THE PROBLEM OF EVIL
“Physical pain brings us many benefits. It is selfishness that prevents us from seeing the harmony of the whole (...) above our own selves.
Those who hurt themselves when they fall find it difficult to recognise the great advantages of Earth's gravity; those who have lost a loved one in a storm at sea will not easily understand that, without storms, the sea would be an immense, malarial swamp, deadly to all humanity.
(...) In sensitive life, pain is an alarm bell that warns us of danger. Hunger, thirst, fatigue, gasping for breath... everything is providential. In illness, it is pain that almost always guides doctors to their diagnosis and cure. Pleasure itself needs intervals of pain so as not to become debased and atrophied. Spring is more beautiful and pleasant after a stormy and cold winter.
Pain is a source of joy. Difficulties, contradictions and misfortunes make us appreciate the joys of victory and triumph all the more. The mountaineer enjoys the fruits of his hard climb at the top of the mountain. Victory more than compensates for the pain of battle. The soldier raises the flag of his country with emotion at the cost of great sacrifice. The son recovered after his loss is doubly loved (...)
In the supernatural order, the effectiveness of physical pain is immense. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains unfruitful; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Christ's terrible sufferings earned him the title of king of heaven and earth (Phil 2:8-11). Christ's example is repeated in his Church. The darkness of the catacombs lit the beacon of the Church that illuminates the world; in the bloodstained sand of the circus, the crown of his world sovereignty flourished (...)
In ourselves, pain is the path to glory and greatness. "Through the cross to the light." Nothing great is achieved without effort, sacrifice and renunciation. A man scourged by pain unleashes unsuspected energies. Only ploughed earth is fertile. Only seeds watered with tears bear splendid fruits of life, greatness and holiness.
(...) Pain, the inspiration for art. The most beautiful works of literature and art have been inspired by the great tragedies of life. The most moving poems, the most poignant melodies, the most expressive statues (Christ, Our Lady of Sorrows...), the most evocative paintings are the offspring of pain. 'Only pain,' Carlyle has said so aptly, 'has been able to transform a Comedy into a Divine Comedy'.
It is a great means of atoning for our past sins and preventing future ones, a great means of moral elevation.
Pain atones for our sins. Every violation of the law must be atoned for. The scales of divine justice, thrown off balance by sin, must return to their proper state. And since the imbalance was caused by placing the weight of disorderly pleasure on one of the scales, it is necessary to restore balance with the weight of pain, which is the opposite of pleasure. 'Everything is paid for,' Napoleon said on Saint Helena. Sometimes, the misfortune we attribute to chance or bad luck is nothing more than the punishment for some past fault, an unexpected form of atonement. Selfishness is punished with isolation; abuse of health with illness; excesses of enjoyment with inevitable renunciations; sinful pleasures with the black and deep sadness of remorse.
"Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you" – Father Antonio Royo Marín
#PROBLEMOFEVIL
“Physical pain brings us many benefits. It is selfishness that prevents us from seeing the harmony of the whole (...) above our own selves.
Those who hurt themselves when they fall find it difficult to recognise the great advantages of Earth's gravity; those who have lost a loved one in a storm at sea will not easily understand that, without storms, the sea would be an immense, malarial swamp, deadly to all humanity.
(...) In sensitive life, pain is an alarm bell that warns us of danger. Hunger, thirst, fatigue, gasping for breath... everything is providential. In illness, it is pain that almost always guides doctors to their diagnosis and cure. Pleasure itself needs intervals of pain so as not to become debased and atrophied. Spring is more beautiful and pleasant after a stormy and cold winter.
Pain is a source of joy. Difficulties, contradictions and misfortunes make us appreciate the joys of victory and triumph all the more. The mountaineer enjoys the fruits of his hard climb at the top of the mountain. Victory more than compensates for the pain of battle. The soldier raises the flag of his country with emotion at the cost of great sacrifice. The son recovered after his loss is doubly loved (...)
In the supernatural order, the effectiveness of physical pain is immense. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains unfruitful; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Christ's terrible sufferings earned him the title of king of heaven and earth (Phil 2:8-11). Christ's example is repeated in his Church. The darkness of the catacombs lit the beacon of the Church that illuminates the world; in the bloodstained sand of the circus, the crown of his world sovereignty flourished (...)
In ourselves, pain is the path to glory and greatness. "Through the cross to the light." Nothing great is achieved without effort, sacrifice and renunciation. A man scourged by pain unleashes unsuspected energies. Only ploughed earth is fertile. Only seeds watered with tears bear splendid fruits of life, greatness and holiness.
(...) Pain, the inspiration for art. The most beautiful works of literature and art have been inspired by the great tragedies of life. The most moving poems, the most poignant melodies, the most expressive statues (Christ, Our Lady of Sorrows...), the most evocative paintings are the offspring of pain. 'Only pain,' Carlyle has said so aptly, 'has been able to transform a Comedy into a Divine Comedy'.
It is a great means of atoning for our past sins and preventing future ones, a great means of moral elevation.
Pain atones for our sins. Every violation of the law must be atoned for. The scales of divine justice, thrown off balance by sin, must return to their proper state. And since the imbalance was caused by placing the weight of disorderly pleasure on one of the scales, it is necessary to restore balance with the weight of pain, which is the opposite of pleasure. 'Everything is paid for,' Napoleon said on Saint Helena. Sometimes, the misfortune we attribute to chance or bad luck is nothing more than the punishment for some past fault, an unexpected form of atonement. Selfishness is punished with isolation; abuse of health with illness; excesses of enjoyment with inevitable renunciations; sinful pleasures with the black and deep sadness of remorse.
"Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you" – Father Antonio Royo Marín
#PROBLEMOFEVIL
THE CONVERSION OF OSCAR WILDE AND HIS ENTOURAGE 1/2
"Oscar Wilde (...) with his calculated and measured airs of worldly cynicism (...) on his deathbed (...) was received into the Catholic Church.
It is difficult to imagine a less 'predictable' convert than him. The fact is that (...) he felt an inclination towards Catholicism that dated back to his childhood. Three weeks before his death, he told a journalist from the Daily Chronicle that 'my lack of moral rectitude is largely due to the fact that my father did not allow me to convert to Catholicism. The artistic side of the Church and the fragrance of its teaching might have cured my vices. I have long wished to be received into it." Already in his youth, in April 1878, Wilde was on the verge of converting after meeting Father Sebastian Bowden at the Brompton Oratory [who recommended in a letter that he "pray much and speak little"].
The priest's advice fell on deaf ears (...): he spoke a lot and prayed little, made an art of affectation and completely forgot the importance of behaving with righteousness.
One of the main influences that led Wilde to decadence was the French novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans, whose work À rebours was taken as an unquestionable guide to leading a libertine lifestyle. The protagonist (...) an intellectual dandy devoted to the pursuit of pleasure, became the model for a new generation of aspiring rebels (...) Huysmans' influence on Wilde was not only intense but also degrading, completely transforming his morality (...) "it was a poisoned book" from which Wilde drank at will: a poison whose curse also affected its author, who spent the following years flirting with Satanism; this tendency culminated in his novel There, in which he appears both disgusted and morbidly fascinated by Satanic mysticism.
The year after the publication of À rebours (1891), Huysmans publicly professed his reconciliation with the Catholic Church in his autobiography entitled En route. Apparently, this dramatic return to Christianity also affected Wilde. When, in 1898, Maurice Maeterlinck told him that Huysmans had entered a monastery, Wilde showed his approval in his reply: "It must be wonderful to see God through a stained-glass window. Perhaps I should go to a monastery too."
However, until the last months of his life, Wilde showed no serious intention of joining the Church (...) Robert Ross, who made the decision to call a priest to Wilde's bedside when he was dying at the beginning (...) had his doubts. But Wilde's statement some time earlier that "Catholicism is the only religion to die in" and his confession three weeks before his death that he regretted not being allowed to convert to Catholicism as a child must surely have convinced him. Ross knew that Wilde had 'knelt like a Roman' before a priest at Notre-Dame in Paris and shown the same sign of respect in Naples in the presence of another priest. Moreover, Wilde had returned excited from a recent trip to Rome, during which he received the papal blessing. Finally, on 29 November 1900 (...) Ross decided to bring him a priest. When Ross asked Wilde, who was no longer able to speak, if he wished to see him, his friend raised a hand in assent. When Father Dunne asked him if he wanted to be received into the Church, Wilde again replied by raising his hand. Then, after administering conditional baptism, Father Dunne gave him absolution and anointed him with holy oils. Wilde died the following afternoon.
"Converted Writers" - Joseph Pearce
#CONVERTS
"Oscar Wilde (...) with his calculated and measured airs of worldly cynicism (...) on his deathbed (...) was received into the Catholic Church.
It is difficult to imagine a less 'predictable' convert than him. The fact is that (...) he felt an inclination towards Catholicism that dated back to his childhood. Three weeks before his death, he told a journalist from the Daily Chronicle that 'my lack of moral rectitude is largely due to the fact that my father did not allow me to convert to Catholicism. The artistic side of the Church and the fragrance of its teaching might have cured my vices. I have long wished to be received into it." Already in his youth, in April 1878, Wilde was on the verge of converting after meeting Father Sebastian Bowden at the Brompton Oratory [who recommended in a letter that he "pray much and speak little"].
The priest's advice fell on deaf ears (...): he spoke a lot and prayed little, made an art of affectation and completely forgot the importance of behaving with righteousness.
One of the main influences that led Wilde to decadence was the French novelist Joris-Karl Huysmans, whose work À rebours was taken as an unquestionable guide to leading a libertine lifestyle. The protagonist (...) an intellectual dandy devoted to the pursuit of pleasure, became the model for a new generation of aspiring rebels (...) Huysmans' influence on Wilde was not only intense but also degrading, completely transforming his morality (...) "it was a poisoned book" from which Wilde drank at will: a poison whose curse also affected its author, who spent the following years flirting with Satanism; this tendency culminated in his novel There, in which he appears both disgusted and morbidly fascinated by Satanic mysticism.
The year after the publication of À rebours (1891), Huysmans publicly professed his reconciliation with the Catholic Church in his autobiography entitled En route. Apparently, this dramatic return to Christianity also affected Wilde. When, in 1898, Maurice Maeterlinck told him that Huysmans had entered a monastery, Wilde showed his approval in his reply: "It must be wonderful to see God through a stained-glass window. Perhaps I should go to a monastery too."
However, until the last months of his life, Wilde showed no serious intention of joining the Church (...) Robert Ross, who made the decision to call a priest to Wilde's bedside when he was dying at the beginning (...) had his doubts. But Wilde's statement some time earlier that "Catholicism is the only religion to die in" and his confession three weeks before his death that he regretted not being allowed to convert to Catholicism as a child must surely have convinced him. Ross knew that Wilde had 'knelt like a Roman' before a priest at Notre-Dame in Paris and shown the same sign of respect in Naples in the presence of another priest. Moreover, Wilde had returned excited from a recent trip to Rome, during which he received the papal blessing. Finally, on 29 November 1900 (...) Ross decided to bring him a priest. When Ross asked Wilde, who was no longer able to speak, if he wished to see him, his friend raised a hand in assent. When Father Dunne asked him if he wanted to be received into the Church, Wilde again replied by raising his hand. Then, after administering conditional baptism, Father Dunne gave him absolution and anointed him with holy oils. Wilde died the following afternoon.
"Converted Writers" - Joseph Pearce
#CONVERTS
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THE CONVERSION OF OSCAR WILDE AND HIS ENTOURAGE 2/2
"(...) An even more curious transformation also took place at the last minute in the person of the Marquis of Queensberry, Wilde's former enemy. Queensberry, a self-confessed agnostic, had expressly stated in his will that 'no pantomimes or Christian nonsense should be performed on my grave; I want to be buried as an agnostic and secularist'. So it was very surprising that, on the eve of 31 January 1900, the date of his death, Queensberry recanted his agnosticism, proclaimed his love for Christ, 'before whom I have confessed all my sins', and received conditional absolution from a Catholic priest. Given the virulence of the libel suit in which Wilde and the Marquess of Queensberry had been involved only five years earlier, their posthumous reconciliation in the same faith defies all fiction. It is easy to imagine Wilde smiling at the idea that fate would end up making such strange bedfellows.
(...) Among the members of Wilde's circle was someone who, overshadowed by his contemporaries, went largely unnoticed; someone who also converted to Catholicism and whose life and literary work would extend well into the new century. John Gray appeared on the literary scene in the late 1880s as the author of a Wilde-style fantasy story, written for the first issue of The Dial, entitled 'The Great Worm'. Wilde tracked down his new imitator and the two became good friends. The extent of their affection and the intimacy of their relationship can be easily deduced from the fact that Wilde drew on his recent friendship to name the protagonist of his novel Dorian Gray. This greatly flattered Gray, who from then on began to sign letters to his friend as 'Dorian'. The relationship began to weaken sometime in 1892, and shortly thereafter, Gray was received into the Catholic Church. In 1901, after entering the seminary in Rome, he was ordained a priest. Despite having been largely forgotten, his biographer, Father Brocard Sewell, described him as "an admirable poet, among other things". From 1905 onwards, he was in charge of the parish of Morningside in Edinburgh, a position that did not interfere with his literary work. He published only a few small, limited editions, but they were admired by "John Masefield, Edmund Blunden and other discerning judges" such as these. Perhaps his best-known work, the novella Park: A Fantastic Story, was printed and published in 1932 by Eric Gill and René Hague. Gray died in 1934.
"Converted Writers" - Joseph Pearce
#CONVERTS
"(...) An even more curious transformation also took place at the last minute in the person of the Marquis of Queensberry, Wilde's former enemy. Queensberry, a self-confessed agnostic, had expressly stated in his will that 'no pantomimes or Christian nonsense should be performed on my grave; I want to be buried as an agnostic and secularist'. So it was very surprising that, on the eve of 31 January 1900, the date of his death, Queensberry recanted his agnosticism, proclaimed his love for Christ, 'before whom I have confessed all my sins', and received conditional absolution from a Catholic priest. Given the virulence of the libel suit in which Wilde and the Marquess of Queensberry had been involved only five years earlier, their posthumous reconciliation in the same faith defies all fiction. It is easy to imagine Wilde smiling at the idea that fate would end up making such strange bedfellows.
(...) Among the members of Wilde's circle was someone who, overshadowed by his contemporaries, went largely unnoticed; someone who also converted to Catholicism and whose life and literary work would extend well into the new century. John Gray appeared on the literary scene in the late 1880s as the author of a Wilde-style fantasy story, written for the first issue of The Dial, entitled 'The Great Worm'. Wilde tracked down his new imitator and the two became good friends. The extent of their affection and the intimacy of their relationship can be easily deduced from the fact that Wilde drew on his recent friendship to name the protagonist of his novel Dorian Gray. This greatly flattered Gray, who from then on began to sign letters to his friend as 'Dorian'. The relationship began to weaken sometime in 1892, and shortly thereafter, Gray was received into the Catholic Church. In 1901, after entering the seminary in Rome, he was ordained a priest. Despite having been largely forgotten, his biographer, Father Brocard Sewell, described him as "an admirable poet, among other things". From 1905 onwards, he was in charge of the parish of Morningside in Edinburgh, a position that did not interfere with his literary work. He published only a few small, limited editions, but they were admired by "John Masefield, Edmund Blunden and other discerning judges" such as these. Perhaps his best-known work, the novella Park: A Fantastic Story, was printed and published in 1932 by Eric Gill and René Hague. Gray died in 1934.
"Converted Writers" - Joseph Pearce
#CONVERTS
❤🔥4
VARIOUS ARTICLES
"Joaquín Alcaraz had been a bricklayer in his early years. Later, for the rest of his life, he was simply sick.
His illness began with a work accident that affected one of his legs and then spread throughout his body, leaving him covered in sores and deformed, immobilised and in pain.
He lived in bed for so many years that he even celebrated his silver wedding with pain. And always peaceful, resigned, with an intense spiritual life, he was a truly sick apostle.
He read pious books and wrote to communicate spiritual feelings and give good advice in letters that are preserved as relics. When the disease progressed to the point of gripping his hands, he learned to write with a pen attached to a wooden handle that was placed in his mouth. A small lectern was placed on his chest to serve as a table. He clamped the handle between his teeth and stamped the beautiful ideas of his soul onto the paper.
During those thirty-plus years of his life in resigned crucifixion, the Spanish civil war of 1936 unfolded; and one fine day, some strangers entered his room, wearing the uniform and belt of militiamen, who had come to recruit volunteers for the trenches:
"What are you doing there?"
"I'm sick."
"That's a lie: what's happening is that you don't want to go to the front."
And as he spoke, the militia leader began to pull off the sheets that covered him; but he was instantly paralysed when he saw those twisted hands, that wounded chest.
One of the invaders exclaimed:
'I had heard that in this village there is a man who is paralysed and who writes with his teeth.
'Are you that man?' asked the leader. And he challenged Joaquín: 'I bet you can't write with your teeth in front of us!
At a calm gesture from the sick man himself, they placed his lectern with a piece of paper and the pen handle in his mouth. The sick man wrote before the attentive militiamen:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name...
They looked at him in respectful silence. Several of those men wanted to take the paper written with his teeth. The leader prevailed and kept it, ordering everyone to leave.
Only Joaquín Alcaraz remained, listening to them walk away... But suddenly, hurried footsteps came up the stairs and entered the room. The patient wondered if this man had come to take one last revenge against him.
But the newcomer stood in the doorway, looked at Joaquín, and said in a voice that trembled in the air: "Now I believe there is a God..."
The sick man, discovering his acceptance of pain by writing the Lord's Prayer, had attracted to the militiaman the inner grace that enlightens and converts.
"These give with joy" - José Julio Martínez
#VARIOUSARTICLES #PROBLEMOFEVIL #CONVERTS
"Joaquín Alcaraz had been a bricklayer in his early years. Later, for the rest of his life, he was simply sick.
His illness began with a work accident that affected one of his legs and then spread throughout his body, leaving him covered in sores and deformed, immobilised and in pain.
He lived in bed for so many years that he even celebrated his silver wedding with pain. And always peaceful, resigned, with an intense spiritual life, he was a truly sick apostle.
He read pious books and wrote to communicate spiritual feelings and give good advice in letters that are preserved as relics. When the disease progressed to the point of gripping his hands, he learned to write with a pen attached to a wooden handle that was placed in his mouth. A small lectern was placed on his chest to serve as a table. He clamped the handle between his teeth and stamped the beautiful ideas of his soul onto the paper.
During those thirty-plus years of his life in resigned crucifixion, the Spanish civil war of 1936 unfolded; and one fine day, some strangers entered his room, wearing the uniform and belt of militiamen, who had come to recruit volunteers for the trenches:
"What are you doing there?"
"I'm sick."
"That's a lie: what's happening is that you don't want to go to the front."
And as he spoke, the militia leader began to pull off the sheets that covered him; but he was instantly paralysed when he saw those twisted hands, that wounded chest.
One of the invaders exclaimed:
'I had heard that in this village there is a man who is paralysed and who writes with his teeth.
'Are you that man?' asked the leader. And he challenged Joaquín: 'I bet you can't write with your teeth in front of us!
At a calm gesture from the sick man himself, they placed his lectern with a piece of paper and the pen handle in his mouth. The sick man wrote before the attentive militiamen:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name...
They looked at him in respectful silence. Several of those men wanted to take the paper written with his teeth. The leader prevailed and kept it, ordering everyone to leave.
Only Joaquín Alcaraz remained, listening to them walk away... But suddenly, hurried footsteps came up the stairs and entered the room. The patient wondered if this man had come to take one last revenge against him.
But the newcomer stood in the doorway, looked at Joaquín, and said in a voice that trembled in the air: "Now I believe there is a God..."
The sick man, discovering his acceptance of pain by writing the Lord's Prayer, had attracted to the militiaman the inner grace that enlightens and converts.
"These give with joy" - José Julio Martínez
#VARIOUSARTICLES #PROBLEMOFEVIL #CONVERTS
SPIRITUAL PERFECTION
“The following example will serve the devotees of Saint Joseph (...) so that they do not become saddened if it should ever happen that, when asking the Saint, who is so pious and benevolent, their petitions are not heard; rather, what they should do is strengthen their faith and convince themselves that the Saint hears them as best suits their health, even if not in accordance with their desire and request; which, if fulfilled, might be to their detriment, and not as they think for their good. Woe to the sick if doctors granted them everything they desired! Father Juan de Allosa recounts this case in his work on devotion and love for Saint Joseph (...) There was a gentleman who was very devoted to Saint Joseph, and every year he celebrated his feast day as best he could. He had three sons, and at the time of celebrating the feast of the Saint, one of them died; the following year, at the same time of the feast, another died. The good gentleman was very distressed and afraid to celebrate the feast of the Saint a third time, for fear that his third son would also die.
Thus afflicted, he went out into the countryside to distract himself somewhat from his grief and melancholy. Walking along, deep in thought, he looked up at some trees and saw two young men hanging from them. At that moment, an angel appeared to him and said, 'Do you see these two young men hanging? Know that this is what would have become of your two sons if they had lived and grown up; but because you are devoted to Saint Joseph, he has obtained from God that they should die as children, so that they would not dishonour your house, and that they would secure eternal life through that early death. Do not be afraid, then: celebrate the feast of the Saint, because your third young son will be a bishop and will live many years"; and so it happened, as the angel predicted.
Let us leave our affairs in the hands of the Holy Patriarch, for he knows better than we what is good for us. Let us say to him with filial trust, like his passionate devotee Saint Teresa of Jesus: "If my request is wrong, glorious lord and father Saint Joseph, correct it for my own good, for I place in your hands, and how willingly, my soul, my life and my heart; my temporal and eternal destiny."
Excerpt from the "Devotion of the 7 Sundays" to Saint Joseph
#SPIRITUALPERFECTION
“The following example will serve the devotees of Saint Joseph (...) so that they do not become saddened if it should ever happen that, when asking the Saint, who is so pious and benevolent, their petitions are not heard; rather, what they should do is strengthen their faith and convince themselves that the Saint hears them as best suits their health, even if not in accordance with their desire and request; which, if fulfilled, might be to their detriment, and not as they think for their good. Woe to the sick if doctors granted them everything they desired! Father Juan de Allosa recounts this case in his work on devotion and love for Saint Joseph (...) There was a gentleman who was very devoted to Saint Joseph, and every year he celebrated his feast day as best he could. He had three sons, and at the time of celebrating the feast of the Saint, one of them died; the following year, at the same time of the feast, another died. The good gentleman was very distressed and afraid to celebrate the feast of the Saint a third time, for fear that his third son would also die.
Thus afflicted, he went out into the countryside to distract himself somewhat from his grief and melancholy. Walking along, deep in thought, he looked up at some trees and saw two young men hanging from them. At that moment, an angel appeared to him and said, 'Do you see these two young men hanging? Know that this is what would have become of your two sons if they had lived and grown up; but because you are devoted to Saint Joseph, he has obtained from God that they should die as children, so that they would not dishonour your house, and that they would secure eternal life through that early death. Do not be afraid, then: celebrate the feast of the Saint, because your third young son will be a bishop and will live many years"; and so it happened, as the angel predicted.
Let us leave our affairs in the hands of the Holy Patriarch, for he knows better than we what is good for us. Let us say to him with filial trust, like his passionate devotee Saint Teresa of Jesus: "If my request is wrong, glorious lord and father Saint Joseph, correct it for my own good, for I place in your hands, and how willingly, my soul, my life and my heart; my temporal and eternal destiny."
Excerpt from the "Devotion of the 7 Sundays" to Saint Joseph
#SPIRITUALPERFECTION
MIRACLES AND PROVIDENCE
“Saint Teresa of Calcutta often said: When it comes to material goods, we depend entirely on God's providence. We have never been forced to turn anyone away because of a lack of resources. There has always been one more bed, one more plate. Because God takes care of his poor children... In Calcutta, we feed 10,000 sick people every day. One day, the sister in charge of food came to me and said, 'Mother, we have nothing to feed so many people. I was very surprised, because it was the first time something like this had ever happened. But at nine o'clock in the morning, a truck arrived loaded with bread. Every day, the government gave the children in poor schools a piece of bread and a glass of milk. I don't know why, but on that day, the schools in the city were closed and all the bread was sent to us. As you can see, God had closed the schools because he could not allow our people to go without food. And it was the first time they were able to eat good quality bread until they were completely full. One day we had absolutely nothing for dinner. And we were very hungry. Unexpectedly, a lady whom none of us knew showed up. She said to us, "I don't know why, but I felt compelled to bring you these bags of rice. I hope they will be useful to you." When we opened them, we realised that they contained exactly what we needed for dinner. When we opened our first house in New York, Cardinal Cooke seemed very concerned about the maintenance of the sisters and decided to allocate a monthly amount for this purpose. I did not want to offend him, but at the same time, I had to explain to him that we depend on divine providence, which has never failed us. So, at the end of the conversation, I said, half-jokingly, "Your Eminence, do you think that it will be in New York, of all places, where God will have to declare bankruptcy?
On one occasion, we were looking for a house in London to open our European novitiate. We encountered numerous difficulties. After many fruitless efforts, we were informed that an English lady had what we needed. She told us, "I do indeed have a house for sale, but it costs £6,500, payable in cash." For several days, two sisters went around the city, making visits, giving talks, speaking on the radio... And donations began to arrive. One night, the sisters decided to count what had come in: it was exactly £6,500. And the next morning, we bought the house. Our trust in providence can be summed up in a firm and vigorous faith that God can help us and will help us. That He can is evident, because He is omnipotent; that He will is certain, because He promised it in many passages of the Gospel and He is infinitely faithful to His promises...
A very wealthy gentleman wanted to give us a lot of money, but he made it a condition that the account, which he would put in the bank, should not be touched. It would be like insurance for our work. I replied by telling him that before offending God, I would rather offend him, although I was grateful for his generosity. I could not accept his money because God has taken care of us all these years, and the security of his money would take away the life of our work. It would be like distrusting providence. On the other hand, I could not have money in the bank while there were people in need. It seems that the letter made an impression on him because before he died, he sent us a very large sum of money. In short, he gave us his entire fortune.
"God's providence" - Father Ángel Peña O. A. R.
#MIRACLESANDPROVIDENCE
“Saint Teresa of Calcutta often said: When it comes to material goods, we depend entirely on God's providence. We have never been forced to turn anyone away because of a lack of resources. There has always been one more bed, one more plate. Because God takes care of his poor children... In Calcutta, we feed 10,000 sick people every day. One day, the sister in charge of food came to me and said, 'Mother, we have nothing to feed so many people. I was very surprised, because it was the first time something like this had ever happened. But at nine o'clock in the morning, a truck arrived loaded with bread. Every day, the government gave the children in poor schools a piece of bread and a glass of milk. I don't know why, but on that day, the schools in the city were closed and all the bread was sent to us. As you can see, God had closed the schools because he could not allow our people to go without food. And it was the first time they were able to eat good quality bread until they were completely full. One day we had absolutely nothing for dinner. And we were very hungry. Unexpectedly, a lady whom none of us knew showed up. She said to us, "I don't know why, but I felt compelled to bring you these bags of rice. I hope they will be useful to you." When we opened them, we realised that they contained exactly what we needed for dinner. When we opened our first house in New York, Cardinal Cooke seemed very concerned about the maintenance of the sisters and decided to allocate a monthly amount for this purpose. I did not want to offend him, but at the same time, I had to explain to him that we depend on divine providence, which has never failed us. So, at the end of the conversation, I said, half-jokingly, "Your Eminence, do you think that it will be in New York, of all places, where God will have to declare bankruptcy?
On one occasion, we were looking for a house in London to open our European novitiate. We encountered numerous difficulties. After many fruitless efforts, we were informed that an English lady had what we needed. She told us, "I do indeed have a house for sale, but it costs £6,500, payable in cash." For several days, two sisters went around the city, making visits, giving talks, speaking on the radio... And donations began to arrive. One night, the sisters decided to count what had come in: it was exactly £6,500. And the next morning, we bought the house. Our trust in providence can be summed up in a firm and vigorous faith that God can help us and will help us. That He can is evident, because He is omnipotent; that He will is certain, because He promised it in many passages of the Gospel and He is infinitely faithful to His promises...
A very wealthy gentleman wanted to give us a lot of money, but he made it a condition that the account, which he would put in the bank, should not be touched. It would be like insurance for our work. I replied by telling him that before offending God, I would rather offend him, although I was grateful for his generosity. I could not accept his money because God has taken care of us all these years, and the security of his money would take away the life of our work. It would be like distrusting providence. On the other hand, I could not have money in the bank while there were people in need. It seems that the letter made an impression on him because before he died, he sent us a very large sum of money. In short, he gave us his entire fortune.
"God's providence" - Father Ángel Peña O. A. R.
#MIRACLESANDPROVIDENCE
MIRACLES AND PROVIDENCE
"In Mexico, as part of the Christmas campaign, the sisters prepared bags of food to give to poor families. The Pan Bimbo factory had promised to send all the bread needed to fill the bags. Shortly after Christmas Day, the manager of Pan Bimbo arrived, completely embarrassed and confused for not having fulfilled his promise. He apologised profusely for such a regrettable oversight. The sister who attended to him replied: Sir, they brought bread, and plenty of it. Impossible, not a crumb of bread leaves the factory without my permission. Well, there must be another manager who makes sure that your poorest children don't go without bread at Christmas.
A few days ago, a man came to our Mother House and said to me, "Mother, my only daughter is dying. The doctor has prescribed a medicine that cannot be obtained in India, but only abroad. Mother, he pleaded, do something for my daughter before she dies." We were talking when another man appeared with a box of medicines in his arms. And right on top of the box was the medicine that the father needed for his little girl. If the medicine had been further down or if the man had arrived earlier or later, we would not have found it. It was precisely at that moment that everything had to happen. This made me think that among the millions of children in the world, God had time to take care of that little girl, lost in the slums of Calcutta. Therein lies the tender love of our Father God, manifested to a poor child in Calcutta.
Father Pedro Arribas says that one day he was talking to Mother Teresa about a project for abandoned children in Caracas. When I expressed my doubts about the difficulty of finding a suitable piece of land in an overpopulated area, he cut me off, saying, "Father, don't worry, if God wants it, you will find the land. Have faith and start looking for it. The following week, unexpectedly, we received a donation of six hectares of land in the heart of the desired area.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: Several months ago, in Melbourne, Australia, we took in an alcoholic man whom the Sisters brought to the Home. The way they treated and cared for him was a revelation to him. God loves me, he said. When he left the Home, he returned to his family and his children. He started working and never touched another drop of alcohol. When he received his first salary, he came to see the Sisters and gave it to them, saying, "I want you to be God's love for others as you were for me." Also in that same city, I went to visit an elderly man. His room was in a terrible state. I wanted to clean it, but he said, "I'm fine like this." After begging him, he allowed me to clean it. He had a beautiful lamp in his room, covered with dust. "Why don't you turn on this lamp?" "What for? No one comes to see me. I don't need that lamp." "Will you turn on that lamp if the sisters come to visit you?" "Yes, in that case."
Recently, he sent me a message: "The light you turned on in my life still shines in my heart.
(...) There are many people who need love, starting with our own home. Give love to your children, your husband or wife, your neighbour and everyone around you."
"God's Providence" - Father Ángel Peña O. A. R.
#MIRACLESANDPROVIDENCE
"In Mexico, as part of the Christmas campaign, the sisters prepared bags of food to give to poor families. The Pan Bimbo factory had promised to send all the bread needed to fill the bags. Shortly after Christmas Day, the manager of Pan Bimbo arrived, completely embarrassed and confused for not having fulfilled his promise. He apologised profusely for such a regrettable oversight. The sister who attended to him replied: Sir, they brought bread, and plenty of it. Impossible, not a crumb of bread leaves the factory without my permission. Well, there must be another manager who makes sure that your poorest children don't go without bread at Christmas.
A few days ago, a man came to our Mother House and said to me, "Mother, my only daughter is dying. The doctor has prescribed a medicine that cannot be obtained in India, but only abroad. Mother, he pleaded, do something for my daughter before she dies." We were talking when another man appeared with a box of medicines in his arms. And right on top of the box was the medicine that the father needed for his little girl. If the medicine had been further down or if the man had arrived earlier or later, we would not have found it. It was precisely at that moment that everything had to happen. This made me think that among the millions of children in the world, God had time to take care of that little girl, lost in the slums of Calcutta. Therein lies the tender love of our Father God, manifested to a poor child in Calcutta.
Father Pedro Arribas says that one day he was talking to Mother Teresa about a project for abandoned children in Caracas. When I expressed my doubts about the difficulty of finding a suitable piece of land in an overpopulated area, he cut me off, saying, "Father, don't worry, if God wants it, you will find the land. Have faith and start looking for it. The following week, unexpectedly, we received a donation of six hectares of land in the heart of the desired area.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said: Several months ago, in Melbourne, Australia, we took in an alcoholic man whom the Sisters brought to the Home. The way they treated and cared for him was a revelation to him. God loves me, he said. When he left the Home, he returned to his family and his children. He started working and never touched another drop of alcohol. When he received his first salary, he came to see the Sisters and gave it to them, saying, "I want you to be God's love for others as you were for me." Also in that same city, I went to visit an elderly man. His room was in a terrible state. I wanted to clean it, but he said, "I'm fine like this." After begging him, he allowed me to clean it. He had a beautiful lamp in his room, covered with dust. "Why don't you turn on this lamp?" "What for? No one comes to see me. I don't need that lamp." "Will you turn on that lamp if the sisters come to visit you?" "Yes, in that case."
Recently, he sent me a message: "The light you turned on in my life still shines in my heart.
(...) There are many people who need love, starting with our own home. Give love to your children, your husband or wife, your neighbour and everyone around you."
"God's Providence" - Father Ángel Peña O. A. R.
#MIRACLESANDPROVIDENCE
❤3
One day I asked Father Taisid how he had come up with the idea of becoming a priest. I never imagined that the answer to this simple question would be so interesting. Father Taisid had been a pearl fisherman in the distant days of his youth, and here is the story he told me with vivid emotion:
I was just a child. The priests stole my purest love. Yes, my mother was an angel, my sweet caress, but one day she fell asleep and never woke up again.
The priests from my parish came to our house with sad songs and black cloaks.
They took her away forever.
To the melodic rhythm of their mournful psalms, I began to despise them.
I was 15 years old when I left my hometown.
I reached the beaches; I was at sea, and one fine day, eager for adventure, I enlisted among pirates and pearl divers.
I had already been sailing with them for eight months.
It was quite an entertaining life, as almost every day brought us something new, whether it was the commotion and arguments that occurred on board, or the adventures that awaited us at the bottom of the sea or on the coasts where we docked.
But I could not find the happiness my soul desired, and I always felt that something was missing...
Until the greatest day of my life arrived.
We were sailing as usual...
The sea was calm, but then the fateful wind whistled through the rigging, filled all the sails and sent the ship flying. Suddenly, a loud crash announced that we had run aground.
With a fierce growl, the leader of those pirates, an old pearl fisherman, made me put on the rubber suit and mask to descend into the sea and examine the hull of our ship.
Once at the bottom, I began my exploration.
The hull was intact, but it was trapped between some rocks that formed a small underwater cave at the bottom. We would have to wait for the tide to rise. Only then would the ship be freed from the rocks that held it captive and be able to sail again.
Looking around through the glass of my mask, I found myself face to face with a human skeleton. I approached it and saw a small silver chain tangled among the bones, with a locket attached to it.
I detached the chain and locket from the human remains and hid it in my diving belt.
Once the inspection was complete, I was hoisted back onto the ship. After reporting on the condition of the hull, I withdrew, eager to know the contents of the locket. I opened it stealthily. But my eyes, eager for riches, found only a piece of paper; I unfolded it and read it slowly:
Jamebel Ben-Agar, Catholic missionary in the lands of Arabia. Oh, sweet Jesus, I thank you for granting me a long and fruitful apostolate! Lord, the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Send labourers into your harvest!
I was overcome with intense emotion as I read that fervent plea from an apostle of Jesus.
I don't know how, but I made up my mind and showed my find to the sailors. One of them, with very rough skin, commented:
"Three years ago, a ship coming from Arabia crashed into this same reef because of a strong wind. The ship began to sink, and everyone sought to save themselves.
Only one man, instead of escaping, took it upon himself to save the others. At the same time, he spoke to them about God, forgave their sins, and encouraged them with the hope of heaven... That heroic man was a Catholic missionary who had worked to save souls on the warm coasts of Arabia and now, on that ship, was setting out to found a new Christianity. The old fisherman's brief story moved me deeply.
An intense struggle took place in my soul between the heroism I now admired and my old resentment against priests because 'they had stolen my mother'. I began to feel transformed by the fervent plea written by that missionary asking for more workers for the Lord's fields...
Finally, this cry of victory escaped me:
"I will be a fisherman priest!
I had just realised that it was good to fish for souls for heaven!"
"These give with joy" - José-Julio Martínez
#CONVERTS
I was just a child. The priests stole my purest love. Yes, my mother was an angel, my sweet caress, but one day she fell asleep and never woke up again.
The priests from my parish came to our house with sad songs and black cloaks.
They took her away forever.
To the melodic rhythm of their mournful psalms, I began to despise them.
I was 15 years old when I left my hometown.
I reached the beaches; I was at sea, and one fine day, eager for adventure, I enlisted among pirates and pearl divers.
I had already been sailing with them for eight months.
It was quite an entertaining life, as almost every day brought us something new, whether it was the commotion and arguments that occurred on board, or the adventures that awaited us at the bottom of the sea or on the coasts where we docked.
But I could not find the happiness my soul desired, and I always felt that something was missing...
Until the greatest day of my life arrived.
We were sailing as usual...
The sea was calm, but then the fateful wind whistled through the rigging, filled all the sails and sent the ship flying. Suddenly, a loud crash announced that we had run aground.
With a fierce growl, the leader of those pirates, an old pearl fisherman, made me put on the rubber suit and mask to descend into the sea and examine the hull of our ship.
Once at the bottom, I began my exploration.
The hull was intact, but it was trapped between some rocks that formed a small underwater cave at the bottom. We would have to wait for the tide to rise. Only then would the ship be freed from the rocks that held it captive and be able to sail again.
Looking around through the glass of my mask, I found myself face to face with a human skeleton. I approached it and saw a small silver chain tangled among the bones, with a locket attached to it.
I detached the chain and locket from the human remains and hid it in my diving belt.
Once the inspection was complete, I was hoisted back onto the ship. After reporting on the condition of the hull, I withdrew, eager to know the contents of the locket. I opened it stealthily. But my eyes, eager for riches, found only a piece of paper; I unfolded it and read it slowly:
Jamebel Ben-Agar, Catholic missionary in the lands of Arabia. Oh, sweet Jesus, I thank you for granting me a long and fruitful apostolate! Lord, the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Send labourers into your harvest!
I was overcome with intense emotion as I read that fervent plea from an apostle of Jesus.
I don't know how, but I made up my mind and showed my find to the sailors. One of them, with very rough skin, commented:
"Three years ago, a ship coming from Arabia crashed into this same reef because of a strong wind. The ship began to sink, and everyone sought to save themselves.
Only one man, instead of escaping, took it upon himself to save the others. At the same time, he spoke to them about God, forgave their sins, and encouraged them with the hope of heaven... That heroic man was a Catholic missionary who had worked to save souls on the warm coasts of Arabia and now, on that ship, was setting out to found a new Christianity. The old fisherman's brief story moved me deeply.
An intense struggle took place in my soul between the heroism I now admired and my old resentment against priests because 'they had stolen my mother'. I began to feel transformed by the fervent plea written by that missionary asking for more workers for the Lord's fields...
Finally, this cry of victory escaped me:
"I will be a fisherman priest!
I had just realised that it was good to fish for souls for heaven!"
"These give with joy" - José-Julio Martínez
#CONVERTS
❤2
ALEC GUINNESS' CONVERSION (OBI-WAN KENOBI) 1/2
"My friendship with Cyril Tomkinson had considerably diminished my anti-clericalism, but not my anti-Romanism. Then came the Father Brown film... while we were shooting on location in Burgundy, something happened that I always remember with pleasure (...)
One night we were scheduled to shoot in a village on top of a small hill, not far from Macon... About three kilometres away, I had a room in a small hotel at the station. At dusk, bored and dressed as a priest, I took the winding sandy path that led to the village... When I was told that I would not be needed for at least the next four hours, I decided to return to the station. It was night-time. I had not walked far when I heard footsteps jumping behind me and a high-pitched voice calling me: 'Mon père!'. A boy of seven or eight grabbed my hand and, squeezing it tightly, began to shake it while talking nonsense. He was very excited and kept jumping up and down. Afraid of scaring him with my terrible French, I didn't dare say a word. Although I was a complete stranger to him, he had obviously taken me for a priest and trusted me. Suddenly, with a "Bonsoir, mon père" and a quick nod of his head, he disappeared through a hole in a fence. As he returned home happy and comforted, he left me with a strange feeling of euphoria and serenity. I continued on my way thinking that a Church capable of inspiring such trust in a child, of so easily fostering closeness with its priests – even though they were strangers – could not be as intriguing and horrible as was often claimed. So I began to let go of some prejudices that had been ingrained in me since time immemorial.
(...) Added to this was the fact that the actor's son (...) who was eleven years old at the time, fell ill with polio and (...) suffered paralysis of his lower limbs (...) Every day, after work, Guinness would take a walk along the riverbank with his heart heavy with grief for his son:
in the midst of so much anguish, I got into the habit of stopping at a small, rather tacky Catholic church on my way home. I didn't go there to pray or beg or worship: I just sat there for ten minutes to gather as much peace of mind as I could. There was never anyone there. After repeating this several times, I made a deal with God: "Make him well," I said, "and I will never put a single obstacle in his way if he ever wants to become a Catholic." That was an extreme sacrifice on my part. After three months, Matthew was able to walk, albeit with difficulty. At Christmas, he started playing football. And it wasn't long before I was forced to honour my part of the bargain.
[They couldn't find a school in London] until film director Peter Glenville, who had studied at Stoneyhurst and held the Jesuits in high regard, suggested Beaumont, near Windsor. "But it's Catholic...!" exclaimed Guinness, before remembering the promise he had made in Hammersmith Church.
#CONVERTS
"My friendship with Cyril Tomkinson had considerably diminished my anti-clericalism, but not my anti-Romanism. Then came the Father Brown film... while we were shooting on location in Burgundy, something happened that I always remember with pleasure (...)
One night we were scheduled to shoot in a village on top of a small hill, not far from Macon... About three kilometres away, I had a room in a small hotel at the station. At dusk, bored and dressed as a priest, I took the winding sandy path that led to the village... When I was told that I would not be needed for at least the next four hours, I decided to return to the station. It was night-time. I had not walked far when I heard footsteps jumping behind me and a high-pitched voice calling me: 'Mon père!'. A boy of seven or eight grabbed my hand and, squeezing it tightly, began to shake it while talking nonsense. He was very excited and kept jumping up and down. Afraid of scaring him with my terrible French, I didn't dare say a word. Although I was a complete stranger to him, he had obviously taken me for a priest and trusted me. Suddenly, with a "Bonsoir, mon père" and a quick nod of his head, he disappeared through a hole in a fence. As he returned home happy and comforted, he left me with a strange feeling of euphoria and serenity. I continued on my way thinking that a Church capable of inspiring such trust in a child, of so easily fostering closeness with its priests – even though they were strangers – could not be as intriguing and horrible as was often claimed. So I began to let go of some prejudices that had been ingrained in me since time immemorial.
(...) Added to this was the fact that the actor's son (...) who was eleven years old at the time, fell ill with polio and (...) suffered paralysis of his lower limbs (...) Every day, after work, Guinness would take a walk along the riverbank with his heart heavy with grief for his son:
in the midst of so much anguish, I got into the habit of stopping at a small, rather tacky Catholic church on my way home. I didn't go there to pray or beg or worship: I just sat there for ten minutes to gather as much peace of mind as I could. There was never anyone there. After repeating this several times, I made a deal with God: "Make him well," I said, "and I will never put a single obstacle in his way if he ever wants to become a Catholic." That was an extreme sacrifice on my part. After three months, Matthew was able to walk, albeit with difficulty. At Christmas, he started playing football. And it wasn't long before I was forced to honour my part of the bargain.
[They couldn't find a school in London] until film director Peter Glenville, who had studied at Stoneyhurst and held the Jesuits in high regard, suggested Beaumont, near Windsor. "But it's Catholic...!" exclaimed Guinness, before remembering the promise he had made in Hammersmith Church.
#CONVERTS
❤1👍1
ALEC GUINNESS' CONVERSION (OBI-WAN KENOBI) 2/2
An appointment was made with the headmaster of the school (...) "We only have three non-Catholic boys," he explained, "and if he stays here, I have no doubt that when he turns sixteen, he will want to follow the precepts of the Church. They all do. We won't put any pressure on him, I assure you, but he will most likely want to be received. Would you object?" Guinness hesitated a little before answering in the negative, and the headmaster, relieved, encouraged him to attend a school play that same afternoon. Despite declining the invitation, Guinness asked what play it was, and when he learned that it was Saint John by Bernard Shaw, he was surprised that such a play was considered appropriate for a Catholic school, to which the headmaster immediately replied, "It is a magnificent play. And if any of our boys leave here without adequate answers to offer Mr Shaw, then we will have failed." Matthew stayed at Beaumont and, as the headmaster predicted, at the age of fifteen he expressed his desire to "be received into the Roman Catholic Church".
Soon afterwards, his father began to think seriously about following in his son's footsteps. In the summer of 1955, he contacted the priest at the Catholic church in Petersfield and explained that he was a former Anglican and believed he wanted to receive instruction. Father Henry Clarke, a "kind, friendly and unassuming" priest, told his future catechumen that he too was a former Anglican. They agreed to meet regularly over the following weeks.
Eager to see how the Church worked from the inside, Guinness decided to retreat to Mount St Bernard Abbey, a Trappist monastery in the Midlands (...) "Although (...) they keep an incredible silence, except in cases of absolute necessity, one of them was given the task of talking to me whenever I wanted." That monk, Father Robert Hodge, who before his conversion had been an Anglican priest in Dartmouth, was in his fifties "and not in very good health". A lasting friendship would develop between him and Guinness:
He was a charming man... and he introduced me to the other monks one by one, telling me about their professions... He asked me what I thought was the most difficult thing for a monk. "The other monks," I replied immediately. He gave me one of those mocking looks that were Edith Sitwell's speciality and said solemnly, "That's right." And I felt as if I were top of the class.
Through Father Hodge, who told him about the monks' previous professions, he learned that one had been a customs officer, another a commander in the Rifle Corps, and a third, until the previous year, a member of the London Police; then, pointing to a black monk who was trimming a hedge, he explained that he came "from Abyssinia and is a magnificent farmer. He came to spend just a few weeks here... yes, twenty years ago. I don't know what we would do without him. He is very cheerful."
(...) life at the abbey filled Guinness with energy, and on 24 March 1956 he was received into the Catholic Church by Father Clarke: 'Like so many other converts before and after me, I felt at home, as if I had known "the place for the first time" (...) His wife "was understanding and happy, but perhaps slightly detached from it all" [nevertheless] The following year, while Guinness was in Sri Lanka filming The Bridge on the River Kwai, a work that earned him an Oscar, his wife informed him that she had [also] been received into the Church."
"Converted Writers" - Joseph Pearce.
#CONVERTS
An appointment was made with the headmaster of the school (...) "We only have three non-Catholic boys," he explained, "and if he stays here, I have no doubt that when he turns sixteen, he will want to follow the precepts of the Church. They all do. We won't put any pressure on him, I assure you, but he will most likely want to be received. Would you object?" Guinness hesitated a little before answering in the negative, and the headmaster, relieved, encouraged him to attend a school play that same afternoon. Despite declining the invitation, Guinness asked what play it was, and when he learned that it was Saint John by Bernard Shaw, he was surprised that such a play was considered appropriate for a Catholic school, to which the headmaster immediately replied, "It is a magnificent play. And if any of our boys leave here without adequate answers to offer Mr Shaw, then we will have failed." Matthew stayed at Beaumont and, as the headmaster predicted, at the age of fifteen he expressed his desire to "be received into the Roman Catholic Church".
Soon afterwards, his father began to think seriously about following in his son's footsteps. In the summer of 1955, he contacted the priest at the Catholic church in Petersfield and explained that he was a former Anglican and believed he wanted to receive instruction. Father Henry Clarke, a "kind, friendly and unassuming" priest, told his future catechumen that he too was a former Anglican. They agreed to meet regularly over the following weeks.
Eager to see how the Church worked from the inside, Guinness decided to retreat to Mount St Bernard Abbey, a Trappist monastery in the Midlands (...) "Although (...) they keep an incredible silence, except in cases of absolute necessity, one of them was given the task of talking to me whenever I wanted." That monk, Father Robert Hodge, who before his conversion had been an Anglican priest in Dartmouth, was in his fifties "and not in very good health". A lasting friendship would develop between him and Guinness:
He was a charming man... and he introduced me to the other monks one by one, telling me about their professions... He asked me what I thought was the most difficult thing for a monk. "The other monks," I replied immediately. He gave me one of those mocking looks that were Edith Sitwell's speciality and said solemnly, "That's right." And I felt as if I were top of the class.
Through Father Hodge, who told him about the monks' previous professions, he learned that one had been a customs officer, another a commander in the Rifle Corps, and a third, until the previous year, a member of the London Police; then, pointing to a black monk who was trimming a hedge, he explained that he came "from Abyssinia and is a magnificent farmer. He came to spend just a few weeks here... yes, twenty years ago. I don't know what we would do without him. He is very cheerful."
(...) life at the abbey filled Guinness with energy, and on 24 March 1956 he was received into the Catholic Church by Father Clarke: 'Like so many other converts before and after me, I felt at home, as if I had known "the place for the first time" (...) His wife "was understanding and happy, but perhaps slightly detached from it all" [nevertheless] The following year, while Guinness was in Sri Lanka filming The Bridge on the River Kwai, a work that earned him an Oscar, his wife informed him that she had [also] been received into the Church."
"Converted Writers" - Joseph Pearce.
#CONVERTS
❤🔥2
CHASTITY AND MARRIAGE
"The greatest risk of the early and all-encompassing cohabitation in which young people live today is that girls grow up and form their personalities without realising that they are profoundly different from boys (...) Culture leads us to think that there is an exact correspondence between performance, feelings and sexuality. Being always together, playing together, wearing the same jeans, everything seems to indicate that they are perfectly equal (...)
And so, the vast majority of girls, growing up as if they were equal to boys, when they fall in love think (...) that the boy also experiences what they experience, loves as they love, and this proves fatal for the fate of the family. So fatal that, after long experience, we are in a position to affirm that it is the deep root of almost all the great conflicts that arise in love relationships.
In today's society, the entire female personality (...) is deeply rooted in the apparent fact that there is equality in every sense. For a young woman, therefore, love is everything and only what she feels, with sincere impulses and meticulous attention; and she thinks that the man feels something similar. When her boyfriend begins to 'get distracted', to be less attentive to small things, because he is caught up in work and also friends, she finds it difficult to understand. She believes it is selfishness. Until a few years ago, this pattern led to family crises after several years of marriage. Today, it leads to the breakdown of many viable relationships, with devastating consequences for young people's security regarding the family and for the self-esteem of men, whose decline is reaching worrying levels.
When a woman depends radically, idolatrously, not only on marriage, but on being loved as she feels she loves her partner, then any distraction or snub from her husband attacks her absolute confidence and reduces her belief that she is loved. If a woman feels truly bad, she ends up convincing herself that her husband does not love her and does not understand her. The very nature of her unease convinces her of the other's wrongdoing: suspicion becomes certainty. And so, she locks herself into a vicious circle, similar to a fly that wants to get out through a closed window: the more she persists, the more discouraged she becomes.
Every detail, which she imbues with absolute meaning when for him it is relative, she sees as confirmation of her husband's selfishness (...) One sees a mountain where the other sees a pebble. (...) For a man, half an hour late is simply half an hour late. For a woman, on the other hand, it can become a deep conviction that her husband does not love her, that his heart is outside the home. The woman seeks to make him aware of the importance of family, but she encounters justifications that she considers wholly insufficient. Unable to see glimmers of a better future, she sinks into bitterness and subtle comparisons, which can end in the worst possible way.
For a woman who bases everything on her husband, feeling neglected is like feeling dead. She becomes restless and even distressed; she often falls into low spirits and even depression. It is a psychological conflict that generally leads sooner or later to the situation becoming unbearable (...) most crises are based on the woman's certainty that her husband is neglecting her. The collapse of her world, the feeling of not being at the centre, causes her so much suffering that it justifies her attacks on her spouse, which for her are only a defence mechanism. She comes to hate him, always certain that the fault lies solely with him and those who support him. The anguish caused by the profound breakdown of her idol is unbearable. She lives badly, deeply disappointed, restless, without consolation, with feelings very similar to those of depression. Sometimes, her only desire in life is to see her adversary destroyed."
"The crisis of love" – Father Ugo Borghello
#CHASTITYANDMARRIAGE
"The greatest risk of the early and all-encompassing cohabitation in which young people live today is that girls grow up and form their personalities without realising that they are profoundly different from boys (...) Culture leads us to think that there is an exact correspondence between performance, feelings and sexuality. Being always together, playing together, wearing the same jeans, everything seems to indicate that they are perfectly equal (...)
And so, the vast majority of girls, growing up as if they were equal to boys, when they fall in love think (...) that the boy also experiences what they experience, loves as they love, and this proves fatal for the fate of the family. So fatal that, after long experience, we are in a position to affirm that it is the deep root of almost all the great conflicts that arise in love relationships.
In today's society, the entire female personality (...) is deeply rooted in the apparent fact that there is equality in every sense. For a young woman, therefore, love is everything and only what she feels, with sincere impulses and meticulous attention; and she thinks that the man feels something similar. When her boyfriend begins to 'get distracted', to be less attentive to small things, because he is caught up in work and also friends, she finds it difficult to understand. She believes it is selfishness. Until a few years ago, this pattern led to family crises after several years of marriage. Today, it leads to the breakdown of many viable relationships, with devastating consequences for young people's security regarding the family and for the self-esteem of men, whose decline is reaching worrying levels.
When a woman depends radically, idolatrously, not only on marriage, but on being loved as she feels she loves her partner, then any distraction or snub from her husband attacks her absolute confidence and reduces her belief that she is loved. If a woman feels truly bad, she ends up convincing herself that her husband does not love her and does not understand her. The very nature of her unease convinces her of the other's wrongdoing: suspicion becomes certainty. And so, she locks herself into a vicious circle, similar to a fly that wants to get out through a closed window: the more she persists, the more discouraged she becomes.
Every detail, which she imbues with absolute meaning when for him it is relative, she sees as confirmation of her husband's selfishness (...) One sees a mountain where the other sees a pebble. (...) For a man, half an hour late is simply half an hour late. For a woman, on the other hand, it can become a deep conviction that her husband does not love her, that his heart is outside the home. The woman seeks to make him aware of the importance of family, but she encounters justifications that she considers wholly insufficient. Unable to see glimmers of a better future, she sinks into bitterness and subtle comparisons, which can end in the worst possible way.
For a woman who bases everything on her husband, feeling neglected is like feeling dead. She becomes restless and even distressed; she often falls into low spirits and even depression. It is a psychological conflict that generally leads sooner or later to the situation becoming unbearable (...) most crises are based on the woman's certainty that her husband is neglecting her. The collapse of her world, the feeling of not being at the centre, causes her so much suffering that it justifies her attacks on her spouse, which for her are only a defence mechanism. She comes to hate him, always certain that the fault lies solely with him and those who support him. The anguish caused by the profound breakdown of her idol is unbearable. She lives badly, deeply disappointed, restless, without consolation, with feelings very similar to those of depression. Sometimes, her only desire in life is to see her adversary destroyed."
"The crisis of love" – Father Ugo Borghello
#CHASTITYANDMARRIAGE
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CHASTITY AND MARRIAGE
"On his behalf, the man (...) also thinks that men and women are equal. When he sees his girlfriend or wife 'obsessing' over details that are secondary to him, he becomes convinced that she is selfish; he does not believe that the problem would arise in a similar way with almost all women. He tries to make a little more effort, but it is obvious that he is doing so to keep her calm, which ends up making her even more nervous; this gives him more and more excuse to get angry and think that she is exaggerating. He does not understand her, which further exasperates the already wounded heart of the woman, who feels that her need to be everything to someone has been nullified. The distress is so unbearable from a psychological point of view that it is precisely the woman who ends up breaking up the family, without even stopping to consider the welfare of the children. Currently, the majority of separations are requested by women. Today, a family crisis is more likely to result from this mechanism than from the old and familiar male infidelity.
"The crisis of love" – Father Ugo Borghello
#CHASTITYANDMARRIAGE
"On his behalf, the man (...) also thinks that men and women are equal. When he sees his girlfriend or wife 'obsessing' over details that are secondary to him, he becomes convinced that she is selfish; he does not believe that the problem would arise in a similar way with almost all women. He tries to make a little more effort, but it is obvious that he is doing so to keep her calm, which ends up making her even more nervous; this gives him more and more excuse to get angry and think that she is exaggerating. He does not understand her, which further exasperates the already wounded heart of the woman, who feels that her need to be everything to someone has been nullified. The distress is so unbearable from a psychological point of view that it is precisely the woman who ends up breaking up the family, without even stopping to consider the welfare of the children. Currently, the majority of separations are requested by women. Today, a family crisis is more likely to result from this mechanism than from the old and familiar male infidelity.
"The crisis of love" – Father Ugo Borghello
#CHASTITYANDMARRIAGE
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MIRACLES AND PROVIDENCE
Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, met a poor man on the street who asked her, "Can you give me a pair of size 42 shoes?" How could she find a pair of shoes in the middle of the war (it was 1943), when there was a shortage of everything? And such a specific size? Chiara spotted a church nearby and went inside. It was empty, but the little red light indicated that Jesus was there. She knelt down and asked him: Jesus, give me a pair of size 42 shoes for that poor man. On her way out, she opened the door and saw a woman she knew, who placed a package in her hands, saying: For your poor people. She unwrapped it and found a pair of size 42 shoes.
Another day, Chiara was preparing lunch when there was a knock at the door. It was a poor woman asking for help for her family. Chiara went and took an envelope out of a drawer containing the amount needed to pay the rent, gas and electricity for the month, and gave it to the woman. Then she said to Jesus: I'm leaving the envelope open, see how you can fill it so that we can pay what we owe. And she continued working. A short time later, Natalia, one of her first companions, arrived, riding her bicycle, and said: "This morning they raised my salary, and I thought I would bring it to you right away in case you need it." It was double what Chiara had given.
One morning Chiara said to us: "We don't have a penny for breakfast. But Jesus is our husband. He will take care of it..." When we returned home, we found the table set and, next to the cups, a jug of milk, a loaf of raisin bread and a packet of cocoa. Later we found out that an elderly lady, our neighbour, had wanted to give us this surprise. And since the key was hanging next to the door, she had come in. One day Chiara Lubich received the bill for a focolarina's surgery and hospital stay. It was one hundred million lire. The truth is that she was shocked. But, as always, she entrusted this concern to God's providence. Just at that time, a member of the Focolare Movement received an inheritance. She gave the house to her children and the cash to Chiara: exactly one hundred million lire.
A pair of women's shoes had arrived at the focolare, new, beautiful, high-heeled, but very small, size 33. Who could they be for? I wondered. A short time later, there was a knock at the door. It was Vilma, a young woman, very poor, who comes to see us from time to time with her little girl. Vilma is petite, very small. I instinctively looked at her feet and offered her the shoes. To her great joy, they fit her perfectly.
A priest told us that he wanted to go to Italy for a meeting of priests from the Focolare Movement, but he had no money. So he entrusted himself to Providence, thinking, "If it is God's will, He will send me the money." One day, when he opened his mail, he found an envelope with a cheque inside. It was from the diocese, informing him of the death of an elderly priest who had wished to leave a sum of money to the poorest priest in the diocese, and the bishop had thought of him. It contained exactly the amount of money he needed for the trip.
Cardinal Ersilio Tonini says that one day he received a phone call from the archbishop of Gitega, in Burundi, asking for help to build a maternity clinic in Gitega, where infant mortality was very high. The next day, a lady from Forlí, whose daughter had committed suicide, arrived and gave him the money from the sale of her daughter's flat. With this money, he was able to respond to the request of the Archbishop of Gitega, and the following year, the maternity clinic was built. It seemed as if the Lord had arranged things so that everything would come to a happy conclusion in the shortest possible time. God was also concerned about those Burundian children.
"God's Providence" - Father Ángel Peña O. A. R.
#MIRACLESANDPROVIDENCE
Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, met a poor man on the street who asked her, "Can you give me a pair of size 42 shoes?" How could she find a pair of shoes in the middle of the war (it was 1943), when there was a shortage of everything? And such a specific size? Chiara spotted a church nearby and went inside. It was empty, but the little red light indicated that Jesus was there. She knelt down and asked him: Jesus, give me a pair of size 42 shoes for that poor man. On her way out, she opened the door and saw a woman she knew, who placed a package in her hands, saying: For your poor people. She unwrapped it and found a pair of size 42 shoes.
Another day, Chiara was preparing lunch when there was a knock at the door. It was a poor woman asking for help for her family. Chiara went and took an envelope out of a drawer containing the amount needed to pay the rent, gas and electricity for the month, and gave it to the woman. Then she said to Jesus: I'm leaving the envelope open, see how you can fill it so that we can pay what we owe. And she continued working. A short time later, Natalia, one of her first companions, arrived, riding her bicycle, and said: "This morning they raised my salary, and I thought I would bring it to you right away in case you need it." It was double what Chiara had given.
One morning Chiara said to us: "We don't have a penny for breakfast. But Jesus is our husband. He will take care of it..." When we returned home, we found the table set and, next to the cups, a jug of milk, a loaf of raisin bread and a packet of cocoa. Later we found out that an elderly lady, our neighbour, had wanted to give us this surprise. And since the key was hanging next to the door, she had come in. One day Chiara Lubich received the bill for a focolarina's surgery and hospital stay. It was one hundred million lire. The truth is that she was shocked. But, as always, she entrusted this concern to God's providence. Just at that time, a member of the Focolare Movement received an inheritance. She gave the house to her children and the cash to Chiara: exactly one hundred million lire.
A pair of women's shoes had arrived at the focolare, new, beautiful, high-heeled, but very small, size 33. Who could they be for? I wondered. A short time later, there was a knock at the door. It was Vilma, a young woman, very poor, who comes to see us from time to time with her little girl. Vilma is petite, very small. I instinctively looked at her feet and offered her the shoes. To her great joy, they fit her perfectly.
A priest told us that he wanted to go to Italy for a meeting of priests from the Focolare Movement, but he had no money. So he entrusted himself to Providence, thinking, "If it is God's will, He will send me the money." One day, when he opened his mail, he found an envelope with a cheque inside. It was from the diocese, informing him of the death of an elderly priest who had wished to leave a sum of money to the poorest priest in the diocese, and the bishop had thought of him. It contained exactly the amount of money he needed for the trip.
Cardinal Ersilio Tonini says that one day he received a phone call from the archbishop of Gitega, in Burundi, asking for help to build a maternity clinic in Gitega, where infant mortality was very high. The next day, a lady from Forlí, whose daughter had committed suicide, arrived and gave him the money from the sale of her daughter's flat. With this money, he was able to respond to the request of the Archbishop of Gitega, and the following year, the maternity clinic was built. It seemed as if the Lord had arranged things so that everything would come to a happy conclusion in the shortest possible time. God was also concerned about those Burundian children.
"God's Providence" - Father Ángel Peña O. A. R.
#MIRACLESANDPROVIDENCE
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CHASTITY AND MARRIAGE
"(...) that detached man is an utterly miserable being. We see him chasing after well-being. But when he achieves it, well-being does not bring him happiness either. And that is what we are seeing. We are seeing it in Europe, especially in Sweden. In the most advanced, most prosperous countries, men have well-being but are dying out for lack of love. They have the highest suicide rates. The fact is that we were not created for well-being but for love, and love demands sacrifice. We must not fear sacrifice.
Our Lord gave us the example that, out of love for the Father, he sacrificed himself on the cross. He had the strength that the love of the Son gave him for the most extreme sacrifice. Jesus teaches us not to fear sacrifice. It is as if, by his example, he were saying to us: "Do not fear sacrifice." And Mary teaches us the same thing at the foot of the cross. She did not run away. She did not say to her Son, "Come down." On the contrary, she held him on the cross so that he could fulfil his mission as Son and teach us that the path to happiness lies in love, even if it is painful. It is worth suffering in order to love! If you do not want to suffer, you will not love, but then you will lose everything, you will lose yourself.
Those who do not want to love for fear of suffering are on the path to perdition and need to be saved. This world proposes precisely that erroneous concept. Aristotle already said, three hundred years before Christ, that pleasure and well-being do not bring happiness, refuting the Epicureans and the Stoics. Well-being is not happiness.
Let us contemplate Mary. Everyone proclaims her "blessed." And she says, "All generations will call me 'happy.'" And her prophecy is fulfilled before the eyes of our generation. She said that two thousand years ago. A young girl sang that hymn of praise while visiting her cousin Saint Elizabeth, who called her "blessed." And it is being fulfilled. Today we see how many people call her 'happy' and consider her their mother. There is no mother in the world with so many children, even throughout the centuries. Even though there were difficulties and setbacks in her life, such as when she went to the temple and the elderly Simeon said to her, 'A sword of sorrow will pierce your heart', she did not fear suffering.
St John says that perfect love casts out fear. In other words, one fears suffering because one does not love enough or because one has no reason to understand it, one still needs to grow in love; it is something childish. John's saying implies that fear has something demonic about it and must be exorcised. And that love is the proper way to exorcise fear, because it is participation in divine power.
"What happened to our love" – Father Horacio Bojorge
#CHASTITYANDMARRIAGE
"(...) that detached man is an utterly miserable being. We see him chasing after well-being. But when he achieves it, well-being does not bring him happiness either. And that is what we are seeing. We are seeing it in Europe, especially in Sweden. In the most advanced, most prosperous countries, men have well-being but are dying out for lack of love. They have the highest suicide rates. The fact is that we were not created for well-being but for love, and love demands sacrifice. We must not fear sacrifice.
Our Lord gave us the example that, out of love for the Father, he sacrificed himself on the cross. He had the strength that the love of the Son gave him for the most extreme sacrifice. Jesus teaches us not to fear sacrifice. It is as if, by his example, he were saying to us: "Do not fear sacrifice." And Mary teaches us the same thing at the foot of the cross. She did not run away. She did not say to her Son, "Come down." On the contrary, she held him on the cross so that he could fulfil his mission as Son and teach us that the path to happiness lies in love, even if it is painful. It is worth suffering in order to love! If you do not want to suffer, you will not love, but then you will lose everything, you will lose yourself.
Those who do not want to love for fear of suffering are on the path to perdition and need to be saved. This world proposes precisely that erroneous concept. Aristotle already said, three hundred years before Christ, that pleasure and well-being do not bring happiness, refuting the Epicureans and the Stoics. Well-being is not happiness.
Let us contemplate Mary. Everyone proclaims her "blessed." And she says, "All generations will call me 'happy.'" And her prophecy is fulfilled before the eyes of our generation. She said that two thousand years ago. A young girl sang that hymn of praise while visiting her cousin Saint Elizabeth, who called her "blessed." And it is being fulfilled. Today we see how many people call her 'happy' and consider her their mother. There is no mother in the world with so many children, even throughout the centuries. Even though there were difficulties and setbacks in her life, such as when she went to the temple and the elderly Simeon said to her, 'A sword of sorrow will pierce your heart', she did not fear suffering.
St John says that perfect love casts out fear. In other words, one fears suffering because one does not love enough or because one has no reason to understand it, one still needs to grow in love; it is something childish. John's saying implies that fear has something demonic about it and must be exorcised. And that love is the proper way to exorcise fear, because it is participation in divine power.
"What happened to our love" – Father Horacio Bojorge
#CHASTITYANDMARRIAGE
CONVERSION OF JACQUES FESH, MURDERER
Jacques Fesh, a Frenchman, had been sentenced to death for murder. One day in October 1954, he was in prison and feeling particularly sad. He felt that his life was empty. He says: "At that moment, as if asking for help, I cried out in despair: Mon Dieu, mon Dieu! (My God, my God). And instantly, as if God were present at my side, waiting for me, an immense peace rose up in my throat... Joy overwhelmed me and I felt a great peace. In a few moments, everything became clear and I felt a palpable and very strong joy." It was an instant conversion. God had answered him with his immense love when he was at his lowest and most desperate.
From that moment on, Fesch drew close to the figures of St Francis of Assisi, St Teresa of Avila and St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, whom he called "my little Teresa", and decided to adopt a monastic lifestyle while he remained in prison. From his cell, he transmitted his faith through letters. In one of them, he wrote to his friend: "I have just received Communion, it is a great joy! 'I live, but it is no longer I who live, for it is Christ who lives in me'."
When the date of his beheading was set, Fesch decided to await this moment in peace and prayer, seeing it as a form of sanctification. "May every drop of my blood erase a mortal sin," he said.
In the last two months of his life before his execution, he wrote a diary, a true spiritual compendium that he dedicated to his daughter Véronique, who was then six years old, and for whom he felt sincere compassion, as he did for his wife and family, because he understood how much they would suffer because of the situation he had caused.
Jacques acknowledged his guilt and deeply regretted the harm he had caused, but on his journey towards God, he offered himself unreservedly to divine mercy, which expects nothing more from sinners than a simple gesture of reconciliation.
Jacques accepted his death sentence with unusual serenity, even with the spiritual joy of being able to offer his life for everyone. The afternoon before his execution, he joined his wife in holy matrimony, performed by proxy, as she was not allowed to enter the prison.
On the day of his execution by guillotine (1-10-1957), he wrote: "Five hours to go. I await Love. He has suffered so much for me... God is love. My eyes are fixed on the crucifix and my gaze does not stray from the wounds of the Saviour. I want to keep his image in my eyes until the end. I will recite the rosary and the prayers of the dying, and then I will place my soul in the hands of the good Lord. In five hours, I will see Jesus." He was guillotined (at the age of 27) in the early hours of 1 October, the feast day of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a reference point in his journey towards the spirituality of love. He died like a saint, and hia diary was so impressive that Cardinal Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris, wished to begin the process of his beatification.
He has been the subject of controversy by those who argue that his crimes made him unworthy as a role model. The cardinal himself responded to these objections in an interview with a Paris newspaper:
"The one who was a murderer, the repentant criminal, has become a saint. I understand the objections well (...) This eventual judgement by the Church does not replace human justice (...) When Jesus declared, 'Prostitutes will precede you in the Kingdom of Heaven', he did not canonise prostitution; he announced the repentance of prostitutes."
Others emphasise the hope of his final conversion, in consideration of the phrase from the Gospel of Luke: "There will be more joy in Heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent."
Source: based on various texts.
#CONVERTS
Jacques Fesh, a Frenchman, had been sentenced to death for murder. One day in October 1954, he was in prison and feeling particularly sad. He felt that his life was empty. He says: "At that moment, as if asking for help, I cried out in despair: Mon Dieu, mon Dieu! (My God, my God). And instantly, as if God were present at my side, waiting for me, an immense peace rose up in my throat... Joy overwhelmed me and I felt a great peace. In a few moments, everything became clear and I felt a palpable and very strong joy." It was an instant conversion. God had answered him with his immense love when he was at his lowest and most desperate.
From that moment on, Fesch drew close to the figures of St Francis of Assisi, St Teresa of Avila and St Thérèse of the Child Jesus, whom he called "my little Teresa", and decided to adopt a monastic lifestyle while he remained in prison. From his cell, he transmitted his faith through letters. In one of them, he wrote to his friend: "I have just received Communion, it is a great joy! 'I live, but it is no longer I who live, for it is Christ who lives in me'."
When the date of his beheading was set, Fesch decided to await this moment in peace and prayer, seeing it as a form of sanctification. "May every drop of my blood erase a mortal sin," he said.
In the last two months of his life before his execution, he wrote a diary, a true spiritual compendium that he dedicated to his daughter Véronique, who was then six years old, and for whom he felt sincere compassion, as he did for his wife and family, because he understood how much they would suffer because of the situation he had caused.
Jacques acknowledged his guilt and deeply regretted the harm he had caused, but on his journey towards God, he offered himself unreservedly to divine mercy, which expects nothing more from sinners than a simple gesture of reconciliation.
Jacques accepted his death sentence with unusual serenity, even with the spiritual joy of being able to offer his life for everyone. The afternoon before his execution, he joined his wife in holy matrimony, performed by proxy, as she was not allowed to enter the prison.
On the day of his execution by guillotine (1-10-1957), he wrote: "Five hours to go. I await Love. He has suffered so much for me... God is love. My eyes are fixed on the crucifix and my gaze does not stray from the wounds of the Saviour. I want to keep his image in my eyes until the end. I will recite the rosary and the prayers of the dying, and then I will place my soul in the hands of the good Lord. In five hours, I will see Jesus." He was guillotined (at the age of 27) in the early hours of 1 October, the feast day of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, a reference point in his journey towards the spirituality of love. He died like a saint, and hia diary was so impressive that Cardinal Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris, wished to begin the process of his beatification.
He has been the subject of controversy by those who argue that his crimes made him unworthy as a role model. The cardinal himself responded to these objections in an interview with a Paris newspaper:
"The one who was a murderer, the repentant criminal, has become a saint. I understand the objections well (...) This eventual judgement by the Church does not replace human justice (...) When Jesus declared, 'Prostitutes will precede you in the Kingdom of Heaven', he did not canonise prostitution; he announced the repentance of prostitutes."
Others emphasise the hope of his final conversion, in consideration of the phrase from the Gospel of Luke: "There will be more joy in Heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent."
Source: based on various texts.
#CONVERTS
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CHASTITY AND MARRIAGE
In a talk I gave on modesty, a woman replied:
‘Are you saying that we shouldn't wear certain bikinis on the beach?’
‘Yes, that's what I'm saying.’
‘That's an exaggeration, isn't it?’
‘Very much so. As exaggerated as the Gospel itself.’
Several months later, I learned that she was going to the beach in a one-piece swimsuit. Her conversion had begun! Four years later, she entered a contemplative Carmelite order.
An approach to chastity cannot succeed without the virtue of modesty in dress for both men and women (...) men must also be modest [but] as Saint Teresa of Jesus wrote in her autobiography, ‘...women are obliged to be more modest than men’.
Since women look more at the person as a whole, they tend to be less aware of how men look at them. John Paul II [said]: “Since sensuality, which makes the body an object of pleasure, is generally stronger and more pronounced in men, it would seem that modesty, as a tendency to conceal the sexual values of the body, should be more pronounced in young girls and women”.
Women are usually aware that men are physically attracted to them, but they often have no idea of the intensity of that attraction. When a woman sees a good-looking man, she thinks, “He's handsome”. When a man sees an attractive woman, his response is much more intense. Dresses or skirts above the knee affect men sexually (...) it affects their opinion of the woman as a whole (...) What woman wants to be remembered for her legs? Or for her navel? Wouldn't she rather be remembered for her kindness, her personality, her decency, her goodness or her holiness? If a woman exaggerates her physical charms (...) she will diminish other, more personal, more important and more lasting ones.
‘If men have a problem with the way I dress, that's their problem, not mine. Let them deal with it.’ This is false for several reasons. First of all, it is not Christian. Christianity is an active community. St. Paul teaches us, ‘Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ (Gal 6:2).’ We are saved as a community, not as individuals. And secondly, the problem is not only men's. Women who dress immodestly create their own problems (...) They often complain that all men are ‘animals’: this is because the uncontrolled ones rush towards them. However, decent men try to flee. Women who dress inappropriately are selling themselves cheaply; their best assets are sexual.
By dressing provocatively, women undoubtedly acquire a certain power, but it is a very expensive power. A certain type of man responds with great energy to indecent clothing. But what is his profile? He usually seeks a sexual encounter, with no inclination towards marriage, at least with the sexy woman. Their thoughts will never be, “What a personality that girl has!” or “She would make a perfect wife!”. On the contrary, it will be more like, “I bet she's just another one!”.
Let me tell you a story. One afternoon, a member of our Catholic association of single women was trying to decide what to wear to a wedding. She called her father to ask his opinion. He said, ‘Well, you have nice legs, why not wear something short?’ So she wore ‘something short’... and almost caused a commotion. It was not her happiest moment. After that, we started talking about modesty, and she began to dress more modestly. She later told me that she had attended a party and that her modest dress had attracted more attention than those who wore flashy clothes! (...) Those who are committed to the Lord are not at the forefront of fashions that leave the body uncovered."
‘Christian courtship in a super-sexualised world’ - Father T. G. Morrow
#CHASTITYANDMARRIAGE
In a talk I gave on modesty, a woman replied:
‘Are you saying that we shouldn't wear certain bikinis on the beach?’
‘Yes, that's what I'm saying.’
‘That's an exaggeration, isn't it?’
‘Very much so. As exaggerated as the Gospel itself.’
Several months later, I learned that she was going to the beach in a one-piece swimsuit. Her conversion had begun! Four years later, she entered a contemplative Carmelite order.
An approach to chastity cannot succeed without the virtue of modesty in dress for both men and women (...) men must also be modest [but] as Saint Teresa of Jesus wrote in her autobiography, ‘...women are obliged to be more modest than men’.
Since women look more at the person as a whole, they tend to be less aware of how men look at them. John Paul II [said]: “Since sensuality, which makes the body an object of pleasure, is generally stronger and more pronounced in men, it would seem that modesty, as a tendency to conceal the sexual values of the body, should be more pronounced in young girls and women”.
Women are usually aware that men are physically attracted to them, but they often have no idea of the intensity of that attraction. When a woman sees a good-looking man, she thinks, “He's handsome”. When a man sees an attractive woman, his response is much more intense. Dresses or skirts above the knee affect men sexually (...) it affects their opinion of the woman as a whole (...) What woman wants to be remembered for her legs? Or for her navel? Wouldn't she rather be remembered for her kindness, her personality, her decency, her goodness or her holiness? If a woman exaggerates her physical charms (...) she will diminish other, more personal, more important and more lasting ones.
‘If men have a problem with the way I dress, that's their problem, not mine. Let them deal with it.’ This is false for several reasons. First of all, it is not Christian. Christianity is an active community. St. Paul teaches us, ‘Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ (Gal 6:2).’ We are saved as a community, not as individuals. And secondly, the problem is not only men's. Women who dress immodestly create their own problems (...) They often complain that all men are ‘animals’: this is because the uncontrolled ones rush towards them. However, decent men try to flee. Women who dress inappropriately are selling themselves cheaply; their best assets are sexual.
By dressing provocatively, women undoubtedly acquire a certain power, but it is a very expensive power. A certain type of man responds with great energy to indecent clothing. But what is his profile? He usually seeks a sexual encounter, with no inclination towards marriage, at least with the sexy woman. Their thoughts will never be, “What a personality that girl has!” or “She would make a perfect wife!”. On the contrary, it will be more like, “I bet she's just another one!”.
Let me tell you a story. One afternoon, a member of our Catholic association of single women was trying to decide what to wear to a wedding. She called her father to ask his opinion. He said, ‘Well, you have nice legs, why not wear something short?’ So she wore ‘something short’... and almost caused a commotion. It was not her happiest moment. After that, we started talking about modesty, and she began to dress more modestly. She later told me that she had attended a party and that her modest dress had attracted more attention than those who wore flashy clothes! (...) Those who are committed to the Lord are not at the forefront of fashions that leave the body uncovered."
‘Christian courtship in a super-sexualised world’ - Father T. G. Morrow
#CHASTITYANDMARRIAGE
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PURGATORY (AND THE ORIGIN OF GREGORIAN AND SEPTENARY MASSES)
"SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO (1245-1305) One Saturday night, when he had just gone to bed, he heard the voice of a soul who, with a loud cry, startled him, saying: 'Nicholas, man of God, look at me. He turned and saw a figure he could not identify. 'I am the soul of Friar Pellegrino of Osimo. You did not know me in life, but I am tormented in these flames. God did not reject my contrition and, instead of condemning me to the eternal punishment I deserved, he sent me to purgatory out of his mercy. I humbly ask you to deign to celebrate a Mass for the dead for me so that I may leave these flames. Nicholas replied: "My brother, may the Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, by whose blood you have been redeemed, be propitious to you. I am in charge of the conventual Mass, which must be celebrated solemnly, and I cannot celebrate Mass for the dead, much less tomorrow, Sunday.
To this Pellegrino replied: "Come with me, venerable father, and see if you are able to refuse the plea of the unfortunate multitude that sent me. Taking him to the other side of the convent, he showed him a small plain near Pesaro where there was a large crowd of people of all sexes, ages, conditions and various orders. He added: "Have mercy on us, take pity on this unfortunate crowd who are waiting for your help. If you celebrate Mass for us, most of these people will be freed from these atrocious torments." Nicholas awoke and began to implore the Lord with tears. The next morning, he told the prior and begged him to allow him to celebrate Mass for the dead that week. The prior granted his request, and Nicholas was able to celebrate Mass for those people during the week, while praying day and night with tears of love. Seven days later, Pellegrino himself appeared to him to thank him for his mercy, telling him that both he and a large part of that crowd had been freed by God's mercy from those atrocious pains because of the Masses celebrated and the prayers offered with so many tears. And he told him that he was now happy in the glory of God... In purgatory, the holy youth of this man began to be known... who, with the ship of his merits and prayers, sails the sea of purgatory.
(...) SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT (+604) had a vision while he was abbot of a monastery in Rome, before becoming Pope. There was a monk named Giusto who practised medicine with his permission. Once, he had accepted a three-scudo gold coin without his permission, seriously violating his vow of poverty. He later repented and was so pained by this sin that he fell ill and died shortly afterwards. However, St. Gregory, in order to instil in his religious the horror of this sin, had him buried outside the cemetery walls, in a rubbish dump, where he also threw the gold coin, making the religious repeat the words of St. Peter to Simon Magus: May your money perish with you. A few days later, he thought that perhaps he had been too harsh in his punishment and instructed the bursar to have thirty Masses celebrated in succession for the soul of the deceased. The bursar obeyed, and on the same day that the thirty Masses were celebrated, Giusto appeared to another monk, Copioso, telling him that he was ascending to heaven, free from the pains of purgatory, because of the thirty Masses that had been celebrated. Since then, it has been customary to have thirty Masses celebrated in a row, called Gregorian Masses, in favour of the deceased.
In the case of Saint Nicholas, seven Masses were enough for Pellegrino to leave purgatory, and for this reason, there is also a custom of celebrating seven Masses in a row, or a septenary of Masses, in favour of the souls in purgatory, in remembrance of the deed of Saint Nicholas.
"The Saints and the Souls in Purgatory" - Father Ángel Peña O. A. R.
#PURGATORY
"SAINT NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO (1245-1305) One Saturday night, when he had just gone to bed, he heard the voice of a soul who, with a loud cry, startled him, saying: 'Nicholas, man of God, look at me. He turned and saw a figure he could not identify. 'I am the soul of Friar Pellegrino of Osimo. You did not know me in life, but I am tormented in these flames. God did not reject my contrition and, instead of condemning me to the eternal punishment I deserved, he sent me to purgatory out of his mercy. I humbly ask you to deign to celebrate a Mass for the dead for me so that I may leave these flames. Nicholas replied: "My brother, may the Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord, by whose blood you have been redeemed, be propitious to you. I am in charge of the conventual Mass, which must be celebrated solemnly, and I cannot celebrate Mass for the dead, much less tomorrow, Sunday.
To this Pellegrino replied: "Come with me, venerable father, and see if you are able to refuse the plea of the unfortunate multitude that sent me. Taking him to the other side of the convent, he showed him a small plain near Pesaro where there was a large crowd of people of all sexes, ages, conditions and various orders. He added: "Have mercy on us, take pity on this unfortunate crowd who are waiting for your help. If you celebrate Mass for us, most of these people will be freed from these atrocious torments." Nicholas awoke and began to implore the Lord with tears. The next morning, he told the prior and begged him to allow him to celebrate Mass for the dead that week. The prior granted his request, and Nicholas was able to celebrate Mass for those people during the week, while praying day and night with tears of love. Seven days later, Pellegrino himself appeared to him to thank him for his mercy, telling him that both he and a large part of that crowd had been freed by God's mercy from those atrocious pains because of the Masses celebrated and the prayers offered with so many tears. And he told him that he was now happy in the glory of God... In purgatory, the holy youth of this man began to be known... who, with the ship of his merits and prayers, sails the sea of purgatory.
(...) SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT (+604) had a vision while he was abbot of a monastery in Rome, before becoming Pope. There was a monk named Giusto who practised medicine with his permission. Once, he had accepted a three-scudo gold coin without his permission, seriously violating his vow of poverty. He later repented and was so pained by this sin that he fell ill and died shortly afterwards. However, St. Gregory, in order to instil in his religious the horror of this sin, had him buried outside the cemetery walls, in a rubbish dump, where he also threw the gold coin, making the religious repeat the words of St. Peter to Simon Magus: May your money perish with you. A few days later, he thought that perhaps he had been too harsh in his punishment and instructed the bursar to have thirty Masses celebrated in succession for the soul of the deceased. The bursar obeyed, and on the same day that the thirty Masses were celebrated, Giusto appeared to another monk, Copioso, telling him that he was ascending to heaven, free from the pains of purgatory, because of the thirty Masses that had been celebrated. Since then, it has been customary to have thirty Masses celebrated in a row, called Gregorian Masses, in favour of the deceased.
In the case of Saint Nicholas, seven Masses were enough for Pellegrino to leave purgatory, and for this reason, there is also a custom of celebrating seven Masses in a row, or a septenary of Masses, in favour of the souls in purgatory, in remembrance of the deed of Saint Nicholas.
"The Saints and the Souls in Purgatory" - Father Ángel Peña O. A. R.
#PURGATORY
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VARIOUS ARTICLES
[On how to treat each person according to their circumstances, even if this leads to differences in treatment]
Three elders went to visit Abba Achilles, and one of them had a bad reputation. One of the elders said to him, 'Abba, make me a net.' He replied, 'I will not.' Another said, 'Do it, for charity's sake, so that we may have a souvenir of you in the monastery.' He replied, 'I do not have time.' The third, the one with the bad reputation, said, 'Make me a net, so that I may have something made by your hands, Abba'. He replied immediately, saying, 'I will make it for you'. The other two elders said to him privately, 'Why did you not want to do it when we asked you, and yet you say to him, "I will make it for you"? The elder replied, "I told you, 'I will not do it,' and you were not saddened, thinking that I would not have time; but if I did not do it for this other man, he would say, 'It is because the elder has heard of my fault that he does not want to do it. We immediately cut the rope. I awakened his soul, so that sadness would not consume it."
"The Sayings of the Fathers Vol. 1 - Alphabetical Collection of Apophthegms"
#VARIOUSARTICLES
[On how to treat each person according to their circumstances, even if this leads to differences in treatment]
Three elders went to visit Abba Achilles, and one of them had a bad reputation. One of the elders said to him, 'Abba, make me a net.' He replied, 'I will not.' Another said, 'Do it, for charity's sake, so that we may have a souvenir of you in the monastery.' He replied, 'I do not have time.' The third, the one with the bad reputation, said, 'Make me a net, so that I may have something made by your hands, Abba'. He replied immediately, saying, 'I will make it for you'. The other two elders said to him privately, 'Why did you not want to do it when we asked you, and yet you say to him, "I will make it for you"? The elder replied, "I told you, 'I will not do it,' and you were not saddened, thinking that I would not have time; but if I did not do it for this other man, he would say, 'It is because the elder has heard of my fault that he does not want to do it. We immediately cut the rope. I awakened his soul, so that sadness would not consume it."
"The Sayings of the Fathers Vol. 1 - Alphabetical Collection of Apophthegms"
#VARIOUSARTICLES
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