1st Sunday of Lent

"My son, when you come to serve God, prepare your soul for temptation." Ecclus. 2:1

This Sunday is the 1st Sunday of Lent. In the Gospel of St. Matthew, we hear about Christ fasting and praying in the desert for 40 days, and then, at the end, Satan tempting Him with all of the world's goods, if He were to bow down to him. Christ dispels him quickly. St. Francis de Sales says that Christ was tempted more than three times when in the desert, but that St. Matthew deemed these three times would serve the purpose to teach us what we are to know. We are not immune from temptations from this same devil. He never gives up on trying to get our soul to be with him for all eternity. We also learn that the devil also knows Scripture. He can twist it, like all false religions, to his own use.


Our beloved Abbot Gueranger states:

'We have three enemies to fight against; our soul has three dangers; for, as the beloved disciple says, all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life! By the concupiscence of the flesh, is meant the love of sensual things, which covets whatever is agreeable to the flesh, and, when not curbed, draws the soul into unlawful pleasures. Concupiscence of the eyes expresses the love of the goods of this world, such as riches, and possessions; these dazzle the eye, and then seduce the heart. Pride of life is that confidence in ourselves, which leads us to be vain and presumptuous, and makes us forget that all we have, our life and every good gift, we have from God.'


Let those who must go, on these days, and mingle in the company of worldlings, be guided by St. Francis of Sales, who advises them to think, from time to time, on such considerations as these:--that while all these frivolous, and often dangerous, amusements are going on, there are countless souls being tormented in the fire of hell, on account of the sins they committed on similar occasions; --that, at that very hour of the night, there are many holy religious depriving themselves of sleep in order to sing the divine praises and implore God's mercy upon the world, and upon them that are wasting their time in its vanities;--that there are thousands in the agonies of death, while all that gaiety is going on;--that God and His angels are attentively looking upon this thoughtless group; and finally, that life is passing away, and death so much nearer each moment.


As St. Francis says: 'If we are led by the Spirit of God to the place of temptation, we should not fear, but should be assured that He will render us victorious. But we must not seek temptation not go out to allure it, however holy and generous we may think ourselves to be, for we are not more valiant than David, not than our Divine Master Himself, who did not choose to seek it. Our enemy is like a chained dog; if we do not approach, it will do us no harm, even though it tries to frighten us by barking at us.'


St. Bernard, referring to words in Psalm 90,(which is a really good Psalm to read during this time of year), which is telling us: '... to have faith in God and He will deliver us. Deliver us from what? There are three kinds of terrors which we might be afraid of. The first fear is that of cowards and slothful souls; the second, that of children; and the third, that of the weak. Fear is the first temptation which the enemy presents to those who have resolved to serve God, for as soon as they are shown what perfection require of them they think, "Alas, I shall never be able to do it." ...But Our Lord does not want this kind of warrior in His army; He wants combatants and conquerors, not sluggards and cowards. He chose to be tempted, and Himself attacked in order to give us an example.'


Following are some parts of St. Francis' sermon for this first Sunday of Lent:

'Thus , it is a very necessary practice to prepare our soul for temptation. That is, wherever we may be and however perfect we may be, we must rest assured that temptation will attack us. Hence, we ought to be so disposed and to provide ourselves with the weapons necessary to fight valiantly in order to carry off the victory, since the crown is only for the combatants and conquerors.'

'The life of the perfect Christian is a continual penance. Console yourself, I pray, and take courage. Now is not the time for rest.'

'Walk confidently! If you are armed with the armor of Faith, nothing can harm you.'

'Gently, do not hurry on so fast! Begin to live well, according to your vocation: sweetly, simply, and humbly. Then trust in God, Who will make you holy when it pleases Him.'



Let us, during this Lenten season, try to make good on our promises, which we made to God, and God alone, and fight these temptations to the best of our God-given ability. Onward, Christian soldiers.


I'm going to end with a quote from St. Augustine:

"Because we are human, we are not strong.
Because we are not strong, we pray."

St. Peter's Chair at Antioch (ca. 36-43)

We are called upon, a second time, to honor St. Peter's chair: first, it was his pontificate in Rome; today, it is his episcopate at Antioch. This picture is called 'The Great Chalice of Anitoch'. It is said that this is the one used by Peter himself while there. Antioch was the first city in Asia to receive the Faith. Jerusalem was doomed to destruction for having not only refused to acknowledge, but even crucify the Messiah. It was time for Peter to deprive that faithless city of the honor she had enjoyed, of possessing with her walls the chair of the Apostolate. Accordingly, it is in Antioch, the third capital of the Roman Empire (after Rome and Alexandria), that Peter first places the throne, where he was to preside over the universal Church. NOTE: This is not a physical chair, but the office, because, as St. Ambrose says: "Where Peter is, there is the Church." And again from Evodius, the successor of Peter in Antioch, says: "...but that see is not to inherit the headship of the Church, which goes wherever Peter goes."

That Saint Peter, before he went to Rome, founded the see of Antioch is attested by many Saints of the earliest times, including Saint Ignatius of Antioch and Saint Clement, Pope. It was just that the Prince of the Apostles should take under his particular care and surveillance this city, which was then the capital of the East, and where the Faith so early took such deep roots as to give birth there to the name of 'Christian'. There his voice could be heard by representatives of the three largest nations of antiquity - the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Latins. Saint Chrysostom says that Saint Peter was there for a long period; Saint Gregory the Great, that he was seven years Bishop of Antioch. He did not reside there at all times, but governed its apostolic activity with the wisdom his mandate assured.

If as tradition affirms, he was twenty-five years in Rome, the date of his establishment at Antioch must be within three years after Our Savior's Ascension, for he would have gone to Rome in the second year of Claudius. He no doubt left Jerusalem when the persecution which followed Saint Steven's martyrdom broke out (Acts 8:1), and remained in Antioch until he escaped miraculously from prison and from the hands of Herod Agrippa, while in Jerusalem in 43 at the time of the Passover. (Acts 12) Knowing he would be pursued to Antioch, his well-known center of activity, he went to Rome.

In the first ages it was customary, especially in the East, for every Christian to observe the anniversary of his Baptism. On that day each one renewed his baptismal vows and gave thanks to God for his heavenly adoption. That memorable day they regarded as their spiritual birthday. The bishops similarly kept the anniversary of their consecration, as appears from four sermons of Saint Leo the Great on the anniversary of his accession to the pontifical dignity. These commemorations were frequently continued by the people after their bishops' decease, out of respect for their memory. The feast of the Chair of Saint Peter was instituted from very early times. Saint Leo says we should celebrate the Chair of Saint Peter with no less joy than the day of his martyrdom, for as in the latter he was exalted to a throne of glory in heaven, by the former he was installed 'Head of the Church on earth.'

Our beloved Abbot Gueranger:

Glory be to thee, O Prince of the Apostles, on thy chair at Antioch, where thou didst for seven years preside over the Universal Church! How magnificent are the stations of thy apostolate! Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria (by the disciple Mark), and Rome, these are the cities which have been honored by thy august chair. After Rome, Antioch was the longest graced by its presence: justly, therefore, do we honor this Church, which was thus made, by thee, the mother and mistress of all the other Churches.

Our Mother Mary during Lent

Our Lady, Help of Christians

This is Saturday; let us have recourse to Mary, the refuge of sinners, especially during the season of Lent. Let us get under her protective mantle, and offer this 'Sequence' for today. It is taken from the Cluny Missal, and is, once again, something we don't hear anymore.


Hail Mary, full of grace! dear Mother of Jesus, and hope of the world!

O gate of heaven! O temple of God! O haven of the sea, where sinners confidently seek shelter and repose.

Thou art the worthy bride of the great King, and, by thy powerful prayers, thou art kind and loving to all.

Thou art light to the blind, and a pure path to such as are lame. Thou art, by thy loving affection, both Martha and Mary to the needy.

Thou wast the flower among the thorns; the flower that, by its rich graces, bloomed to the divine Flower, thy Jesus.

Thou didst speak thy word, and then conceived the Word; thou didst give birth to the King of kings, thou that wast a pure Virgin.

Thou wast ever faithful to this King, thy Child; and, using a mother's privilege, thou didst feed Him at thy breast.

Now, thou art united with Him, and in reward for thy merits, thou art made the Queen of heaven and earth.

Then, pray for us, O Queen, to Him that is our King, beseeching Him to pardon us poor fallen sinners.

Show us thy wonted clemency, and, having obtained us the new life of remission of our sins, bring us to the kingdom, there to reign for ever. Amen.

FASTING

I'm going to try to insert some of St. Francis de Sales' thoughts this year during this Holy season of Lent. I was going to last year, but I got side-tracked somehow. Anyway, here are some thoughts on fasting, both the interior and exterior of the body. This is an abridged version by me from St. Francis' 'Sermons for Lent'
, given in the year 1622.



First of all, he quotes St. Bernard:

"...fasting was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ as as remedy for our mouth, for our gourmandizing and for our gluttony. Since sin entered the world through the mouth, the mouth must do penance by being deprived of foods prohibited and forbidden by the Church, abstaining from them for the space of forty days." But this glorious adds that, "...as it is not our mouth alone which has sinned, but also all our other senses, our fast must be general and entire, that is, all the members of our body must fast. For if we have offended God through the eyes, through the ears, through the tongue, and through our other senses, why should we not make them fast, but also the soul's powers and passions--yes, even the understanding, the memory, and the will, since we have sinned through both body and spirit."

St. Francis again: "This is all that I tell you regarding fasting and what must be observed in order to fast well. The first ting is that your fast should be entire and universal; that is, that you should make all the members of your body and the powers of your soul fast: keeping your eyes lowered, or at least lower than ordinarily; keeping better silence, or at least keeping it more punctually than is usual; mortifying the hearing and the tongue so that you will no longer hear or speak of anything vain or useless; the understanding, in order to consider only holy and pious subjects; the memory, in filling it with the remembrance of bitter and sorrowful things and avoiding joyous and gracious thoughts; keeping your will in check and your spirit at the foot of the Crucifix with some holy and sorrowful thought. If you do that, your fast will be universal, interior and exterior, for you will mortify both your body and your spirit. The second condition is that you do not observe your fast or perform your for the eyes of others. And, the third is that you do all your actions, and consequently your fasting, to please God alone, to whom be honor and glory forever and ever."

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

LENT--A time for discipline

Following is something I found years ago, concerning our disposition during the season of Lent. Kind of makes you think:

LENT…a time for discipline

By Fr. Raymond Zweber
(Taken from the St. Augustine bulletin)

A Christian is a follower of Christ. Christ left
no doubt as to the one absolute condition required
of His followers: “If anyone wants to be a follower
of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his
cross every day and follow me.”

During Lent, we renew our commitment to Christ:
to follow Him more closely. We renounce ourselves
and take up our cross and walk in His footsteps.

What makes up that cross? Immediately we
think of sickness, misfortunes of all kinds, the
burdens of work, bearing with one anothers'
faults, the heat of summer, the cold of winter, etc.

But seldom do we think of the most obvious crosses
which arise from our human nature weakened by
original sin:

There is the weakness of covetousness which is
greed. “I want more and I want it now.”

There is the weakness of lust, which is difficultly
in ordering my sexuality as God intended and to
practice the virtue of chastity.

There is the weakness of pride, that seeks to
dominate; that fails to be considerate of others;
that exalts self above all others.

There is the weakness of envy, which brings
sadness at the good fortune of others and
jealousy that sees a threat to my own excellence
in the blessings that come to others.

There is the weakness of gluttony, which finds
difficulty in disciplining appetites for food and
drink and creature comforts.

There is the weakness of sloth which is a dis-
taste for spiritual things(prayer, Mass, confess-
ion, etc) or an aversion for work, even essential
work.

There is the weakness of anger which is a
rebellion against God and others because of
circumstances or persons.

All these weaknesses need discipline and
so involve the cross. All our penances of Lent,
whether fasting, prayer or alms-giving have this
discipline as an end. Unless they are directed
to this end, we are just going through the motions
of Lent and we are no more a “Christian” at
Easter than we are now.

Examine yourself honestly. See where
discipline is needed in your life. Then enter
into the true spirit of Lent---denying yourself
and taking up your cross daily to follow
Christ.

ASH WEDNESDAY

PRAY, FAST, AND DO PENANCE. THIS IS HOW WE GET THINGS DONE!

(Joel II. 12-19) Thus with the Lord: 'Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning. And rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil. Who knoweth but he will return, and forgive, anal leave a blessing behind him, sacrifice and libation to the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Sion: sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather together the people; sanctify the Church; assemble the ancients; gather together the little ones, and them that suck at the breasts; let the bridegroom go forth from his bed, and the bride out of her bride-chamber. Between the porch and the altar the priests, the Lord's ministers, shall weep; and shall say: Spare, O Lord, spare thy people; and give not thine inheritance to reproach, that the heathens should rule over them. Why should they say among the nations: Where is their God? The Lord hath been zealous for his land, and hath spared his people. And the Lord answered, and said to his people: Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be filled with them; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations, with the Lord Almighty.'

The Prophet Joel exhorts the Jews to sorrow and penance for their sins, that they evade the expected judgment to be sent by God upon the city of Jerusalem. He required of them to show their repentance not merely by rending their garments, a sign of mourning with the Jews, but by a truly contrite heart. The Church wishes us to see plainly from this lesson of the prophet what qualities our penance should possess, if we desire reconciliation with God, forgiveness of our sins, and deliverance at the Last Day, which qualities are not merely abstinence from food and amusements, but the practice of real mortification of our evil inclinations, thus becoming with our whole heart converted to God.

GOSPEL (Matt. VI. 16-21): At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: "When you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth, where the rust and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also."


Jesus forbids us to seek the praises of men when performing good works, (fasting is a good work,) and still worse it would be to do good as the Pharisees, through hypocrisy. He also warns us against avarice and the desire for temporal riches, urging us to employ our temporal goods, in giving alms, and doing works of charity, thus laying up treasures in heaven, which are there rewarded and will last there forever. "What folly", says St. John Chrysostom, "to leave our goods where we cannot stay, instead of sending them before us where we are going — -to heaven!"'


Don't forget!

St. Charles Borromeo gives us the following reasons for this practice: '...that the faithful may be moved to sincere humility of heart; that the heavenly blessing may descend upon them, by which they, being really penitent, will weep with their whole soul for their sins, remembering how earth was cursed because of sin, and that we have all to return to dust; that strength to do true penance may be given the body, and that our soul may be endowed with divine grace to persevere in penance.'

With such thoughts let the ashes be put upon your head, while you ask in all humility and with a contrite heart, for God’s mercy and grace.

Let's make this Lent a fruitful one. And be cheerful about it!

DON'T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE!

LENTEN THOUGHTS

A quote to think about during these days of Lent, and for always. "We ought to spend each day, as though it were to be our last."

I'm going to try to interject some thoughts this Lenten season, and most will come from St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). These writings come from his sermons on Lent. I will write what he said, paraphrasing a little. Maybe they can help us reach our goal; that is, to serve God better so that we can be with Him in the next phase of our soul's life. I implore his inspiration when writing my blogs, since he is the 'Patron Saints' of journalists. Not that I am a journalist, but I can write.


Concerning to universality of temptation:

'...If we are led by the Spirit of God to the place of temptation, we should not fear, but should be assured that He will render us victorious. [1 Cor. 10:13] Thus, it is a very necessary practice to prepare our soul for temptation. That is, wherever we may be and however perfect we may be, we must rest assured that temptation will attack us. Hence, we ought to be so disposed and to provide ourselves with the weapons necessary to fight valiantly in order to carry off the victory, since the crown is only for the combatants and conquerors. We ought never to trust in our own strength or in our courage and go out to seek temptation, thinking to confound it; but if in that place where the Spirit of God has led us we encounter it, we must remain firm in the confidence which we ought to have that He will strengthen us against the attacks of our enemy, however furious they may be.

St. Bernard, referring to these words of the Psalm [90], said that the terrors of the night are three kinds. The first fear is that of cowards and slothful souls; the second, that of children; and the third, that of the weak. Fear is the first temptation which the enemy presents to those who have resolved to serve God, for as soon as they are shown what perfection requires of them they think, "Alas, I shall never be able to do it." Do not trouble yourself and do not frame these idle fears that you are not able to accomplish that to which you have bound yourself, since you are armed and encompassed with the Truth of God and with His Word. He will strengthen you and will give you the grace to persevere and to do what is required for His greater glory and for your greater welfare and happiness, provided you walk simply in faithful observance.

The second fear is experienced by children. They cry for 'Mama' when scared, and know nothing can harm them when holding her hand. Let us do the same. If we feel that we lack the courage let us cry out in a loud voice full of confidence, "Lord, save me!" Let us not doubt that God will strengthen us and prevent us from perishing.

The third terror of the night is that of the weak. These fear not only what can bring evil but what can in any way disturb or trouble their peace. They do not want any little noise whatever to come between God and them, since they have convinced themselves that there is a certain quiet and tranquility which maintains those who have it in uninterrupted peace and happiness...Keep this rule in front of us: No one will be so holy in this life as not to be subject to committing some imperfection or other.

We must keep ourselves constant and tranquil in the knowledge of this truth if we will not be troubled with the unrealistic expectation of never committing any imperfection at all. We should have a strong and constant resolution never to be so cowardly as to commit any imperfection voluntarily. But we ought also to be unshaken in this other resolution: not to be astonished or troubled at seeing that we are subject to fall into these imperfections, even often. We must rather confide ourselves to the goodness of God Who, for all that, does not love us less.

St. Bernard assures us that he who has Faith and is armed with Truth will not fear these terrors of the night...the devil deceives souls, transforming himself into an angel of light and causing them to stumble. Yet, whoever will be armed with the shield of Truth and of Faith will overcome these enemies as courageously as all the, as David promises. [Ps. 90, 5-6]

These forty days, as we said just now, symbolize the life of the Christian, of each one of us. Let us then desire these consolations only at the end of our lives, and let us busy ourselves in steadfast resistance to the frontal attacks of our enemies. For whether we desire it or not we shall be tempted. If we do not struggle, we shall not be victorious, nor shall we merit the crown of immortal glory which God has prepared for those of us who are victorious and triumphant.

Let us fear neither the temptation nor the tempter, for if we make use of the shield of Faith and the armor of Truth, they will have not power whatsoever over us. Let us not longer fear the three terrors of the night. And let us not entertain the vain hope of being or wishing to be saints in three months! Let us shun both spiritual avarice and the ambition which occasion so much disorder in our hearts and so greatly impede our perfection. The noonday devil will be powerless in causing us to fail in our firm and steadfast resolution to serve God generously and as perfectly as possible in this life, so that after this life we shall go to enjoy Him forever. May He be blessed! Amen.'



I would like to interject a saying from St. Jerome: 'You are deceived if you think that a Christian can live without persecution. He suffers the greatest who lives under none. Nothing is more to be feared that too long a peace. A storm puts a man upon his guard, and obliges him to exert his utmost efforts to escape shipwreck.'


Ps. I have been asked if it is OK to use this material for furthering the Faith. You can copy and paste whatever is here in these pages. Keep the Faith alive and moving to those who don't know it, even if they call themselves Catholic and don't really have a clue what the Faith is. That's why I am doing this blog, to help the uninformed and unknowing. Good luck in your endeavors. May God bless us all. Amen.