PENANCE

The Principal means of Satisfaction for sin are FASTING , PRAYER and ALMSGIVING .

By Fasting the sinner chastises his body for the sins of the body.

In Prayer he turns to God his soul which had deserted God in sin.

When he gives Alms, the sinner freely deprives himself of those external possessions through whose pursuit or abuse he had forsaken God.

The works of Satisfaction (Penance) are effective only when they are acceptable to God. The sinner must be in the state of grace, and his act of penance must be informed by Charity. When a man in the state of grace performed acts of Penance for sin, he pays the debt of his sins and strengthens himself against future sin .

Because all the members of the Church are one in Christ, it is even possible for men to make satisfaction for the sins of the others. They cannot, of course, furnish a remedy to others against future sin. One man's fast does not tame another man's body.

But a man can pay debt of punishment for another man's sin. This possibility is based on the bond of charity which makes all members of the Church members of one family. As members of one spiritual family, they can help one another to pay the debt of sin.

~St Thomas Aquinas Doctor of the Church

From Challoner's Meditations:

THURSDAY AFTER ASH-WEDNESDAY

ON FASTING

Consider first, how much fasting is recommended to us in the word of God by the great example of Christ and of his Saints, as well of the Old as of the New Testament; how we are there called upon to turn to God with fasting, Joel ii.; how the greatest sinners have there found mercy by fasting, Jonas iii.; how we are there taught that all Christ’s children are to fast during his absence from us, St. Matt. ix. 15; and that the devil is not to be cast out but by prayer and fasting, St. Mark ix. 28. Man fell from God originally by intemperance; he returns to him by fasting. The gratifying of our sensual appetite betrays us both to the flesh and to the devil; we overcome them both by fasting; by which (as the Church daily inculcates in the preface for Lent) God restrains our vices and passions, elevates our souls to himself and bestows upon us his heavenly gifts and graces. O happy fasting which drivest away all our evils, healest both soul and body, and bringest us to our Sovereign God!

Consider 2ndly, that there are three great advantages found in fasting. First, it appeases the wrath of God provoked by our sins; inasmuch as by fasting for them we acknowledge our guilt, and take part with his justice, in condemning and punishing ourselves. For there is nothing sooner moves God to show us mercy than the homage we pay to his justice, by exercising a wholesome severity against the wretch that has dared to offend God. O let us conceive a just indignation against this sinful flesh! Let us not spare the traitor that has so often betrayed us into sin! Let a penitential fast be our regular exercise.

Consider 3rdly, that another great advantage of fasting is that we are enabled by it to overcome our passions and concupiscences. Fasting, when performed with a due spirit, humbles the soul exceedingly, and consequently restrains the irregular motions of all the passions that are the daughters of pride. It keeps the flesh in subjection, by depriving it of the principal nourishment of its rebellions and disorders, and obliges it to submit to the spirit. And, which is a third advantage, in proportion to its weakening the passions of the flesh, it gives strength and vigour to the soul; sets it at liberty from the clogs that hinder its free application to heavenly truths; and enables it to fly upwards towards God, by purer prayer and contemplation.

Conclude to set a due value on this wholesome exercise, which has been the favourite of all the Saints, and has greatly contributed to make them the favourites of heaven. But take care that your fasting be accompanied with its proper attendants, that it may be such a fast as God hath chosen.

Presented without comment....

Fasting is not the suppression of desire but the intense pursuit of it. We fast because we want something more than food. We say 'No' to food for a season only to fill ourselves with something far more tasty, far more filling, far more satisfying. That is to say, if one suppresses the desire for food it is only because he or she has a greater and more intense desire for something more precious – something of eternal value.


“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 18 so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” (Matthew 6:16-18)

Rejection of the Gospel for a “social gospel.” Removal of the Tridentine Mass was the decisive step, since it was deemed the greatest barrier to revolutionizing the minds of the faithful — hence, the imposition of the Novus Ordo Missae. The “social gospel,” first advanced over two hundred years ago by Adam Weishaupt, leader of the Illuminati, is now popular in the Conciliar sect as a way of promoting “welfare state” socialism, and to form bridges to feminism, occultism, “gay rights” activism, the Masonic New World Order, etc. Its most extreme form, “liberation theology,” teaches the error of “Catholic Marxism.” Much of this is openly pushed by Modernist Rome, while the rest is tolerated there. All of this makes perfect sense, however, when it is recalled that this false Catholic Church has for its basis the Masonic teachings of religious liberty, humanism (man replacing God as the center of existence), and indifferentism (all religious, moral, social, and political systems held to be of more or less equal

- Freemasons and the Novus Ordo Church

https://archive.org/details/DenzingerTheSourcesOfCatholicDogma/page/n47/mode/2up

Solid book for download. Looks like it goes up to the papacy of Pius XII and covers everything before that.

From Challoner's Meditations:

FRIDAY AFTER ASH-WEDNESDAY

ON THE RULES OF FASTING

Consider first, that fasting, according to the present discipline of the Church, implies three things. First, we are to abstain from flesh meat on fasting days; secondly, we are to eat but one meal in the day; and thirdly, we are not to take that meal till about noon. The ancient discipline of the Church was more rigorous, both in point of the abstinence, and in not allowing the meal in Lent till the evening. These regulations are calculated to mortify the sensual appetite by penance and self-denial. If you find some difficulty in the observance of them, offer it up to God for your sins. Fasting is not designed to please, but to punish. Your diligent compliance on this occasion with the laws of your mother the Church will also give an additional value to your mortifications, from the virtue of obedience.

Consider 2ndly, that we must not content ourselves with the outward observance of these regulations that relate to our diet on fasting days, but we must principally have regard to the inward spirit, and what we may call the very soul of the fast, which is a penitential spirit; without this the outward observance is but like a carcass without life. This penitential spirit implies a deep sense of the guilt of our sins; a horror and a hearty sorrow for them; a sincere desire to return to God, and to renounce our sinful ways for the future; and particularly a readiness of mind to make the best satisfaction we are capable of to divine justice by penancing ourselves for our sins. Fasting, performed in this spirit, cannot fail of moving God to mercy. O my soul, let thy fasting be always animated with this spirit

Consider 3rdly, that fervent prayer and alms-deeds also, according to each one’s ability, ought to be the inseparable companions of our fasting. These three sisters should go hand-in-hand, Tob. xii. 8, to help us in our warfare against our three mortal enemies, the flesh, the world, and the devil. The practice of these three eminent good works we must oppose to that triple concupiscence which reigns in the world, and by means of which Satan maintains his unhappy reign. By fasting we overcome the lusts of the flesh by alms-deeds we subdue the lusts of the eyes, by which we are apt to covet the mammon of the world, and its empty toys; and by fervent and humble prayer we conquer the pride of life, and put to flight the devil, the king of pride. O let us never forget to call in these powerful auxiliaries to help us in our warfare. Let alms-deeds and prayer ever accompany our fasts.

Conclude to follow these rules, if you desire your fast should be acceptable; if you fail in them, it will not be such a fast as God hath chosen.

In its issue dated 15th May 1948, L’Osservatore Romano, the official newspaper of the Holy See, wrote that “Zionism is not the true heir to the Israel of the Bible….... the Holy Land and its sacred places belong to Christianity, which is the true Israel.”