Category: OPEN HOUSE…Conversations with…

Posted in PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on ANGER, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on KINDNESS, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on SIN

Thought for the Day – 13 June – On Complaining

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Thought for the Day – 13 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

On Complaining

  1. When anything pains or annoys us, it is a natural impulse to relieve our feelings by telling our griefs to others, partly from a hope of sympathy, partly because it is a great relief to express our vexation or our sorrow. Such complaints are rarely made without sin!
    It is scarcely possible to speak of what we have suffered, without some breach of the law of charity.
    We must strive to exercise the virtue of patience and stop the rising words in which we are about to pour forth the story of our wrongs.
  2. The effort of keeping silent in such a case soon brings its reward. The pain after a time diminishes, whereas to have expanded upon it, would have made us feel more bitterly than before. Those who know that we have suffered are edified by our silence. Our wrong-doer is often won over by our meekness. Peace comes into our heart.
    Do I suppress for Christ’s sake and to imitate His patience, unkind words rising to my lips? When I have done so, do I not find that patience brings its own reward?
  3. Yet, this does not mean that I am always to bury my griefs in my own heart. Sometimes I cannot do so; out they will come in spite of my efforts. Sometimes it is almost a duty to tell our story to some kind and sympathetic friend; half of our troubles disappear or are sensibly diminished in the mere act of telling.
    But, we must choose one, whom we can trust and respect. We must be careful not to speak bitterly or to abuse others by way of airing our feelings. We must try to excuse others and must tell our story simply and with all charity.
    Do I observe this rule when I am pouring my troubles into the ear of some friend or adviser?
Posted in PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on SIN

Thought for the Day – 12 June – On Physical Impatience

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Thought for the Day – 12 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

On Physical Impatience

  1. Physical impatience is that involuntary feeling of irritation which is aroused in us by some external and physical cause. We are looking for something and cannot find it. We are trying to focus our thoughts and some distracting noise renders it impossible. We are trying to compose ourselves to sleep and some troublesome neighbour wakes us just as slumber was creeping over us.
    On account of all such impatience, we should humble ourselves, as being a sign of faults indulged in the past, not of present sin.

2. This sort of physical impatience, anticipating our reason, is very often the result of impatience, pride, self-will long indulged.
The ghost of past sins reappearing to remind us of what we have forgotten and, to keep us humble.
Not always, for St Teresa tells us that owing to ill-health and desolation, she had the greatest difficulty in remaining calm and gentle and in resisting the impulse to speak sharply and disagreeably.
But as a general rule, such physical impatience may be taken, at all events, while we are in good health, as a mark of pride not completely subdued and of self-will, which has not fully learned to submit.

3. How are we to be rid of physical impatience?
Chiefly by schooling ourselves to endure, by bearing willingly, even what we could avoid, by waiting for a long time, ere we knock again, if our first signal produces no effect, by checking the word of complaint or gesture indicative of our suffering. Such little efforts at self-mastery are very pleasing to God; they often cost us a good deal.
They may be concerned with trifles but the victory over ourselves is no trifle.
Learn then to seek to overcome the first movements of physical impatience.

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE

Thought for the Day – 11 June – Humility and Criticism

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Thought for the Day – 11 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Humility and Criticism

The spirit of criticism is very dangerous to humility. He who criticises puts himself above the person, or the action, criticised and becomes, the self-constituted judge. He looks down on it and this, even though he gives it his patronising approval. All this is at variance with the spirit of humility. Our attitude to the actions of others should be to try to praise and admire ,as from below, or if we cannot do this, to abstain from speaking if we are able, or to make excuses for those who are obviously at fault.

Unjust and bitter criticism is one of the marks of inveterate pride.
The devil is the accuser of the brethren. Much that he urges against them is true but this is no excuse. Much is false and, in this, those who criticise rashly and uncharitably, are sure to imitate their model. They fall unconsciously into false and rash judgements and, even where they were quite certain that they were correct, they nevertheless, often do serious wrong to those whom they criticise. If they were more humble, they would have a clearer and truer view of the characters and actions, of those around them.

Yet how general is this habit of criticism?
Many who are reputed good Catholics, run down their neighbours with a freedom which shows how little they have imbibed of the spirit of the Church and of her Saints. A Saint is always most gentle in his judgements and words and seeks to imitate his Master, when He said to the poor woman trembling at His feet, “Neither do I condemn thee.”
Ask yourself whether you are free from fault in this respect and promise amendment.

Posted in "Follow Me", AUGUSTINIANS OSA, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, FATHERS of the Church, franciscan OFM, I BELIEVE!, Lady POVERTY, LOVE of NEIGHBOUR, OUR Cross, QUOTES on CHARITY, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on EVANGELISATION, QUOTES on FAITH, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, QUOTES on POVERTY, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SELF-DENIAL, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, SELF-DISTRUST, The HOLY CROSS, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Quote/s of the Day – 11 June – ‘ … What we are to do and what we have to hope for… ‘

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Quote/s of the Day – 11 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – Feast of St Barnabas the Apostle, Martyr, The “Son of Encouragement” – Acts 11:21-26; 13:1-3; Matthew 10:16-22.– Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Behold I send you as sheep
in the midst of wolves.
Be, therefore, wise as serpents
and simple as doves. ”

Matthew – 10:16

“Go into the whole world
and preach the Gospel
to every creature.”
Mark 16:15

“You have heard what the Lord said
to His disciples after the Resurrection.
He sent them out to preach the Gospel
and they did so.
Listen: “Through all the earth their voice resounds
and to the ends of the world, their message” (Ps 18[19],5).
Step by step, the Gospel has reached even to us
and the ends of the earth.
In a few words the Lord, addressing Himself
to His disciples, set out what we are to do
and what we have to hope for.
Just as you have heard, He said:
“Whoever believes and is Baptised will be saved.”
He asks for our faith and offers us salvation.
What He offers us, is so precious
that what He asks of us, is as nothing.”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of Grace

“All the brothers should strive to follow
the humility and the poverty of our Lord Jesus Christ …
And they must rejoice when they live among people
who are considered to be of little worth
and who are looked down upon,
among the poor and the powerless,
the sick and the lepers and the beggars by the wayside.
And when it may be necessary,
let them go to seek alms.
And they should not be ashamed
but rather recall that our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of the living and all-powerful God …
was a poor man and a transient and lived on alms,
He and the Blessed Virgin and His disciples.”

St Francis of Assisi (c1181-1226)

(Earlier Rule, #8-9).

“If you truly wish to help
the soul of your neighbour,
you should firstly approach God
with all your heart.
Ask Him simply,
to fill you with charity,
the greatest of all virtues.”

St Vincent Ferrer OP (1350-1419)

“If you wish to enter into life,
keep My commandments.
If you will know the truth,
believe in Me.
If you will be perfect,
sell all.
If you will be My disciple,
deny yourself.
If you will possess the blessed life,
despise this present life.
If you will be exalted in Heaven,
humble yourself on earth.
If you wish to reign with Me,
carry the Cross with Me.
For only the servants of the Cross
find the life of blessedness
and of true Light.”

Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

The Imitation of Christ Chapter 56

Posted in HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on BAD CONVERSATION, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE

Thought for the Day – 10 June – Humility in Conversation

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Thought for the Day – 10 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Humility in Conversation

Our Lord tells us that by our words we shall be justified, by our words we shall be condemned and from our words, can be clearly seen whether we are humble or proud.
The proud man always wants to take the lead in the conversation and to lay down the law for the benefit of the rest. The humble man is content to be in the background. The proud man is vexed if he is not listened to, while the humble man is ready to accept such disregard, with peaceful resignation, as a humiliation he welcomes from the Hand of God.
On these points, do I exhibit marks of pride or of humility?

There is, moreover, in the conversation of the proud an undercurrent of self-praise. They talk chiefly about themselves and what they have said and done and, in a tone of boastfulness, more or less, thinly veiled.
The humble seem to forget themselves; they consider what is interesting to
those to whom they speak and they do this because, for God’s sake, they seek to please others rather than themselves.
Try to cultivate this humility in conversation. It will make you loved by
God and by men.

We perceive the contrast between humility and pride, most clearly, when some rebuff is given. See the meekness of the one and the indignation of the other; the patience of the one and the eagerness of the other to assert himself and prove himself in the right.
In this respect, we shall do well to contemplate the perfect humility of the Holy Mother of God at the marriage feast at Cana. In answer to the apparent rebuke which she received from her Son, she uttered not a word of self-justification but an instruction to the servants, to be exact in their obedience to Jesus.

Posted in HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on SUFFERING

Thought for the Day – 9 June – The Attainment of Humility

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Thought for the Day – 9 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

The Attainment of Humility

Humility does not spring up in our souls of its own accord. On the contrary, every child of Adam has a deep root of pride within his soul.
It is only by a long and painful process that the generality of mankind can attain humility. We cannot expect to become humble unless we fulfill the necessary conditions.

We must make many acts of humility before we can attain any proficiency in the virtue. Our acts of humility must consist, not merely in protesting to Almighty God that we are vile and worthless ,in His sight and in humbling ourselves before Him by reason of our many sins. Our acts of humility must be practiced towards others by being very gentle towards those who provoke us, by bearing contradictions with patience, by accepting disappointments with patience and rebuffs without complaint. All this is a gradual process and we must not expect proficiency in humility until we have long practiced these means to attain it.

We must pray for humility.
No gift of God can be won without prayer and humility least of all
because it is so opposed to the natural bent of our nature and, can never be had without a special grace from God. Prayer, moreover, is an acknowledgement of our dependence upon God,and humility consists in nothing else, than a recognition of this dependence and an acquiescence in it.
Pray, then, for humility! It is not much use praying for humility unless we also pray for the means that are to implant it in our souls. We must ask God, from our hearts, not to spare us if He sees that we shall not become humble without suffering. We must leave ourselves in His Hands, saying only, “O my God, make me humble at any cost! Amen.”

Posted in CHRIST the JUDGE, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The LAST THINGS

Thought for the Day – 8 June – Aids to Humility

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Thought for the Day – 8 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Aids to Humility

To foster in ourselves a spirit of humility, we must not only look back but also look forward.
When we appear before our Lord to be judged, what reason we shall have for shame and for dismay! How can I, who am so full of sin, venture to face Him, Who sees through every disguise and recognises the true nature of every action?
How can I meet Him who has witnessed deeds of evil hidden from the eyes of men and wicked and uncharitable thoughts, indulged in secret!?
When I think of that day, I must be humble.

Nothing will then be such a cause of shame to me as my pride.
Nothing will so turn away the Face of my Judge from me in anger.
If God abhors the proud, how can I look forward to that day without trembling? St Teresa said that when she had the privilege of seeing our Blessed Lord in a vision, the prevailing thought in her mind was, what a terrible thing it would be, if He were to be angry with her.
He will be angry with me, then, unless I learn more humility!
O my God, make me humble at any cost!

What will be the punishment of pride? Will it be the fire of Hell that was prepared for the devil and his angels, simply and solely because of their pride?
None will endure such misery as the proud; not the gluttonous, or the impure, or the covetous, except, so far as their other vices fostered pride in them.
O my God, if nothing else will make me humble, grant that the thought of the lowest Hell, reserved for the proud, may conquer in me that hateful vice of pride!

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, DOCTRINE, DOGMA, FATHERS of the Church, MARIAN PRAYERS, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN TITLES, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUEENSHIP of MARY

Quote/s of the Day – 8 June – The Queenship of Mary

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Quote/s of the Day – 8 June – The Queenship of Mary

“She is the eldest daughter of the Great King.
If you enjoy her favour,
she will introduce you
to the Monarch of the Universe.
No-one has so great an interest with Him than Mary,
who was the occasion of His coming down from Heaven
to become man, for the redemption of mankind.”

St John the Merciful (c 552-c 616)

“And as Queen,
she possesses, by right,
the whole Kingdom of her Son.”

Rupert of Deutz OSB (c 1075- c 1130)
Benedictine Abbot

“The Angels rejoiced to see their Queen,
the Apostles rejoiced to see their lady
and both obeyed her, with loving devotion.
… Therefore, when the Virgin of virgins
was led forth by God and her Son,
the King of kings. amid the company of exulting Angels
and rejoicing Archangels,
with the Heavens ringing with praise,
the prophecy of the psalmist was fulfilled,
in which he said to the Lord:
At your right hand stands the Queen,
clothed in gold of Ophir.”

St Amadeus of Lausanne O.Cist (1108-1159)

“So Mary is a Queen.
And, for our consolation,
we ought to remember
that she is a most tender and kind Queen,
eager to help us in our miseries.
So much so, that the Church wants us
to call her in this prayer, a Queen of Mercy.
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!”

St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-17

“O Queen of Angels and of Saints,
my most powerful and most loving Mother,
have pity on me, for I am surrounded
by such great perils and need so much
to advance in virtue.
Although I am weak and weary,
I desire ardently to imitate
the shining example of thy holidness.
Obtain for me, from thy Divine Son,
the grace to imitate thee,
as far as I am able on earth,
so that one day I may share thy happiness
in the Presence of God for all eternity.
Amen.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Posted in GOD ALONE!, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY

Thought for the Day – 7 June – What Humility Is

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Thought for the Day – 7 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

What Humility Is

Humility is a realisation of our own nothingness before Almighty God. It is defined by St Bernard, as the virtue by which a man becomes vile in his own eyes, through a thorough knowledge of himself and by St Thomas, as a virtue by which a man, considering his own defects, keeps himself in the lowest place according to his degree.
Think over these definitions and examine yourself whether you are humble, as judged by them.

It is not enough to be conscious of our own vileness or to esteem ourselves as nothing. We must acquiesce in and, be satisfied with, our own nothingness. Humility is not perfect until self is so obliterated, that we are willing to be esteemed according to our deserts. When we can honestly say that what we look to in all our thoughts, words and actions, is not our own advantage and interest but simply, the honour of God, quite independently of what will further our own profit, then! we may begin to thank God that we are in the way of humility.

If this is really the case, we shall not only esteem ourselves as vile but we shall desire to be treated accordingly. We shall not shrink from being humbled in the eyes of men but shall court humiliation, as it will be a satisfaction to us to be treated as we deserve. This is difficult for human nature but, it is possible for all, with the grace of God. It will not come at once but we may hope to reach it someday.
Have I attained it? Do I desire it? Do I even accept humiliations, or do I chafe under them and resent them?

Posted in JUNE-THE SACRED HEART, SACRED and IMMACULATE HEARTS, SACRED HEART QUOTES, SACRED HEART REFLECTIONS, The ADORABLE HEART of JESUS

Thought for the Day – 6 June – On the Nature of the Devotion (Part Two)

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Thought for the Day – 6 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Little Extracts from The Adorable Heart of Jesus

On the Nature of the Devotion (Part Two)

Having made these observations, it will be easy to give a clear and precise idea of the nature of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.
We may define it in this manner.:
“It is an exercise of religion which has, for its object, the Adorable Heart of our Lord, inflamed with Love for men and outraged by the ingratitude of these same men and, for its motive, the honouring of this Divine Heart , by rendering It all the homage which love and gratitude can inspire and, more particularly, to offer reparation for the insults It receives in the Sacrament of love.”

Let us explain this definition and try to put it in the clearest
light possible. …
The Devotion of which we speak here, concerns His Heart. Certainly, this Divine Heart is not, in Itself, an object less worthy
of the Devotion of the faithful, than the others we have named and, no objection can be brought to bear against the Devotion to the Heart which would not apply equally and with even more force , to the Devotion to the Wounds, the Cross, the Name of Jesus, as anybody will admit who is capable of judging in these matters.

But, that we may leave no occasion of error to simple, uninstructed persons and that , we may forestall any doubts which may arise, we will add another observation to those we have already made.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus in this Devotion must not be considered apart from those things, both spiritual and Divine, with which it is indissolubly connected.
We must, on the contrary, consider it as intimately united to the Soul and to the Person of our Lord, full of life, of feeling and of knowledge.

From this follows a consequence worthy of remark which is, that all the honours which are paid to this Adorable Heart, do not terminate precisely and solely in the material Heart ; they terminate equally and indivisibly, in the Soul and the Person united to this Heart – as the honours rendered to a living man are not actually confined to the body or the soul but comprise, the two together, forming thus a whole which is honoured without any division.

From this we deduce two other consequences – one is that we may reasonably and in a very accurate sense say, of the Heart of our Lord that It Loves, Suffers, is Afflicted, Outraged etc.
And the other is, that we may address to this Divine Heart, prayers, acts, affections, praises, in a word, all that can be addressed to the Person – since, in fact, it is the Person united to this Heart Who really receives them.
This has been overlooked by those who have seemed to disapprove of this Devotion towards the Heart of Jesus and, who thus appeared to have regarded this Divine Heart as only an inanimate and insensible portion of the Body of Jesus Christ, setting aside the Intelligent and spiritual adjuncts which are united to It, as we have already observed.

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2024/06/02/thought-for-the-day-2-june-on-the-nature-of-the-devotion/

Posted in "Follow Me", PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on PRIDE

Thought for the Day – 5 June – The Third Degree of Patience

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Thought for the Day – 5 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Third Degree of Patience

  1. When we have succeeded in suppressing all outward impatience and inward resentment, as far as it is voluntary and deliberate, we shall begin to reap the reward of our efforts. We shall find that the treatment which we once regarded as intolerable, has certain advantages resulting from it. We may hope, at last, to find a positive pleasure in being overlooked or unfairly treated, in being humbled in the eyes of men, or blamed for what we did with all good intention.
    I must try to aim at this. It is not out of my reach!
  2. How am I to gain this willingness to be misunderstood and harshly judged, this desire for rebuffs and disappointments? I must bring my commonsense to bear on them. I must keep before myself how useful, how necessary for the beating down of pride. They are a most effectual means of making satisfaction for sin, if I offer them up to God in the Name of Jesus Christ. When I remember all this, I ought to be quite anxious for what is a bitter but most salutary medicine.
  3. When I read the lives of Saints and holy men, I find there the true estimate of all things. Now, what was their attitude towards those who despised, persecuted, ill-treated them? They looked upon them as their greatest benefactors. How did they regard the reproaches, the neglect, the unkindness they had to undergo? They thanked God for them, rejoiced in them, considered it a misfortune if these were absent. If we want to resemble the Saints, we must take their view of obloquy and misunderstanding. We must strive, not only to put up with them but actually, to welcome them, rejoice in them, consider them as our greatest privilege!
Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on ANGER, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on PATIENCE

Thought for the Day – 4 June – The Second Degree of Patience

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Thought for the Day – 4 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Second Degree of Patience

  1. The repression of external signs of impatience has no value in God’s sight except, insofar as it is a step to the interior virtue. The soldier, the courtier, the servant, suppresses the exterior marks of impatience, from fear of punishment and hope of reward. The Christian must do more than this; he must have within himself, the motive of imitating the patience of Jesus Christ. Smoke is the sign of fire within but the smoke will not warm the house, unless there is the fire on the hearth; so too, external patience will not please God, unless there is also the motive of patience within the soul.
    Am I striving after the interior virtue? Have I even succeeded in repressing the exterior impatience for Christ’s sake?
  2. When some unkindness or injury is done us, there arises in us a double feeling. We feel pained and hurt; in this there is no sort of sin. But we are also conscious of another feeling – a desire to retaliate, a wish to see some retribution befall the offender. We are bitter towards them, we are tempted to indulge ourselves in an animosity which approaches sometimes even to hatred!
    This is what has to be expelled from our souls if we are to resemble Him Who was meek and humble of heart.
  3. What must we do to rid ourselves of this bitterness? Dislike may remain in spite of all our efforts; this we cannot help. But we must resolve that no unkind wish towards the offender shall be indulged. Then we must set to work to pray for calmness and a spirit of forgiveness and we must think of all we deserve for our offences against God and must say, from our heart:
    ‘Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.‘
    Last of all, we must pray for the offender.
Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on PATIENCE

Thought for the Day – 3 June – First Degree of Patience

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Thought for the Day – 3 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

First Degree of Patience

  1. When we are studying to acquire a virtue, it is generally the better plan to begin with external actions and thence, to proceed to the interior dispositions whence those actions proceed. In accordance with this rule, we must begin by repressing all signs of resentment and anger, when we are offended, or when someone crosses our path, or hinders some work in which we are engaged. If under all this, we can keep an unmoved and tranquil countenance and avoid all expression of personal feeling and annoyance, this is a great point gained.
    Am I able to do this?
  2. Why is it important to begin with exterior patience?
    Firstly because, this helps enormously to calm the feelings within us, just as we can work ourselves up into a fury by raging externally. Peace will soon return if we keep a serene face and quiet demeanour.
    Secondly because, exterior calmness, under ill-usage, edifies others and honours Christ our Lord, just as impatience and irritability disedify and dishonour the Name of Christian. I must remember this when I am tempted to yield to my injured pride and to retaliate on those who have offended me.
  3. Our Lord Himself points out exterior patience as the very first thing in which we should imitate Him, for He says:
    ‘Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart.’ Meekness is but patience in its exterior manifestation. If I am sincere in my wish to follow in the footsteps of Christ my Lord, here is the best point with which to begin. I must, for His sake and for love of Him, be more gentle to those who give me pain, more tranquil under words and actions which wound or hurt me.
Posted in CATECHESIS, DOCTORS of the Church, DOMINICAN OP, EUCHARISTIC Adoration, HOLY COMMUNION, I BELIEVE!, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on FORGIVENESS, QUOTES on LOVE, St Francis de Sales, The COMMUNION of SAINTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS, The RESURRECTION

Quote/s of the Day – 3 June – The Holy Eucharist is …

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Quote/s of the Day – 3 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” –

“The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love.
It signifies Love,
It produces love.
The Eucharist is the consummation
of the whole spiritual life.”

St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
Doctor angelicus/Doctor communis

“The Holy Eucharist
is the perfect Communion of Saints,
for it is the food common to Angels
and sainted souls in Paradise
and ourselves – it is the true Bread
of which all Christians participate.
The forgiveness of sins,
the Author of forgiveness being there, is confirmed;
the seed of our resurrection sown,
life everlasting bestowed. …
This very belief in the Most Holy Sacrament,
which, in truth, reality and substance,
contains the true and natural
Body of Our Lord,
is actually the abridgment of our Faith,
according to that of the Psalmist:
“He had made a memory of His wonderful works.”

St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritatis

Posted in DEVOTIO, GOD ALONE!, JUNE-THE SACRED HEART, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on REPARATION/EXPIATION, SACRED HEART QUOTES, SACRED HEART REFLECTIONS, The ADORABLE HEART of JESUS

Thought for the Day – 2 June – On the Nature of the Devotion

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Thought for the Day – 2 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

Little Extracts from The Adorable Heart of Jesus

On the Nature of the Devotion

If we desire to enter into the designs of Jesus Christ, we must not seek this idea of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart, outside the revelation itself, from which it derived its origin and, since it has pleased this amiable Saviour to give an explanation Himself on this subject, it is from His own words that we must gather the real idea which we seek.
It will not be difficult, since Jesus Christ has spoken very clearly.
… But , we must here also allude to a circumstance which is essential to the nature of our Devotion and, that is, that the Love with which the Divine Heart of Jesus is inflamed, must be considered as a Love despised and wounded by the ingratitude of men.
This circumstance is expressed in these words which our Lord
adds :
“ And in return, I receive, for the most part, only ingratitude, contempt, irreverence, sacrileges, in the indifference which they manifest towards Me in the Sacrament of Love.”

The Heart of Jesus must, therefore, here be considered under two aspects – on the one hand, as burning with Love for men and, on the other, as cruelly wounded by the ingratitude of these same men.
These two motives united, must excite in us two feelings, both of which are equally essential to Devotion to the Sacred Heart, that is love which corresponds to Its Love and grief , which would leads us to make reparation for the insults it endures through the hard-heartedness of men!

Finally, the practices prescribed by Jesus Christ in fulfilment of this double duty, are laid down in these last words :
“I ask of thee that the first Friday after the Octave of the Blessed Sacrament, should be dedicated as a special festival to do honour to My Heart, by devout acts of reparation and satisfaction, by communicating, on that day, to expiate the indignities it received whilst exposed on the Altar.”
Jesus Christ contents Himself with explaining here the principal exercise of the devotion which He desires to establish but, it is
not the only practice which must be employed, to do honour to the Divine Heart. There are many others which will be mentioned further on.

Posted in Act of SPIRITUAL COMMUNION, GOD ALONE!, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE

Quote/s of the Day – 2 June – Spiritual Communion

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Quote/s of the Day – 2 June – “The Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” – The Solemnity of Corpus Christi

“It is enough for us to love Him
and to be ready to keep His commandments.
Such an act of sincere
and effective love for Jesus,
will cause Him to enter
and to remain in our hearts,
even after the Sacramental Species
has been consumed.
This is Spiritual Communion,
which consists mainly in the yearning for Jesus.
“I have come to cast fire upon the earth
and what will I but, that it be kindled”
(Lk 12:49).”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Act of Spiritual Communion
By St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor

I desire, good Jesus,
to receive Thee in Holy Communion
and since I cannot now receive Thee
in the Blessed Sacrament,
I beseech Thee to come to me spiritually
and to refresh my soul with Thy sweetness.
Come, my Lord, my God and my All!
Come to me
and never let me ever again
be separated from Thee by sin.
Teach me Thy blessed ways,
help me with Thy grace to imitate Thy example,
to practise meekness, humility,
charity and all the virtues of Thy Sacred Heart.
My divine Master, my one desire is to do Thy will
and to love Thee, more and more.
Help me, that I may be faithful to the end, in Thy service.
Bless me in life and in death,
that I may praise Thee, forever in heaven,
Amen

Posted in DEVOTIO, INDULGENCES, JUNE-THE SACRED HEART, PAPAL ENCYLICALS, PARTIAL Indulgence, PLENARY Indulgences, SACRED and IMMACULATE HEARTS, SACRED HEART ASPIRATIONS, SACRED HEART QUOTES, St Francis de Sales

Devotion for June – THE MONTH OF THE MOST SACRED HEART of JESUS

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1 June – Devotion for June – THE MONTH OF THE MOST SACRED HEART of JESUS

In 1899, Pope Leo XIII Consecrated the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Since then, his successors have exhorted the faithful to turn to the Sacred Heart and make Acts of personal Consecration. They have also begged the faithful to offer prayers and penances to the Sacred Heart in reparation for the many sins of the world.

In his Encyclical on the Sacred Heart entitled Haurietis Aquas (“You Will Draw Waters”) Pope Pius XII notes that the genesis of the devotion to the Sacred Heart lies in the Covenant of Love from the Old Testament. He writes that “in the New Testament, the love which breathes from the Gospel, from the letters of the Apostles and the pages of the Apocalypse, all portray the Love of the Heart of Jesus.” He is linking this devotion to the Old Testament which was brought to life in Christ in the New Testament.

In the early 17th Century, Devotion to the Sacred Heart was given considerable attention in the preaching and writings of St John Eudes, known as “The Apostle of the Two Holy Hearts.”

St Francis (1567-1622) in his “Treatise on the Love of God,” lays out the foundation of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart. St Francis would greatly influence St Jane Frances de Chantal who was the Foundress of the Sisters of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the very Order which St Margaret Mary Alacoque VHM. (1647-1690), the Visionary of the Sacred Heart, would later join.

Our Lord appeared to St Margaret Mary, perhaps close to forty times. The first apparition occurred in the Visitation Chapel at Paray-le-Monial on 27 December 1673. The last apparition occurred less than two years later in June 1675. She saw His heart engulfed in flames and surrounded by thorns and heard His gentle voice:

“Behold this Heart which has so loved men that It spares nothing…to prove to them It’s love.   And, in return, I receive from the greater part of men, nothing but ingratitude, by the contempt, irreverence, sacrileges and coldness with which they treat Me in this Sacrament of Love.

I thirst, I burn with a consuming desire for men’s love and I find none to quench this thirst, according to My wish, by making any return of love.”

From her cloister, St Margaret Mary promoted the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, First Friday Devotion, The Twelve Promises and the Holy Hour of Reparation.

The Sacred Heart Enthronement desires to follow in the footsteps of Saints who came before and hold true to the basic request of Jesus to St.Margaret Mary, “I will bless the home in which the Image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honoured.”

Sweet Heart of my JESUS, Make me love Thee ever more and more! – 300 Days Indulgence Once a day, Plenary Once a month – Blessed Pope Pius IX – 26 November 1876

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on PATIENCE, Quotes on SALVATION

Thought for the Day – 1 June – The Praises of Patience

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Thought for the Day – 1 June – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Praises of Patience

  1. Patience is a virtue which receives, in Holy Scripture and especially in the writings of St Paul, praise almost without end. ‘He that is patient,’ says the Wise Man, ‘is governed with much wisdom.’ (Prov 14 : 29) ‘Patience has a perfect work,‘ says St James (ch. 1 : 4). ‘Patience is necessary to you,‘ says St Paul, ‘that by doing the will of God you may receive the promise. ‘ (Hebrews 10 : 36.) Think over these passages one by one and question yourself whether you fulfil this necessary condition of eternal salvation.
  2. Our Blessed Lord has Himself a special benediction for patience. ‘In your patience,‘ He says, ‘you shall possess your souls.‘ (St Luke 2 : 19.) That is, by patience, we shall save our souls. What higher praise could our Lord bestow upon patience than this? If it is to be the instrument of salvation, it is an inestimable treasure. Instead of dreading it, we ought to court it and welcome every occasion for its exercise. Every act of patience brings us nearer to Heaven and the test of our fitness for the Kingdom of God is, have we learned to suffer with perfect patience?
  3. St John does but echo the words of his Divine Master when he says (Apoc 7 : 14) of the redeemed around the throne, ‘These are they who came out of great tribulation.’ Not that the mere passing through suffering is sufficient, for he adds ‘And have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb that is, have obtained forgiveness by uniting their sufferings with the sufferings of the Son of God.’
    Do I find in myself this description realised? Have I suffered and suffered willingly for Christ’s sake? Or do I seek to avoid all suffering and fight against it,and bear it impatiently when it comes?
Posted in GOD ALONE!, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, JESUIT SJ, QUOTES on HUMILITY

Thought for the Day – 31 May – What Humility is Not!

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Thought for the Day – 31 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Chapter Five
What Humility is Not!

We are inclined, sometimes, to aim at a false humility and so to be hindered in our attainment of true humility. We must be on our guard against errors in this regard.

Humility does NOT consist in shutting our eyes to the talents, ability, graces and accomplishments which we possess. To do so is to refuse to acknowledge the good gifts which God has given us. If we have skill in music, in conversation, in painting, in languages, it is no humility to deny the fact. We ought to thank God for His goodness in bestowing upon us this talent. What is contrary to humility is to take the credit to ourselves and to plume ourselves on what we have received from God.

Humility does NOT consist in self-depreciation and in running ourselves down before others. This is often a cloak for pride. Sometimes its object is to obtain, from others, the praise we deny to
ourselves; sometimes it is a marked expression of discontent. The continual song, “What a poor worm I am!” is very much opposed to the spirit of the Catholic Church and to the cheerfulness which every Christian ought to show in his words.

Nor does humility consist in, or even admit of discouragement. If we are discouraged, it generally means that we think more about our own success than about the glory of God. It means that we are not perfectly resigned; it means that our pride is wounded and our self-will thwarted, or that we have worldly motives in what we do and seek honour from men and not from God. True humility is willing to fail in its projects, if God so wills it.
Examine yourself on these particulars and see whether yours is true or false humility!?

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

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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 GOD ALONE!, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE

Thought for the Day – 30 May – The Deeper Foundations of Humility

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Thought for the Day – 30 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Chapter Four
The Deeper Foundations of Humility

The consciousness of past sin will not, of itself, give us the perfection of humility. It necessarily fixes the eye of the soul upon ourselves and our own doings, whereas perfect humility means the annihilation of self. We have a deeper and more solid foundation for this virtue in our own nothingness and the absence of any sort of good, save that which God has given us. Every gift of nature is simply a free gift from Him. All that is from ourselves is the marring and injuring of what we have received; the misuse of talents, money, position, influence. What folly, then, to pride ourselves on what belongs to God!

Regarding supernatural gifts, we are still mere nothing and less than nothing. Our natural gifts are put into our hands, they remain with us and are in some sense ours but, a supernatural gift requires a fresh giving immediately from the hand of God each time it is given us! We
cannot begin any supernatural work without His preventing grace; we cannot move a step in it without fresh grace to carry on; we cannot bring it to a successful issue, without the grace necessary to complete it. Do I realise, as I ought, this nothingness of myself and my absolute
and continual dependence upon God, for each thought or act, pleasing to Him?

If this is so, how can I be anything but humble? To pride myself on that which God does in me, would be ridiculous; to pride myself on what I can do of myself, would be to pride myself on all which mars and spoils the work of God.
“What hast thou that thou hast not received?” asks St Paul.
Yes, O Lord, I have only one thing that I have not received and that is my vileness, misery, sin.
Can I boast of these!?

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SIN

Thought for the Day – 29 May – The Foundation of Humility

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Thought for the Day – 29 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) SJ

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Chapter Three
The Foundation of Humility

No-one can review his past life without finding therein, motives enough and to spare, for humbling himself before Almighty God. “We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done
wickedly, we have revolted; to us belongeth shame and confusion of face” (Dan 9: 5, 7). If ever we are inclined to think much of ourselves, we have only to look back on our past years. Look upon the deliberate sins against charity, against truthfulness, against purity. Look upon the pride, the selfishness, the self-will, the neglect of God. Look upon the sins which have stained our lives!

Besides actual sins, how many infidelities to grace have we committed! God has been so liberal with His graces and I have been so negligent in availing myself of them. How many I might have earned if I had been faithful and had not willfully turned aside from what God asked of me,
to follow my own will and pleasure. What cause for humiliation of myself! If others who have perhaps lived and died in sin had had my graces, would they not have made a far better use of them than I have made? To me, O God, shame and confusion of face! I must throw myself on Thy mercy and humbly beg forgiveness.

When, moreover, I look at what I now am, I find fresh cause for humbling myself. I might have been a Saint if I had been more faithful and now I am one of the vilest of sinners. My soul in the sight of God is disfigured by sin, as a body is by the ulcers and sores that spoil its natural beauty and comeliness. I abound with faults innumerable. I am unworthy to appear in the presence of God.
“O hide Thy face from my sins, blot out all my iniquities!”

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on HUMILITY

Thought for the Day – 28 May – The Obligation of Humility

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Thought for the Day – 28 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) SJ

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Chapter Two
The Obligation of Humility

Every Christian as such, is under an obligation to follow in the sacred footsteps of Jesus Christ and, to make His Life, the model of his own. In the life of the Son of God on earth, the most wonderful feature is its humility. That the omnipotent God should so humble Himself as to take the form of the lowest of the rational creatures He has made, is an almost incredible marvel.
The condescension, the lowering of Himself which is involved in it, altogether passes our power of comprehension. He could not have stooped so low unless He had been God. Thus, His humility
becomes the characteristic feature of the Incarnation and, in proportion, as we lower ourselves, we imitate Jesus upon earth.

Our Lord is not satisfied with teaching us by His example; He also gives a positive command.
“Learn of Me for I am meek and humble of heart.”
Out of all the virtues, He came to teach us, He selects His humility as that, to the practice of which, He binds us, by which we are to become
like unto Him. How indifferent, how disobedient I have shown myself to our Lord’s command!

Can I say that I have learned the lesson of meekness and humbleness of heart?

We are also bound to practice humility as children of the Catholic Church. Humility and submission is the very essence of her teaching — subjection to God, subjection to all lawful authority, subjection of will and intellect to the Dogmas of Faith. He who is not content with
subjection, cannot be a really good Catholic and no-one can love subjection without humility.
Examine your own heart, to find whether you rejoice in being subject, for Christ’s sake.

Posted in HUMILITY-Fr Richard Clarke, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PRIDE, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN

Thought for the Day – 27 May – The Importance of Humility

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Thought for the Day – 27 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) SJ

The following pages are based, in great measure, on the beautiful little treatise issued by Our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII on the subject of Humility. They can be read and utilised at any time but, if used from the beginning of Lent, these Meditations will leave the reader free to turn, during Passion Week and Holy Week, to the Sacred Passion of Jesus Christ.

HUMILITY
Meditations for a Month

Chapter One
The Importance of Humility

Humility is not only important to the welfare of our souls, it is also absolutely necessary to obtain grace from Almighty God. He resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. Pride is an insuperable bar to the entrance of grace into the soul and, as we can do nothing good in the sight of God, without the assistance of His grace, we must have at least some degree of humility before we can do anything pleasing to Him. In proportion to our humility, will be the grace given us and the supernatural virtue to which we shall attain. The first thing I must do if I wish to please God more, is to humble myself more.

Humility is not only necessary to the obtaining of grace but, without it, we are the enemies of God. He resists the proud that is, they have God fighting against them and regarding them as His enemies! How awful a thing to have God for our adversary. It was this which rendered the devils forever accursed!

In one moment, the humility of their subjection of themselves in their love of God confirmed the Holy Angels in perfect happiness to all eternity. If I wish God to fight for me, not against me, the first condition is humility.

Humility is a necessary condition of entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. “Unless you become as little children,” says our Divine Lord, “you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.” He loves the humble and no-one, who has, in his heart, the spirit of humility, need have any fear of death and judgement.

O my God, am I really humble? Is there not still in me, alas, a spirit of pride hateful to Thee?
Drive out from me all pride and fill me with true humility that I may be fit for Thee and fit for Heaven.

Posted in PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on SUFFERING

Thought for the Day – 26 May – The Solution of the Mystery of Suffering

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Thought for the Day – 26 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) SJ

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Solution of the Mystery of Suffering

  1. At the beginning there was no suffering. It was not until the Angels rebelled that pain and suffering made their appearance in God’s universe. Suffering is the necessary expiation of the outrage offered to the Majesty of God by His creatures. It is a fulfilment of the eternal law that, he who sins must suffer. It is the complement and effect of sin. It is the carrying out of the law of retribution. What else are my sufferings but the just punishment for my sins?
  2. But suffering is a great deal more than this. It is the remedy for the disease of sin, the kindly knife which hurts but cures. What a change suffering makes in men. See Nabuchodonosor before he suffered, proud and lifted up, and afterwards – mhumble and submissive. (Daniel 4 : 27) See the prodigal son led by suffering to return to his father’s house. See even the wicked Achab humbled by suffering. (3 Kings 21:27) ‘It is good, O Lord, says David, ‘that Thou hast afflicted me. Before I was troubled I went wrong but now, I have kept Thy word.’
    ‘ Chastisement yields to those who are exercised by it the peaceable fruit of justice.’ (Hebrews 12:I1) It purifies the soul and almost forces men to humility and submission. Has it had this effect with me? If it has, I will thank God.
  3. Suffering is the payment for joy to come. The willing acceptance of it, is the surest road to a high place in Heaven. We can earn more grace for ourselves and for others, by the patient endurance of suffering, than by the most active zeal – it is a safer, as well as a surer means of glorifying God, for we cannot well be proud of our sufferings as we may be of our actions. Thus, it is one of the best gifts which God can give us.
    I, therefore, must be willing to pay the price, if I desire to win the reward!
Posted in PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on SUFFERING

Thought for the Day – 25 May – The Mystery of Suffering

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Thought for the Day – 25 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900) SJ

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Mystery of Suffering

  1. Those who look upon the world without taking into account the nature of sin, the meaning of a state of probation and the rewards and punishments of the life to come, are puzzled by the sufferings which seem everywhere to abound. Why has a merciful God created us to suffer? Why is it that the innocent have to suffer one day, while the guilty seem to prosper? Why is it that the most virtuous often have the hardest lot and the bitterest trials? Suffering is indeed a mystery.
  2. Friendship with God generally entails suffering. How many a man hitherto prosperous falls into every kind of misfortune when he turns to God! It seems as if a high degree of virtue brought misery, not happiness. Dives, surrounded with every luxury and Lazarus, covered with ulcers lying half-starved at his gate; Annas triumphant and Jesus Crucified; Herod feasting and John butchered in his prison cell; the Roman Emperor in all the pride of empire and the friends of God torn by wild beast – what an apparent anomaly! On a small scale there is the same anomaly in my life and in the little world in which I live. I am inclined to find fault with God’s arrangements. Oh how foolishly!
  3. Does God repay good with evil by sending suffering to those He loves? They themselves do not think so and they are the best judges. They rather like sufferings. How can this be? Suffering, in itself, is the reverse of pleasant. But in its effects how wonderful! In its power to counteract evil how effectual! As a mark of God’s favour how valuable! In its promise for the future, how replete with blessings! It may be said to contain, within itself, all sweetness, not in the present but in the future. This is the view I must take of suffering.
Posted in Our MORNING Offering, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, PRAYERS to THE HOLY GHOST, St Alphonsus de Liguori,

Our Morning Offering – 25 May – Come O Holy Ghost! By St Alphonsus

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Our Morning Offering – 25 May – Pentecost Saturday

Come O Holy Ghost!
By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787)
Most Zealous Doctor

Thou made Mary full of grace
and inflamed the hearts of the Apostles
with a holy zeal,
enflame our hearts with Thy Love.
Thou art the Spirit of Goodness,
give us the courage to confront evil.
Thou art Fire,
set us ablaze with Thy Love.
Thou art Light,
enlighten our minds,
that we may see what is truly good and true.
Thou art the Dove,
give us gentleness.
Thou art a Soothing Breeze,
bring calm to the storms which rage within us.
Thou art the Tongue,
may our lips ever sing God’s praises
Thou art the Cloud,
shelter us under the shadow of Thy Protection.
O Holy Ghost, melt the frozen,
warm the chilled
and enkindle in us,
an earnest desire to please Thee.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen

Posted in DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on POVERTY, QUOTES on SUFFERING

Thought for the Day – 24 May – On Various Trials of our Patience

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Thought for the Day – 24 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

On Various Trials of our Patience

  1. Patience is tried by everything which puts an obstacle in the way of our action – by being kept waiting long; by having to repeat, over and over again, some lesson to a dull learner; by the perverse and wayward conduct of the young; by being interrupted while speaking when we have something we want to say; by a hundred similar incidents which continually occur. All these are a good test of our possession of this virtue. How do I stand the test in each case?
  2. Our patience is also tried by those who misunderstand and misrepresent us. It is not easy to speak and think kindly of them. We are inclined either to avoid them or to show our dislike to them. We want to let them know what we think of them and to give them a return blow for the blows we believe them to have given us. But patience bids us take the offence, real or supposed, quietly and without complaining; it checks the angry word and quenches the fire of resentment. Here, too, I have an excellent means of gauging my possession of this virtue.
  3. Patience is also tried by poverty, sickness, desolation, loneliness; by uncongenial surroundings and employments which are not to our taste. We all have to suffer one or other of these painful circumstances of human existence. He who has the virtue of patience, will bow his head and accept, with ready acquiescence, the trials which come to him. He will find plenty of good reasons, why they have happened to him and, so far from regretting them, or repining under them, he will say, with the Psalmist:
    ‘The Lord will not cast off forever.
    If He cast off, He will also have mercy according to the multitude of His mercies.’     (Lament 3: 31, 32).
Posted in patience, PATIENCE - Fr Richard CLARKE, QUOTES on PATIENCE

Thought for the Day – 23 May – The Divine Patience

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Thought for the Day – 23 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

PATIENCE
Meditations for a Month

The Divine Patience

  1. When we speak of the patience of God we use the word in rather a different meaning to that in which it is applied to men. It means that God abstains from inflicting on the sinner, the punishment that he deserves, that He is long-suffering, that He waits to see if he will perchance repent and turn to Him that He is slow to anger and of great mercy. O my God, how patient Thou hast been with me when I rebelled against Thee! How Thou hast borne with all my ingratitude and sinfulness and stubbornness and disobedience!
  2. Holy Scripture contains many examples of the patience of God. When the human family had become so wicked that God determined to destroy them by the Flood, He waited a hundred years before carrying out the sentence. When the cry of the Cities of the Plain rose up before Him, He waited before He determined to destroy them. When Saul forfeited his kingdom by his disobedience, God waited for ten years before He carried out the sentence. Learn from God’s example to be patient with evil-doers and to love mercy rather than vengeance.
  3. God never acts in a hurry and He, thereby desires, to teach us deliberation in all that we do. We do not leave an interval of time as He does between the wrong and the infliction of the punishment. We are so impulsive that we commit many faults which we might easily have avoided if we had learned to wait. What need was there for the delay that we find attributed to God? He, as Perfect Wisdom, needs no time for deliberation. But, it is that we may recognise the necessity of being slow to act and especially, of being slow to act in anger, that God represents Himself as always waiting.
Posted in ABOUT - Meditations with Fr RICHARD F CLARKE SJ, JESUIT SJ

Thought for the Day – 22 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ

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Thought for the Day – 22 May – Meditations with Fr Richard Frederick Clarke SJ (1839-1900)

MEDITATIONS FOR A MONTH

Fr Richard Clarke was born on 25 January 1839, London, England as a protestant. After studying at Oxford and entering Anglican ministry, he converted to Catholicism and entered the Jesuit Order on 15 July 1871, at Roehampton London. He was Ordained in 1878 and made his Professed on 02 February 1887.

Fr Clarke was a prolific writer with much of his output being small, meditative booklets which assist the faithful to stop and realise that the impossible could become possible.

He has written on all the essential virtues and devotions of our Catholic Faith as we climb this steep and narrow road to sanctity, guiding, inspiring and supporting us on our pilgrimage through the Liturgical year.. Most of his works cover 30 days and the Meditations are generally brief and deeply relevant to life in the world. We will be combining 3 of them here at present. Patience, Humility and for June, the Adorable Heart of Jesus which was re-issued with a Preface and Introduction by our Fr Clarke, using a publication by Fr Joseph de Galliffet (1663-1749).

We begin tomorrow.