The Nativity (1597), Frederico Barocci

This has to be my favorite Nativity picture!  I have it framed but never knew who painted it and now I know!!!  I love the way Baby Jesus is looking around  and the way that  Blessed Mother Mary is focused on Him.  Also, I can see St. Joseph showing the shepherds in that way. 
Blessed Christmas and New Year to all!

 
 Mary with Child and John the Baptist (first half of 16th century), Bernard van Orley



I do not think that part from the felicity of Heaven, there can be a joy comparable to that experienced by the souls in Purgatory. An incessant communication from God renders their joy more vivid from day to day: and this communication becomes more and more intimate, to the extent that it consumes the obstacles still existing in the soul….On the other hand, they endure pain so intense, that no tongue is able to describe it. Nor is any mind capable of comprehending the smallest spark of that consuming fire, unless God should show it to him by a special grace.

 -Saint Catherine of Siena

 

The clients of this most merciful Mother are very fortunate. She helps them both in this life and in the next, consoling them and sponsoring their cause in Purgatory. For the simple reason that the Souls in Purgatory need help so desperately, since they cannot help themselves, our Mother of Mercy does so much more to relieve them. She exercises over these Poor Souls, who are the spouses of Christ, particular dominion, with power to relieve them and even deliver them from their pains. See how important it is then to have devotion to this good Lady, because she never forgets her servants as long as they suffer in these flames. If she helps all the Poor Souls, she is especially indulgent and consoling to her own clients.” 

 -Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church, The Glories of Mary

From "The Liturgical Year" by Dom Gueranger O.S.B.

Volume 1 Advent - Chapter The Fifth

On Hearing Mass During The Time Of Advent

 

The Immaculate Conception (circa 1618), Diego Velázquez

 

        There is no exercise which is more pleasing to God, or more

meritorious, or which has greater influence in infusing solid piety into

the soul, than the assisting at the holy sacrifice of the Mass. If this be

true at all the various seasons of the Christian year, it is so, in a very

special manner, during the holy time of Advent. The faithful, therefore,

should make every effort in order to enjoy this precious blessing, even on

those days when they are not obliged to it by the precept of the Church.

    With what gratitude ought they to assist at that divine sacrifice, for

which the world had been longing for four thousand years! God has granted

them to be born after the fulfillment of that stupendous and merciful

oblation, and would not put them in the generations of men who died before

they could partake of its reality and its riches! This notwithstanding,

they must earnestly unite with the Church in praying for the coming of the

Redeemer, so to pay their share of that great debt which God had put upon

all, whether living before or after the fulfillment of the mystery of the

Incarnation. Let them think of this in assisting at the holy sacrifice.

    Let them also remember that this great sacrifice, which perpetuates on

this earth even to the end of time, though in an unbloody manner, the real

oblation of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, has this for its express

aim: to prepare the souls of the faithful for the mysterious coming of God,

who redeemed our souls only that He might take possession of them. It not

only prepares, it even effects this glorious advent.

    Let them, in the third place, lovingly profit by the presence of, and

intimacy with, Jesus, to which this hidden yet saving mystery admits them;

that so, when He comes in that other way, whereby He will judge the world

in terrible majesty, He may recognize them as His friends, and even then,

when mercy shall give place to justice, again save them.

 


“All infidels and heretics are surely on the way to being lost. What an obligation we owe God for causing us to be born not only after the coming of Jesus Christ, but also in countries where the true faith reigns! I thank Thee, O Lord, for this. Woe to me if, after so many transgressions, it had been my fate to live in the midst of infidels or heretics!”

“In the Great Deluge in the days of Noah, nearly all mankind perished, eight persons alone being saved in the Ark. In our days a deluge, not of water but of sins, continually inundates the earth, and out of this deluge very few escape. Scarcely anyone is saved.”

“Saint Teresa, as the Roman Rota attests, never fell into any mortal sin; but still Our Lord showed her the place prepared for her in Hell; not because she deserved Hell, but because, had she not risen from the state of lukewarmness in which she lived, she would in the end have lost the grace of God and been damned.”

“The saints are few, but we must live with the few if we would be saved with the few. O God, too few indeed they are; yet among those few I wish to be!”

“All persons desire to be saved, but the greater part, because they will not adopt the means of being saved, fall into sin and are lost. […] In fact, the Elect are much fewer than the damned, for the reprobate are much more numerous than the Elect.” -


Saint Alphonsus Maria Liguori, Doctor of the Church

 


We shall be raised therefore, all with our bodies eternal, but not all with bodies alike: for if a man is righteous, he will receive a heavenly body, that he may be able worthily to hold converse with angels; but if a man is a sinner, he shall receive an eternal body, fitted to endure the penalties of sins, that he may burn eternally in fire, nor ever be consumed. And righteously will God assign this portion to either company; for we do nothing without the body. We blaspheme with the mouth, and with the mouth we pray. With the body we commit fornication, and with the body we keep chastity. With the hand we rob, and by the hand we bestow alms; and the rest in like manner. Since then the body has been our minister in all things, it shall also share with us in the future the fruits of the past” 

 -Cyril of Jerusalem, Father and Doctor of the Church, (Catechetical Lectures 18:19 [A.D. 350]).

From the book "Purgatory Explained"

Part II, Chapter III

Consolation of the Souls -- St. Stanislaus of Cracow and the Resuscitated

Peter Miles

This contentment in the midst of the most intense suffering cannot be

explained otherwise than by the Divine consolations which the Holy Ghost

infuses into the souls in Purgatory. This Divine Spirit, by means of faith,

hope, and charity, puts them in the disposition of a sick person who has to

submit to very painful treatment, but the effect of which is to restore him

to perfect health. This sick person suffers, but he loves his salutary

suffering. The Holy Ghost, the Comforter, gives a similar contentment to

the holy souls. Of this we have a striking example in Peter Miles raised

from the dead by St. Stanislaus of Cracow, who preferred to return to

Purgatory rather than to live again upon earth.

The celebrated miracle of this resurrection happened in 1070. It is thus

related in the Acta Sanctorum on May 7. St. Stanislaus was Bishop of Cracow

when the Duke Boleslas II governed Poland. He did not neglect to remind

this prince of his duties, who scandalously violated them before all his

people.

Boleslas was irritated by the holy liberty of the Prelate, and to revenge

himself he excited against him the heirs of a certain Peter Miles, who had

died three years previously after having sold a piece of ground to the

church of Cracow. The heirs accused the saint of having usurped the ground,

without having paid the owner. Stanislaus declared that he had paid for the

land, but as the witnesses who should have defended him had been either

bribed or intimidated, he was denounced as a usurper of the property of

another, and condemned to make restitution. Then, seeing that he had

nothing to expect from human justice, he raised his heart to God, and

received a sudden inspiration. He asked for a delay of three days,

promising to make Peter Miles appear in person, that he might testify to

the legal purchase and payment of the lot.

They were granted to him in scorn. The saint fasted, watched, and prayed

God to take up the defense of his cause. The third day, after having

celebrated Holy Mass, he went out accompanied by his clergy and many of the

faithful, to the place where Peter had been interred. By his orders the

grave was opened; it contained nothing but bones. He touched them with his

crosier, and in the name of Him who is the Resurrection and the Life, he

commanded the dead man to arise.

Suddenly the bones became reunited, were covered with flesh, and, in the

sight of the stupefied people, the dead man was seen to take the Bishop by

the hand and walk towards the tribunal. Boleslas, with his court and an

immense crowd of people, were awaiting the result with the most lively

expectation. "Behold Peter," said the saint to Boleslas; "he comes, prince,

to give testimony before you. Interrogate him; he will answer you."

It is impossible to depict the stupefaction of the Duke, of his councilors,

and of the whole concourse of people. Peter affirmed that he had been paid

for the ground; then turning towards his heirs, he reproached them for

having accused the pious prelate against all rights of justice; then he

exhorted them to do penance for so grievous a sin.

It was thus that iniquity, which believed itself already sure of success,

was confounded. Now comes the circumstance which concerns our subject, and

to which we wished to refer. Wishing to complete this great miracle for the

glory of God, Stanislaus proposed to the deceased that, if he desired to

live a few years longer, he would obtain for him this favor from God. Peter

replied that he had no such desire. He was in Purgatory, but he would

rather return thither immediately and endure its pains, than expose himself

to damnation in this terrestrial life. He then entreated the saint only to

beg of God to shorten the time of his sufferings, that he might the sooner

enter the abode of the blessed. After that, accompanied by the Bishop and a

vast multitude, Peter returned to his grave, laid himself down, his body

fell to pieces, and his bones resumed the same state in which they had

first been found. We have reason to believe that the saint soon obtained

the deliverance of his soul.

That which is the most remarkable in his example, and which should most

attract out attention, is that a soul from Purgatory, after having

experienced the most excruciating torments, prefers that state of suffering

to the life of this world; and the reason which he gives for this

preference is, that in this mortal life we are exposed to the danger of

being lost and incurring eternal damnation.

----------------------------------------------------

If, on a rare occasion, it is necessary to speak with some severity in order to make a grievous crime felt, we should always, at the conclusion of the rebuke, add some kind words. We must heal wounds, as the Samaritan did, with wine and oil. But as oil floats above all other liquors, so meekness should predominate in all our actions.

Above all things we should be meek toward our enemies. We must overcome hatred by love, and persecution by meekness. It was thus the Saints acted, and in this manner they conciliated the regard of their bitterest enemies.

-Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church

“What do you think? How many of the inhabitants of this city may perhaps be saved? What I am about to tell you is very terrible, yet I will not conceal it from you. Out of this thickly populated city with its thousands of inhabitants not one hundred people will be saved. I even doubt whether there will be as many as that!”

 -Saint John Chrysostom, Father and Doctor of the Church

Letter of Saint Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria
To His Flock
The Catholic Church Ravaged in the Fourth Century   "May God console you! ... What saddens you ... is the fact that others have occupied the churches by violence, while during this time you are on the outside. It is a fact that they have the premises -- but you have the Apostolic Faith. They can occupy our churches, but they are outside the true Faith. You remain outside the places of worship, but the Faith dwells within you. Let us consider: what is more important, the place or the Faith? The true Faith, obviously. Who has lost and who has won in the struggle -- the one who keeps the premises or the one who keeps the Faith? True, the premises are good when the Apostolic Faith is preached there; they are holy if everything takes place there in a holy way ... "You are the ones who are happy; you who remain within the Church by your Faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the Faith which has come down to you from Apostolic Tradition. And if an execrable jealousy has tried to shake it on a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis. No one, ever, will prevail against your Faith, beloved Brothers. And we believe that God will give us our churches back some day. "Thus, the more violently they try to occupy the places of worship, the more they separate themselves from the Church. They claim that they represent the Church; but in reality, they are the ones who are expelling themselves from it and going astray. Even if Catholics faithful to Tradition are reduced to a handful, they are the ones who are the true Church of Jesus Christ."
- (Coll. Selecta SS.Eccl.Patrum, Caillau and Guillou Vol. 32, pp. 411-412)

Out of one hundred thousand sinners who continue in sin until death, scarcely one will be saved.

Many begin well, but there are few who persevere.

So that you will better appreciate the meaning of Our Lord’s words, and perceive more clearly how few the Elect are, note that Christ did not say that those who walked in the path to Heaven are few in number, but that there were few who found that narrow way. It is as though the Saviour intended to say: The path leading to Heaven is so narrow and so rough, so overgrown, so dark and difficult to discern, that there are many who never find it their whole life long. And those who do find it are constantly exposed to the danger of deviating from it, of mistaking their way, and unwittingly wandering away from it, because it is so irregular and overgrown.

-Saint Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church

 
 Mary with Child and John the Baptist (first half of 16th century), Bernard van Orley


The morning light shines before the sun, so does meekness precede humility. Meekness is that unalterable condition of the soul in which it remains always the same in praise as in blame, without confusion, without disturbance, and without vexation.

Meekness aids obedience, and is a quality of the Angels. A meek soul is enlightened by the spirit of discernment, and is the seat of simplicity. The simple soul is far removed from all vain, curious, and perverse thoughts; it goes directly and sincerely to God, as a scholar to his master.

-Saint John Climacus

 
 The Vale of Rest (1858-1859), John Everett Millais


The Highest Pleasures
The highest, the best, the most permanent pleasures are those which are not sought, but which come from the faithful fulfillment of life’s duties and obligations.
Indeed, eager search after pleasure in any direction is always fruitless, because it implies a condition of mind to which enduring happiness is a stranger.
Selfishness and enjoyment may dwell together for a brief season, but the latter will soon wither away under the absorbing influence of the former.

Don’t Go To Heaven Alone
 
Don’t go to heaven alone! Take somebody with you. Mothers, take your children with you. Pray as long as you have breath in your body – never despair and never give up the hope that your loved ones, no matter how far their footsteps have wandered, will one day stand with you before the Great White Throne.

 
 All Souls Day (1888), Jakub Schikaneder

Let Us Go About Doing Good
If we are educated, let us, in the Master’s name, instruct the ignorant; if we possess wealth, let us use it as God intended; if we have health, let us cheer some drooping soul.
If we enjoy any singular opportunities, consider them prayerfully, and in so doing we shall find that the moments that really shine out in our lives are those in which we have buried self and gone out into this busy and sinful world, and have endeavored, by prayer and effort to do the will of Him, whose one great mission was to go about doing good.
Fr. Lasance

 
When once men recognize, both in private and public life,  that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well ordered discipline, peace and harmony.

Pope Pius XI

 

 Pierre Le Gros
Religion Overthrowing Heresy and Hatred
Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di GESÙ all’Argentina, Rome


THE PEACE AND CALM OF ADORATION
“Withdraw yourself from people and spend at least a quarter of an hour, or a half-hour, in some church in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.
Taste and see how sweet is the Lord, and you will learn from your own experience how many graces this will bring you.”
- St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

 
The Practice of Charity
Seek occasions to please the Heart of Jesus by the practice of holy charity in always thinking and speaking well of your neighbor, assisting the poor according to your ability, spiritually and corporally, considering Jesus Christ in their person, and doing nothing to them which you would not wish to be done to yourself.
Be patient toward all, in order to give confidence to each one, and above all to the poor who come to you in their need. Be a friend to everyone and an enemy to no one; then you will become like unto God.
Charles IX, King of France, once asked the poet Tasso who, in his estimation, was the happiest. Tasso replied without hesitation: “God.”
“Everybody knows that,” continued the king; “but who is next?”
And Tasso answered: “He who becomes most like to God.”

Taken from the Fr. Lasance prayerbook

 

RUSSIANS PULLOUT OF AUSTRIA, 1948 - After World War ll, the Allies turned

over Catholic Austria to communist Russia. For three years the Austrian

people endured this tyranny. Then, a Franciscan priest, Father Petrus,

remembered how the Christians although greatly outnumbered had defeated the

Turks at the Battle of Lepanto through the Rosary, and he launched a Rosary

crusade. Through it 70,000 people, one tenth of the Austrian population,

pledged to say the Rosary daily for the Soviets to leave their country.

Austria was valuable to the Russians because of its strategic location,

rich mineral deposits and oil reserves. Yet on May 13, 1955, the

anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, the Russians

signed the agreement to leave Austria, and they did so without one person

being killed and without one shot being fired. It is the only time that the

militant atheistic forces of Marxism have ever peacefully left a country in

which they held power. Military strategists and historians are baffled as

to why the Russians pulled out. But we are not - it was the power of the

Rosary.

"Among all the devotions approved by the Church, none has been so favored by so many miracles as the Rosary devotion." Pope Pius IX

 


HIROSHIMA - August 6th, 1945 There was a home eight blocks (about 1

kilometer) from where the A-Bomb went off in Hiroshima Japan. This home had

a church attached to it which was completely destroyed, but the home

survived, and so did the eight German Jesuit missionaries who prayed the

rosary in that house faithfully every day. These men were missionaries to

the Japanese people, they were non-military, but because Germany and Japan

were allies during WWII they were permitted to live and minister within

Japan during the war. Not only did they all survive with (at most)

relatively minor injuries, but they all lived well past that awful day with

no radiation sickness, no loss of hearing, or any other visible long term

defects or maladies. Naturally, they were interviewed numerous times (Fr.

Schiffer, a survivor, said over 200 times) by scientists and health care

people about their remarkable experience and they say "we believe that we

survived because we were living the message of Fatima. We lived and prayed

the rosary daily in that home." Of course the secular scientists are

speechless and incredulous at this explanation - and they are sure there is

some "real" explanation - but at the same time over 55 years later the

scientists are still absolutely bamboozled when it comes to finding a

plausible scenario to explain the missionaries’ unique escape from the

hellish power of that bomb.

 


BATTLE OF LEPANTO, 1571 - On Sunday, October 7, the Christian and Turkish

fleets met in Lepanto Gulf, off the coast of Greece. The bitter battle

finished with a brilliant victory of the Christians who where vastly

outnumbered. That very evening Pope St. Pius V had at Rome a clear

knowledge of this success. The same afternoon, the Confraternities of the

Rosary, particularly in Rome, had marched through the streets in procession

reciting the Rosary. This victory put an end to the naval power of the

Turks and saved Christian Europe. To this day this victory has been

attributed to the praying of the Rosary. The feast of “The Most Holy

Rosary” is celebrated on October 7 now and the month of October is

dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary.

 



St. Dominic prayed to Our Lady that she would force the devils who

possessed a man to reveal the truth about devotion to her. The devils were

forced by Our Lady to reveal: "Now that we are forced to speak we must also

tell you this: Nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned,

because she obtains for her servants the grace of true contrition for their

sins and by means of this they obtain God's forgiveness and mercy."

 


THE COUNTRY THAT SAVED ITSELF - Brazil 1962 - In 1962 there was a looming

threat of communist takeover in Brazil. A woman there named Dona Amelia

Bastos was known to have formed a Rosary rally among the Brazilian women

there to do their part in opposing the looming threat. Their goal was

simply to pray the Rosary in large groups asking the Virgin Mary for help

in opposing the Communist takeover which the President of Brazil was

leaning toward at the time. In Belo Horizonte 20,000 women reciting the

rosary aloud broke up a Communist rally. In Sao Paulo, 600,000 women

praying the rosary in one of the most moving demonstrations in Brazilian

history, caused the President of Brazil to flee the country and not a

single death was encountered, sparing the country from Communist takeover.

 



The most holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new

efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no

problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or, above all,

spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the

families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life

of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no

problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve

by the prayer of the holy Rosary. With the holy Rosary, we will save

ourselves; we will sanctify ourselves; we will console our Lord, and obtain

the salvation of many souls.

Conversation between Sr. Lucy of Fatima and Fr. Fuentes, Dec. 26, 1957

 

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

True Charity consists in bearing with all the defects of our neighbor, in not being surprised at his failings, and in being edified by his least virtues; Charity must not remain shut up in the depths of the heart, for no man lighteth a candle and putteth it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. (Cf. Matthew 5:15). It seems to me that this candle represents the Charity which ought to enlighten and make joyful, not only those who are dearest to me, but all who are in the house.🌹🌹🌹

Story of A Soul, Chapter IX

Saints Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brébeuf, and Companions’ Story

Isaac Jogues and his companions were the first martyrs of the North American continent officially recognized by the Church. As a young Jesuit, Isaac Jogues, a man of learning and culture, taught literature in France. He gave up that career to work among the Huron Indians in the New World, and in 1636, he and his companions, under the leadership of Jean de Brébeuf, arrived in Quebec. The Hurons were constantly warred upon by the Iroquois, and in a few years Father Jogues was captured by the Iroquois and imprisoned for 13 months. His letters and journals tell how he and his companions were led from village to village, how they were beaten, tortured, and forced to watch as their Huron converts were mangled and killed.
An unexpected chance for escape came to Isaac Jogues through the Dutch, and he returned to France, bearing the marks of his sufferings. Several fingers had been cut, chewed, or burnt off. Pope Urban VIII gave him permission to offer Mass with his mutilated hands: “It would be shameful that a martyr of Christ not be allowed to drink the Blood of Christ.”
Welcomed home as a hero, Father Jogues might have sat back, thanked God for his safe return, and died peacefully in his homeland. But his zeal led him back once more to the fulfillment of his dreams. In a few months he sailed for his missions among the Hurons.
In 1646, he and Jean de Lalande, who had offered his services to the missioners, set out for Iroquois country in the belief that a recently signed peace treaty would be observed. They were captured by a Mohawk war party, and on October 18, Father Jogues was tomahawked and beheaded. Jean de Lalande was killed the next day at Ossernenon, a village near Albany, New York.
The first of the Jesuit missionaries to be martyred was René Goupil who with Lalande, had offered his services as an oblate. He was tortured along with Isaac Jogues in 1642, and was tomahawked for having made the sign of the cross on the brow of some children.
Jean de Brébeuf was a French Jesuit who came to Canada at the age of 32 and labored there for 24 years. He went back to France when the English captured Quebec in 1629 and expelled the Jesuits, but returned to his missions four years later. Although medicine men blamed the Jesuits for a smallpox epidemic among the Hurons, Jean remained with them.
He composed catechisms and a dictionary in Huron, and saw 7,000 converted before his death. He was captured by the Iroquois and died after four hours of extreme torture at Sainte Marie, near Georgian Bay, Canada.
Father Anthony Daniel, working among Hurons who were gradually becoming Christian, was killed by Iroquois on July 4, 1648. His body was thrown into his chapel, which was set on fire.
Gabriel Lalemant had taken a fourth vow—to sacrifice his life for the Native Americans. He was horribly tortured to death along with Father Brébeuf.
Father Charles Garnier was shot to death as he baptized children and catechumens during an Iroquois attack.
Father Noel Chabanel was killed before he could answer his recall to France. He had found it exceedingly hard to adapt to mission life. He could not learn the language, and the food and life of the Indians revolted him, plus he suffered spiritual dryness during his whole stay in Canada. Yet he made a vow to remain until death in his mission.
These eight Jesuit martyrs of North America were canonized in 1930.

 
 Henry Thomas Bosdet-"Jesus Before His Crucifixion"


”Many appear full of mildness and sweetness as long as everything goes their own way; but the moment any contradiction or adversity arises, they are in a flame, and begin to rage like a burning mountain. Such people as these are like red-hot coals hidden under ashes. This is not the mildness which Our Lord undertook to teach us in order to make us like unto Himself.”
-Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Father and Doctor of the Church

“To reach satisfaction in all,
desire its possession in nothing.
To come to the knowledge of all,
desire the knowledge of nothing.
To come to possess all,
desire the possession of nothing.
To arrive at being all,
desire to be nothing.
To come to the pleasure you have not,
you must go by a way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not,
you must go by a way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not;
you must go by a way in which you possess not.
To come to be what you are not,
you must go by a way in which you are not.
When you turn toward something,
you cease to cast yourself upon the all.
For to go from the all to the all,
you must leave yourself in all.
And when you come to the possession of all,
you must posses it without wanting anything.
In this nakedness, the spirit finds its rest,
for when it covets nothing, nothing raises it up,
and nothing weighs it down,
because it is in the center of its humility.

Words of Wisdom from St. John of the Cross

 



The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds. 
Wisdom 3:7
(From this mornings epistle)

”If you desire to labor with fruit for the conversion of souls, it behooves you to mix the balm of gentleness with the strong wine of your zeal, to the end that the latter be not too ardent, but benign, pacific, long-suffering and full of compassion. For the natural character of men is such that, when treated with harshness, it becomes still more hardened, whereas mildness soon softens it. Moreover we ought to remember that Jesus Christ came to bless men of good will, and if we give up our own will to His guidance, we may be sure that He will render it fruitful.”
-Saint Francis of Sales, Doctor of the Church

 This is one of my favorite Gospels.  It always comes in the fall before the difficulties of winter:


[24] No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. [25] Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat: and
[26] Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? [27] And which of you by taking thought, can add to his stature by one cubit? [28] And for raiment why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labour not, neither do they spin. [29] But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. [30] And if the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little faith?
[31] Be not solicitous therefore, saying, What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? [32] For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. [33] Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you. [34] Be not therefore solicitous for tomorrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.

 

A SOURCE OF GRACE AND CONSOLATION FOR ALL CHRISTIANS

(from the booklet "Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother")

Devotion to the sorrows of Mary is a source of great graces because it is

so pleasing to our Divine Lord. Many holy writers say that through her

sufferings Mary placed an obligation, as it were upon her Son, which

constrains Him to grant her whatever she asks of Him. As soon as we

sympathize with the sorrows of His Mother, we draw our Saviour to

ourselves. "He is," says St. Bernard, "at the disposal of those who

devoutly meditate on the sufferings of His Mother." Our Lord once said to

Bl. Veronica of Binasco: "My daughter, the tears which you shed in

compassion for My sufferings are pleasing to Me, but bear in mind that on

account of My excessive love for My Mother, the tears you shed in

compassion for her sufferings are still more precious."

There are, indeed, few devotions for which our Saviour has made greater

promises that for this one, and there are few that are more pleasing to

Him.

THE COMFORTER OF THE AFFLICTED

Through her martyrdom, Mary has become in a special way the comforter of

the afflicted. It was by her own experience of sorrow that she was taught

the sympathy which enables her to comfort her children in all their

afflictions. God gave her a mighty and a sympathetic heart for this great

task.

For all God's children, the way to Heaven leads across the mount of Calvary

-- the way of trial and suffering. In the company of our Sorrowful Mother,

we walk more easily, fight more courageously, and suffer more patiently,

perseveringly and joyfully; for she holds up before us not only the example

of the sufferings and death of her Divine Son, but also the victory, the

joy and the glory which He has won through His sufferings.

How often do we grow impatient, fainthearted, despondent and inconstant in

suffering . . . how often without endurance, without resignation, full of

complaints and murmurings! Oh, let us deeply engrave in our hearts the

sorrows of Mary! May she, our Sorrowful Mother, ever be our model in

suffering, in the patient endurance of trials, and in the humble acceptance

of sorrows and afflictions. When the hand of God lays a heavy cross upon

our shoulders, let us turn to Mary Sorrowing, and we shall obtain

consolation and strength to carry the cross patiently and meritoriously.

The above is taken from Chapter 2 of the booklet "Devotion to the Sorrowful

Mother" published by TAN Books

 

Prayer reveals to souls the vanity of earthly goods and pleasures.  It fills them with light, strength and consolation; and gives them a foretaste of the calm bliss of our heavenly home.

 St. Rose of Viterbo 

Nobody's Friend

My name is Gossip.

I have no respect for justice.

I maim without killing.

I break hearts and ruin lives.

I am cunning and malicious and gather strength with age.

The more I am quoted the more I am believed.

My victims are helpless. They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no name and no face.

To track me down is impossible. The harder you try, the more elusive I become.

I am nobody's friend.

Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same.

I topple governments and wreck marriages.

I ruin careers and cause sleepless nights, heartaches and indigestion. I make innocent people cry in their pillows.

Even my name hisses. I am called Gossip.

I am make headlines and headaches.

Before you repeat a story, ask yourself:

Is it true?

Is it harmless?

Is it necessary?

If it isn't, don't repeat it.

-Author Unknown

“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.”
St. Augustine

 


"God has promised forgiveness to your repentance , but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination"

St. Augustine

SAINT LOUIS, King of France,

[Feast day August 25]

From "Lives of The Saints with Reflections for Every Day in the Year" by

Rev. Alban Butler.

The mother of Louis told him she would rather see him die than commit a

mortal sin, and he never forgot her words. King of France at the age of

twelve, he made the defense of God's honor the aim of his life. Before two

years, he had crushed the Albigensian heretics, and forced them by

stringent penalties to respect the Catholic faith. Amidst the cares of

government, he daily recited the Divine Office and heard two Masses, and

the most glorious churches in France are still monuments of his piety. When

his courtiers remonstrated with Louis for his law that blasphemers should

be branded on the lips, he replied, "I would willingly have my own lips

branded to root out blasphemy from my kingdom." The fearless protector of

the weak and the oppressed, he was chosen to arbitrate in all the great

feuds of his age, between the Pope and the Emperor, between Henry III and

the English barons. In 1248, to rescue the land which Christ had trod, he

gathered round him the chivalry of France, and embarked for the East.

There, before the infidel, in victory or defeat, on the bed of sickness or

a captive in chains, Louis showed himself ever the same, -- the first, the

best, and the bravest of Christian knights. When a captive at Damietta, an

Emir rushed into his tent brandishing a dagger red with the blood of the

Sultan, and threatened to stab him also unless he would make him a knight,

as the Emperor Frederick had Facardin. Louis calmly replied that no

unbeliever could perform the duties of a Christian knight. In the same

captivity he was offered his liberty on terms lawful in themselves, but

enforced by an oath which implied a blasphemy, and though the infidels held

their swords' points at his throat, and threatened a massacre of the

Christians, Louis inflexibly refused. The death of his mother recalled him

to France; but when order was reestablished he again set forth on a second

crusade. In August, 1270, his army landed at Tunis, and, though victorious

over the enemy, succumbed to a malignant fever. Louis was one of the

victims. He received the Viaticum kneeling by his camp-bed, and gave up his

life with the same joy that he had given all else for the honor of God.

Please read below a most inspiring letter sent to his son when St. Louis

was near death. This is taken from an account of his life as contained in

BUTLER'S LIVES OF THE SAINTS.

Finding his distemper increase, he called for his eldest son Philip and

gave him certain pious instructions which he had drawn up in writing before

he left Paris. Two copies hereof are still kept in the Chamber of Accounts

at Paris, under this title: "Instructions of King Lewis, the saint, to

Philip, his eldest son." The dying admonitions of this great king to him

are here inserted in abstract: "My son, before all things I recommend to

you that you love God. Be always ready rather to suffer all manner of

torments than to commit any mortal sin. When sickness or any other

affliction befalls you, return thanks to God for it and bear it

courageously, being persuaded that you deserve to suffer much more for

having served God ill, and that such tribulations will be your gain. In

prosperity give thanks to God with humility and fear lest by pride you

abuse God's benefits, and so offend Him

by those very means by which you ought particularly to improve yourself in

his service. Confess your sins frequently, and choose a wise and pious

ghostly father who will teach you what to follow and what to shun; let him

be one that will boldly reprehend you and make you understand the

grievousness of your faults. Hear the Divine Office devoutly - meditate

affectionately what you ask of God with your mouth; do this with more than

ordinary application during the holy sacrifice of the mass, especially

after the consecration. Be bountiful, compassionate, and courteous to the

poor, and relieve and favour them as much as you can. If anything trouble

your mind, reveal it to your ghostly father or to some other grave and

discreet person; for by the comfort you will receive you will bear it more

patiently. Love to converse with pious persons; never admit any among your

familiar friends but such as are virtuous and of good reputation; shun and

banish from you the vicious. Make it your delight to hear profitable

sermons and discourses of piety. Endeavor to gain the benefit of

indulgences and to get the prayers of others. Love all good and abhor all

evil. Wherever you are,

never suffer anyone to detract or say anything sinful in your presence.

Punish all who speak ill of God or his saints. Give often thanks to God for

all His benefits. In the administration of justice be upright and severe;

hear patiently the complaints of the poor, and in all controversies where

your interests are concerned stand for your adversary against yourself till

the truth be certainly found out. Whatever you find not to belong to you,

restore it without delay to the owner, if the case be clear; if doubtful,

appoint prudent men to examine diligently into it. Endeavor to procure

peace and justice to all your subjects. Protect the clergy and religious

who pray for you and your kingdom. Follow the maxim of my grandfather King

Philip, that it is sometimes better to dissemble certain things in

ecclesiastics than to repress them with too great violence and scandal.

Love and honour the queen your mother, and follow her counsels. Make no

war, especially against Christians, without great cause and good advice. If

necessity force you to it, let it be carried on without damage to those who

are not in fault, and spare the innocent subjects of your enemy as much as

possible. Use all your authority to hinder wars among your vassals. Be

scrupulous in the choice of good judges and magistrates. Have always a

great respect for the Roman Church and the pope, and honour him as your

spiritual father. Hinder, to the utmost of your power, all blasphemies,

rash oaths, games of chance, drunkenness, and impurity. Never make any

extravagant expenses, and never lay on your subjects any heavy or unjust

burdens. After my death take care to have a great many masses and prayers

said for me in all churches and religious communities in France; and give

me a share in all the good works which you shall do. I give you my blessing

with the most tender affection that any father can give to a son; and I

pray our Lord Jesus Christ to protect and strengthen you in His service,

and always to increase His grace in you that you never do anything against

His holy will, and that He may be ever faithfully honoured and served by

you. I beg this same grace for myself, that we may together see, laud and

honor Him for all eternity.

The feast of St. Louis, King of France is August 25th. Let us meditate, in

the person of St. Louis, upon one of the most beautiful masterpieces of

grace and see what religion made of this prince: 1st a great king; 2nd a

great Christian. We will than make the resolution: 1st to act, to speak,

and to think in a spirit of faith, with a view to God and His glory; 2nd,

always to treat our neighbor in a spirit of charity, forgetting ourselves

for the good of others. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the beautiful

eulogium pronounced upon St. Louis by one of his historians: "He endeavored

always to please Jesus Christ, as the sole King of all hearts."