Great reading for the suffering!

This is a small section from a book I would like to promote, a book that made a vast impact on the spiritual life of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus. The book is called "The end of the present world and the mysteries of the life to come" and was written in 1881 by Charles Marie Antoine Arminjon and translated from French into English in 2010 by tradibooks.

MYSTERY OF SUFFERING, part III, page 248: 

Let us, then, rejoice in our tribulations, 
and let us measure our future greatness 
by our present affliction and by the severity of our trial. 

In order to mitigate our ills and lessen our trials in this vale of sorrow and misery, the merciful Saviour desired to give us a sure pledge of His tenderness, and to offer us a guarantee of the heavenly bliss which He is preparing for us. This guarantee, this real testimony of the Beatific Vision, which made the souls of the saints sigh with joy, is not the brilliant successes of this world, or temporal glory or happiness, but trials and sufferings.
           The saints did not aspire to any other goods, and wanted no other wages for their labours. If they met one of their friends they would say: "Come, brother; our dwelling-place is in the hollow of  rocks, where we sleep on wet ground and where there is no bed, we feed on wild herbs, and for our refreshment we have but the water of the springs; around our dwellings we hear the roars of wild beasts, which are however, less fearsome than inhuman tyrants and barbarians, whose hatred and implacable ferocity pursue us unremittingly; but come without fear, there are indiscribable joys and consolations, for there is indescribable suffering."
           At first sight, language of this kind does violence to reason, and throws all our human judgements into confusion.
           Yet the saints, living on these lofty heights of faith, saw the events of the present world and the destinies of mankind from a different vantage and perspective. They judged the things of time by their relationship with those of eternity and they understood the profound meaning of one of the most sublime sayings of Scripture: Trial worketh hope. (Romans 5:3,4) Without trial there is no hope..

For further reading
these pages (248-257) can be read online in a preview if you click here.
(If you only get the first page in the preview, you can google the first line: "IN order to mitigate our ills and lessen our trials in this vale of sorrows", then click on the first top-link https://books.google.se/books?isbn=2952916217 and press "x" on the clear search to get all the pages.)

Because page 254 is missing in the preview, I have transcribed it for you below:
This pain, by crushing us in its grip, wrenches us away from love from present things; it is the sword which cuts through the clouds, and half-opens other prospects for us, by raising us up to higher hopes. In the fire of tribulation, all the wealth and all the goods for which we yearned so ardently appear as they really are, and become in our eyes mere smoke and empty shadows. Human life seems to us nothing more than a "moment" in the words of St. Paul. But that moment is a fruitful bud: watered by our tears, it will unfold into an immeasurable weight of glory. (2 Corinthians 4:17)
        Oh, let us, in short, cease to accuse the Creator of harshness and injustice. If God puts us to the test and removes what we hold dear, if He makes the bitter dregs of dissappointments and every heart-rending pain cascade down upon us, it is by no means in order to rob us, eo quo nolumus expoliari, the Apostle emphasizes, but in order the sooner and the more strikingly to reclothe us in immortality, as in an outer garment: sed supervestiri. (2 Corinthians 5:2)
          Let us take the case of a great artist who wants to make a statue. Beneath his hand he has a piece of coarse, shapeless marble; he takes up his chisel, strikes vigorously and mercilessly and chips away the fragments of stone until the idea which inspires him is reflected in the lines of the statue and pours out that grace and majesty which will be the admiration of the world.
          God does the same: holding in His paternal hand the chisel of mortification, He cuts into the quick of our affections. He lets Himself be moved neither by our groans nor by our cries. Mercilessly, He sunders those links, those friends, the health or reputation, which were as living parts of ourselves. In the fire of pain, He absorbs the attachments, the secret and invisible links which draw us into love of perishable , earthly things. He melts them down, violently eliminating all that remains in us of dross, human alloy and sensual affections, in order that our souls, thus spiritualized, may become like a well-prepared canvas, on which the rays of divine goodness will one day succeed in leaving their imprint; ut absorbeatur quod mortale est a vita - that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 

Short on Tradition!

Protestants have a tendency to quote Colossians 2:8 as a proof that Christian Tradition really is a tradition of men. This is how the verse goes:

Col 2:8.. Beware lest any man cheat you by philosophy, and vain deceit; according to the tradition of men according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.

It's very typical, to pull something out of context, while completely ignoring all verses that speak about being faithful to Tradition. If I wanted to do the same thing, I could easily use the same verse, and say to protestants..well, it says here that men can cheat you by vain philosophy and deceit, and because protestantism is a vain philosophy, and the tradition of a man, either a Luther, a Melanchton or a Calvin, it is not according to Christ. Now, this statement would be a true one, but I think I would still need more proof than just this one verse. I would also need to proove that the tradition of Luther or Calvin, who claimed that the Bible alone was our guide to salvation was contrary to the teachings of Christ. But protestants may not feel the need to prove anything, after all, they think that they are infallible when they read their "bibles." No one disagrees in protestantism, so they have no need of tradition, right?

The best time to be alive!

Of course all generations face challenges, and to be Catholic in a time when many, most of the time, don't even have a Mass to go to, is certainly a great punishment for our sins. A generation who has not been found worthy to celebrate the great Sacrifice, to go to Confession on a regular basis, to have the last Sacrament in time of death.. I keep reminding myself that God put me on earth during this time, at this place on earth because it is the very best time for me to live, serve and be saved from the fires of hell. Why this is the best time for me, I do not know, but it is the same for every soul. You have been given times and borders for a reason. God knows why, and that is all that is important. And so I need to remind myself that this is my God-given time. Thank you God! Help me to use it well, to be the best that I can be through Your Grace and to never give up, compromise or despair. Remember, when God called Joshua He commanded him to "be strong and of good courage, to not be afraid nor dismayed!" I decided that the following words deserved a blogpost on their own: From the publishers introduction to the book "The Catholic Controversy", by St. Francis de Sales..

Salesian tradition tells us that when St. Francis de Sales as a young priest arrived at Chablais, France in 1594, only 27 persons out of 72 000 were still Catholic (The rest were Calvinist), but after 4 years of his efforts, the figure was exactly reversed, there remaining only 27 Calvinists: 72 000 souls had returned to the True Faith. It is one of the most remarkable conversion stories in all Catholic history. People were afraid to listen to him preach, and so he dedicated himself to writing pamphlets to slide under the doors. He kept in mind a warning of Vincent of Lerins:

"Teach, however, what thou hast learnt; that whilst thou sayest things in a new way thou say not new things."

St. Francis begins his argument with an examination of mission from God, showing that the Catholic Church possesses this mission and the Protestant sects do not. He also delineates eight Rules of Faith- Holy Scripture, the Apostolic Traditions, the authority of the Church, the authority of Councils, the authority of the ancient Fathers of the Church, the authority of the Pope, miracles, and the harmony between faith and reason- showing how all point to the Catholic Faith as the divinely given religion. He states: "Ultimately, however, the sole and true Rule of right-believing is the Word of God preached by the Church of God." But why, he asks, should anyone bow to the supposed authority of a Luther or a Calvin?
         Our admiration of St. Francis´ technique must not blind us to the fact that his weapons were first of all spiritual. He had planned to take Geneva by love- "Love will shake the walls of Geneva." "Ardent prayer must break down the walls of Geneva and brotherly love charge them.." "But the way to this is the propitiation of Almighty God by our penances." A huge mural in the Visitation Monastery of Thonon in the Chablais gives us another clue to the Saint's success: It pictures him and his cousin Louis invoking the Guardian Angel of the diocese as they approached the region for the first time. And it will be recalled that in his youth St. Francis had promised Our Lady to pray the Rosary daily.
         There were also miracles. A baby, the child of a Protestant mother, had died without baptism. St. Francis had gone to speak to the mother about Catholic doctrine, and prayed that the child would be restored to life long enough to receive Baptism. His prayer was granted and the whole family became Catholic.

Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee.

Blessed art Thou among women

and Blessed is the Fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen

             

Perfect contrition and imperfect contrition!

I was reading the other day in St. Thomas Aquinas Catechism-instructions about the difference between perfect and imperfect contrition. In these times when the Chair of St.Peter is vacant, and the Church is living in exile, many of us do not have a Priest around and therefore have no access to the Sacrament of Confession.
             When you go to a Priest for Confession it is enough to have "imperfect contrition" for your sins in order to be absolved from those sins. Imperfect contrition means that if you are sorry for your sins because you fear hell and dread the loss of Heaven, it is enough to receive the forgiveness you so desperately need. This is the beauty of this Sacrament, a grace of God given to poor sinners.
             But when you don't have a Priest to hear your confession, an act of "perfect contrition" is needed to receive forgiveness. This is much harder to obtain, because it happens outside the Sacramental graces of Penance. It means that you have to regret your sin(s) firstly because you love God and are heartbroken because you have offended and hurt Him by your sin(s). See the difference? But do not despair, it is not impossible to receive forgiveness for your sins without the Sacrament of Penance. God is merciful and has not forgotten His exiled Church. Confess your sins every day, and beg for Gods mercy, for He is ready to forgive a poor sinner at any time!

An act of Contrition:
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life.
Amen.

An act of perfect Contrition:
My God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee above all things with all my soul, with all my heart and with all my strength; I love Thee because Thou art infinitely good and worthy of being loved, and because I love Thee, I repent with all my heart of having offended Thee; have mercy on me, a sinner.
Amen
(From the Raccolta with an indulgence of 300 days.)

I urge all of you, one and all, to memorize and use these Acts of Contrition. There are of course much more to be said about the subject, and I encourage you to learn more about what the Church teaches on this subject! One reliable source is the book "Denzinger."

Quotes from the revelations given to St Bridget of Sweden!

From chapter 3:
"And if you now are troubled and afraid about the burden and difficulty of work and sickness, then consider how difficult and painful it is to burn in hell! What would you not deserve if you had offended an earthly master as you have me? For even though I love you with all my heart, still I do not act against justice in the least point.

Therefore, as you have sinned in all your limbs, so shall you also make satisfaction and penance in every limb. But, because of your good will and your purpose of atoning for your sins, I shall change my justice into mercy by foregoing painful punishment for but a little penance. Therefore, embrace and take upon yourself a little work, so that you may be made clean of sin and reach the great reward sooner. For the bride should grow tired working alongside her bridegroom so that she may all the more confidently take her rest with him.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ’s words of wisdom to His bride about how she should love and honor Him, the Bridegroom, and about how the evil love the world and hate God."

From Chapter 4:
“I showed you three things from which you could recognize the good spirit: I invited you to honor your God, who made you and gave you all the good things you have; your reason also tells you to honor him above all things. I further invited you to keep the true faith, that is, to believe that nothing has been created without God nor may be made without God. I also invited you to love reasonable work and continence in all things, for the world was created for man’s sake, in order that he may use it according to his reasonable needs, and not in excess.

In the same way, you may also recognize the unclean spirit, the devil, from three opposing things: He tempts and advises you to seek and desire your own praise, and to be proud of the things given you. He also tempts you into unbelief and intemperance in all your limbs and in all things, and makes your heart inflamed by them. Sometimes he also deceives men under the guise of a good spirit. This is why I commanded you to always examine your conscience and reveal it to spiritual men of wisdom!

Therefore, do not doubt that the good spirit of God is with you when you desire nothing but God and are completely inflamed by him! Only I can do this, and it is impossible for the devil to come near you then. He also cannot come near to any evil man unless I allow it, either because of his sins, or some secret judgment that is known only to me. For he is my creature like all other things - he was created good by me, but made himself evil by his own malice – therefore, I am Lord over him.

From chapter 5:
“I am the Creator of all things - I, the King of Glory and the Lord of Angels! I built for myself a lovely castle and placed my chosen men in it, but my enemies undermined the foundation and overpowered my friends so much so that the marrow is violently forced out of my friends’ feet...

Then God said to his heavenly host that stood around him: “What do you think about these who have conquered my castle?” ...

The castle I spoke about previously is the Holy Church and the souls of Christians, which I built with my own blood and that of the saints. I cemented and joined it with my love and placed my friends and chosen men in it. The foundation is true faith, that is, to believe that I am a righteous and merciful judge.

Now, however, this foundation is undermined because all believe and preach that I am merciful, but almost no one preaches or believes me to be a righteous judge. They view me as an unjust judge! Unjust and unrighteous, indeed, would the judge be who, out of mercy, allowed the unrighteous to go unpunished, so that they could oppress the righteous even more! But I am a righteous and merciful judge; for I do not let even the least sin go unpunished, nor the least good go unrewarded. By the undermining of this wall’s foundation, there entered into the Holy Church people who sin without fear, who deny that I am a righteous judge, and who torment my friends as severely as those who are placed in the stocks. My friends have no joy or consolation given to them but, instead, every kind of mockery and torment are inflicted upon them as if they were possessed by the devil. When they tell the truth about me, they are rejected and accused of lying.

From chapter 36:
For there are three states for humans in the world: The first state is that of those who fall into sin and get up again; these do I sometimes allow to suffer in their bodies so that they may be saved. The second state is that of those who would gladly live forever to be able to sin forever and who have all of their will and thought directed to the world, and if they do anything for me at any time, they do it with the intention of their worldly possessions growing and prospering. Neither punishment of the body nor very much pain of the heart is given to these people, but instead they are allowed to follow their own power and will, because they will receive a reward here for the least little good they have done for me to then be tormented for all eternity. For since their will to sin is everlasting, their torment shall also be everlasting. The third state is that of those who are more afraid of sinning against me and offending me than they fear any torment. They would rather endure to be tortured with unbearable pain in eternity than consciously provoke me to wrath. Sorrow of body and heart are given to these men, as with Peter and Paul and other saints, so that they may amend for all their sins in this world, or so that they may be chastised for a time for the sake of their greater glory and as an example to others. I have shown this threefold mercy to three persons in this kingdom whose names are well known to you.

But now, my angel and servant, tell me, for what kind of mercy do you pray for my bride?” He answered: “I pray for the mercy of her soul and body, so that she may amend for all her sins in this world and so that none of her sins may come before your judgment.” Our Lord answered: “May it be done according to your will.” Then he said to the bride: “You are mine and I will do with you as I please. Love nothing as much as me. Purify yourself constantly from sin every hour according to the advice of those I have entrusted you to. Hide no sin! Leave nothing unexamined! Do not consider any sin to be light or worthy of disregard! For anything you forget, I will remind you of and judge. None of the sins you have done will come before my judgment if they are punished and expiated through your penance while you live. But those sins for which you made no penance will be purged either in purgatory or by some secret judgment of mine, unless you make a full satisfaction and amendment for them here in the world.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary

The first Eucharist