Explanation of the Prayer of Saint Michael [Father Robert J. Altier]

DesertVoice.org ^ | 03-02-06 | Fr. Robert J. Altier

[Salvation]

I am posting this for SOLDIEROFJESUSCHRIST

Dear Folks in Christ,
Let me first warn y'all that it is a fairly lengthy document as it is all about Saint Michael and the reason why the Solemnity of the Archangels is celebrated on the 29th of September every year.

He sent it to me as an Attachment in Microsoft Word. All that I have deleted is my email address with my name and since he addressed me by my name -- I have deleted that too.

The Rest is authentic.

Father Altier also explains in great detail the meaning of every sentence of the Saint Michael Prayer.

Finally, I am extremely depressed about what has happened to him. I strongly believe that If I am a practicing Orthodox Catholic who accepts Church Teaching in every aspect of my life. It is only because of Father Altier's Homilies and the profound Miraculous effect that they have had in my life.

Please also check out the following homily at
http://www.desertvoice.org/ArchiveText/2004/Alti070804.htm
where Father Altier speaks about the Purification of the Catholic Church that will take place asap or in the near future.

It is only because of Father Altier's Awesome and Excellent Homilies that I am a practicing Catholic today or a Catholic at all.

SOLDIEROFJESUSCHRIST

 

From:Robert Altier <frjpa@hotmail.com> |
Subject:St. Michael Talk

Date:Tue, 11 Oct 2005 20:47:03 IST

My apologies for the delay in getting this to you.

Some work is being done on the website to accomodate the audio files from various talks. I had hoped that this would have been completed and you could have gotten the entire talk.

The talks, unlike the homilies, are not transcribed. Included are the notes I had used for the talk.

I hope this will fulfill what you were seeking.

Fr. Robert J. Altier

[Judith Anne]

Thanks so much for posting this. I had gotten into the habit of saying the St. Michael Prayer through an odd *coincidence* and still do say it nearly daily...after reading this, I will invoke his aid even more.

[MILESJESU]

Dear Friends in Christ,



Here is a URL I feel all should go through. It was posted a few hours back by the Web Master of Desert Voice.




It seems that this Web Page "A Voice in the Desert" is maintained by a Catholic Family who are Secular Discalced Carmelites and who have a Degree in Software Programming.



Their Kids also help them in posting Father's Homilies and Talks.



http://www.desertvoice.org/webmasterstatement.htm




From the Webmasters to the Friends and Visitors of DesertVoice,





It has recently come to our attention that a rumor is circulating which states that Father Altier himself created the DesertVoice website and has been responsible for loading up his own material onto the Internet, thus promoting himself. We would like to correct this misconception.





We are a Catholic family who have been parishioners at the Church of Saint Agnes in Saint Paul, Minnesota for seven years.




Having listened to Father Altier’s inspired homilies and experienced many graces through his ministry, we felt called by the Holy Spirit to make his homilies available to Catholics everywhere.





Thus, "A Voice in the Desert" was born. The first homily was recorded and uploaded to the Internet on February 26, 2001, and the website recently observed its 5 year anniversary.





Both my wife and myself are Secular Discalced Carmelites with a background in computer technology, and our two children have also assisted us in many ways throughout the years in providing this spiritual service to the People of God.





Following the Carmelite spirituality, we have devoted ourselves to a wholehearted support of the Holy Roman Catholic Church and her beloved priests, particularly Father Robert Altier.







Throughout this time, we have sought to remain hidden, not seeking any notoriety for ourselves, but only wanting to be humble servants in Christ’s flock. We regret that recent events have warranted that we step forward to clarify this situation, but we are deeply saddened by what Father Altier is enduring at this time and desire that his honorable reputation not be soiled by false notions.





On the morning of Ash Wednesday, March 1, 2006, Father Altier received a letter from Archbishop Harry Flynn requesting that his homilies and spiritual presentations cease to be published on the DesertVoice website and that he refrain from participating in any radio broadcasts through Relevant Radio.







That very afternoon, Father Altier contacted us and asked us to “shut down” the website. As laity operating this website, we are not bound by Archbishop Flynn’s request legally or technically. However, in the spirit of obedience, we are complying with the Archbishop’s wishes because this is in accord with Father Altier’s own desire to be obedient.






In addition, Father Altier does not have access to either update, change, add, or delete any part of this website. Our family alone continues to retain complete control of the website.







We thank all of you who have supported www.desertvoice.org with your prayers and sacrifices these past five years. You are as much a part of this as we are, hidden yet fruitful, and it could never have been done without you.


God bless you for your faithfulness.


In these difficult days, we remain united always in the Body and Blood of Our Lord.

[steve86]

The couple and their children are obviously very good people and sought no personal recognition.

Had to look up "Discalced Carmelite".

Found out that "St. Theresa (of Lisieux) is a well-known Discalced Carmelite of the 19th cent".

I am just learning this stuff...didn't know about the "sans sandals" fashion.

[MILESJESU]

Dear Bearwash,

I trust that you received the Homilies as a WinZip File.

I am extremely familiar with the "Discalced Carmelite Friars" specially in India as my parents helped a now deceased Friar to build a Shrine to the Divine Mercy which is now complete and is situated at a place called Peddem, Mapusa Goa.


Besides, that My Parents and I had started a "Divine Mercy Apostolate" and we were helped a lot by a Third Order Carmelite from Hong Kong who was of Chinese Descent and an Evangelist in Southern China.

He used to send us lots of Literature on the Divine Mercy specially of the printed kind as well as a Video on the Divine Mercy produced by the Marian Fathers and narrated by Joe Campanella -- Former Actor from Hollywood.

[Salvation]

There are some new links here:

Pray for A Voice in the Desert

About Father Altier and the Desert Voice Website

A Statement from the Webmaster at Desert Voice
Is this the reason Father Altier was silenced?
Archdiocesan spokesman confirms Father Altier innocent of any impropriety

email@desertvoice.org

In obedient compliance with the expressed written request of Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA Father Altier’s homilies and spiritual presentations can no longer be published on www.desertvoice.org or broadcast on Relevant Radio. This action of the Archbishop is not related to any scandal or sexual misconduct on the part of Father Robert Altier. We regret any inconvenience and humbly ask for your prayers. All concerns should be directed in a spirit of charity to: Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis  Most Reverend Harry J. Flynn 226 Summit Avenue Saint Paul, MN, USA 55102 (651) 291-4400 communications@archspm.org

[CatQuilt]

So what can we do, other than sending a letter or email (which I did yesterday) to the Archdiocese? It doesn't feel like it's enough...

[trisham]

bttt

[Salvation]

I think we still need to pray for the conversions of the homosexuals -- "Hate the sinner: love the sinner."

[Salvation]

**I will send you U.R.L's and possibly post them here on this thread for the Homilies and Talks that he had given in 2003, 2004, 2005, and the Homilies that he had given in 2006 right up till the last day that is Ash Wednesday of this week**

I wish I had linked them each by the individual URL rather than by the general site. Oh, well.................

[Salvation]

I think we can all pray for Father Altier and for the family that did the website for him. Did you check the link above about that family? They had to write something up to dispel a rumor that Father Altier was putting things out there for his own edification..........Makes me wonder where such a rumor would come from????

[Salvation]

Wonderful letter. I was not nearly so kind.

[MILESJESU]

Dear Salvation,


Do you want me to post those URL's again. I had posted at least 6 on Saturday, but then I removed all of them yesterday through the Moderator as I felt that no one was making use of them and I had not received any comments to the effect that y'all were downloading the Homilies.


I will do it if you want me to.


I am having some trouble posting my second Letter to the Archbishop that I had sent earlier today as well as the email I had received from a Catholic Family in Minneapolis.

I will try again or tomorrow again. I am posting something which is quite short but sweet from the Family that posts his Homilies.

They sent me an email yesterday, which I will post in a few seconds now.

[MILESJESU]

Dear Salvation,



I just logged onto desertvoice.org and whatever Archive Text that was posted by them on the Parent Directory has been removed including all of his written homilies for 2006. Everything has been removed.



But, not to worry at all. I have found some excellent sites for you and for any Orthodox Catholic Freeper or any Orthodox Catholic that may be interested.



I will be posting an email that I received from the Family that used to manage "A Voice in the Desert" tomorrow as well as an email I received from a Catholic Family whom i used to know from Philly when I was living there.

When I was living in Philly I was a parishioner of an Orthodox Catholic Parish called "saint Francis Xavier the Oratory" which was 4-5 blocks from the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul on the Parkway.


Check out their web site http://www.secularoratory.com.



One of the Priests there, Father Georges Thiers was well known to Father Altier and had recommended the Parish of Saint Agnes to these friends of mine who later moved to Minneapolis.




The Sites are as follows, You should get about 99% of all that you want about Father Altier from 2001- 2006. Anything else, I will send you.



But, please send me your personal email address for that.




Here goes. I am currently downloading a massive ALTIER File that is in WinZip Format and it is huge. It is 479 MB.



I got it from the first one that I have listed below here.


1. http://www.gabrielmass.com/altier/

2. http://desertvoice.excerptsofinri.com/index.html





P.S.- A Special Thank you to NYer. NYer has found a great site that was posted on the thread started by NYer today. Check it out.



Thanks again NYer.

[MILESJESU]

Dear Friends in Christ,

Please go to this web site as listed below. You should be able to get all of Father Altier's Homilies in "Text Version" from February 2001 - Ash Wednesday 2006.


It is an excellent web page which NYer spoke about on the thread earlier in the day.

To Bearwash:

I now feel that I made a big mistake, when I sent those Win Zip Files to you. The Fact is that when they were sent to me in October 2005 by the Family that used to maintain "A Voice in the Desert" via email. '

They had suggested that when I download them I should either store them on the desktop or on My Documents Folder.


Thereby, I could read the Homilies whenever I wanted to.

But, it does not matter now as if you have a "BroadBand Connection" you can read all of these Homilies on the site I have stated on this post.

http://desertvoice.excerptsofinri.com/

[steve86]

No problem with the zip files; I'll just go to the new links.

P.S. Many of us read your posts, even if we don't reply immediately.

[MILESJESU]

ATTENTION FOLKS

IMPORTANT 2 NEW HOMILIES OF FATHER ROBERT ALTIER OF THURSDAY AND FRIDAY 2006



Dear Salvation,


I wonder if all of y'all would be interested in 2 Homilies of Father Robert Altier which he preached on Thursday, the 2nd of March 2006 and on Friday, the 3rd of March 2006 respectively.


I am posting them in any case. These are not available on any site.



A Friend in Minneapolis who accessed the Parent Directory before it was shut down sent them to me this morning as an attachment via email. If anyone wants me to send them in the form of an email I can do that too. of course I would need an email I.D. for that.


The Last published Homily in the Parent Directory of a Voice in the Desert was on Friday which was posted on Sunday, the 5th of March.


Enjoy.



March 2, 2006 Thursday after Ash Wednesday


Reading (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)Gospel (St. Luke 9:22-25)



In the first reading today, Moses tells the people of Israel that he places before them a blessing and a curse, life and death. And he makes very clear that the blessing and life is going to be dependent upon their obedience to the Will of God and to His commandments.




Now there are two places that we can look to find a blessing. You can turn to God with obedience to His command and He will bless you according to the way that God does, or you can turn to the devil and he will bless you according to the way that he does.




The devil’s blessing, of course, is a curse. The devil is going to make all kinds of promises about what he will do for us if we are willing to do it his way. He will promise us fortune. He will promise us all kinds of fame.




He will promise us whatever it is that we want, all of the good that the world might have to offer.



Jesus, on the other hand, lays out exactly what the blessing that He is offering us is all about. He says, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me, and then goes on to say, whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.




That is what we have to be about, to be able to look at what the devil is offering – who says, “Save your life in this world!” – Because Jesus says if you do that you are going to lose your life for eternity. We are not living for this world but for the next, and that is where we have to set our focus.




We have to make sure that we are looking at Christ and seeking to deny ourselves. That does not come easily or naturally to any of us, which is where the problem comes in because the devil’s promises are enticing.





They are much more according to what we like. They are much more according to our fallen nature. But they are not according to Christ. So we have to look at what Our Lord is offering.





Never did He tell us that if we follow Him we are going to have it easy in this life, but what He promised us was eternal life. If we are willing to take up our cross and follow Him, then we have life eternal, and that is all that matters. We have to remember that our souls are immortal; no matter what, they are going to live forever.




And our bodies are going to rise from the dead and they too will live forever with our souls in one of two places according to our own choice of where we are going to spend eternity. When we see it from that perspective, this life is nothing but a drop in the bucket. It is nothing but a tick on the clock.




It is just a flash and it is over. If in this life we have to suffer a bit, if in this life we have to be rejected, if in this life we have to take up our cross and follow Him, then praise Him because that is the road to eternal life. But if in this life we reject the cross, if in this life we choose not to follow Him, then we are on the road that leads us to eternal condemnation.




That is why it becomes so important as we begin this holy season to be able to ask the question, not of what we want to do in this life, but where we want to spend eternity, because the path that we choose here is going to lead to one of two places.




And He makes it very clear: The path that leads to hell is wide and smooth and easy, and many there are who are on it; but the path that leads to life is rough and it is narrow, and few there are who are on it.




We need to choose life. We have it clearly placed before us: the blessing and the curse, life and death. We have placed before us Satan and Jesus. To choose Satan is to choose death.




To choose Christ is to choose life. But the path that leads to life is the way of the cross; it is the path that Jesus walked with the Cross on His shoulders to Calvary and through Calvary to heaven. It will be no different for us.



If we are not willing to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and follow Him, we cannot be His disciples. And He told us that where He is there will His disciples be. In this life, it is on the way of the cross, so that for the next life we will be with Him in eternity.





*This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.






Friday March 3, 2006

Reading (Isaiah 58:1-9a) Gospel (St. Matthew 9:14-15)





Our Lord tells us in the Gospel reading today that when the bridegroom is taken away then the wedding guests will fast.




Well, if this is the case, we can certainly say that Our Lord has been taken. Consequently, we are called, in this holy season especially, to fast and to pray. Now the Lord makes very clear through the prophet Isaiah what kind of fast He is looking for.



He says, is this the kind of fast I wish? That you cover yourselves with sackcloth and sit in the ashes?




This, rather, is the kind of fast that I wish… He goes on to talk about all the points with regard to charity and justice, to make sure that we are setting free the oppressed, breaking every yoke, sharing our bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless, clothing the naked, not turning your back on your own, and so on. These are the kinds of things that He is looking for.




What we see, then, is that there are two different ways that we can deal with our fasting. For most of us, when we start to fast, if we are struggling with being hungry, we tend to get upset and angry.




The Lord makes that very clear. He tells them, Your fasts end in quarreling and fighting, and striking with the wicked claw. That is not what He is looking for.



When we do that, our fasting makes us turn into ourselves. But our fasting has to make us turn toward God, not toward ourselves. So the Lord is saying what He is looking for is that we get the focus off of ourselves.




The idea of fasting is self-denial, not self-indulgence. The fact that we are not indulging in food does not mean that we can indulge in all kinds of self-discovery internally, or all kinds of things with regard to the self.




The Lord is looking for us to practice charity, charity toward Him and charity toward neighbor. If we are going to deny ourselves of something like food or some other point that we are fasting from, then that needs to be replaced with charity, not with another kind of selfishness.



What good is self-denial if we replace it with self-indulgence? if we are practicing self pity? If we are giving into any form of selfishness, it completely defeats the purpose.




And so Our Lord is asking us to fast and to do penance. But that fasting and penance must help us get the focus off ourselves and put it where it belongs, in the places where He himself commands us: to love God and to love neighbor.



*This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.