3rd Sunday after Easter

The reading of the GOSPEL for this Sunday(John XVI. 16‑22.) At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: "A little while, and now you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me: because I go to the Father." Then some of his disciples said one to another: What is this that he saith to us: A little while, and you shall not see me: and again a little while, and you shall see me, and, because I go to the Father?" They said therefore: What is this that he saith, A little while? We know not what he speaketh. And Jesus knew that they had a mind to ask him, and he said to them: "Of this do you inquire among yourselves, because I said: A little while, and you shall not see me: and again a little while and you shall see me. Amen, amen I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labor, hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. So also you now indeed have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice: and your joy no man shall take from you."

What is the meaning of Christ's words: A little while and you shall not see me; and again a little while and you shall see me?

St. John Chrysostom applies these words, which Christ spoke to His apostles a few hours before His passion, to the time between the death of Jesus and His Resurrection; but St. Augustine, to the time between the Resurrection and the Ascension, and then to the Last judgment at the end of the world, and he adds: "This little while seems long to us living, but ended, we feel how short it is." In affliction we should console ourselves by reflecting, how soon it will terminate, and that it cannot be compared with the future glory, that is awaiting eternally in heaven him who patiently endures.

Why did our Saviour tell His disciples of their future joys and sufferings?

That they might the more easily bear the sufferings that were to come, because we can be prepared for suf­ferings which we know are pending; because He knew that their sufferings would be only slight and momentary in comparison with the everlasting joy which awaited them, like the pains of a woman in giving birth to a child which are great indeed, but short, and soon forgotten by the mother in joy at the birth of the child. "Tell me" says St. John Chrysostom, "if you were elected king but were obliged to spend the night preceding your entrance into your capital city where you were to be crowned, if you were compelled to pass that night in much discomfort in a stable, would you not joyfully endure it in the expectation of your kingdom? And why should not we, in this valley of tears, willingly live through adversities, in expectation of one day obtaining the kingdom of heaven?"

Enlighten us, O Holy Spirit! that we may realize that this present life and all its hardships are but slight and momentary, and strengthen me that we may endure patiently the adversities of life in the hope of future heavenly joys.


CONSOLATION IN TRIALS AND ADVERSITIES
You shall lament and weep. (John XVI. 20.)

That Christian is, most foolish who fancies that the happiness of this world consists in honors, wealth, and pleasures, while Christ, the eternal Truth, teaches the contrary, promising eternal happiness to the poor and oppressed, and announcing eternal affliction and lamentation to those rich ones who have their comfort in this world. How much, then, are those to be pitied who as Christians believe, and yet live as if these truths were not for them, and who think only how they can spend their days in luxury, hoping at the same time to go to heaven where all the saints, even Christ the Son of God Himself and His Mother, have entered only by crosses and sufferings.

And, we know, that God Almighty will not send us anything which He knows that we cannot bear. He is testing us and strengthening us all the while.


NOTE: I'm sorry, I messed up with the earlier version of this post! A little better now, I hope.

Cardinal Sarah

The Christians in the continent of Africa are dying daily. These people are dying for the Faith, not just someone's twisted beliefs. One Cardinal Sarah, is asking for some true Doctrine to start coming out of the Vatican. He doesn't want 'pap' anymore; he has laid down the gauntlet to the resident of Rome.

Rorate Caeli issues the news of Cardinal Sarah openly warning Francis & Co. about the heresy of detaching the Magisterium from pastoral practice.

His words are brutally clear, and I quote them here again. The emphasis is, I think, Rorate’s.

“The idea that would consist in placing the Magisterium in a nice box by detaching it from pastoral practice — which could evolve according to the circumstances, fads, and passions — is a form of heresy, a dangerous schizophrenic pathology. I affirm solemnly that the Church of Africa will firmly oppose every rebellion against the teaching of Christ and the Magisterium.”


He probably will be chastised just like Cardinal Burke was. I mean, "How DARE anyone defend the Church, its Tradition, its Dogma, and all that other nonsense?"


Robert Sarah (born 15 June 1945) is a Guinean priest and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments by Pope Francis on 23 November 2014.[1] He previously served as secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.

St. Mark

Today is the day for St. Mark, the Evangelist. He was like a secretary to St. Peter. His Gospel could almost be called St. Peter's, if you ask me, because it has in it things that presume someone actually saw happen (Peter). Anyway, he is called the 'Lion', who is beside the Man (St. Matthew), the 'Ox' (St. Luke), and the 'Eagle' (St. John). His was the first Gospel to be written. His Gospel is also the shortest (like Peter's letters), but with a punch, like the others. The Old Testament has four main representatives: Isaias, Jeremias, Ezechiel, and Daniel. The New Testament also has four: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who were to make known to the world the life and teachings of God's divine Son. St. Mark fulfills that role of the Lion, for he starts out his Gospel with the preaching of John the Baptist, whose office as precursor of the Messias had been foretold by Isaias, where he spoke of the voice of one crying in the wilderness--as the Lion that makes the desert echo with his roar. He was also a Martyr, but not til after building a Church at Alexandria, and converting many. I believe that it was his house where the Apostles met in Jerusalem, as well as to where the Last Supper took place, giving us the Holy Eucharist. He is one of the 'Four' living creatures who stand before the Throne of the Apocalypse, and are listed in Ezechiel (1:10-14).

Learn from Saint Mark's Gospel to keep the image of the Son of man ever before your mind, and to ponder every syllable which fell from His lips.

NOTE: If we say the 'Litany of the Saints' today, we may earn a plenary indulgence of 10 years. We can ALL use this. Please pray it:


THE LITANY OF THE SAINTS


The Litany of the saints is one of the oldest Catholic prayers still in use. It was prayed in earlier forms in the procession of St. Mamertus, the Bishop of Vienna, in the fifth century, and in St. Gregory the Great’s Litania Septiformis ("sevenfold procession") of the clergy and the faithful, which followed a terrible spate of floods and disease in Rome in 590. Its stature is such that it is one of only six litanies authorized for use in public services by the Holy See.

The Litany of the Saints is often recited or sung in a shorter form than the one given below (which is itself an abridged version!) on All Saints Day (naturally enough!). It is a moving appeal for help from many of our greatest saints, as well as for divine protection.

The Litany of the Saints is also often a special part of both the Easter Vigil (the mass in which those who have received instruction in our faith are baptized) and Ordination Masses for priests, deacons, and bishops, as well.

It can be prayed alone or in a group setting. (As in a church service, the group responds to a leader with the italicized words below. Each response in the Litany of the Saints is repeated after each line until a change appears.)

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us. (repeat after each line)
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Ghost,
Holy Trinity, one God,

Holy Mary, pray for us (repeat after each line)
Holy Mother of God,
Holy Virgin of virgins,
St. Michael,
St. Gabriel,
St. Raphael,
All you holy angels and archangels,
All you holy orders of blessed spirits,
St. John the Baptist,
St. Joseph,
All you holy patriarchs and prophets,
St. Peter,
St. Paul,
St. Andrew,
St. James,
St. John,
St. Thomas,
St. James,
St. Philip,
St. Bartholomew,
St. Matthew,
St. Simon,
St. Thaddeus,
St. Matthias,
St. Barnabas,
St. Luke,
St. Mark,
All you holy apostles and evangelists,
All you holy disciples of our Lord,
All you holy innocents,
St. Stephen,
St. Lawrence,
St. Vincent,
SS. Fabian and Sebastian,
SS. John and Paul,
SS. Cosmas and Damian,
SS. Gervase and Protase,
All you holy Martyrs,
St. Sylvester,
St. Gregory,
St. Ambrose,
St. Augustine,
St. Jerome,
St. Martin,
St. Nicholas,
All you holy bishops and confessors,
All you holy doctors,
St. Anthony,
St. Benedict,
St. Bernard,
St. Dominic,
St. Francis,
All you holy priests and levites,
All you holy monks and hermits,
St. Mary Magdalen,
St. Agatha,
St. Lucy,
St. Agnes,
St. Cecilia,
St. Catherine,
St. Anastasia,
All you holy virgins and widows,
All you holy men and women, saints of God, intercede for us.
Be merciful, spare us, O Lord.
Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord.
From all evil, deliver us, O Lord. (repeat after each line)
From all sin,
From Thy wrath,
From a sudden and unprovided death,
From the deciets of the devil,
From anger, and hatred, and all ill-will,
From the spirit of fornication,
From lightning and tempest,
From the scourge of earthquakes,
From plague, famine and war,
From everlasting death,
By the mystery of Thy holy incarnation,
By Thy coming,
By Thy nativity,
By Thy baptism and holy fasting,
By Thy Cross and Passion,
By Thy Death and burial,
By Thy holy Resurrection,
By Thine admirable Ascension,
By the coming of the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete.
On the day of judgment.
We sinners, we beseech Thee, hear us (repeat after each line)
That Thou wouldst spare us,
That Thou wouldst pardon us,
That Thou wouldst bring us to true penance,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to govern and preserve Thy Holy Church,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to preserve our Apostolic Prelate, and all ecclesiastical orders in holy religion,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to humble the enemies of holy Church,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to give peace and true concord to Christian kings and princes,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant peace and unity to all Christian peoples,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to ring back to the unity of the Church all who have strayed away, and lead to the light of the Gospel all unbelievers,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to confirm and preserve us in Thy holy service,
That Thou wouldst lift up our minds to heavenly desires,
That Thou wouldst render eternal blessings to all our benefactors,
That Thou wouldst deliver our souls, and the souls of our brethren, relatives, and benefactors from eternal damnation,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to give and preserve the fruits of the earth,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe to grant eternal rest to all the faithful departed,
That Thou wouldst vouchsafe graciously to hear us, Son of God,
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.

Our Father, etc. (inaudibly)

V. And lead us not into temptation
R. But deliver us from evil.

The Litany of the Saints reminds us of a moving line about them from one of the Eucharistic prayers to God the Father said at Mass: “May their merits and prayers gain us Your constant help and protection.”

Our Lady of Saturdays

This is Our Lady of Mercy



Saturdays always bring us back to Mary, our Blessed Mother. Before taking possession of the Church, which was to be proclaimed before all nations on the day of Pentecost, the God-Man made a worthy prelude to this kingly possession by uniting Himself with her, who is so deservedly styled the Mother and representative of the human race. This was Mary! Of the family of David, Abraham, and Shem; immaculate, from the first moment of her existence, as were our first parents when they came from their Creator's hands; and destined for the grandest honor which could be conferred on a mere creature; Mary was, during her sojourn here on earth, the inheritance and co-operatrix of the Incarnate Word: she was the Mother of all the living. She, in her single person, was what the Church, collectively, has been from the day of its foundation. Her office of Mother of God surpasses all her other glories; still, we must not overlook, but on the contrary, admire and love them.

Following is another hymn, taken from the ancient Churches of Germany, and we celebrate her Seven Joys.

Rejoice, O Virgin, Star of the Sea, dearest Spouse of Christ! for the angel of our salvation announced to thee an exceeding great joy. cleanse us from our sins, O Virgin Mother! and speak to our heart of the joys that never end.

Rejoice, O spotless Mother! in that thou didst conceive of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth thy Child, as the star emits its ray. Grant that we may ever be fruitful in works of salvation. Take these barren hearts of ours, and by thy merciful prayers make them fertile.

Rejoice, O beautiful Lily! at the adoration and gifts paid by the Magi to thy new-born Babe. O happy Mother! pray that we may ever imitate them, and give to God what their gifts signified.

Rejoice, O Mother! at the praises spoken by Simeon, when, at thy presenting the Child in his arms. Grant, we beseech thee, that we may serve thy Son with purity and earnestness of heart.

Rejoice, and with all thy soul's power be glad at thy Son's rising from the grasp of death. Mercifully obtain for us that we may rise from our sis, and have our hearts set free from the pressure of its many vices.

Rejoice in that thou hadst the happiness to see thy Son ascend into heaven, where He is seated on His Father's throne. Grant that at the end of the world we may without fear welcome His return.

Rejoice, O Virgin of virgins! who after thy life's course was run, wast raised up by thy sweet Jesus above the stars. Grant that we miserable creatures may be raised from our sins, and after this miserable life be led to our true country. Amen.

St. George

Have you noticed that in our liturgical year, we are shown the lives who have been involved in the entire life of Christ? From the Magi, to the Apostles, to all involved in His death, the year gives us these prime examples of heroism to try to emulate. After the Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are given many martyrs who gave their lives for this same Person and His teachings. Today is such a person, St. George. He is often seen slaying a dragon or saving a damsel in distress, and is considered the patron saint of Christian soldiers. It was often wondered if he was a person at all, or maybe just a myth, used to inspire those being lead to their death. But, he is listed in the annals of early Christian writing. He was being tortured, and while he was, the wife of the emperor saw his bravery and also converted, and following this was her death.

Saint George was born in Palestine of Christian parents, towards the close of the third century. In early youth he chose a soldier's life, and soon obtained the favor of Diocletian, who advanced him to the grade of tribune. But when the emperor began to persecute the Christians, George rebuked him at once for his cruelty, sternly and openly, and announced his resignation. Having foreseen that the words he would say might bring about his death, he had first distributed his wealth and clothing to the poor.

"Young man," Diocletian said to him, "think of your future!" "I am a Christian," George replied, "and nothing in this world is the object either of my ambition or my regret. Nothing can shake my faith." He was subjected to a long series of torments, and finally beheaded.

Saint Bruno wrote: "What shall I say of fortitude, without which neither wisdom nor justice is of any value? Fortitude is not of the body, but is a constancy of soul; with it we are conquerors in righteousness, patiently bearing all adversities, and in prosperity are not puffed up. Fortitude is never conquered, or if conquered, is not fortitude."


I would like to end with the words of St. Paul, when he wrote to the Ephesians:

'Take unto you the armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand in all things perfect. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. In all things taking the shield of Faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of the hope of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.'

I would like, if anyone is allowed, to see my funeral, and hear the people there say: "He kept the Faith."

Wear your sacramentals and pray the Rosary, as well as any other prayers you do. We need all the heavenly help we can get.

St. Anselm

SAINT ANSELM
Archbishop of Canterbury
(1034-1109)

Today is the day we honor yet another Bishop and Doctor of the Church. He was a martyr, also, at least in desire and in merit too. When we think about Anselm, we picture to ourselves a man in whom are combined the humility and meekness of the cloister (since he was a monk), and with the zeal and courage of the episcopal dignity; a man who was both a sage and a saint; a man whom it was impossible not to love and respect. We need more like him today, if you ask me. I like his writings. He puts things so simply, yet with a force to be reckoned with, just as our Lord did. As Bishop, his whole life was spent in fighting for the liberty of the Church. Though gentle as a lamb by nature, he was all energy for this great cause. He used to say: "Christ would not have His Spouse be a slave; there is nothing in this world that God loves more than the liberty of His Church." There was a time when the Son of God allowed Himself to be fettered with bonds in order that He might loosen us from the chains of our sins; but now that He has risen in triumph from the dead, He wills that His Spouse should be, like Himself, free.

As our beloved Abbot Gueranger states: 'St. Anselm would have abominated all such theories such as progress and modern society; he knows that there is nothing on earth equal to the Church; and when he sees the world convulsed by revolutions; he knows that all comes from the Church having been deprived of her rights. One of these is that she should not only be recognized, in the secret of our conscience, as the one only True Church, but that, as such, she should be publicly confessed and outwardly defended against every opposition or error. Jesus, her divine Founder, promised to give her all nations as her inheritance; He kept His promise, and she was once the queen and mother of them all. But nowadays, a new principle has been asserted, to the effect that the Church and all sects must be on an equal footing as far as the protection of the State goes. The principle has been received with acclamation, and hailed as a mighty progress achieved by modern enlightenment: even Catholics, whose previous services to religion had endeared them to our hearts and gained our confidence, have become warm defenders of the impious theory.'

Keep in mind that these books (The Liturgical Year) were written over a hundred years ago. Seems like nothing changes, doesn't it? We have leaders today who spit out this same nonsense to us; this tripe; and expect us to say: "Yum"! Don't eat this tripe, and don't drink the grape-flavored drink(cruel-aid).

Saint Anselm of Canterbury - More Quotes (exercising your mind):

'I acknowledge, Lord, and I give thanks that you have created your image in me, so that I may remember you, think of you, love you. But this image is so obliterated and worn away by wickedness, it is so obscured by the smoke of sins, that it cannot do what it was created to do, unless you renew and reform it. I am not attempting, O Lord, to penetrate your loftiness, for I cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but I desire in some measure to understand your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this too I believe, that "unless I believe, I shall not understand." (Isaiah 7:9)'

"I have written the little work that follows . . . in the role of one who strives to raise his mind to the contemplation of God and one who seeks to understand what he believes."

"My God, I pray that I may so know you and love you that I may rejoice in you. And if I may not do so fully in this life let me go steadily on to the day when I come to that fullness . . . Let me receive That which you promised through your truth, that my joy may be full."

"God often works more by the life of the illiterate seeking the things that are God's, rather than by the ability of the learned seeking the things that are their own."

"No created being has anything from itself. For how could a thing which does not exist from itself have anything from itself? Moreover, if there is not anything except the One Who has created and the things created by Him, it is clear that nothing at all can exist except the One Who has created and what He has created."
De Casu Diaboli I. 1085-90.


"[The Devil] freely lost the will which he had. And just as he received the possession of it for as long as he had it, so he was able to receive the permanent keeping of what he deserted. But because he deserted, he did not receive. Therefore, that which he did not receive to keep because he deserted it, he did not receive not because God did not give it, but, rather, God did not give it because he did not receive it."
De Casu Diaboli III. 1085-90.

"Then, since [Satan] cannot be called just or unjust merely because he wills happiness or merely because he wills what is fitting (for he would will these of necessity), and since he neither can nor ought to be happy unless he wills to be happy and wills justly, it is necessary for God to make both wills so agree in him that he wills to be happy and wills justly.."
De Casu Diaboli XIV. 1085-90.

"Since we believe that God is truth, and since we say that truth is in many other things, I would like to know whether in whatever things it is said to be we ought to affirm that truth is God. For in your Monologion, by appealing to the truth of a statement, you too demonstrate that the Supreme Truth has no beginning and no end:"
DeVeritate I. 1080-86.

"By whose evil will it is committed (concipitur), it ought not to be. In this way, then, the Lord Jesus ought not to have undergone death because He alone [among men] was innocent; and no one ought to have inflicted death upon Him; nevertheless, He ought to have undergone death because He wisely and graciously and usefully willed to undergo it."
DeVeritate VIII. 1080-86.


"Let us see, then, how extensive the truth of signification is. For there is a true or a false signification not only in those things which we ordinarily call signs but also in all the other things which we have discussed. For since someone should do only what he ought to do, then by the very fact that someone does something, he says and signifies that he ought to do it. Now, if [morally speaking] he ought to do what he does, he speaks the truth. But if [morally speaking] he ought not [to do what he does], he speaks a lie."
DeVeritate IX. 1080-86.

"0 Lord: my heart is made bitter by its own desolation; sweeten it by Your consolation. I beseech You, 0 Lord, that having begun in hunger to seek You, I may not finish without partaking of You. I set out famished; let me not return still unfed."
Prologion, I. 1077/78.

"To what was I aspiring?, for what do I sigh? I sought after good things and, behold, [here is] turmoil. I was striving unto God but collided with myself."
Prologion, I. 1077/78.

"So even the Fool is convinced that something than which nothing greater can be thought is at least in his understanding; for when he hears of this [being], he understands [what he hears], and whatever is understood is in the understanding. But surely that than which a greater cannot be thought cannot be only in the understanding. For if it were only in the understanding, it could be thought to exist also in reality."
Prologion, II. 1077/78.

"Hence, something than which a greater cannot be thought exists so truly that it cannot even be thought not to exist. And You are this , 0 Lord our God. Therefore, 0 Lord my God, You exist so truly that You cannot even be thought not to exist. And this is rightly the case. For if any mind could think of something better than You, the creature would rise above the Creator and would sit in judgment over the Creator; something which is utterly absurd. Indeed, except for You alone, whatever else exists can be thought not to exist. Therefore, You alone exist most truly of all and thus most greatly of all; for whatever else exists does not exist as truly [as do You] and thus exists less greatly [than do You]. Since, then, it is so readily clear to a rational mind that You exist most greatly of all, why did the Fool say in his heart that God does not exist? Why , except because [he is] foolish and a fool!"
Prologion, III. 1077/78

"Yet, it is also just that You punish those who are evil. For what is more just than for those who are good to receive good things and for those who are evil to receive bad things? But, then, how is it just for You to punish those who are evil and likewise just for You to spare them? Do You justly punish them in one respect and justly spare them in another? For when You punish those who are evil, it is just because suits their merits. But when You spare them, it is just, not because [sparing them] suits their merits but because it befits Your goodness. For in sparing them, You are just in Yourself but are not just from our viewpoint, even as You are merciful from our viewpoint but are not merciful in Yourself. For in saving us whom You could justly damn, You are just not because You requite us as we deserve but because You do what befits You as supremely good, even as You are merciful not because You experience any emotion but because we experience the effect [of Your mercy]. So, then, without inconsistency, You both punish justly and spare justly."
Prologion, X. 1077/78.

"How vast that Truth is in which resides everything that is true and outside of which there is only nothing and what is false! How immense that Truth which beholds in one spectrum all created things and beholds by whom, through whom, and in what manner [all things] were created from nothing! What purity, what simplicity, what assurance and splendor are present there! Surely, [these] surpass what can be understood by any creature."
Prologion, XIV. 1077/78.

"Amidst Your blessedness and light, 0 Lord, You are still hidden from my soul. Therefore, my soul still dwells in darkness and in its own unhappiness. For it looks in all directions but does not see Your beauty. It listens but does not hear Your harmony. It fills its nostrils but does not smell Your fragrance. It tastes but does not savor Your succulence. It feels but does not detect Your softness. For in Your ineffable manner, 0 Lord God, You have these [features] within You; and You have bestowed them, in their own perceptible manner, upon the things created by You. But the senses of my soul have been stiffened and deadened and impaired by the old-time infirmity of sin."
Prologion, XVII. 1077/78.


"Therefore, since it is certain that if compared with one another all good things are either equally or unequally good, it is necessary that all things are good through something which is understood to be identical in different goods; although at times, ostensibly, some things are said to be good through something else."
Monologion, Chapter one. 1075/76.

"Just as something has been found to be supremely good inasmuch as all good things are good through some one thing which is good through itself, so it follows necessarily that something is supremely great inasmuch as whatever things are great are great through some one thing which is great through itself. I do not mean great in size, as is a material object; but that the greater the better or more excellent it is; as in the case of wisdom. Now, since only what is supremely good can be supremely great, it is necessary that something be the greatest and the best, i.e., the highest, of all existing things"
Monologion, Chapter two. 1075/76.


"But to question whether or not [the rational soul] will enjoy Supreme Beatitude endlessly would be very foolish. For while enjoying this Beatitude, [the soul] cannot be tormented by fear or deceived by a false security. Nor having experienced the need of this Beatitude can [the soul] keep from loving it. Nor will Supreme Beatitude forsake [a soul] which loves it. Nor will there be anything more powerful which will separate it and the soul against their wills. Therefore, any soul which once begins to enjoy Supreme Beatitude will be eternally happy."
Monologion, Chapter seventy. 1075/76.

"[And, most clearly, this Spirit is the one] from whom alone good fortune is to be hoped for, to whom alone flight from adversity is to be taken, and of whom alone supplication is to be made for anything whatsoever. Truly, then, this Spirit not only is God but is the only God; ineffably Three and One."
Monologion, Chapter eighty. 1075/76.


Our beloved Abbot Gueranger ends with this:

'Obtain for us, O holy Doctor, that 'our Faith,' like thine, 'may seek understanding.' Nowadays, there are many who blaspheme what they know not (Jude 10); but there are many also who know little or nothing of what they believe. Hence arise a deplorable confusion of ideas, compromises are made between Truth and error, and the only True doctrines are despised, scouted, or at least undefended. Pray to our heavenly Father, O Anselm, that He would bless the world with holy and learned men, who may teach the path of Truth, and dispel the mists of error; that thus the children of the Church may not be led astray.'

Like I said at the beginning, these books were written over a hundred years ago, but seem to be written today, which is experiencing so much turmoil.

And, please pray for my life-long friend Rick, who has his birthday today. Pray for his conversion. He won't know what hit him!

Second Sunday after Easter-Good Shepherd

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, the 2nd Sunday after Easter. Jesus is our good Shepherd. He says: "I know my sheep and my sheep know me." However, He is invisible to us unless we have been given a special grace. But, He left us the road we need to follow to reach our goal, and that is to be with Him and His Mother and all the saints in heaven. That road is the One, Holy, CATHOLIC, and Apostolic Church. He has left Peter, the first Pope, in charge of it, along with his successors until the end of time. Jesus told Peter: "Feed my lambs, fed my lambs, and feed my sheep."

The lambs are us. The sheep are the older and wiser ones, the leaders of His Church. They are suppose to teach the Truth which comes through Jesus to Peter, all of the Popes, the Cardinals, the Bishops, and then to the rest of us. If they fail and do NOT teach us what the Apostles taught, they are wrong, PERIOD! These last 50+ years we have seen a departure from the original intent of Jesus. Our 'sheep' seem to be making a new church which strongly resembles the protestant churches; thus, not teaching what they ought. We are told: "All churches have a little of the truth, and when we put them altogether, we have the total truth." As I have said before, this is a huge 'PANTLOAD!'

Jesus did NOT found 100,000+ churches, He founded ONE Church. We need to really and sincerely study what the Apostles taught to get to our goal. However, we have the Church to tell us the Truth lest we stray from it. We need to read the 'Syllabus of Errors' which was written by Pope Pius IX, about 150 years ago. He anathamatizes a lot of what has been going on in the Church the past 50+ years. Well worth the read. Get busy!

You know, St. Paul withstood Peter to his face on an error he was promoting (about having to be circumcised to be saved); Peter saw his error and corrected it. Sometimes we need to confront our leaders when they are wrong to help them. Because, as in my bio, if we don't say something, we are guilty of promoting the same errors. We don't want that.

Jesus, Shepherd of our souls, have mercy on us.