The History of Heresies and Their Refutation by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
#book #heresy #saint

Augustine says (De Doctr. Christ. iii, 12): "We must avoid excessive pleasure in the use of things, for it leads not only wickedly to abuse the customs of those among whom we dwell, but frequently to exceed their bounds, so that, whereas it lay hidden, while under the restraint of established morality, it displays its deformity in a most lawless outbreak."

In point of excess, this inordinate attachment occurs in three ways.

First when a man seeks glory from excessive attention to dress; in so far as dress and such like things are a kind of ornament. Hence Gregory says (Hom. xl in Ev.): "There are some who think that attention to finery and costly dress is no sin. Surely, if this were no fault, the word of God would not say so expressly that the rich man who was tortured in hell had been clothed in purple and fine linen. No one, forsooth, seeks costly apparel" (such, namely, as exceeds his estate) "save for vainglory."

Secondly, when a man seeks sensuous pleasure from excessive attention to dress, in so far as dress is directed to the body's comfort.

Thirdly, when a man is too solicitous in his attention to outward apparel.

#theology #modesty #virtue

“Christianity nowadays is so immersed in worldliness that one scarcely sees its origin; the clergy preach sociology from the pulpit and monks have swimming pools.”
John Senior, The Death of Christian Culture
#book #quotation #today

A funny #story about St Joseph's intercession
A woman was getting nervous in finding a husband being single for a while. Desperate if you will. She didn't know where else to turn so she turned to the ideal model of all husbands, St. Joseph. She had a statue of St Joseph in her apartment so with it, she started a Novena.
On the ninth day, she eagerly waits for something to happen. She has finished her 9th prayer. It's now about 6PM... no contact yet. Nothing has happened. She feels angry, disappointed, cheated. So she takes the statue of St Joseph, opens her window, and throws it outside. She feels betrayed....
Outside, a police officer is patrolling for the evening. Suddenly, the poor office suddenly feels something crash on top of his head. He's in a daze. After he gets his bearings back, he sees what hit him on the head - a small little statue (the same one the woman threw out of her apartment).
Curious, he picks it up and looks to see where it might have come from, and sure enough, the building he passes by has a window open, second floor. He decides to check what's going on. So he goes up to the second floor of the building and finds the room with the open window. Door opens. He asks, "Good evening ma'am. Did you happen to throw this statue outside your window?"

Nine months later, the woman married the cop.

This is a true story.

p.s. DON'T throw your statue out of the window, it is a sin.

St. Dominic confronts demons with the #Rosary

St. Alphonsus recalls the story of a demon-possessed man who misled the people by his false religious teaching. When he confronted St. Dominic, he was liberated from the evil spirits by the power of the Rosary.

The Rosary is a powerful weapon against the demons.

St. Dominic was once preaching in the town of Carcassone in France. A heretic there, who had publicly ridiculed the devotion of the Rosary and was possessed by demons, was brought to him. The saint demanded that the evil spirits declare publicly whether the things that Dominic had preached about the most holy Rosary were true.

Howling, they replied, “Listen, Christians! All that this enemy of ours has said about Mary, and about the most holy Rosary, is true.” They also said that they had no power against the servants of Mary; and that many, by invoking in death the name of Mary, were saved, despite what they might otherwise have deserved.

The demons concluded: “We are forced to declare that no one is lost who perseveres in devotion to Mary and in devotion to the most holy Rosary. For Mary obtains for those who are sinners true repentance before they die.”

St. Dominic then made the people recite the Rosary. And what a miracle took place! At every Hail Mary, many evil spirits left the body of the possessed man, appearing like red-hot coals as they went out. When the Rosary was fin- ished, he was entirely freed. On this occasion, many heretics were converted.

—St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary

#reading #saint #story

#reading
Communion tract for Palm Sunday beautiful explained
Beginning of the Holy Week

This Franciscan preached a crusade which delivered Europe from the Mohammedans in the fifteenth century. He died in 1456.

#saint #quote

#reading #prayer #daily #spiritual

#prayer #spiritual #reading

In Bach's Saint Mathew's Passion, when Jesus says: "Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me", we can hear as an answer "Herr, bin ich's?" (Lord, is it I?) only 11 times. One of them - Judas - is quiet.

Video: Euterpe

Via Classical Sound