7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 1)

(Repost from my previous WordPress blog.)

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Saint-O-Lanterns. October 31st is All Hallow's Eve, the vigil before the Feast of All Saints on November 1st. Unfortunately, what has traditionally been a Christian Catholic penitential day of taking stock of one's life and the life hereafter has been largely secularized. Our family's aim is to reclaim Hallowe'en for the Church. One of the small ways in which we are doing this with our young children (almost 3½ and 2 yo) is by carving 'Saint-O-Lanterns,' or religious-themed pumpkins, to light up our home and point our minds and hearts to God. This year Mommy (me) chose Jesus and the Holy Spirit (represented by a dove):

Visit the Saint-O-Lantern link up to see more!

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Reformation Day. October 31st is also, for some Protestants who acknowledge it, the celebration of the Reformation -- or, more precisely, the anniversary on which Martin Luther is said to have nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. Some thoughts on the subject: Reformation Day and Schism

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Agora. My husband and I recently rented and watched 'Agora.' As I suspected when I watched it, much of it is fairytale and exaggeration with a little bit of anti-Catholicism thrown in for good measure. Fr. Barron comments:

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Abortion in the Voting Booth. Confirming what all Catholics should already know, Cardinal-designate and Archbishop Raymond Burke reminds the faithful that they have "a very serious moral obligation" to vote in accordance with the Church's moral teachings, especially regarding abortion and life issues. Full article: Catholics Can't Vote for Pro-Abort Politicians

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Blog Finds. I've stumbled upon some great new bloggers recently!

• ShowerofRoses.Blogspot.com
• AWomansPlaceIs.Blogspot.com
• CatholicIcing.Blogspot.com
• MamasLittleDitty.Blogspot.com

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New books. Is there anything better than purchasing a quality book? It is one of my favorite little perks in life. My recent buys (most are for our daughter for Christmas):

• Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia for Children
• The Children's Book of Saints
• Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism
• The Big Book of Catholic Customs and Traditions for Children's Faith Formation

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Quote of the Day.

Eating and drinking don't make friendships - such friendship even robbers and murderers have. But if we are friends, if we truly care for one another, let's help one another spritually....Let's hinder those things that lead our friends away to hell.

- Saint John Chrysostom

To see this week's 7 Quick Takes Friday hosted by Jennifer, as well as others' posts, please go here!

Early Christians on 'the Church'

(Repost from previous WordPress blog.)



"Who's who":

St. Irenaeus, a Bishop in Lyons, was taught and influenced by St. Polycarp, the Bishop in Smyrna, who himself was the personal disciple of the Apostle John.

St. Ignatius was the personal disciple of the Apostle John, and was appointed to his post as Bishop of Antioch by the Apostle Peter himself. He was martyred for the faith.

St. Cyprian was an adult convert and became Bishop in Carthage. He was martyred for the faith.

St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, was so influential that he is known today as the "Father of Western Christianity."

Qualities of a Saint by St. Alphonsus Liguori

(Repost from previous WordPress blog.)

Maxims for the Direction of a Soul that Desires to Obtain Perfection in the Love of Jesus Christ

by Saint Alphonsus Liguori

1. To desire ardently to increase in the love of Jesus Christ.

2. Often to make acts of love towards Jesus Christ. Immediately on waking, and before going to sleep, to make an act of love, seeking always to unite your own will to the will of Jesus Christ.

3. Often to meditate on his Passion.

4. Always to ask Jesus Christ for his love.

5. To communicate often, and many times in the day to make spiritual Communions.

6. Often to visit the Most Holy Sacrament.

7. Every morning to receive from the hands of Jesus Christ himself your own cross.

8. To desire Paradise and death, in order to be able to love Jesus Christ perfectly and for all eternity.

9. Often to speak of the love of Jesus Christ.

10. To accept contradictions for the sake of Jesus Christ.

11. To rejoice in the happiness of God.

12. To do that which is most pleasing to Jesus Christ, and not to refuse him anything that is agreeable to him.

13. To desire and to endeavor that all should love Jesus Christ.

14. To pray always for sinners and for the souls in purgatory.

15. To drive from your heart every affection that does not belong to Jesus Christ.

16. Always to have recourse to the most holy Mary, that she may obtain for us the love of Jesus Christ.

17. To honor Mary in order to please Jesus Christ.

18. To seek to please Jesus Christ in all your actions.

19. To offer yourself to Jesus Christ to suffer any pain for his love.

20 To be always determined to die rather than commit a willful venial sin.

21. To suffer crosses patiently, saying, "Thus it pleases Jesus Christ."

22. To renounce your own pleasures for the love of Jesus Christ.

23. To pray as much as possible.

24. To practice all the mortifications that obedience permits.

25. To do all your spiritual exercises as if it were for the last time.

26. To persevere in good works in the time of aridity.

27. Not to do nor yet to leave undone anything through human respect.

28. Not to complain in sickness.

29. To love solitude, to be able to converse alone with Jesus Christ.

30. To drive away melancholy.

37. Often to recommend yourself to those persons who love Jesus Christ.

32. In temptation, to have recourse to Jesus crucified, and to Mary in her sorrows.

33. To trust entirely in the Passion of Jesus Christ.

34. After committing a fault, not to be discouraged, but to repent and resolve to amend.

35. To do good to those who do evil.

36. To speak well of all, and to excuse the intention when you cannot defend the action.

37. To help your neighbor as much as you can.

38. Neither to say nor to do anything that might vex him. And if you have been wanting in charity, to ask his pardon and speak kindly to him.

39. Always to speak with mildness and in a low tone.

40. To offer to Jesus Christ all the contempt and persecution that you meet with.

41. To look upon [religious] Superiors as the representatives of Jesus Christ.

42. To obey without answering and without repugnance, and not to seek your own satisfaction in anything.

43. To like the lowest employments.

44. To like the poorest things.

45. Not to speak either good or evil of yourself.

46. To humble yourself even towards inferiors.

47. Not to excuse yourself when you are reproved.

48. Not to defend yourself when found fault with.

49. To be silent when you are disquieted.

50. Always to renew your determination of becoming a saint, saying, "My Jesus, I desire to be all Yours, and You must be all mine."

Source: The Incarnation, Birth, and Infancy of Jesus Christ 1927

You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.

...I am certain, then, that You will grant my desires; I know, O my God! That the more You want to give, the more You make us desire.

(St. Therese of Lisieux)

St. Padre Pio on the Eucharist

 

The surest means of remaining immune to the pestiferous disease that surrounds us is to fortify ourselves with Eucharistic food.

St. Padre Pio

Feast of St. Teresa of Avila

(Repost from previous WordPress blog.)

Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and there is only one glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing.

- St. Teresa of Avila, 1515-1582

Today is the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila, one of 33 recognized Doctors of the Church and of which only three are women. I have a special kinship with St. Teresa and find in her story a similar reflection of my own spiritual condition -- as well as a reason for great hope that perhaps someday I, too, can be a Saint.

St. Teresa did not start out particularly holy or devout, even as a nun in the Carmelite Order. She neglected prayer and true devotion for many years, and by self-admission often busied herself with foolish gossip and vain worldly activities. At age 41 a priest convinced her to go back to her prayer, but she found it difficult. "I was more anxious for the hour of prayer to be over than I was to remain there. I don't know what heavy penance I would not have gladly undertaken rather than practice prayer," she said. After awhile Teresa underwent a profound conversion of heart due to what she believed was the extraordinary grace of God alone. She became filled with zealous devotion.

God began gifting her with special graces during prayer, enabling her to see visions and enter into prolonged raptures. Sometimes her whole body was raised from the ground! She would call nuns in her convent to sit on her and hold her down. Far from being happy or eager about these events, she "begged God very much not to give me any more favors in public." Priests and many of her fellow nuns suggested that her experiences were from the Devil, and in fact at one point her writings on this mystical experience of prayer was examined by the Spanish Inquisition. They determined, however, that her writings were in accordance with the faith and her name was cleared.

With the help of St. John of the Cross, a fellow mystic, she reformed most of the Carmelite convents and founded new ones. Throughout it all she was opposed and reviled by many. She had only a few who helped her. Despite the constant criticism and obstacles put in her path, Teresa put all of her faith in God and persevered, believing fully that if Jesus willed it, it would happen.

One of the greatest pieces of advice I personally have received from St. Teresa by way of reading her works is the understanding that one should not be attached to things of this world, especially friendships. Teresa herself was very attached to friends until God told her, "No longer do I want you to converse with human beings but with angels. With this understanding she learned to detach herself and realized the great pitfalls that can occur in placing too much value on natural friendships or even the desire of obtaining them.

"It may seem that for us to have too much love for each other cannot be wrong, but I do not think anyone who had not been an eye-witness of it would believe how much evil and how many imperfections can result from this. The devil sets many snares here which the consciences of those who aim only in a rough-and-ready way at pleasing God seldom observe -- indeed, they think they are acting virtuously -- but those who are aiming at perfection understand what they are very well: little by little they deprive the will of the strength which it needs if it is to employ itself wholly in the love of God."

Teresa advised her nuns of the evils which can befall a person, and the entire community, when one is inordinately attached to friends and has special love and inclinations toward one person over another. "The harm which it does to community life is very serious," she warned. "One result of it is that all the nuns do not love each other equally: some injury done to a friend is resented; a nun desires to have something to give to her friend or tries to make time for talking to her, and often her object in doing this is to tell her how fond she is of her, and other irrelevant things, rather than how much she loves God. These intimate friendships are seldom calculated to make for the love of God; I am more inclined to believe that the devil initiates them so as to create factions."

St. Teresa died in the arms of Venerable Anne of St. Bartholomew, with the sight of our Lord and many Saints before her, on the feast of St. Francis on October 4, 1582. She was canonized in 1622.

Anyone who wishes to learn more about St. Teresa of Avila can find a more complete and beautiful account of her life on the EWTN website.