, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SACRED HEART PRAYERS, The NINE FIRST FRIDAYS

Our Morning Offering – 7 June – Act of Love to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 7 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – First Friday of the Sacred Heart

Act of Love to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
By Servant of God
Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (1865-1930)

Reveal Thy Sacred Heart to me, O Jesus
and show me Its attractions.
Unite me to It forever.
Grant that all my aspirations
and all the beats of my heart,
which cease, not even while I sleep,
may be a testimonial to Thee,
of my love for Thee
and may it say to Thee –
“Yes, Lord, I am all Thine”
the pledge of my allegiance to Thee,
rests forever in my heart
and will never cease to be there.
May Thou accept,
the slight amount of good that I do
and be graciously pleased,
to repair all my wrong-doing –
so that I may be able,
to bless Thee,
in time and in eternity.
Amen

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PARTIAL Indulgence, QUOTES on MYSTERIES of our FAITH, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SACRED HEART ASPIRATIONS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 5 June – ‘… With Him, we form a Unity, which is in God! …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 5 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – St Boniface (672-754) Martyr “The Apostle of Germany,” Confessor, Bishop – Within the Corpus Christu Octave – – 1 Corinthians 23-29, John 6:56-59.– Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“As the living Father has sent Me and as I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.” – John 6:58

REFLECTION – “We believe that the Word became Flesh and that we receive His Flesh in the Lord’s Supper. How then can we fail to believe, that He really dwells within us? When He became Man, He actually clothed Himself in our flesh, uniting it to Himself forever. In the Sacrament of His Body, He actually gives us His own Flesh, which He has united to His Divinity. This is why we are all one because the Father is in Christ and Christ is in us. He is in us through His Flesh and we are in Him. With Him, we form a Unity, which is in God.

The manner of our indwelling in Him through the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, is evident from the Lord’s own Words: This world will see Me no longer but you shall see Me. Because I live ,you shall live also, for I am in My Father, you are in Me and I am in you. If it had been a question of mere unity of will, why should He have given us this explanation of the steps, by which it is achieved? He is in the Father by reason of His Divine Nature, we are in Him by reason of His Human Birth and He is in us, through the Mystery of the Sacraments. This, surely, is what He wished us to believe; this is how He wanted us to understand the perfect Unity that is achieved through our Mediator, Who lives in the Father, while we live in Him and Who,, while living in the Father, lives also in us. This is how we attain to Unity with the Father. Christ is in very truth in the Father by His Eternal Generation; we are in very truth, in Christ and He likewise is in us.

Christ Himself bore witness to the reality of His Unity, when He said: He who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood, lives in Me and I in him. No-one will be in Christ, unless Christ Himself has been in him; Christ will take to Himself only the Flesh of those who have received His Flesh.

He had already explained the Mystery of this perfect Unity, when He said: As the living Father sent Me and I draw life from the Father, so he who eats My Flesh will draw life from Me. We draw life from His Flesh, just as He draws life from the Father. Such comparisons aid our understanding, since we can grasp a point more easily, when we have an analogy. And the point is that Christ is the well-spring of our life. Since we, who are in the flesh, have Christ dwelling in us through His Flesh, we shall draw life from Him in the same way, in which He draws life from the Father.” – St Hilary of Poitiers (315-368) Bishop of Poitiers , Father and Doctor of the Divinity of Christ (An excerpt from his On the Trinity).

PRAYER – O God, Who, through the zeal of blessed Boniface, Thy Martyr and Bishop, graciously called a multitude of people to the knowledge of Thine Name, mercifully grant that we, who keep his feast, may also enjoy his patronage.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

HEART of JESUS burning with love of us, inflame our hearts with love of Thee. – 100 Days, once a day. (See Instructions. – Unless otherwise stated, e.g., “once a day,” a partial Indulgence may be gained any number of times in succession.) [169 Raccolta or Collection of Indulgences, 1910] Pope Leo XIII, 16 July 1893.

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, HOLY COMMUNION, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, ONE Minute REFLECTION, PARTIAL Indulgence, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on MYSTERIES of our FAITH, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SACRED HEART ASPIRATIONS, The HOLY CROSS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The HOLY GHOST, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 4 June –  ‘ … They clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 4 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – St Francis Caracciolo CRM (1563-1608) Confessor –Within the Corpus Christi Octave – 1 Corinthians 23-29; John 6:56-59.– Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“For as often as you shall eat this Bread and drink the Cup, you proclaim the Death of the Lord, until He comes.” – 1 Corinthians 11:26

REFLECTION – “In our offering of the Holy Sacrifice we fulfil the Command of our Saviour, as recorded by the Apostle Paul: The Lord Jesus, on the night in which He was betrayed, took bread and after He had given thanks, broke it and said: This is My Body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me. The same way, after the supper, He took the Cup saying: This Cup is the New Covenant in My Blood. Do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this Bread and drink this Cup, you shall proclaim the Death of the Lord until He comes.

This Sacrifice is offered, then, to proclaim the Lord’s Death; it is offered in remembrance of Him, Who laid down His Life for our sake. As He says: Greater love than this no man has, that he lay down his life for his friends. Because Christ died for us out of love, we ask, when we make remembrance of His Death, at the time of Sacrifice that we too may be granted love through the coming of the Holy Ghost. We pray, that by the Love which Christ had for us, when He braved the Cross, we may receive the grace of the Spirit and be crucified to the world and the world to us. The Death Christ died, He died to sin, once for all but the Life He lives, He lives to God. Let us imitate our Lord’s Death and also live a new life. Strengthened with the gift of His Love, let us die to sin and live for God.

For God’s Love has been poured out in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us. Indeed our sharing in the Lord’s Body and Blood, when we eat His Bread and drink His Cup, teaches us, that we should die to the world and that we should keep our life hidden with Christ in God, crucifying our flesh with its vices and evil desires.

That is why all the faithful who love God and their neighbour, truly drink the Cup of the Lord’s Love even though, they may not drink the cup of His Bodily Suffering. And becoming inebriated from it, they put to death, whatever in their nature is rooted in earth. They clothe themselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not indulge fleshly desires. They do not fix their gaze on visible things but contemplate things, which the eye cannot see. Thus they drink the Lord’s Cup by preserving the holy bond of love – without it, even if a man should deliver his body to be burned, he gains nothing. But the gift of love enables us to become, in reality, what we celebrate as Mystery in the Sacrifice.” – St Fulgentius of Ruspe (c462 – 533) Bishop, Father (An excerpt from Against Fabianus).

PRAYER – Almighty, eternal God, Thou Who have given Thy servants, in the confession of the true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity and in the power of that Majesty, to adore its unity, grant, we beseech Thee, that in the firmness of this faith, we may ever be protected from all harm. And may the example and intercession of Thy Confessor, St Francis Caracciolo ever assist us on our journey to our eternal home. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

MAY the HEART of JESUS be loved everywhere. 100 Days, Indulgence Once a day – Bl Pope Pius IX 23 September 1860

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, St Francis de Sales, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 31 May – Corpus Christi

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 31 May – Within the Octave of Corpus Christi

“He who eats My Flesh
and drinks My Blood,
abides in Me and I in him. ”

John 6:57

“The Saviour has instituted
the most glorious Sacrament
of the Eucharist,
which truly contains His Body and His Blood,
so that, whoever eats it will live forever.
Therefore, those who receive it frequently,
with devotion, strengthen their spiritual life
and well-being, to such an extent,
that it is almost impossible for them
to be poisoned by any kind of evil attachment.”

(Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapter 20)

“I often speak with my Teacher, Jesus,
in the Blessed Sacrament
because I learn from Him.
Jesus is the Teacher of the science of holiness.
I go to Him because I would like to learn,
from Him, how to become a Saint.
Of what use to me is all knowledge
and education, if I do not become holy?”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

Posted in 7 GIFTS of the HOLY GHOST: Wisdom, Understanding, Prudence, Strength, Knowledge, Piety, Fear, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The HOLY GHOST

Quote/s of the Day – 25 May – Pentecost Saturday

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 25 May – Pentecost Saturday

“He who abides in Me and I in Him,
the same bears much fruit”

John 5:5

“We are preserved in being, if we grow onto Him
and cling fast to the holy commandment,
which has been handed down to us
and, if we are eager to keep the blessing of nobility,
that is to say, if we never consent, in any way,
to “grieve the Holy Spirit” (Eph 4:30),
Who has come to dwell in us and, through Whom,
we believe, God has made His home in us. …
For just as the vine-stock supplies and distributes,
the virtue of its own inherent natural quality to the shoots,
so, too, the Only-Begotten Word of God,
implants, in His people, a sort of affinity
with His own nature and that of the Father.
By the gift of the Spirit, they are united with Him
by every kind of holiness.
He nourishes them, so that they become devout
and He moves them to knowledge of all virtue
and good works.”

St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)
Father & Doctor of the Church

Posted in ASPIRATIONS and EJACULATIONS, GOD ALONE!, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The HEART, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 28 April – The Role of the Eucharist in Increasing Our Love of God (Part Two)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 28 April – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

LV: … The Role of the Eucharist in
Increasing Our Love of God (Part Two)

“Meditating on this truth, let each man say within himself:

“Who could have imagined, O Lord, that a God of such Infinite greatness would bestow His affections on such an abject and insignificant creature as myself!
What could be Thy design, O King of glory?
What canst Thou expect of me who am but dust?
I see clearly, O my God, by the Light of Thy burning charity which enlightens me with knowledge and enkindles me with love that Thy design, was one divorced from all self-interest.
For Thy wish in so graciously bestowing this Sacrament, is to transform me into Thee that I may live in Thee and Thou in me.
Such an intimate union will ultimately remake my heart, fashioning from a vessel of earth, a delicate instrument attuned to things Divine!”

Then, full of joy and wonder at the indications of Divine Love given us by Christ and aware that His only purpose is the transformation of our hearts from things of earth, to things of Heaven, let us offer a sacrifice, and consecrate the will, the memory and understanding, to the sole task of pleasing Him in the gracious acceptance of His Holy Will.

After this, recognising our incapacity to dispose ourselves properly, unaided by His grace for proper reception of the Eucharist, let us strive earnestly to obtain that grace by ejaculations such as the following:

“O heavenly food, when shall I be united to Thee, to be consumed joyfully in the fire of Divine Love?
O Divine charity, when shall I live in Thee, by Thee and for Thee alone?
O heavenly manna, Sovereign good, joy of my heart, when shall I, loathing all other food, seek Thee alone?
O life of eternal joy, when shall I dwell in Thee alone?
O my Loving And almighty Lord, free my heart from the tyranny of its passions and vicious attachments; adorn it with Thy heavenly virtues and with gentle compulsion, force it to rejoice in loving and pleasing Thee.
Then O Lord, will I open my heart and bid Thee enter; then shalt Thou come, my only Treasure, to transform my heart by Thy Divine Presence.”

Such are the tender and affectionate sentiments which we should form on the evening before and, on the morning of, reception of Holy Communion.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/04/27/thought-for-the-day-27-april-the-role-of-the-eucharist-in-increasing-our-love-of-god-part-one/

Posted in Act of SPIRITUAL COMMUNION, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 24 April – Concerning the Most Holy Sacramentof the Eucharist

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 24 April – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

LIII: … Concerning the Most Holy Sacrament
of the Eucharist

“Thus far, I have tried, as perhaps you have observed, to furnish you with four kinds of spiritual weapons and the methods by which they may profitably be employed.
It remains to present to you the invaluable aids to be derived from the Holy Eucharist in subduing the enemies of perfection and salvation.

As this sublime Sacrament towers above the others in dignity and efficacy, it is the most terrible of all weapons to the infernal powers.
The methods previously treated have no force but through the merits of Jesus Christ and by the grace He has purchased for us by His Precious Blood but the Eucharist is Jesus Christ Himself, His Body, His Blood, His Soul and Divinity.

The former methods are bestowed upon us by God that we may use them in subduing the enemy through Jesus Christ but, the Eucharist is given that we may fight against the enemy with Him!
For by eating the Body of Jesus and drinking His Blood we dwell in Him and He in us.

We may eat His Body and drink His Blood in reality every day and spiritually every hour, both of which are highly profitable and holy.
The latter should be practiced as often as possible, the former as often as shall be judged expedient.”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, St Louis-Marie Grignion de MONTFORT, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 23 April – “Abide in Me and I in you.” – John 15:4

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 23 April – “The Month of the Resurrection and the Blessed Sacrament” – St George (Died c 303) Martyr – 2 Timothy 2:8-10; 3:10-12; John 15:1-7 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Abide in Me and I in you.” – John 15:4

REFLECTION – “ [Jesus] is our only Master, who must teach us; our only Lord, on Whom we must depend; our only Head, to Whom alone we should belong; our only Model, Whom we should imitate; our only Physician, Who must heal us; our only Shepherd, Who must feed us; our only Way, Who must lead us; our only Truth, Whom we must believe; our only Life, Who must be our life and our sole sufficiency in all things that in Him, we may have all in All. Except the Name of Jesus, there is no other name given under Heaven, whereby we must be saved and apart from Jesus Christ,

God has given us no other foundation of our salvation, our perfection and our glory: “for other foundation no man can lay but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 3:11). Every house which is not built upon this firm Rock, is founded on the shifting sands and will inevitably fall, sooner or later. Every soul who is not united with Christ, as a branch to the stem of the vine, will fall off, wither and become fit only for the fire. If we are in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ in us, we need not fear damnation; neither Angels in Heaven, nor men on earth, neither demons in hell, nor any other creature, can harm us because they cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (cf. Rm 8:38-39).” – St Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716) Priest, Renowned Preacher, Founder of Religious Communities [Treatise on the true devotion to the Blessed Virgin (Article one; First Truth)]

PRAYER – O God, Who dost gladden us through the worthy deeds and prayers of thy blessed Martyr George, mercifully grant that all they, who seek Thy mercy through him, may effectually obtain the gift of Thy grace. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The WORD

Devotions for the Month of April – The Resurrection and The Blessed Sacrament

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Devotions for the Month of April

The Resurrection and The Blessed Sacrament

The Month of April is dedicated both to devotion to the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Holy Eucharist – the proof of the promise of the love of God and of ETERNAL LIFE.

“My brethren, when was it that the Lord made Himself recognised? — When He broke the bread. — So, we ourselves are convinced, too, that when we break the bread, we recognise the Lord. — If He had not wanted to be recognised until that moment, it was for our sakes, we, who were not to see Him in the flesh but who were yet to eat Him in the flesh. ” – St Augustine (354-430) Father, Doctor of Grace

“I am the Resurrection and the Life,
he who believes in Me,
although he be dead, shall live.”

John 11:25

“I am the Living Bread
Who came down from Heaven.
If any man eat of this Bread,
he shall live forever
and the Bread that I will give,
is My Flesh, for the Life of the world.”

John 6:51-52

“For His Body, has been given to you
under the appearance of bread
and His Blood, under the appearance of wine,
so that, when you have partaken
of the Body and Blood of Christ,
you might be One Body and One Blood with Him.
So shall we become Christ-bearers [“Christophers”].
His Body and Blood are diffused through all our members – see, then,
how we become participants
in the Divine Nature!”

St Cyril of Jerusalem (c 313-386)
Father and Doctor of theChurch

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on MYSTERIES of our FAITH, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The PASSION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 27 March – ‘Come, come, let us go up together to the Mount of Olives.’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 27 March – St John Damascene (675-749) Confessor, Father and Doctor of the Church – Wednesday in Holy Week – Isaias 53:1-12, Luke 22:1-71 and 23:1-53 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“But Jesus he delivered up to their will.” – Luke 23:25

REFLECTION – “Come, come, let us go up together to the Mount of Olives. Together let us meet Christ, Who is returning today from Bethany and going of His own accord to that Holy and Blessed Passion, to complete the Mystery of our Salvation. And so He comes, willingly taking the road to Jerusalem, He Who came down from the heights for us, to raise us who lie in the depths, to exaltation with Him, as the revealing Word says: “above all authority and rule and power and above every Name that is named” (Eph 1:21). He comes without display, without boast. For, as the Prophet says, “He will not contend or shout out and no-one will hear His Voice” (Is 42:2). He is gentle and lowly and His entrance is humble…

Then, let us run with Him as He presses on, to His Passion. Let us imitate those who have gone out to meet Him, not scattering olive branches or garments or palms in His path but spreading ourselves before Him as best we can, with humility of soul and upright purpose. So may we welcome the Word as He comes (Jn 1:9); so may God, Who cannot be contained within any bounds, be contained within us.

For He is pleased to have shown us this gentleness, He Who is gentle and who “rides upon the setting sun” (Ps 56:12) which refers to our extreme lowliness. He is pleased to come and live with us and to raise us up, or bring us back to Himself through the Word which unites to God.” – St Andrew of Crete (660-740) Bishop and Father (Homily for Palm Sunday).

RAYER – Almighty, eternal God, Who to defend the honour paid to sacred images, filled blessed John with heavenly learning and wondrous strength of soul, grant that, by his intercession and example, we may imitate the virtues of those whose images we honour and may enjoy the help of their patronage. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in GOD ALONE!, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SELF-DISTRUST, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 16 March – The Last Artifice of the Devil –Making even Virtue, an Occasion of Sin! (Part Five)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 16 March – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

XXXII: … The Last Artifice of the Devil –
Making even Virtue, an Occasion of Sin!
(Part Five)

“I should never weary of telling you this: –

If you would give praise to God, accuse yourself and desire to be accused by others.
Humble yourself with all and below all, if you would exalt Him in yourself and yourself in Him.

Would you find Him? – exalt not yourself, or He will fly from you.
Abase yourself to the utmost and He will seek you and embrace you.
And the more you humble yourself in your own sight and the more you delight to be accounted vile by others and to be spurned as a thing abominable, the more lovingly will He esteem and embrace you.

Account yourself unworthy of so great a grace bestowed on you by your God, Who suffered shame for you, in order to unite you to Himself.
Fail not to return Him continual thanksgiving and be grateful to those who have been the occasion of your humiliation and, still more, to those who have trampled you under their feet, thinking that you have endured it reluctantly
and not with your own goodwill.
Yet were it even so, you must suffer no outward token of reluctance to escape you.

If, notwithstanding all these considerations which are only too true, the cunning of the devil and our own ignorance and evil inclinations, should yet prevail over us, so that thoughts of self-exaltation will still molest us and make an impression on our hearts, then is the time to humble ourselves the more profoundly in our own sight.
For we see by this proof that we have advanced but a little way in the spiritual life and in true self-knowledge, inasmuch as we are unable to free ourselves from those annoyances which spring from the root of our empty pride.

So shall we extract honey from the poison and healing from the wound!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/12/thought-for-the-day-12-march-the-last-artifice-of-the-devil-making-even-virtue-an-occasion-of-sin-part-one/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/13/thought-for-the-day-13-march-the-last-artifice-of-the-devil-making-even-virtue-an-occasion-of-sin-part-two/
PART THREE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/14/thought-for-the-day-14-march-the-last-artifice-of-the-devil-making-even-virtue-an-occasion-of-sin-part-three/
PART FOUR:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/03/15/thought-for-the-day-15-march-the-last-artifice-of-the-devil-making-even-virtue-an-occasion-of-sin-part-four/

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SACRAMENTS, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The SECOND COMING, The SIN of PRESUMPTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 9 March – ‘ … the bad will always be mingled amongst the good in the Church …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 9 March – Saturday of the Third Week in Lent – St Frances of Rome Obl.S.B. (1384-1440) Widow – Proverbs 31:10-31, Matthew 13:44-52 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“So shall it be at the end of the world. The Angels shall go out and shall separate the wicked from among the just. And shall cast them into the furnace of fire – there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” – Matthew 13:49-50

REFLECTION – “Our Lord was an example of incomparable patience. He bore with a “devil” among His disciples even to His Passion (Jn 6,70). He said: “Let them grow together until the harvest lest you uproot the wheat when you pull out the weeds” (cf. Mt 13,29f.). As a symbol of the Church, He preached that the net would bring back to shore, namely the end of the world, every kind of fish, both good and bad. And He made it known, in various other ways, whether openly or in parables, that there would always be a mixture of good and bad. But, nevertheless, He stresses, that we have to protect the Church’s discipline when He says: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother” (Mt 18,15)…

Yet today, we see people who think of nothing but stern commandments, who order that troublemakers be reproved, ‘not giving what is holy to the dogs,’ treating, like the publicans, ‘anyone who despises the Church, cutting off the scandalous member from the body‘ (Mt 7,6 ; 18,17 ; 5,30). Their stormy zeal so troubles the Church, that they pull out the weeds before their time and their blindness makes of them enemies, of the unity of Jesus Christ…

Take care not to let these presumptuous thoughts enter our hearts, trying to separate ourselves from sinners, so as not to be soiled by contact with them, wanting to form a band of pure and holy disciples. We will achieve nothing but breaking up our unity, under the pretext of not associating with the wicked. To the contrary, let us remember the parables of Scripture, their inspired words, their striking examples, where we are shown that, until the end of the world and the day of judgement, the bad will always be mingled amongst the good in the Church, without their participation in the Sacraments being harmful to the good, so long as these latter, have not played a part in their sins.” – St Augustine (354-430) Father and Doctor of Grace (On Faith and Works – Excerpt ch 3-5)

PRAYER – O God, Who along with other gifts of Thy grace honoured blessed Frances, Thy handmaid, with the close companionship of an angel, grant, we beseech Thee, that by the help of her intercession we may be made worthy to attain the companionship of Angels in Heaven. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CARMELITES, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, IMMACULATE HEART PRAYERS, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on REPARATION/EXPIATION, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The WILL of GOD

Our Morning Offering – 4 March – Morning Offering By St Thérèse

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 4 March – Monday of the Third Week in Lent

Morning Offering
By St Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873 – 1897)

O my God!
I offer Thee all my actions of this day
for the intentions and for the glory
of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart,
my every thought,
my simplest works,
by uniting them to It’s infinite merits
and I wish to make reparation for my sins,
by casting them into the furnace
of It’s Merciful Love.
O my God!
I ask Thee for myself
and for those whom I hold dear,
the grace to fulfil perfectly Thy Holy Will,
to accept for love of Thee,
the joys and sorrows of this passing life,
so that we may one day be united together
in Heaven for all Eternity.
Amen.

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, FEBRUARY - THE BLESSED TRINITY (Traditional), ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on MYSTERIES of our FAITH, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The MOST HOLY & BLESSED TRINITY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 3 March – “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste.” – Luke 11:17

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 3 March – “The Month of St Joseph” – The Third Sunday in Lent – The Third Sunday in Lent – Ephesians 5:1-9; Luke 11:14-28 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste.” – Luke 11:17

REFLECTION – “No-one can have God as his father, if he does not have the Church as his mother… The Lord warned us of this when He said: “Whoever is not with Me, is against Me and whoever does not gather together with Me, scatters.” The person who breaks the peace and concord of Christ, acts against Christ; the person who gathers together, outside of the Church, scatters the Church of Christ.

The Lord said: “The Father and I are one.” (Jn 10:30) It is also written of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost: “These Three are One.” (1 Jn 5:7) From now on, who can believe, that the unity which has its origin in this Divine harmony which is linked with this heavenly Mystery, can be divided up in the Church … through conflicts of will? Whoever does not observe this unity, neither observes the law of God, nor faith, in the Father and the Son – he keeps neither life, nor salvation.

In the Gospel, this sacrament of unity, this bond of concord, in indissoluble cohesion, is shown us through the Lord’s Tunic. It could neither be divided nor torn but they drew lots, so as to know who would put on Christ (Jn 19:24) … It is the symbol of unity which comes from on high!” – St Cyprian of Carthage (c 200- c 258) Bishop and Martyr, Father of the Church (On the unity of the Church).

PRAYER – We beseech Thee, Almighty God, hear the prayers of the humble and stretch forth the right hand of Thine majesty to protect us. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, OUR Cross, QUOTES on DIVINE PROVIDENCE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, QUOTES on Will (Sensual or Inferior), The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 11 February – Of the Way to Resist Sudden Impulses of the Passions

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 11 February – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

XVIII: … Of the Way to Resist
Sudden Impulses of the Passions

“Until we have become habituated to ward off sudden strikes, whether of insult or other adverse circumstances, it is well, in order to acquire such a habit, to anticipate them and desire to suffer them, over and over again and so, to await them with a mind prepared.

The way to anticipate them is, to consider the passion to which you are most inclined and also, the places wherein and the persons with whom, you are wont to converse; whence you may readily conjecture what is likely to befall you.
And should you meet with any other untoward circumstance which you have not foreseen, although you will find your soul strengthened by having been prepared to meet the other evils which you did foresee, yet may you also avail yourself of the following additional help.

At the very first touch of the insult or ‘trial,’ whatever it be, rouse yourself at once and lift up your heart to God, reflecting on His ineffable goodness and love, which sends you this affliction that, by enduring it for the love of Him, you may thereby be more purified and brought nearer and united unto Him.
And, knowing, how greatly He is pleased that you should suffer it, turn next to yourself and with a sharp rebuke, say, “O, why will you refuse to bear this cross which is sent to you, not by man but by your Father Who is in Heaven!”
Then turn to the cross and embrace it with all possible patience and joy, saying, “O cross, formed by Divine Providence before I was born; O cross, endeared to me by the dear love of my Crucified Lord, nail me now to youself that so I may give myself to Him, Who died on you for my redemption!”

And if, at first the passion should prevail against you and you should be wounded and unable to raise your heart to God, strive even then, to do, as at the beginning and fight as if still unwounded.

The most effectual remedy, however, against these sudden impulses, is to remove the cause from whence they proceed.
Thus, if you discover that, through your affection for any object, you
are thrown into a sudden agitation of mind, as often as it is presented to you, the remedy is, by persevering efforts, to withdraw your affection from it.

But, if the agitation proceeds from a person, who is so disagreeable to you that every little action of his annoys and irritates you, the remedy here, is to force yourself to love and cherish him, not only as a creature formed by the same Sovereign Hand, with yourself and created anew by the same Divine Blood but also becaus. he offers you an opportunity, if you will accept it, of becoming like your Lord, Who is kind and loving unto all men!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, FEBRUARY - THE BLESSED TRINITY (Traditional), HOLY COMMUNION, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, QUOTES on THE VOICE OF GOD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The GOOD SHEPHERD, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The HOLY GHOST, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The MOST HOLY & BLESSED TRINITY, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 9 February – St Cyril of Alexandria

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 9 February – St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444) “The Pillar of Faith” “Doctor of the Incarnation,” Bishop,Confessor, Father and Doctor, of the Church

“He who receives Communion is made holy
and Divinised in soul and body,
in the same way, that water, set over a fire,
becomes boiling…
Communion works like yeast
which has been mixed into dough,
so that it leavens the whole mass. …
Just as by melting two candles together
you get one piece of wax, so, I think,
one who receives the Flesh and Blood of Jesus,
is fused together with Him, by this Communion
and the soul finds that he is in Christ
and Christ is in him.”

“Since the Holy Spirit when He is in us,
effects our being conformed to God
and, He actually proceeds from the Father and Son,
it is abundantly clear that He is of the Divine Essence,
in It in Essence and proceeding from It.”

“Therefore, as the father of sin had, as it were,
shut up the sheep in hell, giving them to death to feed on,
as it is written in the Psalms (Ps. 48:16),
He died for us, as truly Good and truly our Shepherd,
so that the dark shadow of death is driven away,
He might join us ,to the company,
of the blessed in Heaven and, in exchange
for abodes which lie far in the depths of the pit …
grants us mansions in His Father’s House above.
Because of this, He says to us in another place:
Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased your Father
to give you a Kingdom (Luke 12:32).
Do you listen attentively to the Voice
of the Good Shepherd and obey His Word?”

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2023/02/09/quote-s-of-the-day-9-february-st-cyril-of-alexandria-2/

St Cyril of Alexandria (376-444)
Father & Doctor of the Church

Posted in ACT of CONTRITION, CONFESSION/PENANCE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, GOD is LOVE, LENT, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on BAD CONVERSATION, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on MERCY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, QUOTES on VICE, QUOTES on VIRTUE, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, St Francis de Sales, The PASSION, To JESUS through MARY

Quote/s of the Day – 5 February – In Sexagesima Week, Preparing for Lent

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 5 February – In Sexagesima Week, Preparing for Lent

“Listen to the Lord’s appeal:
‘Come, then, return to Me
and learn to know Me as your Father,
Who repays good for evil,
love for injury
and boundless charity
for piercing wounds!”

St Peter Chrysologus (c400-450)
“Golden Words”
Father & Doctor of the Church

Have Mercy, Lord
By St Peter Damian (1007-1072)
Father & Doctor of the Church

Have mercy, Lord,
on all my friends and relatives,
on all my benefactors,
on all who pray to Thee for me
and on all who have asked me
to pray to Thee, for them.
Give them the spirit of fruitful penance,
mortify them in all vices
and make them flower
in all Thy virtues.
Amen

“What better penance
can a heart do
which commits faults,
than to submit
to a continual abnegation
of self-will?”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor of the Church

O Jesus, My Sweet Love!
(I too have kept Thee suffering)
Prayer of Contrition
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor of the Church

O Jesus, my sweet Love!
I too have kept Thee suffering
through all Thy life.
Tell me, then, what I must do
in order to win Thy forgiveness.
I am ready to do all Thou askest of me.
I am sorry, O sovereign Good,
for all the offences I have committed against Thee.
I love Thee more than myself,
or at least, I feel a great desire to love Thee.
Since it is Thou Who hast given me this desire,
do Thou also give me the strength to love Thee exceedingly.

It is only right that I,
who have offended Thee so much,
should love Thee very much.
Always remind me of the love
Thou hast borne me,
in order that my soul may ever burn
with love of Thee and long to please Thee alone.
O God of love,
I, who was once a slave of hell,
now give myself all to Thee.
Graciously accept me and bind me to Thee
with the bonds of Thy love.
My Jesus, from this day and forever,
in loving Thee will I live
and in loving Thee will I die.

O Mary, my Mother and my hope,
help me to love Thy dear God and mine.
This is the only favour I ask of thee
and through thee, I hope to receive it.
Amen

Posted in OUR Cross, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on MORTIFICATION, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, QUOTES on VICE, QUOTES on VIRTUE, QUOTES on WILL (Reasonable or Superior), QUOTES on Will (Sensual or Inferior), The HOLY CROSS, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 4 February – Of the Acts to be Performed in order to Acquire Habits of Virtue (Part FOUR)

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 4 February – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

The Third Weapon
of the Spiritual Combat

XIII: … Of the Way to Resist the Impulses of Sense
and of the Acts to be Performed by the Will,
in order to Acquire Habits of Virtue (Part Four)

“Remember, again, to mortify and thwart your own wishes, from time to time, in lawful but not necessary things; for many benefits follow such discipline; it will prepare and dispose you, more and more, for self-mastery in other things; you will thus become expert and strong, in the struggle with temptation; you will escape many a snare of the devil and accomplish a work well pleasing to the
Lord.

I speak plainly to you; if, in the way I have taught you, you will persevere faithfully, in these holy exercises for self-reformation and self-mastery, I promise you that in a short time, you will make great progress and will become spiritual, not in name only but in truth!
But in no other manner do I bid you hope to attain to true holiness and spirituality, nor by any other exercises, however excellent in your estimation, although you should seem to be wholly absorbed in them and to hold sweet colloquies with our Lord.

For, as I told you in the first Chapter, true holiness and spirituality consists, not in exercises which are pleasing to us and conformable to our nature, nor is it produced by these but, by such only, as nail that nature, with all its works, to the cross and, renewing the whole man by the practice of the evangelical virtues, unite him to his Crucified Saviour and Creator.

There can be no question that, as habits of vice are formed by many and frequent acts of the Superior Will yielding itself to the sway of the Sensual appetites, so, on the contrary, habits of evangelical virtue are acquired, by the performance of frequent and repeated acts of conformity to the Divine Will, Which calls upon us to exercise ourselves now, in one virtue, now, in another.

For as our will, however fiercely assailed by sin or by the suggestions of our lower nature, can never become sinful or earthly, unless it yield or incline itself to the temptation, so you will never attain to holiness and union with God, however powerfully called and mightily assailed by Divine grace and heavenly inspirations, unless, by inward and, if need be, by outward acts, your will be made conformable to His!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/01/25/thought-for-the-day-25-january-of-the-way-to-resist-the-impulses-of-sense-part-one/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/02/02/thought-for-the-day-2-february-of-the-way-to-resist-the-impulses-of-sense-part-two/
PART THREE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/02/03/thought-for-the-day-3-february-of-the-acts-to-be-performed-in-order-to-acquire-habits-of-virtue-part-three/

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, QUOTES on ENEMIES, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on PERSECUTION, QUOTES on REASON/INTELLECT, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, QUOTES on VANITY, QUOTES on WILL (Reasonable or Superior), SOLDIERS/ARMOUR of CHRIST, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 15 January – Of Spiritual Exercises, the Third Weapon

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 15 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

The Third Weapon
of the Spiritual Combat

VII: … Of Spiritual Exercises
(and the first of the Exercise of the Understanding (Reason) — which must be kept guarded
against ignorance and curiosity).

“If in this warfare, we are provided with no weapons except self-distrust and trust in God, needful as both these are, we shall not only fail to gain the victory over ourselves but, shall fall into many evils.
To these, therefore, we must add the use of Spiritual Exercises, the Third Weapon named above.
And these relate chiefly to the Understanding (Reason) and the Will.

As regards the Understanding, we must guard against two things which are apt to obscure it.
One is ignorance which darkens it and impedes it in acquiring the knowledge of truth, the proper object of the understanding.
Therefore, it must be made clear and bright, by exercise that so it may be able to see and discern plainly, all that is needful to purify the soul from disorderly passions and to adorn it with saintly virtues.

This light may be obtained in two ways:
The first and most important is prayer, imploring the Holy Ghost to pour it into our hearts.
This He will not fail to do, if we, in truth seek God alone and the fullment of His holy will and, if in all things, we submit our judgement to that of our spiritual father.
The other is, to exercise ourselves continually in a true and deep consideration of all things, to discover whether they be good or evil, according to the teaching of the Holy Ghost and not, according to their outward appearance, as they impress the senses or are judged of by the world.

This consideration, if rightly exercised, will teach us to regard, as falsehood and vanity, all which the blind and corrupt world, in so many various ways, loves, desires and seeks after.
It will show us plainly that the honours and pleasures of earth are but vanity and vexation of spirit; that injury and infamy inflicted on us by the world, bring true glory and tribulations, contentment; that to pardon our enemies and to do them good, is true magnanimity and an act, which likens us most nearly to God; that to despise the world is better than to rule it; that voluntary obedience, for the love of God to the meanest of His creatures, is greater and nobler, than to command mighty princes and, that the mortication and subjugation of our most trying appetite, is more glorious than the reduction of strong cities, the defeat of mighty armies, the working of miracles, or the raising of the dead!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SELF-DISTRUST, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 9 January – Distrust of Self – FOUR METHODS,

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 9 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” 2 Tim 2: 5

The First Two Weapons
of the Spiritual Combat

I: Distrust of Self (Diffidence) FOUR METHODS,

“I, therefore, set before you FOUR METHODS, by the use of which, in dependence always on Divine grace, you may acquire this gift. …”

  • The FIRST is, to KNOW and consider your own vileness and nothingness and your inability, of yourself, to do any good, by which to merit an entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.
  • The SECOND is, CONTINUALLY to ASK such knowledge of the Lord in fervent and humble prayer; for it is His gift. And in order to reach its attainment, we must look upon ourselves, not only as destitute thereof, but as of ourselves incapable of acquiring it.
    Present yourself, therefore, continually before the Divine Majesty, with an assured faith that He is willing, of His great goodness, to grant your petition; wait patiently, all the time which His Providence appoints and without doubt, you shalt obtain it.
  • The THIRD is, to stand in FEAR of your own judgement about yourself, of your strong inclination to sin, of the countless hosts of enemies against whom you are incapable of making the slightest resistance, of their long practice in open warfare and secret stratagem, of their transformations into Angels of Light and of the innumerable arts and obstacles which they secretly spread for us, even in the very way of holiness.
  • The FOURTH is, whenever you are OVERTAKEN by any FAULT, to look more deeply into yourself and, more keenly, feel your absolute and utter weakness – for to this end did God permit your fall that, warned by His inspiration and illumined by a clearer Light than before, you may come to know yourself and learn to despise yourself as a thing unutterably vile and be, therefore, also willing to be so accounted and despised by others.
    For without this willingness, there can be no holy self-distrust which is founded on TRUE HUMILITY and experimental SELF-KNOWLEDGE. 
  • This self-knowledge is clearly needful to all who desire to be united to the Supreme Light and Uncreated Truth and the Divine Clemency, often makes use of the fall of proud and presumptuous men to lead to Itself; justly suffering them to fall into some faults which they trusted to avoid, by their own strength that they may learn to know and absolutely distrust themselves.
    Our Lord is not, however, wont to use so severe a method, until those more gracious means of which we have before spoken have failed to work the cure designed by His Divine Mercy.
    He permits a man to fall, more or less deeply, in proportion to his pride and self-esteem; so that if there were no presumption (as in the case of the Blessed Virgin Mary), there would be no fall.
    Therefore, whenever you shall fall, take refuge at once in humble self-knowledge and beseech the Lord, with urgent entreaties to give you Light — truly to know yourself and entire self-distrust lest you should fall again, perhaps into deeper perdition!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/01/08/thought-for-the-day-8-january-i-distrust-of-self/

Posted in QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT - Fr Lorenzo Scupoli

Thought for the Day – 4 January – Of the Essence of Christian Perfection

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 4 January – The Spiritual Combat (1589) – Dom Lorenzo Scupoli OSM (c1530-1610)

“None shall be crowned who has not fought well.” – 2 Tim 2: 5

Introduction
I: Of the Essence of Christian Perfection –
Of the Struggle Requisite for its Attainment –
And of the Four Things Needful in this Conflict

Of the Essence of Christian Perfection, Part One:

“Christian Soul ! Would you attain in Christ, the height of perfection and by a nearer and nearer approach to God, become one spirit with Him?
Before undertaking this greatest and noblest of all imaginable enterprises, you must first learn what constitutes the true and perfect spiritual life.
For many have made it to consist exclusively in austerities, maceration of the flesh, hair-shirts, disciplines, long vigils and fasts and other like bodily hardships and penances.
Others, especially women, fancy they have made great progress therein, if they say many vocal prayers, hear many Masses and long Offices, frequent many Churches, receive many Communions.
Others (and those sometimes among cloistered religious) are persuaded that perfection depends wholly upon punctual attendance in choir, upon silence, solitude and regularity. …

But it is not so indeed; for as some of these are means to acquire grace, others, fruits of grace, they cannot be held to constitute Christian perfection and the true life of grace.
They are unquestionably most powerful means, in the hands of those who use them well and discreetly, of acquiring grace in order to gain strength and vigour against their own sinfulness and weakness, to defend themselves against our common enemies, to supply all those spiritual aids so necessary to all the servants of God and especially to beginners in the spiritual life.

But these external works, although all most holy in themselves, may yet, by the fault of those who use them, as the foundation of their spiritual building, prove a more fatal occasion of ruin than open sins!”

Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, JESUIT SJ, NOTES to Followers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS on FAITH, QUOTES for the NEW YEAR, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on TIME, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, REDEMPTORISTS CSSR, St Alphonsus de Liguori,, The HOLY NAME, The WILL of GOD, THEOLOGICAL

The New Day and Year has Dawned! Its 2024!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

The New Day and Year has Dawned!
Its 2024!

We know that there is only ONE thing necessary
and so, for this New Year, 2024,
I wish you only that ONE THING –
that HE may fill your heart,
your mind, your soul, your whole being,
everyday and every moment
and then, nothing will be wanting to you,
ALL will be yours and even sadness
and pain will serve only to unite you
more and more closely to our Divine Saviour.
And so, abiding in His Sacred Heart,
2024 will be PERFECT!

“We must make our way towards eternity,
never regarding what men think of us,
or of our actions,
studying only to please God.”

St Francis Borgia (1510-1572)

The One Thing Necessary
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor

O my God,
help me to remember,
that time is short, eternity long.
What good is all the greatness of this world
at the hour of death?
To love Thee, my God
and save my soul is the one thing necessary.
Without Thee, there is no peace of mind or soul.
My God, I need fear only sin
and nothing else in this life,
for to lose Thee, my God, is to lose all.
O my God, help me to remember,
that I came into this world with nothing
and shall take nothing from it, when I die.
To gain Thee, I must leave all.
But in loving Thee,
I already have all good things –
the infinite riches of Christ and His Church in life,
Mary’s motherly protection and perpetual help
and the eternal dwelling place
Jesus has prepared for me.
Eternal Father, Jesus has promised
that whatever we ask
in His Name will be granted us.
In His Name, I pray,
give me a burning faith,
a joyful hope,
a holy love for Thee.
Grant me perseverance in doing Thine will
and never let me be separated from Thee.
My God and my All,
make me a Saint!
Amen

Posted in CHRIST the SUN of JUSTICE, CHRISTMAS Prayers & Hymns, FATHERS of the Church, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, GOD ALONE!, JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, MARIAN POETRY, MARIAN PRAYERS, QUOTES for the NEW YEAR, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, QUOTES on WISDOM, REDEMPTIVE Suffering, The HOLY NAME

Quote/s of the Day – 1 January – “His Name was called Jesus”

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 1 January – “The Month of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and of the Holy Family” – The Octave Day of the Nativity and the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord – Titus 2:11-15, Luke 2:21 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“His Name was called Jesus”

Luke 2:21

“Born as a Son,
led forth as a Lamb,
sacrificed as a sheep,
buried as a man,
He rose from the dead as a God,
for He was by nature God and man.

He is all things –
He judges and so, He is Law.
He teaches and so, He is Wisdom.
He saves and so, He is Grace.
He begets and so, He is Father.
He is begotten,and so, He is Son.
He suffers and so, He is Sacrifice.
He is buried and so, He is Man.
He rises again and so, He is God.
This is Jesus Christ,
to Whom belongs glory for all ages.”

St Melito of Sardis (Died c180)
Bishop, Early Church Father

“If we would God discern
The world we must despise,
His love and hate must learn,
See all things with His eyes.
And we must self forgo
If God we would attain,
His grace must in us grow
And ease us from all pain.
So shall we sing His praise
And be at one with Him,
In peace our voices raise
In the celestial hymn,
That with quadruple harmony
And all mellifluous melody,
In Heaven resounds eternally.”

Blessed Jan van Ruusbroec (1293-1381)

Mary of Christmas
Unknown Author

I know not how, dear Lady love,
To offer you my praise,
I cannot fashion as I wish
The words that I would raise.
You stand afar, celestial Queen,
The stars are in your crown,
They spangle at each gesture’s path
And dust upon your gown.
Perhaps I might recall the night
You knelt beside the crib,
The night when doors and casements shut
And left a mountain’s rib,
Alone, exposed, to hoard you close
Beside the new-born Child
And seek in Joseph’s kindly eyes
For something worldly-mild.
To counteract such mundane chill
I hereby set my heart,
Dim mirror of an Infant’s warmth,
Its flaming but a part,
A small, sad part of Endless Love
That came on Christmas day
To show a mother wonder-bright
To guide us on our way.
Amen.

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES for the NEW YEAR, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on TIME, QUOTES on TRUST and complete CONFIDENCE in GOD, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD

Thought for the Day – 31 December – The Last Day of the Year

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 31 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Last Day of the Year

“After he had spent a night fishing in the lake of Galilee without having caught anything, St Peter was ordered by Jesus, to cast his nets back into the sea.
“Master” the future Apostle replied, “the whole night through, we have toiled and have taken nothing but at Thy word, I will lower the nets.”
This act of perfect confidence in Our Lord, was soon rewarded, for when the fishermen lowered the nets, “they enclosed a great number of fishes” (Lk 5:5-6).

Perhaps we have toiled hard and made many sacrifices during the past year.
But have we worked with and for Jesus Christ?
We may have thought more of ourselves than of Jesus and, as a result, achieved little or nothing in the spiritual life.

The remedy is clear.
We must remain close to Jesus, working with Him, in Him and for Him.
Then, He will bless and strengthen the good resolutions which we are about to make.
The secret of perfection is to live in constant union with Jesus Christ.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2020/12/31/thought-for-the-day-31-december-the-last-day-of-the-year/
PART TWO:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/31/thought-for-the-day-30-december-the-last-day-of-the-year/

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the SUN of JUSTICE, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, CHRISTMAS Prayers & Hymns, CHRISTMAS Quotes, DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on JOY, QUOTES on PEACE, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The DIVINE INFANT, The HEART

Quote/s of the Day – 30 December – Our only Light – Deo Gratias!

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 30 December – The Sixth Day Within the Octave of the Nativity of our Lord

“With hearts truly grateful,
Come, all ye faithful,
To Jesus, to Jesus in Bethlehem;
See Christ your Saviour,
Heaven’s greatest favour.
Let us hasten to adore Him;
Our God and King.”

DEO GRATIAS! 

“Open wide your door to the One who comes.
Open your soul,
throw open the depths of your heart
to see the riches of simplicity,
the treasures of peace,
the sweetness of grace.
Open your heart
and run to meet
the Sun of Eternal Light
Who illuminates all men.”

St Ambrose (340-397)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Listen! the reason He is called Saviour
is because, for all those
to whom He is united,
He gains salvation.
Now salvation means,
to be delivered from all ills and,
at the same time,
to find all blessings forever –
Life instead of death,
Light in place of darkness
and, instead of the slavery
of the passions and unworthy deeds,
the complete freedom granted
to all those, who are united to Christ,
Saviour of all beings.
Thus they will possess,
without being able to lose it,
all joy, all happiness, all blessedness …
that that none can ever know,
or conceive, or see,
if not sincerely and ardently
attached to Christ.”

St Symeon the New Theologian (c 949-1022)

“Taking up the newborn Emmanuel,
Mary beheld a Light incomparably fairer
than the sun and saw a Fire
that water cannot quench.
She received, in the covering of flesh
Whom she had borne,
the Light Who enlightens all things
and she was worthy,
to carry in her arms,
the Word Who carries the universe!” ”

St Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159)
Bishop, Cistercian Monk

(Homilies in praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary IV SC 72)

Posted in ADVENT QUOTES, CHRIST the KING, CHRIST the LIGHT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, MARIAN QUOTES, MOTHER of GOD, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on HEAVEN, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The DIVINE INFANT, The FAITHFUL on PILGRIMAGE, The NATIVITY of JESUS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 5 December – The Divine Infancy

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 5 December – The First Week of Advent – “The Month of the Divine Infancy and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary”

“The night is far advanced;
the day is at hand.”

Romans 13:12

“And the Lord God shall give unto Him
the throne of David, His father
and He shall reign in the house of Jacob forever.
And of His Kingdom there shall be no end.”
Luke 1:32-33

“During this present life, Christ rules in the Church.
By faith and love, He dwells
in the hearts of His elect and guides them,
by His unceasing care, toward their heavenly reward.
In the life to come, when their period of exile on earth is ended,
He will exercise His Kingship,
by leading the faithful to their heavenly country.
There, forever inspired by the vision of His Presence,
their one delight will be to praise and glorify Him.”

The Venerable St Bede (673-735)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Listen! the reason He is called Saviour
is because, for all those
to whom He is united,
He gains salvation.
Now salvation means,
to be delivered from all ills and,
at the same time,
to find all blessings forever –
Life instead of death,
Light in place of darkness
and, instead of the slavery
of the passions and unworthy deeds,
the complete freedom granted
to all those, who are united to Christ,
Saviour of all beings.
Thus they will possess,
without being able to lose it,
all joy, all happiness, all blessedness …
that that none can ever know,
or conceive, or see,
if not sincerely and ardently
attached to Christ.”

St Symeon the New Theologian (c 949-1022)

“Taking up the newborn Emmanuel,
Mary beheld a Light incomparably fairer
than the sun and saw a Fire
that water cannot quench.
She received, in the covering of flesh
Whom she had borne,
the Light Who enlightens all things
and she was worthy,
to carry in her arms,
the Word Who carries the universe!”

St Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159)
Bishop, Cistercian Monk

Posted in CHRIST the LIGHT, FATHERS of the Church, JULY - The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on CHARITY, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, The HEART, The HOLY FACE, The MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

Quote/s of the Day – 23 November – St Pope Clement I

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 23 November – St Clement I – Papacy (c88–c101) Pope Martyr, Apostolic Father.

“Through Him, our gaze penetrates
the heights of Heaven
and we see, as in a mirror,
the most holy Face of God.
Through Christ,
the eyes of our hearts are opened
and our weak and clouded understanding,
reaches up toward the light.”

“Charity unites us to God.
There is nothing unkind in charity,
nothing arrogant.
Charity knows no schism,
does not rebel,
does all things in concord.
In charity all the elect of God
have been made perfect.”

“Let us fix our thoughts
on the Blood of Christ
and reflect how Precious that Blood is,
in God’s eyes,
inasmuch, as its outpouring
for our salvation,
has opened the grace of repentance
to all mankind.”

MORE:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/11/23/quote-s-of-the-day-23-november-st-clement-i-and-st-columban/

St Pope Clement I – Papacy (c88 – c101)