Wednesday, February 28, 2018
“The self-indulgent person loves wealth because it enables him to live comfortably; the person full of self-esteem loves it because through it he can gain the esteem of others; the person who lacks faith loves it because, fearful of starvation, old age, disease, or exile, he can save it and hoard it. He puts his trust in wealth rather than in God, the Creator who provides for all creation, down to the least of living things.” — St. Maximus the Confessor
“Of all things on earth that which we know least is our own self. We know the sins and defects of others a thousand times better than our own. That great truth, it seems, was unheeded on the journey to Calvary. The pious women saw only the Suffering Christ whom they loved; they did not see the loving Christ who suffered for them. They sympathized with the pain, but did not see themselves as the cause of that pain. It was their own sins and mine as well, which He took upon Himself, and as if to bring that truth home to us all there welled up from the depths of the Sacred Heart the plaintive words: Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Stations of the Cross)
On trust in God and living in hope:
“Cultivate thoughts of confidence as long as it pleases God to give them to you; they honor God far more than contrary thoughts. The more wretched we are, the more is God honored by the confidence we have in him. It seems to me that if your confidence were as great as it ought to be, you would not worry about what may happen to you; you would place it all in God’s hands, hoping that when he wants something of you he will let you know what it is.
I do not know what you mean by despair: one would think you had never heard of God or of his infinite mercy. Hold such sentiments in horror, and remember that all you have done is nothing in comparison with your want of confidence. Hope on to the end.
Pray that my faults, however grave and frequent, may never make me despair of his goodness. That, in my opinion, would be the greatest evil that could befall anyone. When we can protect ourselves against that evil, there is no other which may not turn to our good and from which we cannot easily draw great advantage....”
-- St. Claude de la Colombière, SJ,
“Cultivate thoughts of confidence as long as it pleases God to give them to you; they honor God far more than contrary thoughts. The more wretched we are, the more is God honored by the confidence we have in him. It seems to me that if your confidence were as great as it ought to be, you would not worry about what may happen to you; you would place it all in God’s hands, hoping that when he wants something of you he will let you know what it is.
I do not know what you mean by despair: one would think you had never heard of God or of his infinite mercy. Hold such sentiments in horror, and remember that all you have done is nothing in comparison with your want of confidence. Hope on to the end.
Pray that my faults, however grave and frequent, may never make me despair of his goodness. That, in my opinion, would be the greatest evil that could befall anyone. When we can protect ourselves against that evil, there is no other which may not turn to our good and from which we cannot easily draw great advantage....”
-- St. Claude de la Colombière, SJ,
"It is fitting that the Son of God should preserve Mary from sin since she was to be His mother. No other man could choose his mother. But if such a thing could be granted to anyone, who would wish for a slave if he could choose a queen? Who would wish for a servant if he could choose a noble lady? And if he could choose a friend of God, would he not wish for the Devil's greatest enemy?"
- St. Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Thursday, February 15, 2018
'The devil tries to soil and defile every good thing a man would do by intermingling with it his own seeds in the form of self-esteem, presumption, complaint, and other things of this kind, so that what we do is not done for God alone, or with a glad heart. Abel offered a sacrifice to God of the fat and firstlings of his flock, while Cain offered gifts of the fruits of the earth, but not of the firstfruits; and that is why God looked with favor on Abel's sacrifices, but paid no attention to Cain's gifts (cf. Gen. 4:3-5). This shows us that it is possible to do something good in the wrong way - that is to say, to do it negligently, or scornfully, or else not for God's sake but for some other purpose; and for this reason it is unacceptable to God.'
St. Symeon Metaphrastis
St. Symeon Metaphrastis
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
“My God, in union with Jesus crucified, I offer myself as a victim. I desire the cross as my strength and support, and wish to live with it, that it may be my treasure since Jesus chose it for my sake. . . . My Savior, I desire to return Thee love for love, blood for blood. Thou didst die for me, therefore I will daily endure fresh sufferings for Thee; every day shall bring me some fresh martyrdom because of my deep love for Thee.”- The Praise of Glory
- St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
- St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
Pope St. Leo the Great, to St. Valentine, Bishop of Interamna: “Go and preach the faith; be instant in season and out of season; glorious will be the fruit of your trouble, if you but enable yourself to endure and soften the hardness of the long opposing people. But if you fail, you may with my permission and authority become the messenger of the faith to other countries.” (As cited by Fr. Leonard Goffine in his work “The Ecclesiastical Year”, Feast of St. Valentine)
St. Bede the Venerable, De Nataliis Sanctorum, February 14th: “the feast of St. Valentine, bishop of Interamna : who was arrested by pagans and was beaten with rods, and after a lengthy beating was taken into custody; when he could not be overcome, he was silently taken out of the prison in the middle of the night, and was beheaded, by command of the furious Placid, prefect of the city. At this point A. Tunc Proculus, Efybus, and Apollonius, his disciples, transporting his body to his church at the city of Interamna, buried him at night: where they would sit with daily watchings (vigils); they were arrested by heathens, handed over to the custody of the Consular Leontius. He ordered them to be presented in middle of the night to their tribunals: and when they could not be recalled from faith by blandishments or threats, he ordered their heads to be cut off: who were buried not far form the body of St. Valentine.” (As cited by Rev. J. A. Giles, D.C.L., in his work “The Miscellaneous Works of Venerable Bede in the original Latin...”)
“O my soul, wilt thou be one of those who look with indifference on thy God torn with scourges? Reflect on his sufferings, but still more on the love with which thy sweet Lord submits to such excruciating torture for thy sake. In his scourging, Jesus certainly thought on thee. O God! had he borne but a single stripe for thy sake, thou shouldst burn with love for him, and say: A God has suffered to be struck for my sake. But for the atonement of thy sins he has, as Isaias foretold, permitted all his flesh to be mangled. ‘He was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins’ —Isa. liii. 5.” —St. Alphonsus de Liguori
During this Lent, let us improve our spirit of prayer and recollection. Let us free our minds from all that is not Jesus. If you find it difficult to pray, ask Him again and again, “Jesus, come into my heart, pray with me, pray in me—that I may learn from Thee how to pray.”
When the time comes and we cannot pray, it is very simple—let Jesus pray in us to the Father in the silence of our hearts. If we cannot speak, He will speak. If we cannot pray, He will pray. So let us give Him our inability and our nothingness. —Saint Teresa of Calcutta
From her book, “Love: A Fruit Always in Season”
“Most Catholics seem to be aware of the forty-day period before the feast of Easter. Lent, which comes from the Anglo-Saxon work lencten, meaning ‘spring,’ is a time marked by particular rituals, such as the reception of ashes on Ash Wednesday or the decision to ‘give up French Fries’ as a Lenten practice. Is Lent broader than just these practices which seem to be left over from another era?” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Lent and Easter Wisdom from Fulton J. Sheen)
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Pope St. Gregory the Great, “Sicut aqua frigida”, circa 600 A.D.: “(But) concerning that which has been written: That neither the Son, nor the angels know the day and the hour [cf. Mark 13:32], indeed, your holiness has perceived rightly, that since it most certainly should be referred not to the same son according to that which is the head, but according to his body which we are . . . . He [Augustine] also says . . . that this can be understood of the same son, because omnipotent God sometimes speaks in a human way, as he said to Abraham: Now I know that thou fearest God [Gen. 22:12], not because God then knew that He was feared, but because at that time He caused Abraham to know that he feared God. For, just as we say a day is happy not because the day itself is happy, but because it makes us happy, so the omnipotent Son says He does not know the day which He causes not to be known, not because He himself is ignorant of it, but because He does not permit it to be known at all. Thus also the Father alone is said to know, because the Son (being) consubstantial with Him, on account of His nature, by which He is above the angels, has knowledge of that, of which the angels are unaware. Thus, also, this can be the more precisely understood because the Only-begotten having been incarnate, and made perfect man for us, in His human nature indeed did know the day and the hour of judgment, but nevertheless He did not know this from His human nature. Therefore, that which in (nature) itself He knew, He did not know from that very (nature), because God-made-man knew the day and hour of the judgment through the power of His Godhead. . . . Thus, the knowledge which He did not have on account of the nature of His humanity-by reason of which, like the angels, He was a creaturethis He denied that He, like the angels, who are creatures, had. Therefore (as) God and man He knows the day and the hour of judgment; but On this account, because God is man. But the fact is certainly manifest that whoever is not a Nestorian, can in no wise be an Agnoeta. For with what purpose can he, who confesses that the Wisdom itself of God is incarnate say that there is anything which the Wisdom of God does not know? It is written: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . All things were made by him [John 1:13]. If all, without doubt also the day of judgment and the hour. Who, therefore, is so foolish as to presume to assert that the Word of the Father made that which He does not know? it is written also: Jesus knowing, that the Father gave him all things into his hands [ John 13:3]. If all things, surely both the day of judgment and the hour. Who, therefore, is so stupid as to say that the Son has received in His hands that of which He is unaware?”
“Do not say: ‘I have sinned much, and therefore I am not bold enough to fall down before God.’ Do not despair. Simply do not increase your sins in despair and, with the help of the All-merciful One, you will not be put to shame. For He said, ‘he who comes to Me I will not cast out.’ (John. 6:37) And so, be bold and believe that He pure and cleanses those who draw near to Him. If you want to accomplish true repentance, show it with your deeds. If you have fallen into pride, show humility; if into drunkenness, show sobriety; if into defilement, show purity of life. For it is said, ‘Turn away from evil and do good’ (I Pet. 3:11).” — St. Gennadius of Constantinople
“The human heart is not shaped like a valentine heart, perfect and regular in contour it is slightly irregular in shape as if a small piece of it were missing out of its side. The missing part may very well symbolize a piece that a spear tore out of the universal heart of humanity on the Cross, but it probably symbolizes something more. It may very well mean that when God created each human heart, he kept a small sample of it in heaven, and sent the rest of it into the world, where it would each day learn the lesson that it could never be really happy, that it could never be really wholly in love, that it could never be really whole-hearted until it rested with the Risen Christ in an eternal Easter.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Manifestations of Christ)
Today the Lord said to me, My daughter, My pleasure and delight, nothing will stop Me from granting you graces. Your misery does not hinder My mercy. My daughter, write that the greater the misery of a soul, the greater its right to My mercy; [urge] all souls to trust in the unfathomable abyss of My mercy, because I want to save them all. On the cross, the fountain of My mercy was opened wide by the lance for all souls-no one have I excluded! .WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1182)
Monday, February 12, 2018
Pope Pelagius II, “Quod ad dilectionem” to the schismatic bishops of Istria, about 585: “...we have judged it necessary through our present epistle to exhort with tears that you should return to the heart of your mother the Church, and to send you satisfaction with regard to the integrity of faith. . . . If anyone, however, either suggests or believes or presumes to teach contrary to this faith, let him know that he is condemned and also anathematized according to the opinion of the same Fathers. . . . Consider (therefore) the fact that whoever has not been in the peace and unity of the Church, cannot have the Lord [Gal. 3:7].”
“It took a Lincoln’s blood to write a nation; it has taken a Kennedy’s blood to prepare for the equality of men in that same nation…On a brighter Easter day, we shall see that our national brotherhood was purchased by the blood of a victim. Both were great, not by what was done by them, but what was done through them…these two Presidents of Sorrow stand forever near the Man of Sorrow saying: “I will stand here at Thy side; despise my nation not.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Sunday, February 11, 2018
“To believe in Jesus is to accept what he says, even when it runs contrary to what others are saying. It means rejecting the lure of sin, however attractive it may be, in order to set out on the difficult path of the Gospel virtues.” (Pope Saint John Paul II; WYD Toronto Welcoming Ceremony; July 25, 2002)
Pope Paul III, Council of Trent, SESSION VI (Jan. 13, 1547), Chap. 6. The Manner of Preparation [for Justification]: “Now they are disposed to that justice [can. 7 and 9] when, aroused and assisted by divine grace, receiving faith ‘by hearing’ [Rom. 10:17], they are freely moved toward God, believing that to be true which has been divinely revealed and promised [can. 12 and 14], and this especially, that the sinner is justified by God through his grace, ‘through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus’ [Rom. 3:24], and when knowing that they are sinners, turning themselves away from the fear of divine justice, by which they are profitably aroused [can. 8], to a consideration of the mercy of God, they are raised to hope, trusting that God will be merciful to them for the sake of Christ, and they begin to love him as the source of all justice and are therefore moved against sins by a certain hatred and detestation [can. 9], that is, by that repentance, which must be performed before baptism [Acts 2:38]; and finally when they resolve to receive baptism, to begin a new life and to keep the commandments of God. Concerning this disposition it is written: ‘He that cometh to God must believe, that he is and is a rewarder to them that seek him’ [Heb. 11:6], and, ‘Be of good faith, son, thy sins are forgiven thee’ [Matt. 9:2; Mark 2:5], and, ‘The fear of the Lord driveth out sin’ [Sirach. 1:27], and, ‘Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the Holy Spirit’ [Acts 2:38], and, ‘Going therefore teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you’ [Matt. 28:19], and finally, ‘Prepare your hearts unto the Lord’ [1 Samuel 7:3].”
“Who could find fault with the saints in this, namely, that they should consider others to have the same feelings as themselves, and suppose no one would lie because truth was their own companion? They know not what deceit is, they gladly believe of others what they themselves are, while they cannot suspect others to be what they themselves are not. Hence Solomon says: ‘An innocent man believes every word.’ (Proverbs 14:15) We must not blame his readiness to believe, but should rather praise his goodness. To know nothing of anything that may injure another, this is to be innocent. And although he is cheated by another, still he thinks well of all, for he thinks there is good faith in all.” -St. Ambrose, On the Duties of the Clergy (Book III), Ch. X, par. 68
The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!
My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it -with peace. WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary,
1074 )
Saturday, February 10, 2018
“The fourth sacrament is penance, the matter of which is, as it were, the acts of the penitent, which are divided into three parts. The first of these is contrition of heart, to which pertains grief for a sin committed together with a resolution not to sin in the future. The second is oral confession, to which pertains that the sinner confess integrally to his priest all sins of which he has recollection. The third is satisfaction for sins according to the decision of the priest, which is accomplished chiefly by prayer, fasting, and alms. The words of absolution which the priest utters when he says: Ego te absolvoetc., are the form of this sacrament, and the minister of this sacrament is the priest who has either ordinary authority for absolving or has it by the commission of a superior. The effect of this sacrament is absolution from sins.” Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, Exultate Deo, Decree for the Armenians, Nov. 22, 1439
“And indeed that which I am about to say is wonderful, yea it is of those things which are very miraculous; yet not far from the truth, as you may be able to learn from the sacred writings. That great man Moses, when fasting, conversed with God, and received the law. The great and holy Elijah, when fasting, was thought worthy of divine visions, and at last was taken up like Him who ascended into heaven. And Daniel, when fasting, although a very young man, was entrusted with the mystery, and he alone understood the secret things of the king, and was thought worthy of divine visions. But because the length of the fast of these men was wonderful, and the days prolonged, let no man lightly fall into unbelief; but rather let him believe and know, that the contemplation of God, and the word which is from Him, suffice to nourish those who hear, and stand to them in place of all food. For the angels are no otherwise sustained than by beholding at all times the face of the Father, and of the Saviour who is in heaven. And thus Moses, as long as he talked with God, fasted indeed bodily, but was nourished by divine words. When he descended among men, and God had gone up from him, he suffered hunger like other men. For it is not said that he fasted longer than forty days— those in which he was conversing with God. And, generally, each one of the saints has been thought worthy of similar transcendent nourishment.” St. Athanasius (“Letters [1-64]”, Letter 1 (Of Fasting and Trumpets and Feasts), Paragraph 6)
“Among the many things that perturb Us, when We in our temporal state should tolerate the diversion of the Carnival, there are the top two, which some zealous bishops of the aforesaid State have complained to us, expressing their just complaints either by voice or by writing. One consists in the fact that for the most part so many pass the vigils, dances, games in the last night of Carnival that they stain themselves even through the beginning of the first day of Lent; in this way it happens sometimes that people are seen, departing from the ball, the game and from the vigil, going, although without masks but with the clothes with which they masqueraded, to the Church to hear Mass and take the Ashes, going home afterwards, sleeping in their beds at least the entire morning of the first day of Lent; nor is the bishop left without the charge of the accusation of indiscretion, if he bewails and a moreover wishes to punish the excess.” Pope Benedict XIV, Inter Caetera, Jan. 1, 1748:
Friday, February 9, 2018
Pope St. Hormisdas, “Inter Ea Quea” to the Bishops of Spain, April 2, 517: “[Our] first safety is to guard the rule of the right faith and to deviate in no wise from the ordinances of the Fathers; because we cannot pass over the statement of our Lord Jesus Christ who said: ‘Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church’ . . . [Matt. 16:18]. These [words] which were spoken, are proved by the effects of the deeds, because in the Apostolic See the Catholic religion has always been preserved without stain. Desiring not to be separated from this hope and faith and following the ordinances of the Fathers, we anathematize all heresies...”
“Each time we look upon Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, He raises us up into deeper union with Himself, opens up the floodgates of His merciful love to the whole world, and brings us closer to the day of His final victory ‘where every knee will bend and proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord’. ‘The reign of God is already in your midst.’ The coming of Jesus to us in the Eucharist is assurance of His promise of final victory: ‘Behold, I come to make all things new!’” — St. Teresa of Calcutta
"We are capable of turning good into evil, of abandoning the good for evil, of attributing to ourselves good that we do not have or that has been loaned to us, of justifying our wrongdoing, and, in coddling our wrongdoing, of scorning of Highest Good.
With this clearly understood,
1. You must never flatter yourself for whatever good you might notice in yourself, because everything good comes to you from God, and you need to give the honor and glory to him.
2. Do not complain about offenses done to you, no matter where they come from.
3. You must forgive everyone with Christian charity, remembering the example of the Redeemer, who forgave even those who crucified him....
4. You must always humble yourself before God because of your spiritual poverty.
5. You must not be surprised at all at your weaknesses and imperfections, but, recognizing who you are, you need to blush at your inconstancy and unfaithfulness to God."
-St. Pio of Pietrelcina
With this clearly understood,
1. You must never flatter yourself for whatever good you might notice in yourself, because everything good comes to you from God, and you need to give the honor and glory to him.
2. Do not complain about offenses done to you, no matter where they come from.
3. You must forgive everyone with Christian charity, remembering the example of the Redeemer, who forgave even those who crucified him....
4. You must always humble yourself before God because of your spiritual poverty.
5. You must not be surprised at all at your weaknesses and imperfections, but, recognizing who you are, you need to blush at your inconstancy and unfaithfulness to God."
-St. Pio of Pietrelcina
"My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls, and especially for poor sinners. If only they could understand that I am the best of Fathers to them and that it is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy. I desire to bestow My graces upon souls, but they do not want to accept them. You, at least, come to Me as often as possible and take these graces they do not want to accept. In this way you will console My Heart. WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 367)
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Once the Lord said to me, My Heart was moved by great mercy towards you, My dearest child, when I saw you torn to shreds because of the great pain you suffered in repenting for your sins. I see your love, so pure and true that I give you first place among the virgins. You are the honor and glory of My Passion. I see every abasement of your soul, and nothing escapes my attention. I lift up the humble even to my very throne, because I want it so WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 282 )
Pope Paul IV, Apostolic Constitution “Cum Ex Apostolatus Officio”, Ex Cathedra: “By virtue of the Apostolic Office... by this Our Constitution, which is to remain valid in perpetuity We enact, determine, decree and define... that if ever at any time it shall appear that any Bishop, even if he be acting as an Archbishop, Patriarch or Primate; or any Cardinal of the aforesaid Roman Church, or, as has already been mentioned, any legate, or even the Roman Pontiff, prior to his promotion or his elevation as Cardinal or Roman Pontiff, has deviated from the Catholic Faith or fallen into some heresy: (i) the promotion or elevation, even if it shall have been uncontested and by the unanimous assent of all the Cardinals, shall be null, void and worthless;”
St. Thomas Aquinas, Supplement, Q. 19 “The Ministers of the Keys”, Art. 6, “Whether those who are schismatics, heretics, excommunicate, suspended or degraded have the use of the keys?”: “On the contrary, Augustine says (Tract. cxxi in Joan.) that the ‘charity of the Church forgives sins.’ Now it is the charity of the Church which unites its members. Since therefore the above are disunited from the Church, it seems that they have not the use of the keys... For since the use of the keys requires in the user authority over the person on whom they are used, as stated above (17, 2, ad 2), the proper matter on whom one can exercise the use of the keys is a man under one’s authority.”
"O loving, tender Word of God, You tell me: ‘I have marked the path and opened the gate with My Blood; do not be negligent in following it, but take the same road which I, eternal Truth, have traced out with My Blood.’ Arise, my soul, and follow your Redeemer, for no one can go to the Father but by Him. O sweet Christ, Christ-Love, You are the way, and the door through which we must enter in order to reach the Father." "O unfathomable depth! O Deity eternal! O deep ocean! What more could You give me than to give me Yourself?"
~from the writings of St. Catherine of Siena on the Blessed Sacrament
~from the writings of St. Catherine of Siena on the Blessed Sacrament
"If you are to reciprocate [God's love for you] generously, make yourself worthy of him, that is, be like him in his divine perfections that you have already learned about in the Scripture and the Gospels. However, for you to imitate him, my brother, you need to reflect and meditate on his life regularly. continual reflection and meditation will make you esteem his actions, and that will bring forth the desire and motivation for imitation. This is already incorporated into the rules of our order, so let us be faithful to their exact observance, and we will attain perfection. Primarily you need to focus on the foundation of Christian righteousness and goodness, that is, the virtue our Master and our seraphic father [St. Francis] modeled for us: humility." -St. Pio of Pietrelcina
“If devotion to the Blessed Virgin is necessary for all men simply to work out their salvation, it is even more necessary for those who are called to a special perfection. I do not believe that anyone can acquire intimate union with our Lord and perfect fidelity to the Holy Spirit without a very close union with the most Blessed Virgin and an absolute dependence on her support.” - St. Louis Marie de Montfort
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
“Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if—and mark well what I say—if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins.” - Saint Louis de Montfort
“Who is going to save our Church? Not our bishops, not our priests and religious. It is up to you, the people. You have the minds, the eyes, the ears to save the Church. Your mission is to see that your priests act like priests, your bishops, like bishops and your religious act like religious.” — Venerable Fulton Sheen
“The Holy Roman Church, which, by a special privilege both of divine and of human authority, has been made the Head (after Christ) of all the Churches, affects all the members of the whole Christian body according to the quality and condition of her own Bishop or ruler; so that they all correspond with her, rejoicing in safety when she is safe, and languishing in weakness when she is weak. . . . And in fact all men look up to the dignity of the Apostolic See with so much reverence, that they in quire after some parts of the discipline of the ancient canons, and the old form of the Christian religion, more from the mouth of some former occupant of that See than from the Holy Scriptures or the traditions of the Fathers. They observe the inclination of his wishes this way or that, so as to govern their own manner of living according to his will. Wherefore, if as is most profitable both to himself and to every one else—he is continually consumed by a zeal for God’s house, if he is a wise and faithful steward, and labours to keep himself blameless, both in word and deed, before God and man, then (if I must speak the truth) he causes well-nigh all the world to run after God with fear and earnest anxiety; then he leads to his Lord and Master, over whose goods he will be hereafter set, crowds of people, of both sexes, and of every age, rank, and condition of life. But if he is found careless of his own and his neighbour’s salvation, idle and unprofitable in his works, and moreover keeps silence from good words—a thing most injurious to himself and to every one else—then, in like manner, he leads with him innumerable crowds of people, to be beaten forever, together with himself, With many stripes in the slavery of hell. No man, however, may presume to rebuke his faults, because he is the judge of all men and can be judged by none, unless perchance he be found deviating from the faith. The Whole multitude of the faithful continually prays for his well-being with so much the greater earnestness, in proportion as they know and feel that their salvation mainly depends, after God, upon his safety.” St. Boniface (As quoted by Bishop Ullathorne in “The Council and Papal Infallibility. A Letter Addressed to the Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of Birmingham”, London, BURNS, OATES & CO., pub. 1870; footnote states “See Decret. Gratiani, ed. Richter, P. i. Dist. x1. c. 6, Notationes Correctorum.”)
"So your strength is failing you? Why don't you tell your mother about it? … Mother! Call her with a loud voice. She is listening to you; she sees you in danger, perhaps, and she—your holy mother Mary—offers you, along with the grace of her son, the refuge of her arms, the tenderness of her embrace… and you will find yourself with added strength for the new battle." - St. Josemaría Escrivá
"My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. ...For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed Myself to be nailed to the Cross; for you I let My Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 1485)
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, June 29, 1896, par. 9, 12, 15: “The practice of the Church has always been the same, as is shown by the unanimous teaching of the Fathers, who were wont to hold as outside Catholic communion, and alien to the Church, whoever would recede in the least degree from any point of doctrine proposed by her authoritative Magisterium... How could he fulfil this office without the power of commanding, forbidding, and judging, which is properly called jurisdiction? ...it is absurd to imagine that he who is outside can command in the Church.”
"So, on the mountain of Carmel, in silence, in solitude, in a prayer which is unceasing, for nothing can interrupt it, the Carmelite already lives as though in heaven: for God alone! The same God who will one day be her beatitude and will fulfill her desires in glory, is already giving Himself to her here on earth. He never leaves her, He dwells in the depths of her being, and more wonderful still, He and she are but one. And so she is hungry for silence and prayer that she may always listen to Him and penetrate more deeply into His infinite Being. She identifies herself with Him whom she loves, she finds Him everywhere. She sees Him shining through everything. She belongs to Him alone, and trusts completely in His loving and faithful providence. Is that not heaven on earth?" ~St. Elizabeth of the Trinity
"Be assiduous in your prayers and meditations. Yo have already told me that you have started. Oh, my God, what a great consolation this is for a father who loves you as much as his own soul! Continue to always make progress in the holy exercise of love of God. Spin a little each day, whether it be by the dim light of the lamp and the dryness and desolation of the spirit, or by day in the joyful and dazzling light of the soul." St. Pio of Pietrelcina
"The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors." ~ Pope Pius XI
“The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I certainly did teach the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason I die. I believe that I am telling only the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you to become happy. I obey Christ.” (St. Paul Miki, Martyr)
“It is absurd to believe that He Who wrote only once in His Life, and that was in the sands, and Who never told anyone to write, should have intended that His Truth should be available only and exclusively in a few memoranda that were written down by a few followers over twenty years after His Death, and were never gathered together in their approved form until three centuries later? Grant that they are inspired and revealed, and I believe it and confess it and read those writings daily; but I still say it is unthinkable that these books which were not written until His Mystical Body was already spread throughout the whole Roman Empire, should be His only way of communicating Truth. If He did not take some effective guarantee to preserve His Truth, which was so sacred that He died for it, then Truth did not matter to Him. If He could not prolong His Truth, up to this hour, then He is not God. Either that infallible Truth of Jesus Christ is living now, available now, or He is not God.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Rock Plunged into Eternity)
"Oh, how painful it is to Me that souls seldom unite themselves to Me in Holy Communion. I wait for souls, and they are indifferent toward Me. I love them tenderly and sincerely, and they distrust Me. I want to lavish My graces on them, and they do not want to accept them. They treat Me as a dead object, whereas My Heart is full of love and mercy." (1447) "Oh, how sad I am that souls do not recognize Love! They treat Me as a dead object." (1385) WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA
“People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.”
― St.Teresa of Calcutta
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.”
― St.Teresa of Calcutta
Monday, February 5, 2018
“To this end faith is so necessary for me that, though I have for other sins God alone as my judge, it is alone for a sin committed against the faith that I may be judged by the Church. For ‘he who does not believe is already judged’.” Pope Innocent III (1198), Sermon 2 (Sermo 2: In Consecratione PL 218:656)
“In the case in which the pope would become a heretic, he would find himself, by that fact alone and without any other sentence, separated from the Church. A head separated from a body cannot, as long as it remains separated, be head of the same body from which it was cut off. A pope who would be separated from the Church by heresy, therefore, would by that very fact itself cease to be head of the Church. He could not be a heretic and remain pope, because, since he is outside of the Church, he cannot possess the keys of the Church.” St. Antoninus (1459) (Summa Theologica, cited in Actes de Vatican I. V. Frond pub.)
“Do not publicize your sufferings, or even your patience in suffering. It is only the God un-blessed projects that seek newspaper publicity. There is more wisdom, more power and promise of blessing in the instructions of Our Blessed Lord: ‘Say nothing to anyone.’ The tragedy of any life is not what happens; it is rather how we react to what happens. Those who do not profit from the things that happen to them generally carry around with them through life open infectious wounds. But those who know that God is working out a plan in them that one day will be revealed, learn from the incidents of life.” - Archbishop Fulton Sheen
“Still, when there is question of defending the rights of individuals, the poor and badly off have a claim to especial consideration. The richer class have many ways of shielding themselves, and stand less in need of help from the State; whereas the mass of the poor have no resources of their own to fall back upon, and must chiefly depend upon the assistance of the State...” (read more - Pope Leo XIII, Rerum novarum, paragraphs 37,38, Encyclical – May 15, 1891)
“The world-man as a result has thrown dust in his own eyes and then had his eyes plucked out so that he can no longer find the gate which leads back home. He was told religion was an opium and eternal purpose only theological folklore, and that if he dispossessed himself of its obligations and worries, he could make a paradise of this world. Foolishly man did this but instead of finding his material life enriched, he discovers that it becomes more precarious each day without the consolation of any hope beyond the grave.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Sunday, February 4, 2018
“We need a new apologetic, geared to the needs of today, which keeps in mind that our task is not to win arguments but to win souls, to engage not in ideological bickering but a kind of spiritual warfare, concerned not to vindicate or promote ourselves but to vindicate and promote the Gospel.” (Pope St. John Paul II, May 7, 2002)
Pope Gregory XIII wrote the preface for the publication and had published in 1583 A.D., the Corpus Iuris Canonici, which teaches in Decreti Prima Pars [Decretals of Gratian], Distinctio LX, Caput VI: “Because he [the pope] himself is judge of all, who is judged by none, unless perhaps he is discovered to have deviated from the faith. [...quia cunctos ipse judicaturus, à nemine est judicandus, nisi fortè deprehendatur à fide devius:...]”
“There is no basis for that which some respond to this: that these Fathers based themselves on ancient law, while nowadays, by decree of the Council of Constance, they alone lose their jurisdiction who are excommunicated by name or who assault clerics. This argument, I say, has no value at all, for those Fathers, in affirming that heretics lose jurisdiction, did not cite any human law, which furthermore perhaps did not exist in relation to the matter, but argued on the basis of the very nature of heresy. The Council of Constance only deals with the excommunicated, that is, those who have lost jurisdiction by sentence of the Church, while heretics already before being excommunicated are outside the Church and deprived of all jurisdiction. For they have already been condemned by their own sentence, as the Apostle teaches (Tit. 3:10-11), that is, they have been cut off from the body of the Church without excommunication, as St. Jerome affirms… A pope who is a manifest heretic automatically (per se) ceases to be pope and head, just as he ceases automatically to be a Christian and a member of the Church. Wherefore, he can be judged and punished by the Church. This is the teaching of all the ancient Fathers who teach that manifest heretics immediately lose all jurisdiction, and outstandingly that of St. Cyprian (lib. 4, epist. 2) who speaks as follows of Novatian, who was [anti-]Pope in the schism which occurred during the pontificate of St. Cornelius: ‘He would not be able to retain the episcopate [of Rome], and, if he was made bishop before, he separated himself from the body of those who were, like him, bishops, and from the unity o the Church.’” St. Robert Bellarmine (de Romano Pontifice, Lib. II, Cap., 30)
“All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone – for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much as those who do us good.” (St. Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney, Cure d’Ars)
"Just as sex is a God-given instinct for the prolongation of the human race, so the desire for property as a prolongation of one's ego is a natural right sanctioned by natural law. A person is free on the inside because he can call his soul his own; he is free on the outside because he can call property his own. Internal freedom is based upon the fact that "I am"; external freedom is based on the fact that "I have." But just as the excesses of flesh produce lust, for lust is sex in the wrong place, so there can be a deordination of the desire for property until it becomes greed, avarice, and capitalistic aggression." Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Life of Christ)
The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!
My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it -with peace. WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1074 )
My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it -with peace. WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1074 )
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Pope Gregory XIII, 1583 A.D., Corpus Iuris Canonici, Decreti Prima Pars [Decretals of Gratian], Distinctio LX, Caput VI: “Because he [the pope] himself is judge of all, who is judged by none, unless perhaps he is discovered to have deviated from the faith. [...quia cunctos ipse judicaturus, à nemine est judicandus, nisi fortè deprehendatur à fide devius:...]”
“There is no basis for that which some respond to this: that these Fathers based themselves on ancient law, while nowadays, by decree of the Council of Constance, they alone lose their jurisdiction who are excommunicated by name or who assault clerics. This argument, I say, has no value at all, for those Fathers, in affirming that heretics lose jurisdiction, did not cite any human law, which furthermore perhaps did not exist in relation to the matter, but argued on the basis of the very nature of heresy. The Council of Constance only deals with the excommunicated, that is, those who have lost jurisdiction by sentence of the Church, while heretics already before being excommunicated are outside the Church and deprived of all jurisdiction. For they have already been condemned by their own sentence, as the Apostle teaches (Tit. 3:10-11), that is, they have been cut off from the body of the Church without excommunication, as St. Jerome affirms… A pope who is a manifest heretic automatically (per se) ceases to be pope and head, just as he ceases automatically to be a Christian and a member of the Church. Wherefore, he can be judged and punished by the Church. This is the teaching of all the ancient Fathers who teach that manifest heretics immediately lose all jurisdiction, and outstandingly that of St. Cyprian (lib. 4, epist. 2) who speaks as follows of Novatian, who was [anti-]Pope in the schism which occurred during the pontificate of St. Cornelius: ‘He would not be able to retain the episcopate [of Rome], and, if he was made bishop before, he separated himself from the body of those who were, like him, bishops, and from the unity o the Church.’” St. Robert Bellarmine (de Romano Pontifice, Lib. II, Cap., 30)
“Once the priesthood becomes exclusively cultic, sacramental and ecclesial, it loses its mission to those not of the fold and to a world ‘on tiptoes awaiting redemption’. On the other hand, the reaction from the priestly to the worldly alone, turns priests into politicians, clerics into sociologists, and religious into sad-eyed visionaries. Christ is both Priest and Victim. The two were never meant to be disjoined.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Those Mysterious Priests)
During one of the adorations, Jesus promised me that: With souls that have recourse to My mercy and with those that glorify and proclaim My great mercy to others, I will deal according to My infinite mercy at the hour of their death.
My Heart is sorrowful, Jesus said, because even chosen souls do not understand the greatness of My mercy. Their relationship [with Me] is, in certain ways, imbued with mistrust. Oh, how much that wounds My Heart! Remember My Passion, and if you do not believe My words, at least believe My wounds. WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary,
379)
Friday, February 2, 2018
Pope Alexander III, “Cum Christus” to Willelmus, Archbishop of Rheims, Feb 18, 1177: “Since Christ perfect God is perfect man, it is strange with what temerity anyone dares to say that ‘Christ is not anything else but man.’ . . .because just as He is true God, so He is true man existing from a rational soul and human flesh.” (Denz. 393)
“The ambitious and avaricious will of wicked men is always wont to lay snares against those churches which seem greater, by various pretexts attacking the ecclesiastical piety of such. For incited by the devil who works in them, to the lust of that which is set before them, and throwing away all religious scruples, they trample under foot the fear of the judgment of God. Concerning which things, I who suffer, have thought it necessary to show to your piety, in order that you may be aware of such men, lest any of them presume to set foot in your dioceses, whether by themselves or by others; for these sorcerers know how to use hypocrisy to carry out their fraud; and to employ letters composed and dressed out with lies, which are able to deceive a man who is intent upon a simple and sincere faith.” St. Alexander of Alexandria (+ c. 326 A.D.), Epistles on Arianism and the Deposition of Arius
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