Ijournal entry 091817 #37. September, Month of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Rule of St. Benedict. Quotes by St. Silouan the Athonite, St. John Bosco, and Bishop Robert Vasa. “We must love truth with our whole hearts and guard ourselves from all falsehood”, by St. Dorotheos
of Gaza. Book: On the Duty of the Clergy, by St. Ambrose of Milan. Audio presentation: "Refurbishing the Soul", Episode 6, by Babsie Bleasdell.
"The devotion to Our Lady’s sorrows recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ as she stood resolutely at the foot of the Cross. This was her role in salvation history, and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. Mary’s suffering was prophesied by Simeon, who said to her at the time of the Baby Jesus’ dedication in the Temple,
The high price that had to be paid for the sin of mankind—the Incarnation and Death of the God-Man—was fully and completely felt in the heart of the Mother of God. This most privileged and highest of all God’s creatures felt acutely in her soul the depth of pain and suffering heaped upon her Son, as none of her children can ever fully imagine or understand. But, we can try. Meditating on Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows inspires in us at least these things: a realization of how greatly sin offends God; true contrition for our own sins; gratitude to Jesus for our salvation; inspiration to not commit even the smallest of sins; a deeper understanding of the battle between good and evil; and a desire to pray for the conversion of sinners". By Gretchen Filz
Info from this site:
https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/our-lady-seven-sorrows-promises/?aid=5010&new=yes&engine=email&trk_msg=776D4LNP3MDKR4CA2DO2LBVG3O&trk_contact=JFGGU17NDE7380SQG3QFBD2664&trk_sid=SOLNVHKJG5PKO368JF46PD8CHG&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2frecscont.listrakbi.com%2f4be44178-a22e-49a0-9554-0e602e116e88%2f11610709%2f%3f%3fuserEmail%3f%3f%2fsections%2f2%2fitems%2f0%2flink%3faid%3d5010%26new%3dyes%26engine%3demail&utm_campaign=09_03_17_Labor_Day_Promo&utm_content=POSTCARD
Info from this site:
https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/our-lady-seven-sorrows-promises/?aid=5010&new=yes&engine=email&trk_msg=776D4LNP3MDKR4CA2DO2LBVG3O&trk_contact=JFGGU17NDE7380SQG3QFBD2664&trk_sid=SOLNVHKJG5PKO368JF46PD8CHG&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2frecscont.listrakbi.com%2f4be44178-a22e-49a0-9554-0e602e116e88%2f11610709%2f%3f%3fuserEmail%3f%3f%2fsections%2f2%2fitems%2f0%2flink%3faid%3d5010%26new%3dyes%26engine%3demail&utm_campaign=09_03_17_Labor_Day_Promo&utm_content=POSTCARD
The Rule of St. Benedict
"Let him not make any distinction of persons in the monastery. Let him not love one more than another, unless he find him better in good works or in obedience. Let not a freeborn monk be put before one that was a slave, unless there be some other reasonable ground for it. But if the abbot, for just reason, think fit to do so, let him fix anyone’s order as he will; otherwise let them keep their due places; because, whether slaves or freemen, we are all one in Christ, and have to serve alike in the army of the same Lord. For there is no respect of persons with God.1 In this regard only are we distinguished in his sight, if we be found better than others in good works and humility. Therefore let the abbot show an equal love to all, and let the same discipline be imposed on all in accordance with their deserts"
MC= Well, no man is an island, if we are all in the same army for the Lord, then we should try to be on one accord. Knowing that there are different ranks, we should strive to be promoted, and celebrate those who are moving ahead. Let the spirit of Christ lead us on, as we all,sacrifice fir the common good: God's glory, willing as He wills, and accepting what He is allowing. Amen and amen!
"Let him not make any distinction of persons in the monastery. Let him not love one more than another, unless he find him better in good works or in obedience. Let not a freeborn monk be put before one that was a slave, unless there be some other reasonable ground for it. But if the abbot, for just reason, think fit to do so, let him fix anyone’s order as he will; otherwise let them keep their due places; because, whether slaves or freemen, we are all one in Christ, and have to serve alike in the army of the same Lord. For there is no respect of persons with God.1 In this regard only are we distinguished in his sight, if we be found better than others in good works and humility. Therefore let the abbot show an equal love to all, and let the same discipline be imposed on all in accordance with their deserts"
MC= Well, no man is an island, if we are all in the same army for the Lord, then we should try to be on one accord. Knowing that there are different ranks, we should strive to be promoted, and celebrate those who are moving ahead. Let the spirit of Christ lead us on, as we all,sacrifice fir the common good: God's glory, willing as He wills, and accepting what He is allowing. Amen and amen!
🌓“If you suffer some misfortune, then think: “The Lord sees my heart, and if it pleases Him, it will be well both for me and others.” And thus your soul will always be at peace. But if someone murmurs, “This is bad, and that is bad,” then he will never have peace in his soul, even though he fasts and prays a lot.” By St. Silouan the Athonite
🌰 “The Church will be punished because the majority of Her members, high and low, will become so perverted. The Church will sink deeper and deeper until She will at last seem to be extinguished, and the succession of Peter and the other Apostles to have expired. But, after this, She will be victoriously exalted in the sight of all doubters.” By St. John Bosco
🌏 "During this Centenary Year of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima it is my desire to have the Diocese of Santa Rosa and every Parish and Mission of the Diocese Consecrated or Dedicated to Mary. The Act of Consecration is very similar to the Morning Offering except that it is more solemn and centered on Mary. In the Morning Offering, we state: “O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father”. In our Consecration we state: “We consecrate to you (Blessed Mary) our very being and our whole life; all that we have, all that we love, all that we are.”St. Pope John Paul II also refers this Consecration as an Entrustment. It is an act of trust in the love God has for us and in the love our Blessed Mother has for us. We Entrust ourselves to Her maternal care with profound confidence and love. We trust that, having given over everything we have and are to Her protection and even Her dominion, we then rely on Her to distribute merits and graces where they are most needed. At the same time we manifest a deep confidence that those, for whom we have special affection, including ourselves, will never be neglected in the spiritual distribution". By Bishop Robert Vasa
🌰 “The Church will be punished because the majority of Her members, high and low, will become so perverted. The Church will sink deeper and deeper until She will at last seem to be extinguished, and the succession of Peter and the other Apostles to have expired. But, after this, She will be victoriously exalted in the sight of all doubters.” By St. John Bosco
🌏 "During this Centenary Year of the Apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima it is my desire to have the Diocese of Santa Rosa and every Parish and Mission of the Diocese Consecrated or Dedicated to Mary. The Act of Consecration is very similar to the Morning Offering except that it is more solemn and centered on Mary. In the Morning Offering, we state: “O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all my relatives and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father”. In our Consecration we state: “We consecrate to you (Blessed Mary) our very being and our whole life; all that we have, all that we love, all that we are.”St. Pope John Paul II also refers this Consecration as an Entrustment. It is an act of trust in the love God has for us and in the love our Blessed Mother has for us. We Entrust ourselves to Her maternal care with profound confidence and love. We trust that, having given over everything we have and are to Her protection and even Her dominion, we then rely on Her to distribute merits and graces where they are most needed. At the same time we manifest a deep confidence that those, for whom we have special affection, including ourselves, will never be neglected in the spiritual distribution". By Bishop Robert Vasa
One day Addie said "no man is an island". A text mess sent out on it's heel was illustrative of "no man is an island for me. It was Dan's and Shannon's response to the following text that served as an affirmation, and helped helped me to see what was not seen before their comments blest my life. The text pic:
My comments above are in red
Dan comments= Coffee was meant to be hot, not lukewarm or cold,its a wake up beverage,so why have it any other way.
My response to Dan = Great point sir Dan, you get an A+ for today.2day. You helped me to see a point that didn't cross my mind: it's like how "hot" represents God's perfect will, how He sets the agenda and is the one to orders the changing of the guards. Our own concoction, liken to ice cold coffee, represents the God's permissive will of God. The lukewarm, represents living is mediocrity causes us to be spit out of His mouth:
Dan comments= Coffee was meant to be hot, not lukewarm or cold,its a wake up beverage,so why have it any other way.
My response to Dan = Great point sir Dan, you get an A+ for today.2day. You helped me to see a point that didn't cross my mind: it's like how "hot" represents God's perfect will, how He sets the agenda and is the one to orders the changing of the guards. Our own concoction, liken to ice cold coffee, represents the God's permissive will of God. The lukewarm, represents living is mediocrity causes us to be spit out of His mouth:
Shannon comments = Amen! Help me to be the correct temperature In Jesus' name🙏🏾
My response to Shannon= Thanks for your great "Amen!" A guy just sent his response that helped me see a facet not seen before.
If we were not interacting and sharing on the highway to heaven, being stuck on a island with me, myself, and I, we would indeed be very, very, poor indeed. How rich our spiritual lives are, and how much we grow when we as the body of Christ work together to scale the heights aiming for perfection in the Christian life. No one have it all, we each contribute to the puzzle and together we complete it.
My response to Shannon= Thanks for your great "Amen!" A guy just sent his response that helped me see a facet not seen before.
If we were not interacting and sharing on the highway to heaven, being stuck on a island with me, myself, and I, we would indeed be very, very, poor indeed. How rich our spiritual lives are, and how much we grow when we as the body of Christ work together to scale the heights aiming for perfection in the Christian life. No one have it all, we each contribute to the puzzle and together we complete it.
“We must love truth with our whole hearts and guard ourselves from all falsehood”, by St. Dorotheos
of Gaza
Info from this site:
https://lifeondoverbeach.wordpress.com/2017/09/07/dorotheos-%E2%80%A8of-gaza-we-must-love-truth-with-our-whole-hearts-and-guard-ourselves-from-all-falsehood/
“In the Scriptures it is written that falsehood is from the evil one, and that He is the “Father of Lies”:
Info from this site:
https://lifeondoverbeach.wordpress.com/2017/09/07/dorotheos-%E2%80%A8of-gaza-we-must-love-truth-with-our-whole-hearts-and-guard-ourselves-from-all-falsehood/
“In the Scriptures it is written that falsehood is from the evil one, and that He is the “Father of Lies”:
while God is truth; for He Himself says:
Thus you see from whom we estranged ourselves and to whom we are united by a lie. So then, if we really want to be saved, we must love truth with our whole hearts and guard ourselves from all falsehood. There are three different types of lies: in thought, in word, and in life itself. A man lies in thought when he accepts as true his own vain imaginations, despite his neighbor. Such a one, when he sees that someone is conversing with his neighbor, makes his own estimation and says, “They are talking about me.” If someone says a word, he considers that it was said to grieve him. Never believe your own guesses and interpretations, for a crooked measurement makes even the straight to be crooked. Human opinion is false and harms those who are given to it.
The one who sins in word is one who, for example, when out of despondency he has not gotten up for the service, does not say, “Forgive me, I was too lazy to get up,” but says, “I had a fever, I had too much work, I hadn’t the strength to get up, I was sick,” and says ten false statements, rather than make a single prostration and be humbled. And if he should be rebuked in such a situation, he changes his words and argues, in order not to be rebuked.
One who lies by his life is one who, if he is defiled, pretends to be chaste, or if he is avaricious, praises almsgiving, or if he is proud praises humility. Thus, in order to escape falsehood and be delivered from the part of the evil one, let us strive to appropriate truth, in order to have union with God.”
The one who sins in word is one who, for example, when out of despondency he has not gotten up for the service, does not say, “Forgive me, I was too lazy to get up,” but says, “I had a fever, I had too much work, I hadn’t the strength to get up, I was sick,” and says ten false statements, rather than make a single prostration and be humbled. And if he should be rebuked in such a situation, he changes his words and argues, in order not to be rebuked.
One who lies by his life is one who, if he is defiled, pretends to be chaste, or if he is avaricious, praises almsgiving, or if he is proud praises humility. Thus, in order to escape falsehood and be delivered from the part of the evil one, let us strive to appropriate truth, in order to have union with God.”
Book: On the Duty of the Clergy, by St. Ambrose of Milan
Info from this site:
http://classicalchristianity.com/category/holyfathers/hesychasm/
"Now what ought we to learn before everything else, but to be silent, that we may be able to speak? Lest my voice should condemn me, before that of another acquit me; for it is written:
Info from this site:
http://classicalchristianity.com/category/holyfathers/hesychasm/
"Now what ought we to learn before everything else, but to be silent, that we may be able to speak? Lest my voice should condemn me, before that of another acquit me; for it is written:
What need is there, then, that you should hasten to undergo the danger of condemnation by speaking, when you can be more safe by keeping silent? How many have I seen to fall into sin by speaking, but scarcely one by keeping silent; and so it is more difficult to know how to keep silent than how to speak. I know that most persons speak because they do not know how to keep silent. It is seldom that any one is silent even when speaking profits him nothing. He is wise, then, who knows how to keep silent. Lastly, the Wisdom of God said: "Justly, then, is he wise who has received of the Lord to know when he ought to speak. Wherefore the Scripture says well:
Therefore the saints of the Lord loved to keep silence, because they knew that a man’s voice is often the utterance of sin, and a man’s speech is the beginning of human error. Lastly, the Saint of the Lord said: I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I offend not in my tongue. For he knew and had read that it was a mark of the divine protection for a man to be hid from the scourge of his own tongue and the witness of his own conscience.
We are chastised by the silent reproaches of our thoughts, and by the judgment of conscience. We are chastised also by the lash of our own voice, when we say things whereby our soul is mortally injured, and our mind is sorely wounded. But who is there that has his heart clean from the impurities of sin, and does not offend in his tongue? And so, as he saw there was no one who could keep his mouth free from evil speaking, he laid upon himself the law of innocency by a rule of silence, with a view to avoiding by silence that fault which he could with difficulty escape in speaking. (On the Duty of Clergy Bk. 1: Chap. 2.5-6)"
Audio presentation: "Refurbishing the Soul", Episode 6, by Babsie Bleasdell.
Link to audio presentation:
http://listen.ewtn.com/~IJ/~IJ000009.mp3
Link to audio presentation:
http://listen.ewtn.com/~IJ/~IJ000009.mp3