Archive for October 2022
“All Hallows’ Eve” is a Catholic Day
Halloween is rightly and properly a Catholic day. While this has been obscured and denied, Catholics should reclaim what is properly theirs. One of the ways this can be done is by practicing the virtues which their forefathers in the faith practiced on this day, namely the virtues of penance, generosity or liberality, and eutrapelia,…
Read MoreTemptation
“Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation.” -Ecclesiasticus 2:1 St. Jerome, upon these words, “There is a time of war and a time of peace” (Ecclus. 3:8), says, that as long as we are in this life, it is a time…
Read MoreTo Attain Perfection We Must Patiently Endure Our Imperfection
We must have our mind settled on two points: one, to expect the growth of weeds in our garden; the other, to have courage to witness their removal, and to lend a hand ourselves. For self-love will not die as long as we live, and it is the origin of all those unwelcome productions. Man…
Read MoreThe Devil’s Powerlessness
Since Our Lord lived, the enemy is fallen, and his powers have lost their strength. Therefore, though he can do nothing, nevertheless, like a fallen tyrant, he does not rest, but threatens, though it be but words. Let each of you think of that, and he can despise the demons. If they were tied to…
Read MoreOn Meekness
“Blessed are the meek for they shall possess the land.” -Matt 5:4 “Learn of me because I am meek.” -Matt 11:29 Our Lord offers us in His Divine Person a model of all the virtues. Meekness, however, is the one that He seems to have wished more particularly to propose for our imitation since He…
Read MoreTrustful Surrender in Poverty and Its Hardships
We ought to conform to God’s Will in poverty and all the inconveniences poverty brings in its train. It is not too hard to do so if we fully realize that God watches over us as a father over his children and puts us in that condition because it is of most value to us.…
Read MoreSaint John Paul II and the Gift and Duty of Our Talents
As a biographer of Saint John Paul II, whose feast day is October 22, I’m often asked if I have a favorite statement of the great pope whose pontificate ran from October 1978 through April 2005. That is not an easy choice. I came into the Catholic Church in large part because of John Paul…
Read MoreResting in God Above All Goods and Gifts
Above all things, and in all things, do thou, my soul, rest always in the Lord, for He is the eternal rest of the saints. Give me, O most sweet and loving Jesus, to repose in Thee above all things created; above all health and beauty, above all glory and honor, above all power and…
Read MoreWe Must Pray with Confidence
“And all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.” -John 21:22 God has solemnly promised to hearken to a prayer said with confidence. “All things whatsoever you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.” (Matt. 21:22). “All things whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, and they…
Read MoreMarriage as an Analogy for Marian Consecration
The idea of “consecrating” oneself to Mary, meaning to entrust one’s life and success as a disciple of Christ to Mary’s love and intercession, may seem strange to many within the Catholic Church, not to mention our large number of separated brothers and sisters. Why would God want to unite our hearts with Mary’s? Why…
Read MoreDetachment from Creatures
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart.” -Mark 12:30 In order to attain to loving God with all our heart, we must separate it from everything which is not of God – which does not tend towards God. He chooses to be alone in the possession of our hearts, and with…
Read MoreConsuming Much Salt
In a previous article in TAN Direction, it was stated that just as there is an analogy between the natural life of man and the supernatural life of grace, there is an analogy between the development of human friendship and friendship between the soul and God. This being the case, a study of human friendship…
Read MoreThe Miracle of Fatima: October 13, 1917
70,000 GATHER FOR THE PROMISED MIRACLE By now, all Portugal was stirred by the events taking place at Fatima, suddenly the most important spot in the land. Particularly were the newspapers interested, especially in the statement that a great miracle was to take place. Many reporters and photographers were on hand to record the events,…
Read MorePatience in Sickness
I find in the Gospel a perfect model of this virtue in the person of St. Peter’s mother-in-law. This good woman, attacked by a heavy fever, remained tranquil and peaceful, without any uneasiness herself, and without causing any to those around her. She was content to suffer her malady in patience and in meekness. O…
Read MoreWhat the Roman Canon Teaches Us about Predestination
The second part of the Roman Canon’s prayer Hanc igitur (“dispose our days in Thy peace; command that we be rescued from eternal damnation and numbered among the flock of Thine elect”) enshrines the truth about human salvation taught by the Fathers, Doctors, and premodern popes of the Church, and thereby excludes the universalist mentality…
Read MorePenance at Lourdes and Champion (PART II)
PART TWO: Our Lady to St. Bernadette The National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin every year gears up for its patronal feast day on October 9th. This day celebrates the appearance of Our Lady of Good Help to a Belgian immigrant by the name of Adele Brise on October 9th,…
Read MorePenance at Lourdes and Champion (PART I)
PART ONE: Our Lady to Adele Brise On October 9th, Catholics across the country will celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Good Help, America’s first and only approved Marian apparition. In the decades since the events of 1859 in Champion, Wisconsin, locals have referred to these appearances of the Virgin Mary as the “Wisconsin…
Read MoreThe Words of Christ from the Cross
Saint Anselm had for a long time prayed earnestly to the glorious Virgin Mary that she would reveal to him the mysteries of her divine Son’s suffering and death. His prayers were accompanied with ardent weeping and prolonged fasting. At last, the Blessed Virgin appeared before the saint. She spoke to him the following words,…
Read MoreMystical Combat Is the Answer to the Coming Storm
Practice: How to Save Society The Blessed Virgin Mary leads us to Jesus not so much by her words but by her mystical action. Our Lady’s last recorded words in Holy Scripture are, “Whatsoever he shall say to you do ye.” Imagine her with Our Lord at some of the events during His three years…
Read MoreReflection on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi
Reflection—“My God and my all,” St. Francis’ constant prayer, explains both his poverty and his wealth. St. Francis, the son of a merchant of Assisi, was born in that city in 1182. Chosen by God to be a living manifestation to the world of Christ’s poor and suffering life on earth, he was early inspired…
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