I maintain American suburban housewife Christianity has done more repetitional damage to Christianity that the inquisition, crusades and witch trials put together

Fasting appeases and turns away the anger of God, for He sees the flesh reduced to subjection, the soul humbled in fasting, as David says, and future faults guarded against in the same way, and thus His mercy is turned towards us, and He even forgives us the chastisements which He had prepared to inflict.

The great Scriptural examples of this treatment on the part of God are the wicked King Achab, and the heathen Ninevites, of whom it is written that ‘they believed in God and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least,’ their King ordering it, and saying, ‘Who can tell if God will turn and forgive, and will turn away from His fierce anger, and we shall not perish?’

Might I encourage you to read the entire book of Jonah today? It’s very short

I’ll post the last chapter, for context God tells the prophet Jonah to preach to Nineveh. Jonah, not wanting to preach to the Assyrians - being the enemy of the people of Israel - refuses, gets on a boat, gets swallowed by a whale, says “Fine” gets transported to Nineveh and says to the people there to repent, despite he personally would like them to perish

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."
4 And the LORD said, "Do you do well to be angry?"
5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.
6 Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.
7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered.
8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."
9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you do well to be angry for the plant?" And he said, "Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die."
10 And the LORD said, "You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.
11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?"

Jonah 4

"It should be our principal business, to conquer ourselves, and, from day to day, go on increasing and strength and perfection. Above all, however, it is necessary for us to strive to conquer our little temptations such as fits of anger, suspicions, jealousies, envy, deceitfulness, vanity, attachments, and evil thoughts. For in this way we shall acquire strength to subdue greater ones.
One of the things that keep us distance from perfection is, without doubt our tongue. For when one has gone so far as to commit no faults in speaking, the Holy Ghost himself assures us that he is perfect. And since the worst way of speaking is to speak too much, speak little and well, little and gently, little and simply, little and and charitably, little and amiably."
-St Francis de Sales

By the disobedience of gluttony the flesh first rebelled against the soul, and by the obedience of abstinence the flesh is again brought into subjection to the soul.

Syrian Christians showed unbelievable courage by raising their crosses despite persecution—and now they’re being slaughtered.

The world cannot stay silent! 🙏

I recommend reflecting on this image everyday this lent, at least on Fridays

📖 Source: http://www.liturgialatina.org/oratorian/maxims.htm

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If anyone has prayer intentions or wants to talk to someone: feel free to dm me: @m_agrippa