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Saturday, March 31, 2018

31.  To offer to God the affronts that you receive, and not to complain of them to others.

32.  To observe punctually the rules of the monastery.  St. Francis de Sales used to say that the most austere penance of a religious is to deny self-will, and to be content that the observance of the Rule be the priest that every moment offers such a sacrifice to God.  He would frequently say that the predestination of religious is annexed to the love of their Rule.  And to Superiors he used to say, that to fulfil their office they should do nothing else than observe the Rule, and see that it be observed by others.

33.  To regard the Superiors as the person of Jesus Christ, and therefore to obey them punctually and without reply.

34.  To love the most lowly offices.  To select the poorest things.  To humble yourself even to inferior sisters.  Not to speak of yourself either well or ill:  for speaking ill of yourself sometimes foments pride.  Not to excuse yourself when reproved, nor even when you are calumniated, unless it is absolutely necessary to excuse yourself in order to prevent scandal to others.

35.  To visit the sick, and to assist them according to the best of your ability, particularly those that are abandoned.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

26.  When you are disturbed, you will do well to remain silent until the mind is composed; otherwise you will commit a thousand faults without perceiving them.

27.  In correcting others, endeavor to select a time when neither you nor the person to be corrected are disturbed; otherwise the correction will do more harm than good.

28.  Always to speak well of others, and to excuse the intention when you cannot excuse the action.

29.  To assist others to the best of your ability, and particularly those that are opposed to you.

30.  Neither to say nor to do anything disagreeable to others, unless when it is more pleasing to God that you should say or do it.  And when you sometimes fail in charity to your neighbor; to ask pardon, or at least to speak to the person with kindness; and always to speak with meekness, and in a low tone.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

20.  To banish melancholy, preserving tranquility, and a uniform serenity of countenance in all crosses.  He that wishes what God wishes should never be afflicted.

21.  In temptations, to have recourse immediately and with confidence to Jesus and Mary, and to continue constantly to repeat the names of Jesus and Mary as long as the temptation lasts.

22.  To place all your confidence, first, in the Passion of Christ, and then in the intercession of Mary, and to ask every day this confidence from God.

23.  After a fault, never to give way to disturbance of mind or to diffidence, even though you should relapse several times into the same fault; but instantly to repent of it, and trusting in God, to renew your resolution to correct it.

24.  To render good to all those that treat you badly, at least by praying to God for them.

25.  To answer with meekness all those that offend you by acts or words, and thus to gain them to God.

Monday, March 26, 2018

16.  To perform all the exterior mortifications that you are allowed by obedience, but to attend particularly to interior mortifications; such as not to indulge curiosity, to be silent when you receive an affront, and never to do anything through self-satisfaction.

17.  To perform every spiritual exercise as if it were the last time you are performing it; and on that account to think frequently on death in your meditations.   And when you are in bed, consider that there you will one day breathe your last.

18.  Not to abandon your usual devotions, or any other good work, through human respect, through aridity, or tediousness.

19.  Not to complain, in sickness, of the inattention of the physicians or of the sisters; and to endeavor to conceal your pains, except when it is necessary to mention them to the physician.

20.  To banish melancholy, preserving tranquility, and a uniform serenity of countenance in all crosses.  He that wishes what God wishes should never be afflicted.

Friday, March 23, 2018

11.  To offer yourself several times in the day to suffer every pain for His sake, saying:  My Jesus, I give myself entirely to Thee:  here I am; do with me whatsoever Thou pleasest.

12.  To resolve to die rather than commit a deliberate venial sin.

13.  To abstain from even lawful gratifications, at least two or three times in the day.

14.  To spend two hours, or at least an hour every day in mental prayer.

15.  To love solitude and silence, in order to converse alone with God:   hence it is necessary to love the choir and the cell, and to shun the grate, the door, and the terrace.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

6.  To desire paradise, and therefore to desire death in order to be delivered from the danger of losing God, and to go to love Him for eternity, and with all your strength.

7.  To desire, and to labor that all may love Jesus Christ; and therefore to speak frequently to the sisters of the love of Jesus Christ.

8.  To treat God without reserve, not refusing Him anything that you know to be pleasing to Him; and even to choose what is most pleasing to Him.

9.  To pray every day for the souls in purgatory, and for poor sinners.

10.  To perform all your actions through the sole motive of giving pleasure to Jesus Christ, saying, at the beginning of each action:  Lord, may this be entirely for Thee!

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

The following summary of virtues is taken from St. Alphonsus'  book:  "True Spouse of Jesus Christ" which I read many years ago.  I found this summary so perfect that I took a copy of it and as usually happens with this type of stuff, it got filed in my papers and forgotten.  It was written for nuns in a convent but could easily apply to any Third Order member or any Catholic for that matter.  I'm going to post them a few at a time because they need to be read and deeply meditated upon for awhile.   So here they are:


SUMMARY OF VIRTUES WHICH THE RELIGIOUS THAT WISHES TO BECOME A SAINT SHOULD PRACTICE:
1.  To desire always to advance in the love of Jesus Christ.  Holy desires are the wings with which souls fly to God.  Hence it is necessary to meditate frequently on the Passion of our Lord.  To make frequent acts of the love of Jesus Christ during the day, beginning as soon as you awake in the morning, and endeavoring to fall asleep making an act of love.  And always to ask of Jesus Christ his holy love.

2.  To go to Communion as often as possible, with the permission of your director.  And during the day to make several spiritual Communions, at least three.

3.  To visit the Most Holy Sacrament at least once in the day; and in the visit to ask perseverance and holy love, after the acts of faith, thanksgiving, and love.  And when you meet with troubles, losses, affronts, or any other cross, have recourse to the Blessed Sacrament, from the place in which you find yourself at the time.

4.  Every morning, at rising, to offer yourself to suffer in peace all the crosses that will happen during the day, and when they happen always to say:  Lord, Thy will be always done.

5.  To rejoice in the infinite happiness of God.  She that loves God more than herself ought to rejoice in his felicity more than in her own.

Monday, March 12, 2018

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Mocking of Christ (1617), Gerard van Honthorst


If God gives you an abundant harvest of trials, it is a sign of great holiness which He desires you to attain. Do you want to become a great saint? Ask God to send you many sufferings. The flame of Divine Love never rises higher than when fed with the wood of the Cross, which the infinite charity of the Savior used to finish His sacrifice. All the pleasures of the world are nothing compared with the sweetness found in the gall and vinegar offered to Jesus Christ. That is, hard and painful things endured for Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ.
--Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Thursday, March 8, 2018

The face-to-face vision of God will produce in us a love of God so strong, so absolute, that nothing can ever destroy it nor even diminish it. It will produce a love built on admiration, respect, and gratitude, but above all on friendship, with the simplicity and familiarity that this love presupposes. Through such a love we will enjoy above all else that God is God, that He is infinitely holy, infinitely merciful, infinitely just.

—FR. REGINALD GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE
From his book Knowing the Love of God

Monday, March 5, 2018





ST. PETER CANISIUS QUOTE - PERFECT FOR OUR TIME:


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 Image result for St. MAry Magdalene de pazzi


I do not desire to die soon, because in Heaven there is no suffering. I desire to live a long time because I yearn to suffer much for the love of my Spouse.
You will be consoled according to the greatness of your sorrow and affliction; the greater the suffering, the greater will be the reward. 


--St. Mary Magdalen de'Pazzi



 

Thursday, March 1, 2018

  I see around me a multitude of those who, blindly persevering in error, despise the true God; but I am a Christian nevertheless, and I follow the instruction of the Apostles. If this deserves chastisement, reward it; for I am determined to suffer every torture rather then become the slave of the devil. Others may do as they please since they are [...] reckless of the future life, which is to be obtained only by sufferings. Scripture tells us that "narrow is the way that leads to life" [...] because it is one of affliction and of persecutions suffered for the sake of justice; but it is wide enough for those who walk upon it, because their faith and the hope of an eternal reward make it so for them. [...] On the contrary, the road of vice is in reality narrow, and it leads to an eternal precipice. --Saint Leo of Patara
 Saint Leo of Patara
At Patara, in Lycia, a great festival was once being celebrated in honor of a certain idol, at which a great concourse assembled; some having gone willingly, and many through fear, as an edict had been published to that effect. Saint Leo, who was a good Christian, departed from the city, and went to perform his devotions before the relics of Saint Paregorius, who had died for the faith some short time previously. Upon his return home, Saint Paregorius appeared to him in a vision, standing at the opposite side of a torrent, and inviting him to pass over.

Saint Leo hence conceived a great hope that he would be honored with martyrdom; and going, some days after, to make a second visit to the tomb of Saint Paregorius, he passed by the temple of Fortune, where many lanterns burned before the idol. Impelled by a special impulse of the Holy Ghost, he entered the temple and threw down the lights: but the idolaters, enraged at the insult offered to their idol, raised such a clamor, that the governor heard of the affair, and ordered that the saint should be brought before him.

When Leo made his appearance, the governor rebuked him for the outrage he had committed against the gods, in violation of the commands of the sovereign.

Saint Leo, animated with holy zeal, replied: “Thou speakest to me of the gods, as if there were many: there is but one God, and Jesus Christ is his only begotten Son. Since statues of stone and wood are devoid of sense and feeling, of what use can lanterns be to them? If thou hadst the knowledge of the true God, thou wouldst not worship these false deities. Oh, do abandon this vain superstition, and adore our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!”

The governor said: “Thou dost then exhort me to become a Christian? Better it were for thee to conform to the general practice, lest thy rashness be punished as it deserves.”

Saint Leo with increased ardor replied: “I see about me a multitude of those who, blindly persevering in error, despise the true God; but I am a Christian notwithstanding, and follow the instructions of the apostles. If this deserve chastisement, award it; for I am determined to suffer every torture, rather than become the slave of the devil. Others may do as they please, since they are solicitous merely for the present, and are reckless of the future life, which is to be obtained only by sufferings. The Scripture tells us that narrow is the way which leadeth to life.”

The governor observed: “Since, then, the way of the Christians is narrow; exchange it for ours, which is wide and commodious.”

Saint Leo answered: “I have said that the way is narrow, because it is one of affliction, and of persecutions suffered for justice sake; but it is wide enough for those who walk therein, because their faith, and the hope of an eternal reward, make it so to them. The love of virtue maketh that easy which to thee seemeth difficult. On the contrary, the road of vice is in reality narrow, and leads to an eternal precipice.”

This discourse was most unpalatable to the pagans, who accordingly exclaimed that the impious man, who had spoken against their religion, should be silenced.
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The governor then asked Saint Leo whether he would sacrifice; and being answered that his compliance was totally impossible, he ordered him to be scourged.

Although this command was most cruelly executed, the saint suffered without a groan; whereupon the governor threatened still greater torments, but the saint answered:

“I know not these gods, and will never sacrifice to them.”

“At least,” said the governor, “say that our gods are great, and I will dismiss thee, for I have compassion upon thy old age.”

Saint Leo replied: “They are great for the destruction of those souls that believe in them.”

The governor, infuriated at this reply, said: “I will order thee to be dragged over stones till thou art torn to pieces.” The saint replied: “I shall welcome any kind of death that procures me the kingdom of heaven, and that blessed life which I shall enjoy in company with the saints, upon my departure from this world.”

The tyrant continued to importune him to sacrifice, or at least to acknowledge that the gods could save him from death.

The saint replied: “Thou art very weak, since thou dost nothing but threaten, without putting thy threats into execution.”

The populace, being enraged at this reply, obliged the judge to condemn the saint to be tied by the feet and dragged through a torrent.

Saint Leo, finding himself about to obtain the accomplishment of his desire to die for Jesus Christ, raised his eyes to heaven, and prayed after the following manner: “I thank Thee, O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for granting me the grace to follow Thy servant Paregorius. I praise Thee, because Thou hast enabled me, by martyrdom, to cancel my past sins. I commend my soul to the care of Thy holy angels, that it may be saved from the perdition prepared for the wicked. I beseech Thee, by that which it is my blessed lot to suffer, to have mercy on those who are the cause thereof; and since Thou desirest not the death of the sinner, grant them the grace to recognize Thee as the Lord of the universe. May all that which I suffer in the name of Jesus Christ thy Son redound to Thy glory forever and ever. Amen.”

As soon as he pronounced the word Amen, he rendered up his soul to God, and went to enjoy the crown to which Saint Paregorius had invited him.

The executioners cast the body into a deep pit, in order to break it to pieces; but it was taken thence and found entire, with only a few slight bruises, and the face appeared comely and smiling.

*from Victories of the Martyrs, by St. Alphonsus de Liguori