After this, my Son returned to His disciples and found that they had succumbed to sleep. He said to them with some disappointment, “Could you not remain awake for just one hour with Me?” And He added, “Behold! The one who will betray Me now draws nigh.” Just at that time, Judas appeared on the scene,
“When Jesus therefore had seen His Mother and the disciple whom He loved standing there, He saith to His Mother: ‘Woman, behold thy son.’ After that, He saith to the disciple: ‘Behold thy Mother.’ And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.” —John 19:26–27
In the morning, while the Apostles were engaged at Jerusalem in preparing for the Pasch, Jesus, who had remained at Bethania, took an affecting leave of the holy women, of Lazarus, and of His Blessed Mother, and gave them some final instructions. I saw Our Lord conversing apart with His Mother, and He told her,
WE HAVE EMPHASIZED, with calculated repetition, St. Teresa’s fundamental theory of meditation: a loving conversation with Christ. St. Teresa, though, was a clever pedagogue; she realized that it is alarmingly difficult to kneel down and inaugurate conversation with Christ immediately.
In the longing of my soul, in the joy of the Holy Spirit, in the most genuine love, and in the Word of Truth, I wish to extol you, to praise you, and to bless you, O Virgin Mary! For you are more radiant than the Sun; in appearance, you are more beautiful; in faith and grace, you are richer. Indeed,
Next will come the choir of archangels, and with them those saints who have deserved a place in this second angelic choir. God-fearing married people, devout widows, besides other pious persons who have lived in the world,
But those who at this time are going on to perfection proceed in a very different way, and in a very different temper of mind: they grow and are built up in humility, not only looking on their own works as nothing, but also dissatisfied with themselves;
How He Overcame a Temptation of the Flesh The holy man, being on a certain day alone, the tempter was at hand; for a little black bird, commonly called thrush, began to fly about his face, and that so near that the holy man, if he would, might have taken it with his hand; but no sooner had he made the Sign of the Cross,
Saint Joseph is an antidote to the self-referential age of failed fatherhood. Abuses do not negate the truth. Those who have not provided, not protected, and failed to bestow are not the examples we look to for imitation. But imitate we must. We do not enter life creating our own language, designing our own clothing,
THROUGH four years, from 427 to 431, Patrick labored to learn what others absorbed without effort. His age impeded the acquisition of knowledge, he knew, but he saw also a more serious defect: “It was my sins that prevented me from fixing in my mind what once I would have learned merely by reading.”
Truly, no one cares to be thought proud, for even according to worldly ideas, the greatest blame that one can give to a man is to say that he is proud. And yet few try to avoid the very thing they would least desire to be accused of by others. If we feel inward satisfaction when we are given credit for a humility which we do not possess,
Anselm: Tell me, most beloved Lady, how did the events of the passion of your Son first begin? Mary: When my Son and His disciples had arisen from the table at His last supper, the perfidious traitor Judas Iscariot went forth alone to see the high priests of the temple. He received from them the sum of thirty denarii of silver and, in exchange,
Because Joseph has the unique status of being both a married man and a virgin, it is reasonable to ask if Saint Joseph can be a model for other men. After all, how can a virgin be a model for a married man? And how can a married man be a model for a priest or religious who has taken a vow of celibacy?
All mental prayer, active or passive, whatever be its object, form or method, has for its end to glorify God, and in order to this,
During this time, the Apostles spoke among themselves, and began speculating as to which of them would be the greatest, for Our Lord having expressly
My friend, reflect next upon how much terror and anxiety there will be at the great scene of the Final Judgment! The miraculous trumpets of
WHEN beginners become aware of their own fervor and diligence in their spiritual works and devotional exercises, this prosperity of theirs gives rise to secret
Saint Thomas is clear in defining the overarching vice or inspirer of all the seven capital vices. He defines it first as a disordered love
Read the lives of the Saints, and consider whose life your own most resembles: what degree of sanctity do you possess? If you were to
WHEN the earth has opened and swallowed up the lost souls, then the angels and the blessed will exult and rejoice. They will extol the
Of Mental Prayer in General MENTAL prayer in general is an interior and silent prayer, by which the soul raises itself to God without the
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