Corpus Christi, Protestantism, and the Real Presence
The Words of God are Not Heard with Humility and Many Weigh Them Not
Hints on the Interior Life for Active Workers
Courtships That Produced Saints: Bernard and Ellen Casey
The Golden Hail Mary
Devotion and Dryness
Sensible devotion is sometimes produced by dispositions of our nature, sometimes by artifices of the devil, and sometimes by an influx of grace. You may discern its origin in a particular case by studying the effects; for if no amendment follows, you may well suspect the devil or your own infirm nature to be at…
Wisdom
Wisdom is something which we all naturally value, desire, and seek in this present life. Yet our wisdom in this present life, even for the most learned and astute of people, is always partial, fragmentary, and uncertain. But in the next life, the blessed souls in heaven shall possess wisdom which is of such a…
The Daughters of Sloth
“The sins that sprout forth from sloth are contempt for commands, and because one throws himself into the prey of vice, he despairs of doing good, and as a result they become rancorous against those that strive to avoid sin and take up a good life.” – St. Robert Bellarmine “These are the daughters of…
On Unworthy Communion
There remains, Dear Reader, one more subject to treat of before my task is ended: It is unworthy Communion. It is not so agreeable a subject as those with which we have been hitherto engaged; but reverence for our Divine Saviour, as well as zeal for the salvation of souls, require that the truth should…
Oral Tradition Is Not Corrupted Over Time
The Apostles wrote that part of Revelation which is contained in the Scriptures, while their disciples wrote what the Apostles preached, taught or instituted in the Church, but which had not been written by the Apostles. It is a mistake to dream only of an oral tradition carried on from generation to generation through the…
Light as a Symbol of Grace
In the preceding Part, we considered the supernatural, mysterious union with God which grace effects in us. We saw how it makes us living temples of the Holy Ghost and of the entire Holy Trinity and begets divine life in our soul. We saw how it procures for our soul the ineffable dignity of a…
Virtues are to be Acquired One at a Time and By Degrees
Although a true servant of Jesus Christ, aspiring to the heights of perfection, should set no limits to his spiritual advancement, he should nevertheless exercise prudence as regards those excesses of fervor to which he is prone, and which at first seem feasible. For first fervor is apt to cool and may be entirely extinguished.…
The Soul’s Choice of a Devout Life
Preparation 1. Place thyself in the presence of God. 2. Prostrate thyself before Him, and seek His aid. Reflections 1. Once more imagine yourself in a wide plain alone with your good angel; and on the left hand behold the devil sitting on a high and lofty throne, surrounded by infernal spirits, and by a…
