Archive for September 2022
The Story of a Soul
Chapter 1: Early Childhood My dearest Mother, it is to you, to you who are in fact a mother twice over to me, that I now confide the Story of my Soul. The day you asked me to do it, I thought it might be a distraction to me, but afterwards, Jesus made me realize…
Read More77 Graces and Fruits to Be Derived from Devout Attendance at Holy Mass (PART II)
Meditation on the Holy Eucharist 45. It is the best means whereby to venerate the Passion of Christ and obtain a share in its fruits. 46. It is also the best means of venerating the Blessed Mother of God and increasing her joy. 47. By hearing Mass you can give greater honor to the Angels…
Read More77 Graces and Fruits to Be Derived from Devout Attendance at Holy Mass (PART I)
A Meditation on the Holy Eucharist 1. For your salvation, God the Father sends His beloved Son down from Heaven. 2. For your salvation, the Holy Spirit changes bread and wine into the true Body and Blood of Christ. 3. For your sake, the Son of God comes down from Heaven and conceals Himself under…
Read MoreWhen God Sends Us Trials
If you would be convinced that in all He allows and in all that happens to you God has no other end in view but your real advantage and your eternal happiness, reflect a moment on all He has done for you; you are now suffering, but remember that the author of this suffering is…
Read MoreCharity Towards the Poor with the Help of the Lord
When St. Catherine perceived that the more charitable she was towards her neighbor the more she would be acceptable to the Lord, she prepared and equipped herself as thoroughly as she could to succor the needy. But as she had nothing of her own – being a true religious who had determined to observe the…
Read MoreLife of Reparation: Did Christ Save the World Chiefly by Sermons or the Cross?
In the modern age it seems obvious that the only way to make it through the narrow gate[1] and arrive in heaven is to make the total consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary and meditate (in front of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar if possible) for at least one hour daily (priests and religious)…
Read MoreTemptations
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye shall fall into diverse temptations.” -Epist. S. Jas., Cat., c. i, v. 2. If we are tempted, says the Holy Spirit, “it is a sign that God loves us.” Those whom God best loves have been most exposed to temptations. “Because thou was acceptable to God,” said…
Read MoreThe Privilege of Virtue: the Confidence of the Just
The joy of a good conscience is always accompanied by that blessed hope of which the Apostle speaks when he tells us to rejoice in hope and to be patient in tribulation (cf. Rom. 12:12). This is the rich inheritance of the children of God, their general refuge in tribulation, and their most efficacious remedy…
Read MoreSt. Gemma Galgani: Twentieth Century Stigmatist
There have been very few Saints who had all five sacred stigmata. The Spirit, as we read in St. John, “breatheth where He will” and as He will, and whether by much or by little, attains His most sublime ends. Gemma was to be among the number of the most privileged, participating not only in…
Read MoreMortification
“I will be to them as one that taketh off the yoke.” -Osee 11:4 I shall now speak of those means that may help us to render this necessary practice of mortification not only easy, but pleasant. The first means is the grace of God, with which all things become easy. St. Paul supplies us…
Read MoreWe Must Find Mary
“In me is all grace of the way, and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue.” -Eccles. 24:25 In her we shall find the grace to attain unto Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. To attain unto the Truth as the Apostle would have us…
Read MoreKnowledge of God and Friendship
The following is the beginning of a series by the author. In a friendship, having correct knowledge of one’s friend is necessary and foundational. For example, let’s say that one has a friend and holds that this friend lives in Houston, works at an aquarium, is unmarried, and graduated from Miami University while in reality…
Read MoreSerenity in This Life
Acting according to this pattern, one not only becomes holy but also enjoys perpetual serenity in this life. Alphonse the Great, King of Aragon, being asked one day whom he considered the happiest person in the world, answered: “He who abandons himself to the will of God and accepts all things, prosperous and adverse, as…
Read MorePreserving Peace of Soul in Times of Trial
Nothing disturbs us so much as self-love and self-esteem. If our heart does not overflow with tender emotions, if our mind does not teem with sublime sentiments, if our soul is not inundated with exquisite sweetness, we are sad. If anything difficult is to be done, if any obstacle opposes our just designs, behold us…
Read MoreThe Elevation of the Mind to God
“Be still and know that I am God.” I seek you, my God, but not through any of the senses of my body or through any perceptible images. Rather, I turn within myself, to the interior chamber of my thoughts and feelings, and the realm which lies beyond all thoughts and feelings. For there, O…
Read MoreSt. Peter Claver: Slave of the Slaves
There is a movement afoot that claims that the Roman Catholic Church was long insensitive to the plight of black slaves or to the institution of slavery in general. The movement is growing more vocal and more hostile and levies some extraordinarily uncharitable and unfounded claims. This is not the place to lay out those…
Read MoreMeditation on the Feast of the Birth of Mary
“Mary was born a saint, and a great saint; for the grace with which God enriched her from the beginning was great, and the fidelity with which she immediately corresponded with it was great.” -St. Alphonsus Men usually celebrate the birth of their children with great feasts and rejoicings; but they should rather pity them,…
Read MoreRemedies Against Anger and Hatred
Anger is an inordinate desire of revenge. Against this vice the Apostle strongly speaks: “Let all bitterness and anger, and indignation and clamor, and blasphemy be put away from you, with all malice. And be ye kind one to another, merciful, forgiving one another, even as God hath forgiven you in Christ” (Eph. 4:31-32). And…
Read MorePerseverance in Prayer
The anemic style so frequently noted in recent translations and compositions of prayer, particularly over the past sixty or so years, is not quite so likely to please the Master of the Kingdom that suffers persecution. Treatises have been written about the terse, clear style of prayer expressed in the collects of the Roman Rite…
Read MoreOn Work and Doing Ordinary Actions Well
“Whatsoever ye do, do it from the heart as to the Lord.” -Colossians 3:23 Follow justly that which is just (Deut. 16:20), says Our Lord in Deuteronomy to His elect people. It is not sufficient for our advancement and perfection that we simply perform our actions; we must likewise perform them well. “He hath done…
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