Free Republic

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR VIRTUES ARE TO BE ACQUIRED ONE AT A TIME AND BY DEGREES ALTHOUGH A TRUE SERVANT of Jesus Christ, aspiring to the heights of perfection, should set no limits to his spiritual advancement, he should nevertheless exercise prudence as regards those excesses of fervor to which he is prone, and which at first seem feasible. For first fervor is apt to cool and may be entirely extinguished. It must be seen then, that besides the methods we have advocated with regard to exterior exercises, interior virtues too cannot be acquired but by degrees. For the foundations of a...

CHAPTER TWENTY: HOW TO COMBAT SLOTH IT IS OF THE GREATEST importance to make war against sloth. This vice is not only an obstacle on our way to perfection, but it delivers us over to the enemies of our salvation. If you desire to fight this vice in earnest, begin by avoiding all curiosity and vain amusements. Withdraw your affections from worldly things and stop all pursuits that are not in harmony with your state of life.Strive assiduously to comply with the inspirations of Heaven, to execute the orders of your superiors, to do everything at the proper time and...

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: HOW WE ARE TO ENCOUNTER SENSUALITY. WHAT THE WILL MUST DO TO ACQUIRE VIRTUOUS HABITS WHEN OUR CREATOR and sensuality struggle for possession of our hearts, victory will follow the side of Heaven, if we use the following tactics.1. The first impulses of the sensual appetite that oppose reason must be carefully checked, that the will should not give its consent to them.2. After this is done, they may be released in order to give them a greater setback.3. A third trial may be given in order to steel ourselves to repulse them with generous contempt. It is...

CHAPTER TWO:  DISTRUST OF SELF  DISTRUST OF SELF is so absolutely requisite in the spiritual combat, that without this virtue we cannot expect to defeat our weakest passions, much less gain a complete victory.  This important truth should be deeply imbedded in our hearts; for, although in ourselves we are nothing, we are too apt to overestimate our own abilities and to conclude falsely that we are of some importance. This vice springs from the corruption of our nature. But the more natural a thing is, the more difficult it is to be discovered.But God, to Whom nothing is secret,...

CHAPTER ONE: PRELIMINARY WORDS ON PERFECTION ----- THE FOUR THINGS NECESSARY FOR THIS COMBAT CHRISTIAN SOUL!  If you seek to reach the loftiest peak of perfection, and to unite yourself so intimately with God that you become one in spirit with Him, you must first know the true nature and perfection of spirituality in order to succeed in the most sublime undertaking that can be experienced or imagined.Some, who judge by appearances, make it consist in penances, in hair shirts, austerities of the flesh, vigils, fasting, and similar bodily mortifications. Others fancy themselves extremely virtuous when they indulge in long...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas SUMMARY OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS These are the ten precepts to which Our Lord referred when He said: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matt., xix. 17). There are two main principles of all the Commandments, namely, love of God and love of neighbor. The man that loves God must necessarily do three things: (1) he must have no other God. And in support of this is the Commandment: "Thou shalt not have strange gods"; (2) he must give God all honor. And so it is commanded: "Thou shalt not...

Chapter 1: The Necessity of Prayer, Section 1 Prayer is a Means Necessary to Salvation One of the errors of Pelagianism was the assertion that prayer is not necessary for salvation. Pelagius, the impious author of that heresy, said that man will only be damned for neglecting to know the truths necessary to be learned. How astonishing! St. Augustine said: "Pelagius discussed everything except how to pray," [Da Nat. et Grat. c. 17] though, as the Saint held and taught, prayer is the only means of acquiring the science of the Saints; according to the text of St. James: "If...

THE FOUR LAST THINGS ---- DEATH, JUDGMENT, HELL and HEAVEN FATHER MARTIN VON COCHEM, O.S.F.C. Father Martin von Cochem was born at Cochem, on the Moselle, in the year 1625, and died at Waghausel in 1712. “Remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.” HOLY REDEEMER LIBRARY Nihil Obstat: Thomas L Kinkead,  Censor LiboriumImprimatur: Michael Augustine --- Archbishop of New York (New York October 5, 1899) Copyright, 1899, by Benziger Brothers PART I. ON DEATH. III. On the Apparition of the Spirits of Darkness. BESIDES what has been already mentioned, the terrible appearance of the evil spirits makes...

THE FOUR LAST THINGS ---- DEATH, JUDGMENT, HELL and HEAVEN FATHER MARTIN VON COCHEM, O.S.F.C. Father Martin von Cochem was born at Cochem, on the Moselle, in the year 1625, and died at Waghausel in 1712. “Remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.” HOLY REDEEMER LIBRARY Nihil Obstat: Thomas L Kinkead,  Censor LiboriumImprimatur: Michael Augustine --- Archbishop of New York (New York October 5, 1899) Copyright, 1899, by Benziger Brothers PART I. ON DEATH. II. On the Assaults of Satan at the Hour of Death. ALTHOUGH death is in itself most bitter, yet its bitterness is not a...

THE FOUR LAST THINGS ---- DEATH, JUDGMENT, HELL and HEAVEN FATHER MARTIN VON COCHEM, O.S.F.C. Father Martin von Cochem was born at Cochem, on the Moselle, in the year 1625, and died at Waghausel in 1712. “Remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin.” HOLY REDEEMER LIBRARY Nihil Obstat: Thomas L Kinkead,  Censor LiboriumImprimatur: Michael Augustine --- Archbishop of New York (New York October 5, 1899) Copyright, 1899, by Benziger Brothers PART I. ON DEATH. I. On the Terrors of Death. IT appears to me unnecessary to say much about the terrors of death. The subject has been sufficiently...

BY THOMAS A KEMPISNihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1941 ------Book 1------CHAPTER 2: OF HAVING A HUMBLE OPINION OF ONE'S SELF EVERY man naturally desireth to know; but what doth knowledge avail without the fear of God? Truly, a lowly rustic that serveth God is better than a proud philosopher who pondereth the courses of the stars, and neglecteth himself. He that knoweth himself, becometh vile to himself, and taketh no delight in the praises of men. If I knew all things that are in the world, and were not in charity, what would it profit me in the sight of...

BY THOMAS A KEMPISNihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1941 ------Book 1------CHAPTER 1: OF THE IMITATION OF CHRIST AND THE CONTEMPT OF THE WORLD "HE that followeth Me, walketh not in darkness," saith the Lord. These are the words of Christ, whereby we are admonished how we must imitate His life and conversation, if we would be truly enlightened and delivered from all blindness of heart. Let it, then, be our chief study to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ. 2. The teaching of Christ surpasseth all the teachings of the Saints and he that hath His Spirit will find...

The Daily Psalms: Sunday Douay Rheims Version   MATINS: First Nocturn   Psalm 1Beatus Vir The happiness of the just: and the evil state of the wicked. 1 Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence. 2 But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due...

Sweet Cross of Jesus Written by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira    Wednesday, February 25 2009 The Gospels show us with great clarity how much our Divine Savior in His mercy pities our pains of body and soul. We need only to recall the awesome miracles He performed in His omnipotence in order to mitigate these pains. But let us never make the mistake of imagining that this combat against pain and sorrow was the greatest gift He dispensed to mankind. For he who closes his eyes to the central fact of Our Lord's life — that He is our Redeemer...

The Best Kind of Fasting Fr. Miguel Marie Soeherman, MFVA 01/15/2007 — 2nd Monday, Ordinary Time (7am Mass — PCPA — Hanceville, AL)The question of fasting was at issue here. The people were very observant. They noticed how Our Lord’s disciples were not fasting while the Pharisees or John the Baptist’s disciples were. “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” Jesus asked. “As long as they have the Bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.”Our Lord’s response tells us about the connection between the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the OT, Yahweh was depicted...

 __________________________________________________ What's Fasting Got to Do with It? by Father Dwight Longenecker I posted a video on my blog the other day from YouTube. It was an interview with a Romanian hermit. This grizzled old warrior was asked the most important element in a successful prayer life. He looked away with watery eyes then looked at the interviewer and replied, "Purity of the body."He understood that what we do with our bodies affects our souls and minds and what we do with our souls and minds affects our bodies. Every spiritual tradition teaches the same truth: you must have mastery over your...

Pope Benedict: sin, not sickness, separates us from God Vatican City, Feb 15, 2009 / 11:36 am (CNA).- With 20,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Angelus prayer Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI recounted the gospel episode of the leper who is healed, recalling that it is sin, and not physical illness, that separates humans from God. The Holy Father explained that in his passion, Jesus became like a leper, “made unclean by our sins, separated from God. He would do all of this for love, for the purpose of obtaining for us reconciliation, forgiveness, and salvation." Reflecting on...

www.catholicnewsagency.com Pope Benedict exhorts Catholics to rediscover fasting this Lent Pope Benedict XVI Vatican City, Feb 3, 2009 / 11:49 am (CNA).- As Catholics around the world prepare to begin the Lenten season in just over three weeks, Pope Benedict XVI has published his Lenten Message for 2009. This year the Holy Father focuses his message on the meaning and value of fasting, emphasizing that it helps believers to prepare to do the will of God. The message, which the Pope penned on December 11, 2008, has as its title, a verse from the Gospel of St. Matthew: "He...

A Review of: The Soul of the Apostolate, by Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard Monday, December 17 2007 The present scandals in the Church have many people looking for positive solutions to the multifaceted problems which beset the Bride of Christ, not realizing that the true solution will only come from Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, His life within us and fidelity to His teachings. The Soul of the Apostolate is a book, which not only shows how this is possible, but the way it is to be accomplished.No commentary on this book would be complete without a word about its...

Polamalu: Real-Deal Christian ItÂ’s rare to find a sports star who is both at the absolute top of his sport and who is deeply committed to his Christian faith. HereÂ’s one: Troy Polamalu, the all-pro strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yesterday, PolamaluÂ’s spectacular 40-yard interception return for a touchdown served as the exclamation point in the SteelersÂ’ 23-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game in Pittsburgh. The win vaulted the Steelers into the Feb. 1 Super Bowl against the NFC champion Arizona Cardinals. That kind of game-breaking play is something that Steelers fans have come...